Think about it. A year ago when Celtic was ignominiously kicked out of the Scottish Cup by the stalwarts of Inverness Somethingorother, when John Barnes was sacked as coach and Kenny Dalglish's days as directors of football were numbered, Celtic's share price was hovering around 230p sterling.
Fast forward 12 months. Celtic are top of the pile, streets ahead in Scotland's Premier (what a misnomer) League, Martin O'Neill has become a god to the Parkhead faithful and Celtic are seemingly destined for next year's European Champions League and its attendant television riches.
So the Celtic share price has surely risen because of all this success on the field, hasn't it? Well, sadly for those Celtic fans who flocked to buy Fergus McCann's shares 18 months ago, the share price has gone the opposite way to Celtic's league position. After those dismal first half results this week, Celtic shares were moving below 160p, with analysts seeing further weakness.
On the football side of the business, Celtic have made all the right moves. They hired a bright, articulate, telegenic manager. They bought new players astutely compared to the megamillions spent on journeymen footballers by John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish. The results have been spectacular.
The old enemy Rangers have been hammered into near obscurity and Celtic are near certainties for next year's Champions League. But still the investors are unmoved. So what's wrong?
For a start, football clubs have gone out of fashion with investors. Even Manchester United, with all its merchandising and multimedia riches, as well as its on-the-field success, has seen its share price halve since this time last year. And Man U have gone light years further in developing the non-football side of the business than Celtic.
Celtic has done a £13 million shirt sponsorship deal with ntl, and its income from merchandising has been rising. But apart from being part of the Scottish Premier League's pay-for-view arrangement with BSkyB, there has been no formal link-up with any of the international media giants like BSkyB or Granada.
No wonder Celtic and Rangers are so keen on the proposed European League where they would aim to compete against the likes of PSV Eindhoven and Benfica, rather than the more mundane challenges from the likes of Dunfermline Athletic and Kilmarnock.
And then there is the question of the vacant chief executive's job. Chairman Brian Quinn said this week that Celtic was close to appointing a new CEO. One hopes so. As Dolmen Butler Briscoe's Dennis McGuinness told the Scottish Daily Express last week: "The problem is the uncertainty over the business side of the club. The search for a replacement chief executive has gone on too long. The club needs to try restore confidence for the share price to bounce back.
Shareholders at least have the consolation that Dermot Desmond is also suffering from the slump in the share price. When Fergus McCann sold his stake to existing shareholders, season ticket holders and staff at 280p each, he also sold 2.8 million shares to Dermot Desmond at the same price for a total of £7.8 million. Those 2.8 million shares are now worth less than £5 million.
As Celtic's biggest shareholders with almost 20 per cent of the shares, Dermot Desmond has a greater interest than anybody in getting the share price back up.
