We spoke a while back about clubs’ footballing identities. The Red Bull stable, City Football Group teams, as well as those using Jamestown Analytics have similar characteristics to each other (despite enormous differences in resources, on some occasions).
Even unsuccessful clubs can have consistent identities, think Manchester United, or Newco, who rinse and repeat the same plan year-after-year. While some clubs can be successful without a coherent identity – they simply buy better players then their opponents.
If Celtic are to maximise their potential, they need a clear identity and that should be to find and develop players like Callum Osmand (19). It is a crime against football that Callum had not seen a minute’s professional action until six days ago. It is a crime against Celtic that he sat on the bench against Kairat Almaty in August, alongside Johnny Kenny (22).
Callum and Johnny have a long way to go to develop into Champions League players. You and I know to expect that, at most, only one of them will make the cut. However, they were good enough to deliver in a crucial game on Sunday and might have done the same in August.
We signed Callum on 30 June. No deadline day dramas, no fighting off Ajax, just the recruitment department preparing throughout the season and getting approval from the manager to bring in an out-of-contract player.
Johnny has been a Celtic player since he was 18 and was sent out on three loans before happenchance left a space in the squad this term. Then an injury got him a shirt. Can we develop him into a better player? Probably, but at a point, we need to commit to a football identity consistent with doing so.
There is an expectation that Hearts’ league challenge will suffer when Celtic and Newco spend their greater resources in January. I am more concerned with whom Tony Bloom could bring to Edinburgh from Brighton or USG. Hearts remain outsiders this season, but the challenge is coming. For Celtic, Callum Osmand is the model. Get good at it, get a manager who pays more than lip-service to it, or prepare for some harsh times.
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HH
Aye, Monday is in the bag.
Happy Wednesday eve all!
Bring on the Midtjylland!
HH!
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY re: leaving paradise
I didn’t want to leave that night, that is for sure.
Wooooft!
Two days to our flight to Scotland (if we can get though the airport security) 🙄
Goatfell climb and Killy game beckons – good luck to the bhoys on Thursday.
Incoming……
Interesting idea, Paul. Bloom will already have crunched the numbers and will have a good idea of how the probability changes with different additions to the Hearts squad.
It hadn’t crossed my mind that he could readily drop in a few loanees from his other clubs.
Jings…
Enjoy the Goatfell climb TexasTim.
My Looval lover fell in love with that island this year.
Jealous you get to see MON in the dugout.
HH!
Texastim – enjoy.
Sounds like an arduous pursuit for the month of November.
The Goatfell climb might be challenging too
(I’ll get my coat)
One element of the recruitment strategy we should all be able to buy into?
The cross border raid for players under 22 who are out of contract.
Depth and quality in the English pyramid is strong.
We pay lower compensation than would be paid by English clubs competing against us … so we have a clear advantage
(Among the many disadvantages we have in the transfer market)
No brainer.
Paul67
Marvellous
BSR – “That awkward moment when Andrew Dallas is drawing the lines.”
Djiga still struggling to get the blue paint off his left boot.
“If Celtic are to maximise their potential, they need a clear identity and that should be to find and develop players like Callum Osmand (19). It is a crime against football that Callum had not seen a minute’s professional action until six days ago. It is a crime against Celtic that he sat on the bench against Kairat Almaty in August, alongside Johny Kenny (22).”
Whilst in agreement there are some mixed messages there.
Celtic, very much need to use the development model if they are to punch their weight in the football world.
Callum Osmand is a great example of how we took a young man with potential, and developed him.
Steve McManus and the B team get very little credit for the work they do – but Callum did great with the B team, got physically stronger, sharper and scored goals.
Like Johnny Kenny and Liam Scales before him – it proves with the right structure and application, Celtic can really excel at this.
A dozen years ago Celtic were at the forefront of this idea, a decade before that Tommy Burns was putting forward a blueprint for an elite football academy.
The fact that our elite football academy was shelved twenty years ago and our football approach has been so badly executed for well over a decade is a clear indication that Celtic PLC have failed abjectedly in their management of Celtic Football Club.
We need to get rid of the failing Board who have singularly failed to show ambition or the wherewithal to deliver on the footballing front.
BR&CO’s excellent development of Matt O’Riley, Nic Kuhn, Liam Scales etc was more down to the luck that we had the skillsets in our football department, than Board leadership and structures that have been missing for twenty odd years.
We need a proper football Board with proper footballing structure and ambition, and we need it now – Hearts are a serious footballing organisation now and it’s high time we became one.
Hail Hail
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full @ 12:17 pm,
Totally agree, the amount of talented young English talent that do not get a look in due to the “World Class” foreign imports, brought in by the top teir Clubs is ubiquitous.
We had a Chelsea Academy near here that hoovered up most of the young local talent, they had(have) several that feed into their main academy at Cobham.
Very few of these very talented lads ever see Chelsea first team action.
We should have been mining this stream for years…
Hail Hail
Board will be rubbing their hands in expectation of a bid for Callum next summer then. Im all for developing players to make a profit, but let us see them for a few years first.
SONSOFERIN on 4TH NOVEMBER 2025 12:27 PM
BSR – “That awkward moment when Andrew Dallas is drawing the lines.”
Djiga still struggling to get the blue paint off his left boot.
———-
He was overcome by blue emulsion.
I think he has the world record 4 penalties in the same game St.Mirren I think and one of them was outside the box 😀 Couldn’t pass the SFA ‘physical’ fitness exam, so they gave him a desk job, like his Da.
IF this is the model we should all buy into then I do think it is important that people like you Paul, the club PR people and anybody talking about Celtic make it clear that our ambitions will only ever be domestic success.
Yes, we are delighted to see this young lad do well on Sunday, and for Johnny Kenny to be scoring is also great but for those of us of a certain age we saw players like Owen archdeacon, Gerry Creaney, Brian O’Neil and Mark Burchill all score against rangers. It doesn’t mean they will be a success.
Hardly anyone will object to free transfers/young players/low fee signings being snapped up with potential. Why would they? But if that the SOLE model of our recruitment – as it was this summer – then we will continuously fail to make any kind of mark in Europe.
A blend of signings is the way to do it. Paul Hartley and Barry Robson were signed almost 20 years ago and won us the league in 2007/08. Not Scott Brown and Massimo Donati wo were signed for much more.
However, sometimes you need the game changers and the added bit of quality. We struggle to retain our quality players. They mainly leave for a big fee/wage and then fail elsewhere – one or two aside.
We have all enjoyed the last two days but your gloating has gone into overdrive Paul. Fair enough. The FACTS will show though that once again we will be also rans in Europe and this will continue into next summer when we fail to show any ambition.
It won’t change and so I have now accepted we are all about domestic success and nothing else. The collective and other groups will not go away, they club will continue to see below capacity crowds in most games and the income will be reduced as many people fail to spend at CP.
Arrogance is a weakness shown by DD and our board. Billionaires and millionaires ignoring the views of others is not a new idea but it is a sad one. We could be much more than we are.
Chairbhoy
Sadly we need a manager who buys into the strategy.
‘It is a crime against Celtic that he sat on the bench against Kairat Almaty in August, alongside Johnny Kenny (22) – Crime against Celtic?
Calm doon, Paul – you’re straying into polar bear territory again.
To look at criminal player omissions, I’d venture it’s worse that a proven striker from the J-League has been carefully scouted, yet so poorly inculcated or integrated into the squad that he’s been sidelined since signing.
You don’t go from being an accomplished – or leading – striker in a sound league to a guy with less skill and gamesmarts than Master Osmand. Yes, Callum eventually took his goal well (after squibbing two other gold chances) but BR and Co have surely slipped up in integrating Shin !
It should still be a relevant part of our model to acquire proven quantities at keen prices (like Shin) and dovetail them into a balanced Celtic side. Shin’s 25 – most of your Gorgie pals’ analytics computer are signing guys of that profile too; Braga 25, Kyziridis 24, Borchgrevink 26 etc.
Sure we all wish Osmand well. But we need to optimise all our acquisitions – even the old guys in their mid-20s.
——–
BTW; dem Hun bloggers are awash with the ole deludamol. Bangers !
Chairbhoy
Not one who undermines es it at every public utterance.
Tangbhoy
What’s you’re big strategy then ?
How do the club custodians achieve this nirvana ?
I am sure Ajax or Feyenoord or Salzburg or Anderlecht or Benfica or Brugge or Copenhagen would love to benefit from your wisdom …….
Let’s start with winning domestically and a proper player development model. Then enjoy 2 or 3 years every decade getting a good hit at last 16 or 8 in CL. Or even a Europa semi or final.
Burnley78 @ 12:48 pm,
Well, it’s hardly all on “the manager”.
He has a lot to be getting on with.
Martin O’Neil certainly backed and supported Tommy Burns with his academy plans, he gave youngsters opportunities – yet he had cups to win and European success to pursue.
So, we need the structures in place and development has to be inherent in the Club.
At the moment and for most of the last twenty years player development has been more luck than judgement.
As for the strategy can you tell me what that is?
The only “strategy” I can see is sell a player when an eight figure bid comes in, or less if we feel the player can’t improve their transfer fee.
Using player recruitment as a revenue stream has failed – not because there hasn’t been notable successes but because there has been hundreds of failures.
If we concentrated on the “football” then player value comes naturally as a consequence.
How many HVPs have we sold that haven’t shown in the UCL?
Yet we don’t prepare for the UCL.
The player development strategy has failed with Gordon, Tony Mowbray, Lenny, Ronny and Ange…
Their public utterances fell on deaf ears in the Boardroom.
It will be exactly the same for the new guy after the honeymoon period.
Hail Hail
Some good points made today.
We must get the sidelined (by BR ) players included in frst team matters no doubt. But I have strong beliefs that Martin knows what he is doing, as does Moloney.
Comments on thems Statement, pathetic , really sad. Just hope the SFA does not apologies again as they did before. I mean, who is running Scottish football, I think we all know the answer.
kingLUBO
PAUL67….Can you please FIX the LOG IN Problems ASAP ?
Thank you.
Hate to say this but |Hearts and thems are improving, we have to be careful out there
kingLUBO
QUADROPHENIAN
A long time before ‘ they calm doom’ , no only was Brendan bad, it was criminal .they can’t all get in the CL squad – it’s simple arithmetic.
They have the knowledge that the manager doesn’t share. Whoever the manager, they forgot Osmand’s development in the Lowland B team, and his eventual goal?
Still too way too busy sticking pins in their Brendan dolls.
Pity they didn’t have any Celtic class like Callum McGregor who has ‘real knowledge’.
“Hopefully he’ll be judged on what he’s done for the club. He changed the landscape of this club massively. … As a club, we have a lot to thank him for. We wish him well, of course. He was amazing for my career and has done so much for me.”
Callum MacGregor
P.s. Wonder if they hate our Captain as well?
Burnley78 @ 12:56 pm,
Tangbhoy made some excellent points in his comments but as usual you don’t put together a single coherent point.
You can quote dozens of Clubs that do things right – you can even add Hearts to that next year.
The point is we need Celtic to be doing it….
C..E..L..T..I..C…. CELTIC!! I see Celtic, I see Celtic on the ball.
This Board are most Certainly not on the ball.
Your list of Clubs doing what Celtic are failing to do is just an embarrassing reminder.
Paul67 has been harping on about this “model” for a dozen years.
Isn’t it obvious to him and you? We’ve had the same Board in all that time and they haven’t manage to execute a successful strategy.
We need to clear them out and get in competent football people.
Hail Hail
BSR @ 1:24 pm,
Great quote from Calmac there.
Hail Hail
Chairbhoy – cheers
“One element of the recruitment strategy” was intentional.
I don’t think the recruitment strategy in of itself needs to be complicated.
Buy one first team squad ready player – aged 25 or under – in the first 30 days of every summer transfer window.
Buy one development player in the first 30 days of every summer transfer window.
Everything else ….
– 31 August scramble
– January window business
– Aaron Mooy style stop gaps
… is optional depending on circumstances and opportunities.
Burnley 78 “I am sure Ajax or Feyenoord or Salzburg or Anderlecht or Benfica or Brugge or Copenhagen would love to benefit from your wisdom …….”
Ajax bought 4 players this summer for a combined 46.25 Million
Feyenoord spent 57.4 Million
Benfica spent 102 Million including 27M on one player
Brugge spent 38 Million
Salzburg and Copenhagen admittedly are closer to our level of spending but my point is that even teams with a coherent academy structure and plan supplement their squads with big money signings.
It just makes sense especially with the riches to be earned from the Champions League.
This years failure was unforgivable and I don’t think Callum Osmond would have saved the day either but holding on to Kuhn for those two games might have.
https://x.com/acsompod/status/1985640470064632253?s=48&t=pLERKYVBy2vfK2Cym_B3Tw
Here’s the main incidents from Sunday
Ah we are back to the maw-doh!
Is this still a thing?
Buying in english training academy products
Sell them high on development….says what exactly of our own training academy?
What is a maw-doh if we do not look at the environments in which the development players are meant to set for 1st team ready places?
It is pointless,reform the national set up,have a settled path to first team in settled leagues,at the moment they are miles away from 1st team,make it a league pillar having a tiered age strategy
HH
What is the path Calmac followed?
BTW just to add Salzburg with their Celtic level of spending are currently joint bottom of the Europa League with a certain Rangers FC! maybe their manager doesn’t believe in the model either.
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full @ 1:34 pm,
“….I don’t think the recruitment strategy in of itself needs to be complicated.”
Absolutely, totally agree…
Buy a talented youngster and develop him.
Our Board ingeniously thought that up…
If only Stein and Fallon knew:)))
In all seriousness the technology does seem to be an important recruitment tool now and we need to be much better at this.
And really, the obsession with age needs to go imo – there is no indication Tony Bloom uses this a a key driver.
Callum Osmand getting good advice from the Manager…
https://www.skysports.com/football/video/30998/13404018/callum-osmand-celtic-signing-on-what-brendan-rodgers-said-to-him-so-he-can-flourish-at-the-premiership-champions
Prescient!?
Hail Hail
thems are improving,
—————-
what evivence of that ?
watched whole game again rwice, THEY HAD 3 SHOTS ON TARGET, THEIR DEFENCE LOST 3 GOAL AND GAVE AWAY DOZENS OF SHOTS
Football likes simple, it’s also prone to mass hysteria which can mean relatively insignificant events have a huge impact on collective thinking.
A sensible head might suggest a bit of caution before looking at the events of the past two months and drawing big conclusions but when you’ve got enough of the sort of evidence we have now and events over a significant period, if it doesn’t inform your strategy you’re making some serious errors.
When there’s been a perception of failure at the club we normally hear about the need for some sort of review or investigation. No need this time, we’ve got clear evidence of one strategy failing badly while another excels.
The mistakes run deeper than not playing Kenny and Osmand. Playing heroes and Villains doesnt work, arguing about personalities or individuals misses the point, it’s all about an organization thats united with clear common goals, working to a single smart strategy. If you don’t stick to your plan you dont have a plan at all.
We can argue about it as much as we want, but if you’re the head coach or manager you have to accept that or you don’t have a place at Celtic. Like Paul67 said we have a tendency of appointing managers who we think have the qualities that were missing in the previous, failed, ones. I hope we don’t completely ignore what a Brendan or Martin brings, but “transformational” should be for the dressing room, not the business or the football operations. A very clear part of the remit for Celtic managers is development of players, with the understanding that he might not see the best of those players; if a head coach isn’t prepared to have that as part of his planning then he should be excluded from any recruitment process. We’ve seen that even a very good football manager cant stop the business failing if he refuses to do it.
Thats its taken two very important games to be won by development players to convince us fans of the obvious mistakes that were being made is a bit of an indictment of the club’s inability to communicate the strategy properly. Told you so’s shouldn’t need to come from bloggers. The PR machine should have done a far better job than Paul67 and the rest of us cheerleaders in communicating what isnt really a complex idea. There will always be some who are too invested in the old ways of thinking to have interest in understanding but for the majority who genuinely want whats best for Celtic ahead of anything else Micheal Nicholson needs to do better. He had a brief go at it at the meeting with the fans groups, but saying that we always look at players for the short, medium and long term isnt enough. His hands are tied by what he can say commercially but we need to know more.
It will take time for us to rectify the mistakes we’ve made strategically but Brendan’s sudden and clear failure and the success at Hearts has given the club the opportunity to do better with more support than before.
The Bada Bing
Looking at those 4 different decisions in the era of VAR there’s no excuses, ‘referee unsighted’ ‘happened too quickly to call it’.
This is sheer incompetence and/or bias
Good afternoon all. A braw day in old Glasgow Town. Hard to tell if it’s raining or hun tears. 🤔
I also think that a lot of the criticism about “performance” in the transfer window will change once we concentrate on signing players who really want to come to Celtic. There’s nothing wrong in itself with trying to get better players than we already have, at the same time as making them, one doesnt have to be exclusive of the other, but the club cant come out of every window at odds with itself.
CHAIRBHOY on 4TH NOVEMBER 2025 1:07 PM
“As for the strategy can you tell me what that is?”
This again. Not long ago you told me we had two strategies, one secret one public. Now this:
“The only “strategy” I can see is sell a player when an eight figure bid comes in, or less if we feel the player can’t improve their transfer fee.”
I did explain it to you, three times.