Alexandro Bernabei (24) joined Brazilian side Internacional yesterday for a fee in the region of £4m, providing a small profit on the fee we paid Lanus for him 2.5 years ago, although there a sell-on clause is likely to consume that.
Not every player will work out at Celtic, but ensuring those who do not make the cut leave at a fee consistent with what we paid for them is a critical part of squad management. The Americas have been good to us in this respect, with Giorgos Giakoumakis and Patryk Klimala both heading over the Atlantic for a higher ticket price then they arrived with. Giorgos only spent a year at Atlanta before the MLS side doubled their money when the striker went to Mexico.
There is a fair chance we will bring in a left back with a different profile from Alex this month. If so, the returning son will be celebrated as befits the best left back we have seen in 50 years. There are, however, strategic worries.
Signing players at their peak, when their value has already topped out, is a short-term play. It all you are interested in is this season, or next, you will be happy with this route. You and I are here for the long haul, though. We know how hard Celtic need to work to compete in the Champions League every year and what we need to do to stay ahead in Scotland.
I want to see a Celtic team full of Nicolas Kuhn and Arne Engels-types. Players we have worked hard to find and can bring to Scotland before their profile has reached critical levels. We will not keep many of them for long, but that will only make it easier to attract the best talent next time.
We have talked about Brighton owner and savant Tony Bloom a few times. On Sunday, Brighton won away at Manchester United for the third season running. They had three different managers for those wins and (including subs) used 33 different players.
Brighton are ruthlessly dedicated to plan. Bloom sets the strategy and the managers accept it or move on. Abundant transfer profits are ploughed into ever-improving scouting, higher wages and transfer budget. By contrast, we have a more short-term outlook. It will deliver domistically, for a while, anyway. Others will make more progress.
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Buckeyes.
Ok
HH
When I see the name Giakoumakis, I shudder and think that for penny pinching, we had our striker oven ready and would have eliminated the expensive Idah gamble.🤔
Think Giakoumakis was unhappy to play second fiddle to Kyogo hence him leaving.
If tierney helps bank us another 50m by helping us qualify for CL next season that will do for me. We could sign a bernabei type and miss out on qualifying but hey hope we get our 3m back if we sell him on.
For years we missed out on CL bounties against teams with inferior budgets because we didn’t have players ready for qualifiers.
We have the opportunity with the right strategy to make more money from Europe than we do from sales.
I think the comparison between Celtic & Brighton is nonsense. Would Celtic fans be happy to ruthlessly follow the business model and fail miserably in Europe most seasons. I think the fans of Celtic would be more demanding than fans of Brighton. Starting to get bored hearing about Brighton all the time on here now.
Greenpinata
Its not about money if you dont drive
It is about courtesy to the elderly,disabled and infirm pedestrians whose access to the pavement is blocked by selfish motorists who think i pay my road tax i can park on any pavement they wish.
The disabled and wheelchair bound in my neighbourhood only want access to their own pavement.it is fookaw to do with cycle lanes,thats is your divert.its nonsense,if you are so for it why have pavement at all.
Its always the same with drivers,no telling them what to do.well fook them they are inconsiderate and selfish as long as they get a space blockin a pavement
HH
It’s only a problem if we sign a team full of KT’s , surely there’s room for one or two if it helps us and those projects get better.
Just away to check out Brighton’s trophy cabinet.
An Tearmann on 21st January 2025 12:23 pm
Greenpinata
Don’t get me started on asswipes who park in disabled car spots!
Well, I’m sure we all remember the “success” our development players delivered for us in Rotterdam last season!
If we look through the smoke and mirrors we know that better players will take us further in Europe.
Of course the fear for some is that it will also make us stronger domestically and potentially prove damaging to the old firm.
Motherwell knock back £2.5 million from Udinese for Lennon Miller
An Tearmann on 21st January 2025 12:23 pm
Greenpinata
Its not about money if you dont drive
__________________
Spot on. The arrogance of some motorists is downright criminal.
Celtic supporters are here for the long term and the short term though, Paul.
We can’t solely buy potential, develop it and them sell. We need to have an ambitious side for the here and now. It’s not simple to juggle but it’s not a coincidence that we have done well in Europe with so many established players in the squad. We have several 25, 26 and 27 year olds.
If we are only going to go down the route of signing younger players and never signing established ones we wouldn’t have won the league in 2008, as we wouldn’t have signed Hartley and Robson.
If Celtic declared they were looking for a way out of the Scottish league system, I’d accept years of squirreling money away, but that doesn’t seem to be on the agenda. Therefore, it’s all about balance. We won’t get it right every time, and we may have a window where 2 stars of the team are sold, and we go again, but please let’s not solely sign potential. History shows us we need balance.
Good afternoon all from Blackpool. Still raining.
I fundamentally disagree that it’s all or nothing re player trading. The Lawwell summer window put that debate to bed for me.
Regardless of strategy though, something has gone very wrong at Celtic if we can’t accommodate players like Tierney.
Tierney like our manager, is a class above and such people are only within are reach because they’re one of us. Enjoy it.
An Tearmann on 21st January 2025 12:23 pm
Disagree. A dose of common sence is required.
Guys,
I am all for being the best we can be. I am more than happy to sign the best players we possibly can, providing we use a common sense approach..
Especially to compete in European football which refreshes the parts domestic football cannot.
But why are we not producing our own players to supplement our strategy.?
This is a big question. Why is it not being addressed ?
Scottish football has proven we can produce, train and optimise raw football talent.
We have world class facilities for development but to put it bluntly we are not optimising what we have.
How many sitters must our forwards miss before Daniel Cummings gets a sniff. ?
Eg : When we are cruising , why not give our fringe players some game time.
Its common sense, if we don’t use them we will lose them.
HH.
Duraglit eschewing Brighton are our beacon.
Standing on the shoulders of pygmies.
As of June 30, 2023, Brighton & Hove Albion’s gross debt was £373 million, which was the fourth largest in the Premier League. The club’s debt is high, but it’s considered manageable because the club’s owner, Tony Bloom, provides support
Yesterday P67 was citing the treble as our sole focus for the remainder of the season, today, we’re being told to adopt the strategy of a club that have won eff all and are under no pressure to win anything.
Important stuff
It’s possible to enjoy the here and now and also be concerned about the mid and long term.
Our first team has too few young players in it, our squad not enough places for developers. It can’t be an occasional thing, it must be something we look at every window.
It’s part of every Celtic managers job to embrace not fight against it.
Greenpinata
Yup common sense to park on the road where due tax is paid,not the pavement.
Re youth
Maybe one of the reasons there is no path to 1st team.
No reserve league structure
‘B’ team is way to distant from 1st team imo.
Dont get me wrong Gp your sentiment is correct,especially regards our history but alas our governing bodies and clubs fail us by not providing the structures for progression.As i have said previously we are trying to make cream with no milk.Sadly,i hope i am wrong,we will loose Daniel Cummings like Rocco Vata and Daniel Kelly before
HH
“Should have gone to Santa Ponsa.” Mrs BRRB opinion of the weather on the Fylde Coast.
Have we signed embdy yet?
bigrailroadblues on 21st January 2025 1:05 pm
“Should have gone to Santa Ponsa.” Mrs BRRB opinion of the weather on the Fylde Coast.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Is Blackpool not the Santa Ponsa of the Irish Sea?
Brighton may not have won anything ever but Tony Blooms long term strategy has turned them from being a standard EFL Championship team into an established EPL team in fifteen years – finishes of 9, 6 11th and now they sit ninth.
The days of Celtic getting into the EPL and being a top six club without too much work are gone, its by far the most competitive league now. Teams like Bournemouth, Forest, Brighton, Newcastle, Fulham and Brentford provide a serious challenge to the big guys now. To be able to do as well as a club the size of Brighton are doing over an extended period means they must be doing something very right.
You only have to look at the mess that Leicester are on and off the pitch to see what can happen if you take your eye off the bigger picture.
There’s not a lot of young players in the squad because the young players we bought weren’t good enough – which is why a balanced window is always important. It mitigates the risk.
McPhail Bhoy
Tried that line on her. Then everything went dark.
IMHO , we need to recruit a post Callum leader .
If not KT , then who ?
Interesting parallel re Brighton and Celtic.
Brighton and Celtic are both incredible examples of spectacularly well run clubs this past 20 years.
Different of course but both achieving beyond fans wildest dreams.
Sadly Brighton is nowhere near its ceiling whereas we have a glass one to punch through. Sadly for me also we appear have recently switched to more short term tactics and away from the long term strategy which has seen domestic dominance and European last 16 on 3 occasions in a 20 year period. Hopefully at least this year we benefit from the short term approach again and can get to that level that one more time.
YORKBHOY on 21ST JANUARY 2025 12:46 PM
Its all owed to Bloom, he provided the cash for the push into the EPL, paid the majority for the new the stadium and training ground and bailed them out after Covid pushed a lot of clubs into big debt. Different model to Celtic – they can carry big debts because its a privately owned company and they have access to the EPL tv ash which makes servicing a debt much easier
They are now very profitable and totally sustainable.
Its an impressive story, particularly considering theyre up against the might of American private equity and oil money these days.
Hes a Brighton fan so its unlikely he’s doing all this for a return.
Every team needs its “beating-heart” type players and we’re approaching the point were we will lose two of ours in James Forrest and Calum McGregor. These are the guys who ensure a degree of continuity when we are actively pursuing the player-trading model. They uphold the club’s culture and what it really means to play for Celtic. For me, this makes the signing of Kieren Tierny a no-brainer, even if he’s on relatively high wages.
It’s also quite logical that we can’t afford to sell the above type of player every time we receive an offer for them. Dispensing with those players represents the equivalent of open heart surgery or a heart transplant and whilst we can survive that, it doesn’t preclude the possibility of a huge drop-off in performance. Our last major decline coincided with Tierney heading off to Arsenal. In saying that, there is no disrespect intended towards Taylor who is a very decent player. If we have both, we will be as strong in that position than we have ever been.
AN DÚN on 21ST JANUARY 2025 1:29 PM
“It mitigates the risk.”
Depends on the balance. The Summer window was too cautious – the short term risk might have been mitigated but the longer term wasnt. Theres a huge opportunity cost in signing Trusty and Idah for £15.5m.
Theres not enough younger players in the squad because we’re choosing not to sign them. One window apart the strategy has worked well, we need to learn from Brighton, improve our scouting and find more spaces in the squad and the team for them.
Celtic40ME
We have just added to our scouting network by adding the 80 year old ,highly experienced David Pleat .
TT
Celtic40me
Theres not enough younger players in the squad because we’re choosing not to sign them.
—-
I’ve no idea what players we’ve decided not to sign, I’m not sure how you can say that, unless you’re working with the Club ?
As for Idah, he’s 23, has scored at every level for Celtic and is a regular international. If that doesn’t tick the boxes for development I don’t know what does.
As usual several CL Games on TV tonight via DISCOVERY ( TNT Sports) Channel.
One of the 8pm Kick Offs is Liverpool v Lille.
I was planning on watching THAT match, but then I realised that…. THAT TWAT McCoist will probably be commentating on that game ?
If so, I will watch one of the other games ?
HH.
Rocco Vata chose Watford when he was to be put the third striker roll, Daniel Kelly chose Millwall for game time better than playing reserve stuff up here? “ You’ll win nothing by playing Kids “
Shay Given was told he was too wee by Luigi Macari
A recent survey 4% of academy players make Pro football
All be Brendan’s fault, of course 👍
Well let’s hope Tony (savant) Bloom’s Hearts start showing the mid~table ambition of Brighton, or the resurgence in Scotland’s traditional best team ‘s we are currently seeing will be devoid of the Capital’s biggest Club.
Celtic don’t need to look at the City Group or Brighton and Hove Albion to find a winning player recruitment strategy.
They have honed their own since R2ngers died.
We have learned from past mistakes, got much better at implementation and are now in a position of strength.
Our multidisciplinary approach is by far the best fit for Celtic.
Take the prodigal – if he returns before the end of this transfer window, by the summer we have a top class player worth 20 mn.
City Group and Brighton may think they have the smartest guys in the room – in fact, there was a recruitment meeting for Celtic FC at the end of last year in Dublin, if your looking for the smartest guys in European football, look no further…
West is the Best
Hail Hail