Brendan Rodgers declared himself delighted with his first transfer window as Celtic manager, which is now over, after the additions of Kolo Toure, Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembele, Dorus de Vries and Cristian Gamboa.
Toure, Dembele and Sinclair, the managers three primary targets, were acquired early, while de Vries and right back, Gamboa, were added recently. Deals went close to the wire today but the hoped-for midfield player (which was never James McCarthy) didn’t materialise.
A permanent deal for a (known around these parts) central defender to backfill Jozo Simunovic, who was wanted by Torino, couldn’t be tied up either, so Torino also look to have missed their target.
You’ll hear direct from the manager soon enough but he’s got the calibre of recruit he wanted – which he didn’t know would be possible three months ago.
There was never anything possible to make a formidable Champions League group look any easier, but we’ll compete at the top table, and we’ll wipe the floor with all-comers domestically.
More tomorrow.
691 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- »
BURGAS HOOPS
“most are moaning` . Maybe not MOST, Burgas. It just feels like it is because they keep at it !
DogwithaboneCSC
I HAVE SEEN A LOT MORE FROM ERNIE ON THE `OLD FIRM` THAN I HAVE FROM CELTIC!
JJ
Sorry, didn`t mean to shout!
Looks like Ambrose is going to haunt the club for another while.
BEATBHOY on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 8:41 AM
Tallybhoy
What’s Italian for Sevco??
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
‘Sevco’ is, funnily enough, an Italian word. It entered the vocabulary some time ago via Latin.
Marius Fanibullus Sevco was a notorious fantasist, drunkard and bankrupt, who lived in Rome at the time of Caesar.
He was apparently exiled to Caledonia, and never heard from again.
HH!!
Well it’s tomorrow today, where is my jam? ;)
Only joking…ish. We had a good transfer window – it should have been an excellent transfer window but it wasn’t to be. I accept that signing players is challenging, but we are also told, repeatedly, that it is even more difficult to sign good players in January. So the lack of a good quality midfielder is disappointing and I think fans have a right to feel disappointed. I don’t buy into the feeling of being conned or short-changed, but people are allowed, in this record breaking revenue season, to feel a bit disappointed that a bigger splash wasn’t made.
We ARE stronger than before BR arrived – defence and attack are much improved. However, the weakness in midfield that was there last season, is still there now. This needed to be addressed and wasn’t, that’s why I’m disappointed. I’m not stamping my feet, just a little disappointed. I don’t think we are equipped to challenge for 3rd spot in our CL group with the current set of midfielders. If we are doing what Rosenbory used to do in the 90’s and early 00’s (show up, take the money and any points you get are a bonus) then fine, but let’s be honest about that. We made a big deal out of how transformational entry to the group stages was and quite rightly too – it should be hugely transformational. This morning it just seems a little bit transformational.
I trust BR to get the best out of this squad and I think he will put together a midfield that does the job with what we have available. However, I think we are being reasonable if we are disappointed and are reasonable to expect that this position is improved upon greatly in January.
Ambrose wont strike another blow for the first team. He has one year left on his deal, he’ll be gone in January.
Tallybhoy @ 8:59
Nice one 0:-)
JJ
ERNIE LYNCH on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 8:44 AM
TALLYBHOY on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 8:30 AM
How does the law on corporate insolvency in Italy compare to the law in the UK?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
No idea, but this may help.
Enjoy!
:-)
http://www.jus.unitn.it/cardozo/review/business/Insol.html
HH!!
Surprised nobody has done a list of most disappointing transfer windows.
Jan 2009 would probably be the winner I guess – the “Willo window”. What about Jan 2010 – the Mowbray scattergun window?
I think my own world be August 2003. “A name that will get Celtic supporters really excited” – hmmm, Michael Gray……..
I think those who are disappointed still fail to address these questions:
Who would you have bought;
How much would he have cost;
What would his wages have been;
Would he have made any meaningful difference to our likely successes and failures this season?
JJ
tonydonnelly67 on 1st September 2016 8:46 am
Right! A £10 million signing would have changed our whole outcome on how our C L travel will take us? IMO I doubt it, then again that’s me.
Brendan Rogers is happy? I’m fine with that, what we have we go with obviously.
Brendan Rogers is not in charge of the club signings? Who are these people? I have my own ideas so I’m not going there, don’t want to upset them as they are to busy with kill ultra these days, so I’ll leave that where it is.
All in all domesticly we are sound, and we’ve qualified for the group stages of the C L I’m happy with that and look forward to the new season ahead, knowing full well that some no matter what will never be happy, and to be honest, I honestly feel sorry for the misery they bring upon themselves.
Lurking Huns and level 5 helpers and the SMSM GIRFUYs
___________________________________________________
Tony, this is a very disconcerting post from you. Why? Because I pretty much agree with it :>)
Confused CSC
KTF
MWD
“I believe he had a target his bosses failed to secure.”
I think he had probably more than one. Interestingly though, when the rumour arrived that one of them was James Morrison, that gets put down to spin rather than truth. Brendan can still be “delighted” ( I have no idea if he is or isn’t but neither do any of those calling Paul out for saying it) with what he has done and still be wishing for more- there is absolutely nothing incongruous about those emotions and attitudes. There have been many times in my life where I aimed for one thing, ended up with another, and was still delighted with the experience….
but, we shouldn’t share sex-life anecdotes here- it’s not the place.
As for your theory about the collapse of a sale preventing a buy- it is plausible but I, daresay, as uninformed as any speculation I might be making. I would point out that we actually failed to sell Simunovic and Ambrose and Janko (who is on loan). The one we did get rid of (Mulgrew) was no longer ours anyway. Seems it is hard to sell on so-called “failed” Celtic players because we are selling them at the bottom of their value cycle.
I would be more critical of our selling failures (Boruc, Johansen and Maloney were all sold on the cheap) and on the failure to drum up a transfer fee for players like GMS and Ciftci but I start from the position that it is hard to get rid of players who are on lucrative contracts and are not starring or performing in any big shop window.
The solution to that dilemma is to buy fewer future failures. I just wish I knew how to transform that pious wish into operational instructions that any football manager could implement, but I can’t.
And I don’t believe that any of the critics can either.
It is easy to say that a more speculative (to accumulate) approach would have worked, but i can express any daft idea with a conditional clause and, unless someone is mad enough to put the ideas of an amateur in football into practice then we’ll never know if they’d fly or crash and burn.
Starting work now- will catch replies later
VFR800
I think, if you take into consideration Tony`s special brand of communicative styling, you will agree with quite a lot of what he says. Basically, he like Celtic and sticks up for them against detractors 0:-)
JJ
PS Hope you had a fine day with our Canadian visitors. They seemed a lovely couple.
PPS Cheerio for now. Back later.
Off oot, where I will no doubt meet some Italian fitba fans moaning about their clubs pathetic transfer window performance!
Sack the board!
HH!!
HOT SMOKED
You could be right.
Depressing stuff btw…………………..off out with two HAPPY dugs :-)
Hot Smoked
Two players I had in mind that could have done a good job for us in European matches were Mathieu Flamini or Mohamed Sissoko. Both were available on free transfers. Wages for either would have been significant and competition for Flamini would have been stiff – Roma and Torino were interested last I heard.
Maybe they aren’t players in the BR mould but I think they would have represented an improvement on what we have (in my opinion at least anyway).
Regarding the transfer window. This is nothing but a circus that is promoted by Sky to further promote their product. I doubt, stand to be corrected, any other country in Europe hang on this farce as the UK does.
The EPL clubs spent over £1billion YES £1 billion in this transfer window – obscene stuff. This is why we can’t get the players we would like. Not only are we not on the same planet we’re not in the same universe.
Spending £5-10 million on a player yesterday would have guaranteed diddly squat in the CL. What if that player gets injured in the first game or before it? Jozo anyone?
We have more than enough in our locker for the SPL but short of buying a team of Galacticos there’s not much we can do about the opposition we were drawn against in the CL.
I am far from being a Board apologist, just a realist. So I say to everybody enjoy the CL spectacle and the magic it brings to Paradise on these special nights, anything else is a bonus (I’m not talking PL here).
Hail! Hail! PMTYH
As an aside, some of the moaners on here who want the Club to blow £5-10 million on some guy who sweats money are also among the crowd who would begrudge as much as £5 to the GB’s Palestinian fund to help the really needy (sorry Hamas). I said some of the moaners not all.
Nae need to panic, here’s the team to face Barca…………..
……………………………….De Vries
……………..Lustig…….Simunovic……..Sviatchenko
Gamboa…………………..Toure…………………………Tierney
………………….Brown………………….Sinclair
…………Roberts
………………………………..Griffiths
HH :)
There is absolutely no need for people to come on here frothing at the mouth and throwing the toys out of the pram. That said, I think people are perfectly entitled to be disappointed we never signed a midfielder. Rodgers himself said something like the market could explode if we qualify for the Champions League, so I think that raises expectations, and I think he will be disappointed as well that we never got one more.
If we had signed a midfielder, I think the support would more or less have universally been delighted with the signings. To be only one player short doesn’t change that dramatically, it makes it a good instead of great window. No one knows the type of money we had to work with, and even £5m or £6m gets you very little in the English market. Everton thought they signed Sissoko having offered £10m more than anyone else, yet Spurs upped their offer at the last minute. So even huge money doesn’t guarantee to get the players you target.
The worst case scenario was a panic buy, ala Scepovic or Bangura or any number of the last minute disasters we have spunked a serious wedge on. Rodgers is still evaluating the squad. Rogic wasn’t a first pick a few weeks ago, now he looks like one of first names on the team sheet. If most people are in agreement that Brown and Bitton are not working well together, then it gives an opportunity for Armstrong, McGregor or Henderson to make a claim for that 3rd centre midfield spot. In the meantime I’m sure the manager will put a lot of time into scouting midfielders, knowing he can look to spend his entire budget in that area.
Perspective.
David
Not fair ! You have only answered the easy questions ( 9:06) !
Definitely off now,
JJ
Hot Smoked
:)
One more thing, I could see Ambrose being released if he can find himself a club that would take him as a free agent.
Good window overall.
Very disappointing yesterday, we really wanted a midfielder and it is worrying that with the finances and carrot of the CL we couldn’t do a deal. Equally disappointing that more of the deadwood couldn’t be shifted. But January isn’t that far away and we have to continue the good work, as much as many of us feel it is two years late, we’re on the right path again and who knows what opportunities will present themselves in the next window?
Anyway, events in Israel vs Beer Sheva may turn out to be a blessing as a lot was learned about certain players that night without costing us a place in the CL group stages.
With our forward players, the added pace and skill – we can score goals against anyone. A few high scoring games in the CL, certainly at home, would be a good bet.
Agree with comments about Ajer and would also add that if he is good enough, he is old enough – give him a chance.
HH
After all the blood, sweat and tears to qualify the last 8 days have been a significant disappointment. We had targets, we have the needs and we had the money but we are still at least one payer — DM — away from a stable and capable squad.
Last Tuesday showed we had glaring deficiencies at RB and DM.
No debate required — it was on public display in the Negev.
Consequently to fail in one of these areas has to carry some consequences.
PL — “go, go in the name God and go now”.
Time is well and truly up — charicature that isn’t funny.
Plus we are still carrying a significant amount of deadwood.
Consequently when the wash up is done we have to admit that we have not handled the last week very well and this will be reflected in our CL performance unless something exceptional can be coaxed from our existing squad.
From the outside little blame can be attached to BR — he has nickle and dimmed his way so far towards a better squad to the point of giving up his high cost CB but he has fallen at the final hurdle.
Lack of progress now means more work over the next 12 months.
Plus it means working SA / KA / RC to the max.
Not very sure about LH — he has the swagger but not the subtlety or the nous to make it for us at the moment. Plus JMcG seemed to have the better game and the bigger potential when I saw them both playing last season. I fear the fan boy factor comes into play as we want one of our own to succeed over an outsider.
However for me JMcG should have been a target this month.
Reggie
If Ambrose was available on a free I think we should take him as cover….
;)
Morning all. Not being completely clued up in all aspects of the modern transfer window , I can only trust our host that Brendan , indeed, is happy. I would suggest our midfield will struggle with the present game plan in the CL when Barca & City will be all over us like flies if we build up from the back like Saturday.
Whoever is selected for the goal keeper will be busy. With pass backs and shots aplenty.
The suggestion that Peter Lawwell and the board take responsibility for the lack of a new midfielder lacks evidence.
There is plenty of evidence though that the same board condone over a decade of cheating .
Nothing mentioned about the lack of governance by the football authorities ( of which we are part of) ignoring that the game was a bogey. For at least a decade.
Business is business after all.
Sport ?
The rule breaking was serious , deliberate and prolonged.
Lord Nimmo Smith.
No sporting advantage.
Lord Nimmo Smith.
Silence is golden. CFC.
Not signing a midfielder is a non event in comparison.
Fcuk the SFA.
I could tell we were not signing anyone
As Phil was tweeting like mad yesterday
Would be interested to know if Morrison was on BR’s wish list or if he was someone who came up in the usual last day scramble. Was it ever a possibility or is it being put out in the media as another ‘we tried but……’
Happy with the five we got in, a midfielder would have sealed one of our better windows.
Midfield is glaring area of weakness and needs addressed as a priority next window.
AULD TAM on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 8:13 AM
JIMTIM –
You can’t have it both ways. Since the new signings arrived we have been told on here ad infinitum that Rodgers was in full control of team matters and that Lawwell had been pushed aside.
As soon as an attempted signing doesn’t materialise, we’re now back to Lawwell’s running the show and Brendan’s a puppet.
Oh well, there it is then.
@@@@@@@@@@
Who was the attempted signing . How do you know we tried for a midfielder , plenty names mentioned but nothing concrete . I’m happy with the signings made , but as you no doubt saw vs beer Sheva our midfield needed fixed , it was rid rotten . And where did I mention PL I said WHAT stopped BR getting a midfielder .
Ach don’t panic!
The January transfer window is only four months away!
HH!!
Tallybhoy
As they say, every day’s an education on here.
Lessons always better when the Magister is funny!
Davidopoulos on 1st September 2016 9:16 am
Was Flamini picked up by anyone? If not, he could still be, of course… not sure where he is in terms of fitness of course…
HH
Tallybhoy on 1st September 2016 9:27 am
Ach don’t panic!
The January transfer window is only four months away!
HH!!
——————————————————————————
Remind me to go somewhere without phone signal or wifi on 31st January ;)
traditionalist88
Looks like he didn’t – think Roma still sniffing about. True, free transfers can still be signed…
Da huns are a big threat
We shoulda put daylight between us n them
Yesterday however Plyers are there not in an overinflated English market
Where we seem to be shopping
Our scouts must be dung as all the players brought in seem to be scouted by Rodgers himself
Traditionallist88.
Flamini great player
Davidopoulos on 1st September 2016 9:29 am
Surprised he hasnt been signed by anyone, only 32. Possibly carrying an injury,
HH
SAOR ULADH on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2016 8:59 AM…
Silly disrespectful comment…100% Celtic man, regardless of your opinion…