The wrong move can kill the career of a footballer. We discussed Maik Nawrocki on Tuesday, who arrived in Glasgow as a promising 22-year-old but has scarcely seen grass on active duty since. The same can happen to proven talents, such as Kyogo.
Rennes were in relegation trouble when he joined them in January. Three days later, the manager who signed him was sacked, leaving Kyoto a peripheral figure since. Anthony Ralston has played more than twice as many minutes for Celtic as Kyogo has for Rennes since the Japanese forward went to France.
Reports from France suggest Kyogo will be available for transfer when the window opens in June. Like Jota, 30-year-old found the perfect platform to flourish at Celtic. Like Jota, his slight frame does not fit the popular identikit of the modern player. He will struggle to find a place to land next season which makes the most of his outstanding talent.
You want him back. I know how you feel. So many great goals and great performances mean he is an easy player to love. For me, though, he is off plan. Celtic has (perhaps had) a football identity; for years this has been a club which finds undervalued potential, develops and sells great players at a significant profit.
When you have a clear and successful strategy, commit. This is without question the best strategy open to Celtic and to maximise our potential, we need to lean into it. This strategy invests equally in this season as in three years out, when the newest crop may leave.
It is not clear we are still on this path. The only player we signed across the last two windows who could be described as undervalued and with potential is Viljami Sinisalo, who has made one appearance since joining (against Raith Rovers).
Kieran Tierney will be 28 when he arrives. We love Kieran too, he will improve the team and help with the all-important qualifier (if fit). Jeffrey Schlupp is a solid performer and we may need a solid backup to Kieran, but Jeffrey is 32. The argument to fill your first team with players who have development potential is substantial; there is no argument for backup players to be the wrong side of 30.
This brings us back to Kyogo. Kyogo did more for Celtic than Kieran. He picked the club up off the turf in 2021 and helped deliver eight of 10 available domestic trophies in his time here. As far as our legacy strategy is concerned, he is off plan. If that strategy has discretely been disposed, like Jota and Kieran, he still has something to offer Celtic.
Finding undervalued talent and developing players is hard work and you usually need to wait until the medium-term for payback. It is a lot easier to sign them at their reputational and earning peak; until the reckoning comes. 20 years ago, some of us watched a great Celtic team grow old, before being broken up, sold for buttons or leave for free. This is a warning for us.
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Unlike some other blogs, this one provides an alternative viewpoint on how Celtic operate as a football club business. Whatever else, it provokes interesting points of view and reactions to lead articles that are rarely seen on other blogs.
Instead of fretting about losing our dominance in Scottish football ( the genuine and the best) the support should go forth and celticise the long-suffering Jocks. Family, Freedom and Faith.
CARPE DIEM 63 on 20TH MARCH 2025 1:55 PM
I am Fred’s brother. I’ve messaged him to say you would like to contact him
Good afternoon all from the Queens Park Cafe.
croftcelt- 2.59 – very good point-and paul67 has returned to the recruitment model several times now. I think he’s worried.
I would be very happy with a midfielder who would be able to break things down and give the ball to the more creative player. A big center forward who would put a center back on their arse. Peter Grant was not everyone’s favorite cup of tea when he played for us, but I think if you asked Paul McStay and John Collins they would have vouched for his ability to break up the play and get them the ball. Peter the pointer was always a hard grafter and probably a better player than given credit for. Not saying that Paul and John couldn’t look after themselves, as they could,but they knew they could go forward and someone would have their backs.
Sean
Mo Bangura playing for Sierra Leone just now. He’s 35, bring him back Brendan!
https://www.soccerstats.com/timing.asp?league=scotland
we rarely score in the first 15 at home (2) but score more goals from 15 to 45 than any other segments of time.
Well, let`s KO at 3:15 in future.
HS – Lol.
If Celtic FC and their fan-base fell for all of the Covid Plandemic claptrap…then you didn’t deserve to win any trophies that season, because for being subservient cuckolded compliant Establishment sucklings with no balls or backbone…you deserved Zero!
Even the Huns or their fans didn’t fall for any of it. Probably cause Huns know that Krankie was just a wee lying grifting tyrant…with dim Tims eating out of Krankies hands.
Yuk!
And Zero is what you dim Tims got from the 10 season. And if you deliberately ignore Neil Lennon clinching a Treble during that season because you fkn hate NL, and you blame him cause you can’t understand the musical chairs being played out behind the scenes ala big Shane Duffy who said he…..
[ “Could not believe the behind the scenes antics that were going on at Celtic in such a Historic season as well too!” ]
The club new that 10 in a row would have led to another Rangers Administration event.
Which would have meant maybe another 5 years of Parkhead being half empty cause the Old Firm fans weren’t getting their desired menu’s.
Just before New Year of that season, Rangers announced that they had run out of money AND as if by magic…Celtic hardly kicked a ball for the rest of the season.
Hmmmm.
Imagine that. Then factor in what big Shane Duffy said. Eye!
No wonder Shane Duffy couldny wait to get out of his dream loan move to Parkhead. lol
Celtic PLC are the other ass cheek of the Old Firm and if Tims are dim Who’ll gaf?
22 years ago today Celtic beat Liverpool at Anfield
I wonder if that was the query some board members had about the return of BR – they thought the successful model would slide.
Just read Paul’s leader again .. to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Enjoyed it but has left me seeking more answers than before.
Kyogo coming back?
Where is this coming from?
1. It clearly breaks the club “model”
2. Brendan doesn’t want him
“Finding undervalued talent and developing players is hard work and you usually need to wait until the medium-term for payback”
Acknowledged.
Particularly the hard work bit applying to both finding (one group’s responsibility) and developing (a different group).
PS – I’d suggest we found an undervalued talent in Jota.
Sold aged 24 for £25m.
Bought aged 25 for £8m.
jackiemac on 20th March 2025 4:52 pm
I wonder if that was the query some board members had about the return of BR – they thought the successful model would slide.
…….
We used to measure managers by how many big EPL or European clubs were trying to get a certain manager out of Celtic. MON was the last one to be fussed over.
Brendan went to Leceister and got them relegated.
How many big clubs have tried to get Brendan since he came back to us?
How did I forget about big exciting Ange to Spurs?
Word salad is defined as “a jumble of extremely incoherent speech as sometimes observed in schizophrenia,” and has been used of patients suffering from other kinds of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s. Like a salad encased in Jell-O, a ‘word salad’ doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Merriam Webster Dictionary
Zero OJ as far as I am aware.
Enjoy the cafe BRRB.
Thanks for the company and the beers!
HH!
I think Gym Trainer is back with the crayons,going by the huns statement…
Aipple
It was a pleasure young fella. Even though I can’t remember who you are. 🤔
🤣🤣
Oh great
the missus has found another season Love is Blind ! This time the German one Love ist Blind!
Jackiemac
The small doll usually says I’m blind drunk. Damned impertinence.
BRRB
New phone, who dis?
Aipple
Whit?
i wish posters would stop giving good advice to huns about their potential takeover. dont help them dont point out problems. Let them go for it.
again and again and again….
Paul 67
“The argument to fill your first team with players who have development potential is substantial; there is no argument for backup players to be the wrong side of 30.”
Bollox Paul ,there is every reason to have seasoned professionals at a club to help[ bring on the younger signings we make a profit on.
Thank God Lubo never fell foul to such nonsense or Schmeikle for that matter.
The Hundred Years War started in 1337 and ended 1453.
I can’t remember when the war between the Board haters and the Brendan haters started ….
… and have no idea when it will end.
Regardless, enjoyable read back.
If anyone has access to the information (I doubt it) I’d love to see our transfer fees paid / received broken down by season since Martin O’Neill’s first season.
Happy birthday to Aipple.
A Kentucky dumpling. 😂
Awrabest K.🥳🎂🍻
Steven Naismith on for Neil McCann
Back to Basics 6.47
Probably 2125 and boring future generations to drink.
how could you be brrb if you can spell it
BIGRAILROADBLUES
Is indeed correct. I am a dumpling. Speaking of which I was served sticky toffee pudding on plane on way home.
I am both a dumpling and a pudding.
Cheers BRRB. Where’s ma bus pass?
Aipple
Under yer sticky toffee pudding.
Jackiemac 7.06
🤣