How was the transfer window for you? The perceived negatives: we didn’t sign particularly experienced players and we only signed one striker. We also lost the best central defender we’ve had in years.
The positives: we recruited the first on the list defensive (Simunovic) and striking (Ciftci) targets, so we were not scrambling around for literally anyone (Scepovic) on the final day of the window. There were a few experienced, Samaras-types on offer, but the decision was taken to stick to plan.
The first issue I raised was about the striker headcount. We could have brought in any one of a number of players, but forget Fletcher or Michu, we’re not talking that calibre. The waifs and strays we’ve churned through since 2012: Lassad, Miku, Bangura, Scepovic, Guidetti have been a considerable waste of money and opportunity.
An overhaul of process took place for striker assessment, no one would be brought in without new levels of assessment and aptitude. The was an acceptance that we are light in headcount but options available in recent days convinced no one they would be better than Scepovic, and the club were happy to cut him loose. The squad needs focus, fewer passengers and space for our own youths, not just Dundee United’s, to break through.
Although his start at Celtic has been considerably hampered, Ciftci met the criteria. He was watched extensively and the manager knows what role he wants him to play. We’ll see if he proves to be more effective when he returns to the team, hopefully fully fit, after the international break.
Lack of experience has inhibited us and there are certainly experienced players we could have brought in for the money spent on Simunovic. Would this help short-term with the forthcoming Europa League campaign?
From here, it feels like it would, but a team development decision was made. Recruitment criteria is to bring in players capable of reaching the highest levels of the game. Get them in, get them playing the same way together. Recruit late-teens, early-20s and build a team. We can afford players who may have genuine talent at that age.
A year ago, when we were recruiting to replace Neil, I asked for a student of the game who could plan like this; improve players and build a team. I also wanted a striker yesterday, not a Scepovic, of course, just someone Champions League-ready. There’s no question that we have to plan like this, or that the hemorrhage on bench-material strikers has to stop. And I suspect the Champions League-ready bit might be a shot in the dark.
If the plan works, it’s going to take time and a bit of patience (aye, I know, patience, you don’t need to tell me). Other plans are available, therein lies the joy of team management.
Over to you now, Ronny. Show us some of that awesomeness we read about.
I’m going to write later on the business over the city, if only because I’m itching to run an article with the headline:
Green, Whyte and Gaol-d © CQN.
Speak then.
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Brth,
“By the way I don’t have dogs, either literal or metaphorical”
Yeah we know :)
http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/blofeld1.jpg
The window was a failure. We didn’t sign the players we so obviously lacked in champs league games. Need experience and need striker. How difficult is that even for just a loan period. Who cares if we pay over our wage structure if it’s short term. Again and again and again we leaver ourselves just short of being a decent team.
A lot of soul searching and worries about our place in the football world, all understandable given events over the last few weeks.
Are we less likely to reach the CL in the coming years because of recent events? I don’ think so. Look at Malmo on a fraction of our budget and FK Astana making their debut in the group stage.
Yes it is impossible for us to compete financially but when did we last do that anyway? Have we ever?
The biggest eye opener over the last few days was that Fletcher and Michu wouldn’t entertain the idea of moving to Celtic.
I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over this bearing in mind there are few clubs in world football who can compete with the ridiculous salaries paid in England but it may be time to revise our scouting arrangements bearing this in mind.
15 scouts, 9 of which are part time, doesn’t sound like enough to me.
Anyway, all being well we have the basis of our squad for the next 2/3 years – find two unknown strikers of real quality between now and July 2016, sell Stokesy and things are looking a hell of a lot better.
Finding quality strikers is now the problem, it was only 15-20 years ago every striker we signed seemed to do the business. Trouble was finding reliable defenders and goalkeepers!
The problem for the marketing bhoys is that its easy to sell jerseys and put bums on seats when you have a couple of exotic strikers. More often than not they cover up for the fact you have Tebily at CB or Gordon Marshall in goal…
HH
BRTH good to hear from you again. I completely agree re deadwood on the board,imo they should be allowed no more than 2 terms of say 4 years each. We need fresh blood to keep the creative/innovative juices flowing. If your workload permitted I’d have you and another couple of the more perceptive posters on here onto our board in a flash. Well one can dream. All the best. Hail Hail Hebcelt
.
I take it I was the Only CQNer that Got the ‘Denayer’ text and was Not a Believer..【ツ】
40,000 Unique CqN Believers in One Day.. Lol
Summa of CQNBelievesCSC
tonydonnelly67 on 2nd September 2015 3:01 pm
Tony, I was there that day and if I recall all Morrisey said was that he was in agreement with the statement – I can’t remember as I was working on my laptop at the time.
Hopefully, it is now appreciated that the entire matter is far from just being left with anyone and is being pursued as best we can with the best of intentions.
Geordie Munro
£13.5m for any player leaving Scotland is phenominal – credit to Lawwell for his part in that.
Its the bit after we get the money in he struggles with…
Geordie Munro on 2nd September 2015 3:01 pm
That made me laugh — I have had dogs but am now allergic to them regrettably.
I do have a cat! ;-0)
BRT&H
It cleared the air a bit that’s for sure.
I saw a picture on Twitter this afternoon which is one of the most disturbing and haunting photos I have ever seen. It says everything about the Syrian War and refugee crisis without any words. One boy, a toddler, washed up on a Turkish beach. I know it has nothing to do with football, it is about humanity, or inhumanity, and I know as a support we care about the injustices in this world. I am in tears. Sorry.
https://twitter.com/bouckap/status/639037338362978304
That’s heartbreaking
I’m allergic to alcohol.
It makes me awful pished.
tonydonnelly67 on 2nd September 2015 3:15 pm
A bit like a good Fart in a cave! lol
Hebcelt
sorry I was not ignoring your felicitations.
Hope you are well and all is good.
I believe Peter Lawwell would have cleared they two corners against Malmo wi’ his heid, nae bother.
Take care big Virge!
BRT&H
Yep. http://youtu.be/NUoIxJoJKCY
TD67
Glad that has cleared the air.
The devil really is in the detail and some of the devils named are now under arrest which really does make it difficult to be as open as we would like.
Rest assured that we are trying to find ways to get the full story out and if the narrative is accurate (and we think it is) you will think we made it up but its been checked and so far holds up.
Weeron – top post at 12.52
Regarding new signings and the Malmo game:
– We didn’t sell any first team players before the game other than Adam Matthews
– Ronny had a full season and two transfer windows to put a squad together that would beat Malmo
– A new player isn’t always a hit as it takes time to build up chemistry and fitness. There is absolutely no guarantee we would have beat Malmo with Fletcher, Michu or whoever else.
I think there are more questions about Ronny’s coaching than anything. His team don’t defend well in Europe.
Auldheid
I have no idea what the exact figure was for Scepovic but that was not my point.
Paul suggesting he was a last minute buy to appease the fans is either a lie now or the spin at the time of him being our top target was a lie back then? Can’t both be true?
You brought up Pukki but neither him nor Scepovic can be described as appeasement signings. Both were targeted & neither were last minute throws of the dice. Pukki was lauded as the perfect replacement for Hooper & Scepovic was chased by us weeks before transfer deadline day.
*As a side note, I think both players deserved more of a chance than they got*
Boy is the following question you asked patronising..
“Instead of blaming all the time how about we look at what it is in us that creates what we complain about?
Are you a shrink by any chance? So in the mind of Auldheid, all fans who are disgruntled must have something wrong with them or are weans.
How nice, I shall now go straight to the naughty step.
Ridiculous!
DENIABHOY @ 3 16.
The Official dead in Italian water figure for 2014 was 3279- men , women and children. Figure for 2015 , as of 31 / 8 / 14 is 2, 507.
Those figures exclude the large numbers drowned , asphyxiated or murdered in Libyan or Tunisian water whilst attempting to travel to Sicily / Italy.
HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU NEED TO BE TOLD THAT CULTSBHOY IS A HUNLURKER
Oopla
31 8 2015
….and PL IS THE TOP MHAN ….!!!!
Aulheid
I was just defending the club and the board, I went in with the boots, not always the right approach I’m afraid, it was basically a tit for tat, no big deal.
Board bashing is a sore point with me.
As resolution 12 is with both yourself and BRT&H, and I know you have all been pissing against the wind many times.
But so have the board.
67heaven
Incorrect re cultsbhoy
And we can agree to differ on PL 8-)
ELLBOY on 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015 3:46 PM
Perhaps you could balance your shoite with a wee bit of praise for the great signing we have made over the same period of your analysis
Deniabhoy,
Ive seen loads of blogs, facebook pages, even posters onhere sometimes discuss “elites”, the chosen few who govern us, the billionaires who are above the law, the new world order and how we, the normal people, are being crushed as our rights and freedoms and privacy are eroded and removed from us.
Your link has made me think that, to redugees, WE are impossibly wealthy and lucky and blessed to be who we are. As far as they are concerned, we are the elite.
What does football matter, with 300 grand per week wages, 800 billion pounds spent on transfers in comparison?
Green being escorted to his car at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Bad language alert…
https://www.periscope.tv/w/aLb-9jIyN…qejtRM0N4iegps
Starry Plough at 11.58
Sensible, balanced post – so what are you doing on CQN?
:o)
Bumpy ride at times but we have come to expect that – highs and lows.
Mostly, our views are all much more nuanced than the simplistic ‘happy-mineshafting-clappers’ name calling and blame attribution.
We all want the team to win, we all want the club to be a sustainable business entity, we all want the club to set and enforce the best ethical standards on and off the field and we want the mission that started the club to be central to our future.
Celtic tried to retain Virgil by offering him and much improved and longer contract, but he wanted to go to the EPL. We got 13 million for him. We had spoken with Dinamo Zagreb about Simonuvic 4 weeks ago and, contrary to rumour, we had a contingency in place with them IF we couldn’t persuade VVD to stay.
Celtic tried to extend Jason Denayer’s loan to get him back, and although Jason wanted to return, his parent club wanted him to go to a team playing in the Champions League so he went to Galatasaray. Man City are only doing what Celtic do when we loan out our young players who are caught in the same loop – they want game time to keep match fit and improve their career but they also want to be at a big club which means that they are not guaranteed the game time – so loans to clubs that will meet the needs of the player and the parent club are activated.
Celtic tried to retain both of those players but were powerless eventually against other outside forces.
Kind of sums up our position in the order of things as we try to assert ourselves.
Hope you are all well.
No One Walks Alone
TRC
I have been distracted on other stuff for a few days so I don’t know how things are with you.
I hope you are getting better and hopefully back with your family and friends.
No One Walks Alone
Sorry, try this one…
https://goo.gl/3kDiZ5
The problem I have with people who keep blaming Ronny and the other coaches for our misgivings is……..
It’s the players who can’t pass the ball to a team mate, it’s the players who can’t defend, it’s the players who contrive to miss easy chances, and chances we are making to beat the band.
And to say this is Ronny’s team, just think about that.
GMS & SA are the only players who he has brought in that are getting game time, if you believe he brought them in, Janko may well do, as for the rest, they may also get game time.
This is NOT RD’s team, far from it, but don’t let the facts get in your way of your anti Ronny agendas.
I went to bed at 11.30, at the very least I expected us to finally complete the signing of Ian Hart in that last half hour. We’re being taken for a ride here. 10 years I’ve been waiting…
On a serious note, I am very disappointed that our strikeforce is Griffiths, Ciftci and Stokes. If there is a striker in the youth set up waiting to break through then fair enough, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case is it? Anyway, if we bought another striker he’d probably be rotten for us then put out of Europe with his next club…
Being the Motherwell of Europe I could take if we didn’t have the resources of Celtic against other Motherwell like teams.
https://video.xx.fbcdn.net/hvideo-xpt1/v/t42.1790-2/11851483_1681042838793504_157315118_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjEwMjIsInJsYSI6NTEyfQ%3D%3D&rl=1022&vabr=568&oh=49046085c85338e887095cd946a5552a&oe=55E71D8A
Poor Chuck, after all the good work he done as well.
Filippis Haircut on 2nd September 2015 1:58 pm B.R.T.H. I do not claim to speak for anyone other than myself and I consider myself as an ordinary Celtic supporter .The thing about resolution 12 that in my opinion Auldheid has said on CQN that the resolution was progressing but the information he had at that time could not be shared now. I still dont know what that information was Auldheid had and he may have shared it by now and I may have missed it but it makes me understand why some on CQN think you are getting the run around from Celtic as in my opinion there has been a lack of feedback.I have heard many over the years advocate to have a fan on the board but if and when that happens the fan becomes more than a fan and certain things any board discuss they will want to remain private and the fan loses trust because of this privacy.This is exactly again in my opinion where Auldheid finds himself and rightly or wrongly he has lost trust and maybe even credibiltiy this may well be through no fault of his own as I am sure he is a true Celt at heart but that may well be the position he finds himself in. H.H. –
==========
I understand your point and the fact that we have not been able to be more open has exercised me to the point where when we can be more open it is already on a plate for you.
I’m pressing to make that soon and in fact have been working my butt off in that regard not just to create the plate but test its contents for robustness with folk whose judgement I trust.
You will also find that I have offered to disclose privately and those that have taken up the offer have been more than satisfied with the progress report supplied. Did you ever think to ask?
Then there are those that I offered to meet in person in order to enlighten that never took up the offer.
The reason for the closeness I have explained before and quite simply it was necessary to get Celtic’s trust and help to take matters further. That has come at the price of being mistrusted and its not a nice position to be in.
The problem has been that because for some the default position is mistrust this explanation is mistrusted.
That is not my problem it belongs to those who mistrust and time they had a good look at themselves.
It is incredibly wearying trying to keep mistrustful people onside and at the end of the day there are occasions when you can only say trust me.
I’m sorry you didn’t and I’ll get over it, but its been a bit of an eye opener altogether..
Winning Captains – top man – thanks for that.