Premier Sports Cup draw LIVE as Brendan Rodgers relishes Rangers Hampden date

They are masters of profitability, as their latest stunning accounts show, and architects of their Champions League downfall at the same time.

Otherwise, why use the word “apologise” in their fiscal statement to cover the failure to make that tournament proper?

The statement released on Friday evening, like the one sneaked out late on a Saturday night to explain an eccentric transfer window, will exacerbate annoyance among the wealth providers known as fans.

The club that gets poorer on the park the richer they become off the field have succeeded in making a very good team an extremely ordinary one, if last Sunday’s 2-1 victory against Kilmarnock was any indication.

Three good points to regain top spot in the Premiership table, of course, but a laborious style of football that fooled no one with an open mind and a memory of what things used to look like before quality players were sold and not replaced

One fans’ group statement recently said Celtic’s board gave “sterile responses” to requests for information and indulged in “corporate jargon” when they finally did explain why the transfer window now closed was rigged against them.

Their response infuriated rather than inspired Celtic’s rank-and-file season-ticket buying legions.

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