The largest part of our rebuilding exercise in the summer will be along the back line. The departures of Jeremie Frimpong and Hatem Elhamed leave a requirement for two right backs, while Diego Laxalt’s loan will not be renewed.
Christopher Jullien will miss the start of the campaign and with no signs of Kristoffer Ajer extending his deal beyond next year I expect him to leave in the summer. Shane Duffy will return to Brighton, leaving Stephen Welsh as the only recognised central defender ready to start the campaign.
We need two right backs and one left back, the latter to compete with Greg Taylor, and at least two central defenders. Recruiting all these players in time for the qualifiers is a huge undertaking. We could do worse than to put extending the deal for Jonjoe Kenny high on the new manager’s agenda.
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‘An actress’ stage performance as Anne Frank was so bad that audience members yelled ‘She’s in the attic!’ when Nazi soldiers arrived onstage.’
Cool story, but apparently not true.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/shes-in-the-attic/
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 3RD MARCH 2021 1:32 PM
“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate,”
Wee Dolly Parton
####
‘I’m old enough to get it, and I’m smart enough to get it.’
Always thought she would get it.
We lost two right backs. That left us with a third one, Ralston. He is considered good enough. So why was he still on the payroll?
In Paul’s defence, I too think that Kenny could be a long-term solution.
Paul also outlines the wasteland that awaits us at the end if the season.
How a club with a recent £100m turnover, winning everything domestically & losing only one top-class player for £25m, can be in this state, beggars belief.
The rot set in when Neil Lennon was appointed permanent manager. The mindset of the club was revealed. In my opinion, NL was the correct choice to get us from March to May – in fact that was his remit, but, as it has proved, he was nothing like a long-term solution.
After, or, was it during, the Scottish Cup Final, the constant underestimation of the Ibrox challenge kicked in again. This was not just a practice indulged in by the leaders of our club – social media forums had been full of utter nonsense from our fans that we had much better players and none of ‘them’ would get into our first-team squad….what utter poppycock! However, if anyone had the temerity to post an opposite view, they would be shouted down and called every kind of unionist hun.
A cursory glance at Gerrard’s team’s consistent form in Europe provided an unshakeable clue that ‘something was cooking’ – the banquet is NOW about to be served.
This Ibrox operation has had the ‘erse hingin oot it’s troosers’ for the best part of ten years. We were triumphant, totally complacent & criminally naive.
Brendan Rodgers showed what was possible. He left because Ibrox was clever in appointing Gerrard. There was no way, in a two-horse race, that Brendan was risking his CV up against a recent former player & rookie manager – the Ibrox gamble paid off.
Two consecutive Champions League qualifications for the Ibrox club will wipe out any cumulative advantage we have had over the last ten years.
I say again, Dave King was right – we have folded “like a pack of cards”….how did he know?
Ernie Lynch…kinda wanted that to be true :-)
Intent not content ffs
D :)
Jonjo Kenny has been sound but unspectacular with us. His wage expctation and transfer fee may rule it out but there should be no question mark over his ability. He played 31 times for Schalke last season. We have very few players who would be good enough to do that.
Can’t say that I have been overly impressed with Kenny.
Think Ralston would do as good a job.
Please no more loans
ERNIE LYNCH on 3RD MARCH 2021 2:00 PM
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 3RD MARCH 2021 1:32 PM
“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate,”
Wee Dolly Parton
####
‘I’m old enough to get it, and I’m smart enough to get it.’
Always thought she would get it.
—————————-
Ernie – Now that’s funny :)
D :)
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 3RD MARCH 2021 1:32 PM
“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate,”
Wee Dolly Parton
———————
She’s a gem.
To give Kenny the benefit of the doubt, he hasn’t been here long, plus he came into a team that was going backwards at the time. To be fair, I can’t help comparing him to PC Lustig who was immense for us on and off the park (at least till his legs went back home without him).
We need rid of these under performing players as soon as we can. We cannot wait until a new manager arrives, these current players have demonstrated that they want away and wont play again for Celtic. All 4 loanees should be returned as they will be expensive and are not good enough players. Edouard, N’tcham are non triers and should be sold. Julien also should be sold as we need players who are fit and not easily injured.
Ajer, Christie, McGregor all want away so let them go. Ajeti and Barthus are not good enough. Griffiths is unreliable.
We no longer need a reserve squad so some of these players need to be released as we only need 1st team.
We need at least 12 players so I hope they are targeting these players now and not to wait for any new manager/DOF
Bigbhoy…how do you know McGregor wants away?
geebee1978 @ 8:21 am
You’re suggest getting a DoF is simply “aping big clubs”. Matter of perspective, I guess. If pretty much all big clubs around Europe are doing it, it suggests we’re behind the curve – as our European results have shown.
My mother used to chide me with “If all your pals jumped in the Clyde, would you jump in after them?”. It took me a long time to work out a suitable riposte to her watertight logic. However, I remain unconvinced here because you have not shown me much difference between my “aping of other clubs” and your “behind the curve”. Is it a good curve to be inside of? Behind? Ahead of? Are the big clubs big because they have a DoF? Or, are they just able to employ another tier of management because they are rich big clubs? How many clubs employ a DoF? How long do they stay in post?
Rodgers recently said that in this day and age, it’s pretty much essential and most decent managers these days would’ve experienced working under one. Asking a top, progressive coach to come in and do a job that may not have existed for years is asking for trouble….unless we stay in the 90s in terms of our approach and appoint a like-minded manager (Mick McCarthy, Steve Clarke).
And did he call for a DoF when he was at Celtic or conveniently forget to? Did he accept it more readily when he was told “No- you can’t have that player” by his DoF at Liverpool than he did when he received the message from PL? Or was he more compliant at Liverpool because he was more desperate to keep the job than he was when he was with us?
Mick McCarthy first became a manager in 1992 but he has also managed in the noughties and the tens and the 20’s. He has never been out of managemennt for longer than 7 months in all that time. Yes, he was amanager in the 90’s but does that make him a 90’s manager?
Steve Clarke got his first managerial appointment as a caretaker in late August 1999 so had barely 4 months as a 90’s manager. He was still playing for Chelsea in 1998, appearing in a CWC final in May of that year. He was an Asst. manager for 12 months of the 90’s but then he went back into youth football with Chelsea, rising to asst manager post there and later in the noughties with West Ham before being first team coach at Liverpool under Dalglish. He did not get his first non-caretaker management job until June 2012, 8 years ago, so a characterisation as a 90’s manager for someone who has yet to have a decade of being the Prime Manager for a club or country, seems harsh and inaccurate.
Celtic need to start acting like a big club. The 10 is gone and we now have the freedom and opportunity for a bit of a “reset” and become a forward-thinking, progressive club.
Forward thinking and progressive are just advertising words like creativ and holistic. Port Vale could appoint a DoF tomorrow (apologies Gene if they already have one) but they would be no more progressive nor would they be any “bigger” as a club. Unless you can show me that there is a correlation between having a DoF and being successful as a club, then I remain sceptical. And I don’t mean stating most of the big clubs have them. I mean do the big clubs with a DoF do better than other big clubs without one? Do medium sized and small clubs with DoFs do better thna those who forego the post? That would be proof. Auchinleck talnot could appoint Mourinho as DpF tomorrow but , unless they got a larger fan base, more league, TV and sponsorship money, he would be lucky to move them up more than one division.
The idea of a DoF might sound alien and unnecessary to some but my opinion is, move with the times because other clubs are and that’s where we need to be,
It’s not the strangeness of the idea nor the Modernity or fashionableness of “moving with the times” / Jumping into the Clyde, that bother me.
It’s much simpler than that for me. Does it work and Does it improve things? Are there any downsides which outweigh the advantages?
I am unconvinced by the idea that Barc and Man City do it so we should do it and we can become like them. I can feign injury on a pitch as well as Neymar does but it does not make me as good as Neymar on a pitch.
I dont now for sure if anybody wants away as none have admitted that they want away. Lenny referred to several players who wanted away. From the deterioating performances and agents statements it appears there are a number of want aways, who by poor performance have suggested that they re disgruntled.
Paul67
Anti – Semitism acceptable on here now
Celtic Mac
You have me confused. What did I miss?
In terms of Kenny I think the main consensus is that he has not shown anything to suggest that he would be worth a £5m investment, I agree with that. But there are a few dissenting views and that worries me, it suggests that the level of our ambition is so low that a player who hasn’t shown half of the ability of PC Lustig is the solution to our RB problems, regardless of the cost.
So I have a question, if that is your view then I would suggest that you also believe that Taylor is a suitable replacement for KT?
Ernie @ 2.00pm
Apparently It comes in two very large dosey-doses. 👍
JHB on 3rd March 2021 2:10 pm
Your chip makes an appearance in every post, predictably paranoid. When you really believe everyone is out to get you then there is no other conclusion.
I wouldn’t mind Steve Clarke
ok where are we going to shop for players after this year!!
Outside of the Uk a player would have to play X% of games for his country, by that time he might be very expensive.I could be wrong but it’s going to be different re DOF and coaches.
A first choice goalkeeper is essential, then move on Barkas and Hazzard, Welsh and Taylor look like being our only defenders but Boli will rejoin as might Hendry, however both should be sold, Ralston for me was finished when he went to St johnstone and anyway is painfully slow, player turnover looks like being as big as i can ever remember and who will be doing the scouting and negotiations for them? Some mess the squad is in, i wont celebrate the sales of Ajer Edouard as we know they are good players and in a good team would be essential to have success and compete in Europe, big job on for someone or several people.
Brendan Rodgers on DOF’s
‘There are always conditions’
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers (on Saturday): “My feeling on it is, up here in Scotland, I’m not sure you need it [a director of football].
“It really just depends on the experience and the level of the manager that you bring in. Some circumstances will show that it may work well.
“It’s certainly something that we don’t need here. For us here at Celtic, it’s pretty straightforward, it’s simple. I always think that less is more. Sometimes you can have more people involved and it dilutes the product.
(earlier this week) “What is important is that there is that alignment between the manager and the director of football. It depends what the job description is, what the role is, and if you’re clear on it, then it’s no problem.
Brendan Rodgers and Peter Lawwell
Rodgers says Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell “looks after the business brilliantly”
“In Europe it happens a lot, where the director of football, along with his scouting team, will pick the players and the manager will manage and coach them.
“It’s always been a wee bit more difficult to implement in Britain, purely because the notion here is that the manager is the one who has the eye for the players and can manage the players, and if you bring in a manager, you put the trust in him to develop them and choose players that fit the way you want to play. That’s not to say it doesn’t work, it just depends on the structures at the club.
“I could work with it, but there are always conditions. I prefer to be in the situation I’m in now. I work very closely with [chief executive] Peter Lawwell. I look after the football side and Peter looks after the business brilliantly, and between us, we have a common interest, which is Celtic.
“When you have that from the top through to the manager it gives you a greater chance to succeed. When the point comes for me to move on, someone comes in and it’s quite a fluid transition.”
Quelle Surprise CSC
New contract for Hazard, not for me……another new contract handed out on the back of a few games.
Scottish Cup resumes on March 23
Timmy 7
In terms of Kenny I think the main consensus is that he has not shown anything to suggest that he would be worth a £5m investment, I agree with that. But there are a few dissenting views and that worries me, it suggests that the level of our ambition is so low that a player who hasn’t shown half of the ability of PC Lustig is the solution to our RB problems, regardless of the cost.
So I have a question, if that is your view then I would suggest that you also believe that Taylor is a suitable replacement for KT?
—————————————
I think £5m plus EPL type wages is questionable and I might baulk at that myself but that does not make Kenny a poor player, just too rich for our tastes. As for “half the ability of Lustig”- that too is questionable. We bought PC Lustig from Rosenborg, the only other teams interested in him were Fulham and Espanyol whom we could outbid at the time. He was in his second year as Sweden’s regular right back but he had not yet gaied much prominence. He also wasn’t easily accepted by our fans initially but eventually won them over though we can see, from his subsequent career that we let him go at the right time.
Jon Joe Kenny was a back up to Seamus Coleman for most of his Everton career but was till good enough to play 31 times for Schalke last season, that is a higher standard than Mikael Lustig had prior to coming to us. He has joined us at a time when the league was already lost and has been thrown into a patchwork set of defences. Though he has not shone, neither has he disappointed and our record with him in the team is better than it was without him. £3m is not too much to pay- we paid £2m for Taylor and he is , at best, vying for the LB spot, rather than having it nailed down. Unfortunately for him, there is a huge gap in replacing someone of the calibre of Kieran Tierney. Lustig’s departure is a smaller gap to replace and we have already sold his replacement for £11m, which is more than Lustig would ever have fetched.
Who is approving these contracts?
SFTB.
Not sure about Lustig not being accepted immediately, I was a fan from day one. His will to win and not to accept defeat was second only to Broonie. His strengths were his one on one defending ( he was culpable on occasion to a ball over his head to the back post), his aggression, decent in the air and scored the occasional goal. I thought he was as good a value signing as we had in recent years.
For Kenny I see an average defender, so far not demonstrated any real attacking ability, not a goal threat, so we’ll agree to disagree Lustig IMO is miles ahead of him.
Regardless of the cost and the EPL wages my contention is that if our scouting team can’t find a better player for that position they should be relieved of their jobs ASAP.
Dolly Parton’s Curtains
I can’t agree on Kenny .
He is too wee.
Let’s get back to Lustig , Valgharen , sizes .
TT
PC Lustig had played several CL games before joining Celtic…
A true star of the 9 in a row players.
Jonjoe maybe thinking – I’m not signing for this mob’
Kenny not for me,he was part of the Schalke defence that was the worse in the league.
I don’t know what our scouts do but their record is not good ,unless Lawwell decides who he wants .
As for next season central defence I will throw a name in ,GaryCahill a free agent who could organise our defence for a season to help Welsh or maybe we will be back in for the lad Liverpool signed from Preston .
BSR…@ 3.52 👍🏻
I’m not here to cast aspersions………but……………
Did ye aye?
New dates for the 2020-21 Scottish Cup have been confirmed.
Second Round: Tuesday, 23 March
Third Round: Saturday, 3 April
Fourth Round: Saturday, 17 April
Fifth Round: Saturday, 24 April
Semi-Finals: 8 & 9 May
Final: Saturday, 22 May
BSR…Who would win a fight between Dolly and Christina?
There certainly would be no losers in the audience…
A couple of big hits has Dolly….