Celtic chairman John Reid insists the club’s “fundamental objective” is to win the Scottish Premier League title this season (Celtic 8/11f – Outright).
The Bhoys have seen fierce rivals Rangers win back-to-back championships following a three-year reign as top dogs and Reid has identified new boss Neil Lennon’s primary goal.
Celtic saw their Champions League hopes dashed earlier in the summer – for the second season running – which means they now face a crunch qualifier against Utrecht this week just to make the Europa League (Celtic 7/10, draw 5/2, Utrecht 16/5 – 90 minutes).
And Reid told the BBC: “Whoever is appointed as manager of a club like Celtic, there is a gamble attached to it.
“But in Neil Lennon, we have a potentially great manager at Celtic. He’s a motivator and a leader, and he knows the club.
“Our fundamental objective is to win the league, as it is the gateway to Europe and the future.
“We want to go into the Europa League group stages. Of course, when you’re at Celtic, you’re expected to do that, and we want to do that.
“But the fundamental objective is the Scottish Premier League.”
Celtic have recorded losses of £2.13m to the year ending June 2010, with turnover down by 15% and their debt up to £5.85m.
However, Lennon has been backed in the transfer market this summer and has also raised by money from the sale of Aiden McGeady to Spartak Moscow last week.
Reid is now looking for Celtic to put the “false start” of the ill-fated Tony Mowbray era behind them and push on after insisting the club is on a sound financial footing.
He added: “It’s sustainable debt. It’s not out of control or anything of that nature.
“But we now start again, and I have to say that we have a renewed vigour and optimism created by Neil Lennon.
“There’s an urgency and passion about the club, so despite the difficulties, we know what we’ve got to do and we’re optimistic about the season ahead.
“We’re a strong club, we can pick ourselves up and start again. We’re up to the challenge.”
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