Football leagues are all cartels, but the MLS in the US is a particularly malign version in that it is a closed system, without relegation and promotion. This lack of market competition is normal sports behaviour in the Land of the Free, but leads to a huge number of stale games from early in the season, as clubs outwith the title battle have little to play for.
Don’t be distracted by Messi’s December years in Miami. The former World’s Greatest is filling his coffers in a low tax environment (he’s famously tax averse), paid for by Amazon Prime customers across North America.
Where else would Celtic profitably sell-on Patryk Klimala, Lewis Morgan and Giorgos Giakoumakis? Patryk only managed an unproductive year before heading back to Europe. Lewis Morgan has enjoyed a successful four years, first in Miami, now New York. The one-time Celtic winger has found his level in the US.
Giorgos left us only 11 months ago. In 30 MLS appearances since (including from the bench), he scored 19 times. He is our stand-out successful export to North America and at 29, has surely also found his level.
Liel Abada is 22 years old, still learning his trade but already a respected player who has given us a clutch of memorable moments and goals. I think he can continue developing into a striker, his timing and calmness in front of goal is reminiscent of some of our greats, even if his wing play is not.
If Liel goes to the MLS it will be with some regret. He has potential well above that league. We gave him a platform to learn on and grow, but the developmental job is not complete. There will be more money on the table, but, unlike Messi, it’s February for Liel, not December.
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HOT SMOKED on 21ST FEBRUARY 2024 9:48 AM
31003 on 21ST FEBRUARY 2024 9:33 AM
Maybe he found it more difficult playing in front of an increasingly desperate Celtic Support than he does with The Baggies .
You could be right
Sack the board at Bayern.
Oh wait they did that last season.
Spent a fortune, like Ajax 2 years ago only more so.
Failing to win league and looking tricky at last 16 in Europe despite spending spending spending.
Sack another manager ???? Sack the board again ??? I mean what is it 11 out of 12 Bundesligas ? Rubbish eh.
Testing, very.
Chairbhoy @ various posts
I don’t have any qualms on ‘ net spend ‘ I’d like it to be more, I don’t tend to take sides about our club, be it the manager or upwards he does you’ll agree attract some supporter critique and resentment. He has to take share of any responsibility for what’s happened and what might be coming down the pike between now and May, It’s a team thing ( his words ). That said, there is now a consensus with a majority if you must, pointing to culpability elsewhere at Celtic
There’s a pattern there now, dropped points against sides not only with inferior budgets, but no budgets, and total reliance on loans and Bosmans. £20M net spend, ten clubs have no chance, but in a two horse race, and sadly whether some accept it or not, there are two horses ( again ) with a similar budget and similar sized fan base, Fergus McCann made sure our stadium was 10,000 ST’s bigger, now for three decades.
You may recall I said I don’t want Celtic buying EPL floatsam and jetsam, from an already ludicrous market. I’d rather we’d a DOF, remember we were linked with various big names. I think just before we got ‘Lucky’ Postecoglu and the unlucky Dom MacKay instead?
So, no problem with £20M for the SPL and an elite manager tilt at the CL, that was the deal, bearing in mind he’s getting greatest league in the world wages, albeit he’s at wee diddy league Celtic. Brendan’s problem is where the net spend went and when he put his ‘fingers in his ears’ praising you know who, as we were signing the last of the summer nine.
Three ‘ ready mades’ at around £7M is neat and tidy, it might have been enough, and would certainly have avoided the log jam that’s been accumulating since soon after we failed to get Eddie Howe over the line, for some reason? We signed too many players and not only might it have cost the title, it’ll cause longer term problems. It’s fine saying £7M+ players might not perform either, it’s also fine saying Celtic cannot attract that price level of player, but the signing policy was creaking, even when we never stopped.
We dished out contracts like confetti at the wrong wedding non development players Palma, Nawrocki ,Lagerbielke, Bernardo have not gotten near the alter. Some of the players old and new are still traumatised from being under the first Kilmarnock bus.
FWIW there’s also a big puddle during this monsoon season in Janefield Street, where a short full back if he wasn’t careful could drown, accountability is what we need if we want to be record breakers. The higher the bank balance the higher supporters expectations.
HH
GP 6.44
Very good 🤣👍
Bayern and Celtic? Fair comparison? Nah, don’t think so.
We are run by a corrupt crew driven by greed and nepotism.
Change will come eventually.
GREENPINATA on 21ST FEBRUARY 2024 6:44 AM
I knew it I f@ cking knew it.
Our players don’t wear predator boots. No-wonder we cannot score.
Our favoured boot of choice is Nike. A brand that have to make savings due to their own stupidity. I’m sure they have cut back on the crucial shooting part of the boot.
All guilty :- Kyogo, Maeda, Kuhn, Idah, Oh, Palma, O’Riley. Calmac. Even James Mccarthy.
No wonder we canny hit a barn door.
At the opposite end, Joe Hart is making brilliant saves, but I now know how his kicking can be improved at the blink of his eye.
……………..
NO NEED for Predator Boots……
Truly GREAT Players would score Goals wearing WHITE SANNIES !
LOL
HH.
Genuine question:-
How do you sack the board. ? I work with some Man Utd fans and they’ve been on about that since the Glaciers took over
HH.
Big Jimmy,
Is it Sannies or Gutties ?
HH.
GREENPINATA, Its a slow moving process :)
GREENPINATA on 21ST FEBRUARY 2024 11:31 AM
You can put pressure on them but ultimately you can’t sack them….just an expression of disgust..
Gutties for me.
GREENPINATA @ 11:31 AM
Genuine question:-
How do you sack the board. ? I work with some Man Utd fans and they’ve been on about that since the Glaciers took over
——–
GP – Lol.
“Sack the board” is a spurious concept … if “sack” means “dismiss”.
Can’t be done.
However if the meaning is comparable to e.g. “The Goths sacked Rome”?
Doable but radical and probably illegal …
.. in which case (to borrow an alleged quote from Sam Goldwyn)
“Gentlemen, include me out”
Auldheid – good stuff. Cheers.
Who is Chris?
We have a crazy benefit at work that gives you back $50 a month on any health spend.
Gym memberships, gutties and the likes.
Pretty neat benefit.
Re the CST and their assorted missions.
If they are the only show in town in terms of organising small shareholder representation then, IMHO, small shareholders could do worse than sign voting rights over to them (perhaps for a fixed period of time e.g. three years).
Doesn’t mean one supports their agendas fully or even in part.
But, as a tactic to leverage different representation and viewpoints at GMs and informally with board reps (a shake up) ?
Not the worst idea in the world.
Auldheid,
Keep fighting the good fight.
Sannies. When the sole began to detach we called them ‘laughing dannies’
Auldheid 3.17
Thanks very much for your response,but i wont be alter my position on res 12,its been voted against by a massive majority of shareholders,sadly not hard when 22%of shares are not maintained thus voting rights default to the plc board and the rest of bulk s/h fall in behind DD and his approx 44% holding.its been voted against,r12 is history,you know that but the facets and what we learn from it FSR,FSFA go on,i personally would like to see more of an audit path to excellence combined with a league structure reform as our football makes us look as tho we are making cream without milk.
I am not a shareholder a decision made in 1995 when the plc model was chosen(ie s/h concentration as it turned out in 99 and today)i can understand why with the amount of work needing done,and what a foundation put in but the bunnet but thats capitalism,hence as i said never been part of the CST.My opinions of r12 are only mine and from experience
I know of David Low from the pivotal work done sourcing estranged shares in the run up to Fergus takeover in 1994 when our club came close to becoming a memory,the opposite end of the opening line of Brendan Sweeneys Celtic early years- imagine a time when Celtic didnt exist,it came to f….n close for comfort,God bless fergus and his team.
I am weary of introducing open season on folk who are not here to defend themselves on various assertions.
In r12 whatever PL did was on the basis of what his Boss DD wanted,he wanted it gone got his way by deferrment postponing inacted on etc until it was fully voted against
It is not meant to demean r12 as you show other facets and changes,ffp to fsr etc,supporter involvement are all in their early days but i feel our energies should be put into those as r12 is lost.what we learn from it is ongoing and will be always.
The very best of luck in pursuing change at the sfa/governance i want that,i smiled at Badabings response to gate share,i expect a lot of Celts would be of similar mind.Good luck in your endevours for govrrnance.
Thats me endin chat bout a long voted against r12 and goin back to commentin on our current direction of travel as there is a lot to be getting on with.
Take care
HH
Auldheid
I respect your indefatigability as Mr Galloway once said.
I wonder what outcome you realistically expected to achieve which would benefit Celtic ?
SFTB
Running interference is exemplified by creating a straw man by deliberately misrepresenting what another poster has said and then knocking it down with a fallacious counter argument.
I could describe it less generously, but it’s certainly disingenuous.
What it certainly is not is another, equally valid point of view.
Chairbhoy is doing an excellent job in deconstructing various myths perpetuated on here and I believe doing is a service.
As for shilling for the Board, if you don’t see that I can’t help you. I would credit you with being a whole lot less cynical than me. Not necessarily an attractive quality I know.
Iwata ,McGregor ,and Holm to start on Sunday v Motherwell,and can we stop criticising the Lawells,Strachans,Rogers ,Kennedy,Strachan,we have a league to win ,don’t give MSM more ammunition to discredit us ,Celtic fans don’t need them they are no friends of ours,
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 21ST FEBRUARY, 10:57 AM,
Chairbhoy @ various posts
“I don’t have any qualms on ‘ net spend ‘ I’d like it to be more, I don’t tend to take sides about our club, be it the manager or upwards he does you’ll agree attract some supporter critique and resentment. He has to take share of any responsibility for what’s happened and what might be coming down the pike between now and May, It’s a team thing ( his words ). That said, there is now a consensus with a majority if you must, pointing to culpability elsewhere at Celtic
There’s a pattern there now, dropped points against sides not only with inferior budgets, but no budgets, and total reliance on loans and Bosmans. £20M net spend, ten clubs have no chance, but in a two horse race, and sadly whether some accept it or not, there are two horses ( again ) with a similar budget and similar sized fan base, Fergus McCann made sure our stadium was 10,000 ST’s bigger, now for three decades.
Well, there is quite a bit in there for two paragraphs, don’t think I’m unpacking that in one morning:)
Agreed on the “supporter critique and resentment…”
With so many having entrenched views it’s difficult to have a resasoned debate.
Gone are the days we could discuss Gordon Strachan’s sieve, or Tony Mowbray’s (Thoughts and Prayers) non striking strikers in a (relatively) constructive manner with few partizan view points, and a lot of humour from yourself and other great posters.
Now the complexity and efficacy of the budget is huge.
After the Aberdeen game at Pittodrie, I suggested in Nawrocki (4.2mn), we were not seeing a x8 better player than Mioski (0.8mn)
So, there’s the bang for buck debate
Then there’s the model, Paul67 mentions “incremental gains”, a hugely important aspect of our approach and what we need to accomplish if our recruitment strategy is successful, by it’s very definition, it takes time and constant effort – something the manager told us was needed last summer.
Now in October we had a “must win”, game against Athletico Madrid in the UCL at Celtic Park, we are away to Hearts the weekend before, we are away to Hibs (BR bogey ground) the week after.
With the strength, depth, and preparedness of squad necessary, twenty mn and two months doesn’t seem a lot of time and money to me… anybody tell you how much we had in the bank in June:))))
Of course, Killie at home in February and fholk thinking twenty mn, we should be skooshing them off the park.
Yet, the lack of squad preparation, the amount of development players and the psychological and physical effects of the winter has a huge knock on effect.
Fergus’s 10K advantage, is only an advantage if we invest it and invest it well.
We can’t think of it as a two horse race, what the secovians are doing is of little consequence – from basket case, to Europa Champions elect… let them struggle to get their head around that nonsense, we have an “elite” Club to build.
“You may recall I said I don’t want Celtic buying EPL floatsam and jetsam, from an already ludicrous market. I’d rather we’d a DOF, remember we were linked with various big names. I think just before we got ‘Lucky’ Postecoglu and the unlucky Dom MacKay instead?
So, no problem with £20M for the SPL and an elite manager tilt at the CL, that was the deal, bearing in mind he’s getting greatest league in the world wages, albeit he’s at wee diddy league Celtic. Brendan’s problem is where the net spend went and when he put his ‘fingers in his ears’ praising you know who, as we were signing the last of the summer nine.
Three ‘ ready mades’ at around £7M is neat and tidy, it might have been enough, and would certainly have avoided the log jam that’s been accumulating since soon after we failed to get Eddie Howe over the line, for some reason? We signed too many players and not only might it have cost the title, it’ll cause longer term problems. It’s fine saying £7M+ players might not perform either, it’s also fine saying Celtic cannot attract that price level of player, but the signing policy was creaking, even when we never stopped.
of player, but the signing policy was creaking, even when we never stopped.
We dished out contracts like confetti at the wrong wedding non development players Palma, Nawrocki ,Lagerbielke, Bernardo have not gotten near the alter. Some of the players old and new are still traumatised from being under the first Kilmarnock bus.
FWIW there’s also a big puddle during this monsoon season in Janefield Street, where a short full back if he wasn’t careful could drown, accountability is what we need if we want to be record breakers. The higher the bank balance the higher supporters expectations.
HH