Brendan Rodgers’ comments about Moussa Dembele, “It’s something you have to deal with”, suggests it is likely we will be without him tonight, meaning we go into one of the biggest games of the season without (currently) our best striker.
As it stands right now, it is likely, but not certain, that Moussa will leave this week. For a start, those delicate muscles would need to pass a fitness test. One week ago, Celtic expected the player to remain at the club until January, when they believed his value would be no less than it was then. That possibility remains, and it should be noted, Moussa has behaved professionally.
The situation is far from ideal. Only yesterday, I wrote about the need to concentrate on the important job to be done tonight. Under any reasonable circumstances, we should see Suduva out of the competition comfortably, but this is football and we both know anything can happen if one team is even 10% off peak form.
The Europa League is a poor relation to the Champions League but it remains hugely important, not least of all in attracting one or two players, who will want European as well as domestic exposure. I don’t know how motivated the squad are, but they should be at peak preparedness; tonight is significantly the most important game of the week.
One positive is that Leigh Griffiths was made for days like these. He has the experience and aptitude to lead the line.
Let’s get this job done.
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@ BIG WAVY on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:29 PM
“Not talking about the window per se. I asked what the post-Lawell strategy for CEO is. I’ll say it again – I suspect his successor will follow the strategy of buy low : sell high, diversify revenue streams, etc etc etc.”
There is nothing wrong with that strategy but it is about degrees. Do you not think more could have been done this window? We can afford to spend more than we have without endangering the future of the club.
You seem to imply that the strategy can only be carried out in the manner it has been in this window and you are avoiding my point that this window has followed the club’s most successful financial period in it’s history and yet look at the results.
To imply BR is equally at fault for this window because his signing targets (in your opinion) are not up to scratch is ridiculous. In effect Lawwell is doing Celtic a favour by messing up these transfers because they would not be Celtic class?
If the executives do not trust BR’s judgment, he should presumably be fired- that’s what ordinarily happens when confidence is lost in the manager? Of course, he has a double treble under his belt and Celtic’s recent success is to a vast degree down to him (compare to Ronny era and tell me why we are successful now compared to then), so it is errant nonsense to suggest that BR cannot be trusted.
Mulumbu 2 year deal
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:29 PM
@ CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:21 PMV
I don’t think people expect us to necessarily sign better players than those that have left
Thats exactly what you’re talking about when you say we need to come out of the window stronger than when we went into it. At least those are the players you highlighted that we had replaced with much worse or not at all.
Phil01
Hope we get an early couple of Goals tonight
I agree we appear to have failed to land our targets for signings and only know about the Mcginn failure. Assumptions are made that Peter Lawwell was to blame.
However, we don’t know what happens inside the club. We know that Scouting, Coaching and commercial as well as CEO have input to transfers and we don’t have a right to land all the players we are interested. Nor can we force players to stay and sign longer contracts.
If Dembele goes, I suspect no-one at the club will have wanted this and yet I am sure people will blame the Board.
I would rather we kept all our starters and moved out those squad members who rarely start.
I am happy that we signed Edouard, Morgan, Bain and Izzy but disappointed to lose Armstrong, Boyata and Dembele.if they go.
What needs to be addressed is our strategy to work to a budget and improve the team in every window. This seems to be the area where we are not effective.
In my opinion, the McGinn failure was down to McGinn preferring to sign for Villa and the only other factor was Rod Petrie and his hatred of Celtic. I really don’t see how Celtic can be blamed here
Hope we get an early couple of Goals tonight
Retire ffs
‘Kenny Miller: New Dundee striker ‘back to being a soldier’ after Livingston exit’!
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:41 PM
You seem to imply that the strategy can only be carried out in the manner it has been in this window and you are avoiding my point that this window has followed the club’s most successful financial period in it’s history and yet look at the results.
So there’s no connection between the strategy, and the financial results and the double treble?
Mulumbu ?
Last season i thought hope our neighbours across city dont snap him up
PL
If we get rid of him DD will just replace with someone else that follows his orders
PL is likely one of his longest retained high rank officers in DD empire
Celtc40me
Position of strength = ample financial resource used to fortify dominace of domestic football and enhance chances of CL qualification.
Impossible to improve = the mindset of the complacent or a loser.
‘The bit in the middle’ = average.
Anyway, totally unrealistic to expect to come out of every window stronger than before. No one does that, except for perhaps the financial dopers, and no clubs like celtic who have to be smart about how we spend or money.
CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:43 PM
You are right. The window could not have gone any other way. We should sell KT, Ntcham and get rid of OE as well. Its the best we can do in the environment we are in. We can sign youth players for a couple hundred grand or youth loan players. Sure, we haven’t strengthened, but what can we do? We can have £100m in the bank- want to protect against liquidation, just look at Oldco.
Kevinjohn
So in summary:
We are stronger up front
We are stronger in midfield
We are stronger at the back
Wow!
We’ll need to agree to disagree…
It will be interesting to see the performance levels tonight from those stronger sections…
HH
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:46 PM
Celtc40me
Impossible to improve = the mindset of the complacent or a loser.
Ok, that’s me sorted out.
‘The bit in the middle’ = average.
That still doesn’t make sense, “not strengthening from a position of average” or “from an average position” doesn’t scan
Does embdae think Desmond knows we are playing tonight?
Thanks for the appreciation of the post last night Bhoys…
Bob Loblaw… great post and you’re proabaly closer to the truth than you think…
The naysayers will say wtf… plan x etc… but maybe, just maybe after very good showings in Scotland… he and more importantly, *his agent* were holding out for other options. I’m delighted with that strengthening of the midfield too.
Some great posts on here… wish I could learn who to scroll by…. I may have time to be a regular again. And by that I don’t mean anyone who doesn’t agree with me. Some excellent counter debate points to what I believe. Was always the way with CQN… I’d read a post and think… ‘yep agree with that’ then read one below and think ‘hang on I believe that too’ it’s just getting harder to filter through the guff and the adverts, although Adblock on iPad works well.
I also don’t believe Moussa going is for financial reasons, for him it’s footbal and exposure in the French League against his countrymen and showing his countrymen what he’s capable of.
Boyata I think is for financial reasons, so we should have let him go unless he has a change of heart, he IS a very good defender. Brendan made him see… from the bombscare that looked a frightened wee laddie against… Hapoel away (I think that was the game). He took him out the team, coached him, brought him back much to our surprise and made him realise he was a player good enough to play for the 3rd best team in the world. That, to me was down to Brendan and coaching staff… but yet we are told they “they don’t do enough” are asked “what does JK do?” “Brendan’s weakness is in defence”. Boyata owes a lot to Celtic and Brendan in particular, his career could go easily downhill if he leaves us.
I believe that Brendan will turn Jack Hendry into a defender in much the same ilk… despite some moaning fans not giving the laddie a chance.
Only 2 things have upset me so far this window. Not signing McGinn…. shocker. Windows opens… phone hits… how much? Ok done. That’s it. Only spanner could have been Petrie contacting other clubs, which due to our delay, aided that?
The other is the thought of Brendan leaving… unthinkable… that man should and could easily become the ‘Alex ferguson’ Of Celtic… I have no doubt. The board must back him… and all the fans too… whom many are now looking for weaknesses. Of course he has weaknesses…. show me a human that doesn’t… and I’ll show you a robot (they are coming btw). But he has so many positives and good about him, and he’s a fan, he loves it at Celtic… like KT does… and sure they have ambition and sure they want to win trophies, better themselves. I believe we can do all of that with the infrastructure we are putting in place now. Football will change in the future and I believe we will be at the big table then, as we are a massive pull when we are together.
If we get others in, great. If not, we support what we’ve got. They are Celtic players and we have a great bunch of young guys who want to pull that jersey over their head. So for me… enough of the transfer window nonsense… we’ve a game tonight and I’ll be there to support the team on qualifying for Europe and playing games there until the end of the year at least… maybe even beyond Xmas… that was utopia when, as a Lhad, I used to attend every game home and away.
Get behind the Bhoys on the park, support them, cheer them on. Show them the passion, the love, the enjoyment of playing for the famous Glasgow Celtic…. a team like no other.
Hail Hail
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:49 PM
CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:43 PM
You are right. The window could not have gone any other way. We should sell KT, Ntcham and get rid of OE as well. Its the best we can do in the environment we are in. We can sign youth players for a couple hundred grand or youth loan players. Sure, we haven’t strengthened, but what can we do? We can have £100m in the bank- want to protect against liquidation, just look at Oldco.
Thats plain stupid. You’ve given up now
Youssouf ‘Joe’ Mulumbu. Cos when your 1st choice CB and CF want out, just sign another midfielder on top of the 8 we already have. Are we shooting a David Brent mockumentary or just ourselves in the foot? #stillfaithfulthroughandthrough #baffled
The match is being shown in the UK & Ireland.
http://www.celticfc.net/news/14858
as far as i know, md and db are still celtic players.
@ CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:46 PM
“So there’s no connection between the strategy, and the financial results and the double treble?”
Do you think we are entitled to win the treble each year? Do you not think that it takes constant, unrelenting attempts to progress to ensure success?
Can we hold up the balance sheet or last year’s double treble if Sevco win a trophy this year? Can we watch re-runs of the CL games last year instead of competing this year to glory in past achievements?
Is your intention to look solely in the past and not the future? You see, we have been told that Celtic are a well-oiled machine, all forward planning, always prepared. So why are you only concerning with past achievements and not the difficult tasks ahead?
Neganon’s reaction to the Molumbu news says it all. Absolute clown.
Molumbu obviously not the most sexiest signing but we have had plenty of sexy signings go down the toilet whilst unheraided guys like Lubo have scaled the heights.
Not for a second would I try & bracket Mulumbu & Lubo but from what I’ve seen last year I whole heartedly welcome Molumbu to the squad.
P.S. JimmynotPaul, please come back, you are one of the ghuys who would tempt me to post more often.
@ CELTIC40ME on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:52 PM
I have given up. There is an approach by some that what happens in the Celtic boardroom is the best outcome that could possibly be achieved. This does not translate to the pitch, we have recognised in recent times that we could do better (Ronny years) and have done better (the last two years).
But the board’s approach and execution are beyond repute. If you believe we can do better on the pitch, have better players etc, then why can this not extend to the boardroom?
It would be akin to arguing till you are blue in the face that Jack Hendry is the best CB we can have, that his current efforts are the best they ever will be and he can not do better and to argue differently is perverse.
Timmy 7 noted
“One other thing, what on earth drives anyone, who from the outside appears to hate everything at Celtic, spend hours on here every day trying to get guys who actually enjoy attending matches to agree with their position and take up their joyless negative approach to all things green and white, it is just mental!!”
===========================================================================
Where do you sit in the ground ?
In recent years I’ve been in 144 lower North’ occasionally upper tier; 113 at the GB; upper main stand.
All have the their largish portion of such fans.
Don’t be so sensitive Celtic40me, i was addressing the point you were making about it being impossible to improve, not directing s barb at you.
Of course there are diminishing marginal returns at some point, but Celtic are a long way from that.
And yes, ‘not strengthening from a position of average’ makes no sense, but having the desire to be better than average does.
The experts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSK4R05ZdE
CELTIC will sign Congolese international midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu on a two-year deal – if he passes a medical later today.
The 31-year-old Zaire-born engine room enforcer will be the start of a spree between now and 12 o’clock tomorrow night.
kenny miller to dundee, that says it all about spl.
i think we are lucky if we can keep good players for a couple of years and by good players i mean other than scots. they dont want to spend their careers in scotland, just the way it is.imo
Paul67 et al
Had we qualified for the CL and got drawn in a group similar to the last two seasons most of us would have been hoping that we would do well enough to get into the Europa League. Win tonight and Brendan and Big Pete will have met that ambition, and cut out the middleman. Not to mention saving the fans a few quid into the bargain. Trebles all round!
Mulumbu is a good, zero risk signing. He’s good competition/cover/help for Brown. BUT it again looks like a panic signing or one with little work or preparation.
I don’t think any sensible fan blames the club for selling Dembele, if Dembele wants to go and we get good money. It’s unfortunate, but good business and unavoidable. What fans blame the club for is lack of planning and foresight.
WHAT IS THE STARS on 30TH AUGUST 2018 11:23 AM
And anyone who suggests that Peter Lawwell or Dermot Desmond are conspiring to let Rangers win the league is bonkers.
Or to put it in a more politically correct phrase..Has Mental health issues
********
WITS..
I know that you like to adopt this west brit contrarian personna on here, (which I am told by posters who know you is nothing like your real personality), so I am not sure if this post was tongue in cheek or not. But, it is wrong, and, given one of the nicest posters on here has been brave enough over the last several months to share his struggles with mental health, a bit unfortunate.
Even if you were being your usual puckish self, there are people on here who will take that literally. Which would be unfortunate.
The idea of competitors colluding is part of business.
Look at oil prices. OPEC. Hell, look at how gas prices at competitors go up the same amount at the same time every week… almost like these competitors knew ahead of time what the other was doing.
Look at the recent Colgate case in Australia. Colgate entered into a secret deal with its competitors, and enlisted their supplier, Woolworths, in a scheme to phase out certain products and replace them with cheaper products at the same price. Colgate, its competitors and their supplier, then split the profits that they wrongfully stole from the consumers.
And then there are industries, like professional sports, which, by their nature, do not work by normal market rules. Colgate does not need its competitors to operate. However, sports teams work in a common league, and need to have rivals in order to exist; one team needs another in order to have someone to play with. And rivalries, although technically not necessary, are what drive sports.
In sports, leagues are set up to ensure that a level of competitiveness is maintained. Some leagues have a luxury tax, so that one team cant spend too much money and basically buy a title. In the NFL, the rules mandate that weaker teams be given a helping hand to make the league artificially competetive… so, the last place team from this season, gets the top draft pick, and gets the easiest schedule for the next season, while the best team gets the lowest pick and the hardest schedule. All in the name of making the league competetive. Why? Because, the thinking is…if one teams wins everything, fans of other teams will not go.
In Scotland, where two teams provide (I’m guessing…I could do the math, but I’m too lazy) bring in 85% of the fans, there is clearly a fear that losing one team would hurt the league.
We know that is a concern for DD. That is one of the reasons he said that he wanted them to continue. In October 2012, he ‘corrected’ PL who said that we didn’t need Rangers; DD said, “Rangers are a fantastic club with a great history. They will, in not too long a time, be back in the SPL. I have no doubt about that. And they’re needed for Scottish football because of their following, the size of the club and especially their history. We certainly would like to contest with them every week.”
I think it is short sighted and wrong… but that was the position of Celtic’s largest shareholder,and de facto owner and boss.
And we saw what happened when the zombies were ‘relegated’… their attendances dropped.
The psychology of the Old Firm is interesting. Rangers’ WATP mentality is based on a sense of superiority, while Celtic have typically played the plucky outsider. The difference seems to be that we need to win less than Ranger’s fans NEED to win.
In light of what was done (or not done) by the League and our Board to ensure Rangers’ survival, it is not ‘crazy’ to suggest that Celtic are conspiring to let Rangers win. It might be unpalatble to our Board, but, if they think it is in the best interest long term of Celtic (or DD), then they will do so.
As for the ‘mental health’ thing… we all have either personally, or know people, who have struggles with those issues. One of the nicest posters on here has been quite public with his efforts to deal with them.
To simply dismiss anyone who considers collusion a possibility as ‘having a mental problem’ is Trumpian in its arrogance and wrong-headedness. It is an attempt not to win an argument, but to avoid an argument by attacking the person making it. That is not like you.
And, more importantly, it is possibly hurtful to those (including possibly our friends on here) who genunely do struggle with mental health issues.
NEGANON2 on 30TH AUGUST 2018 12:43 PM
Mulumbu – hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Really? Pathetic in the extreme.
You should stick to what you’re good at, ie talking complete sh1te, as you obviously have no clue about football.
McGinn, McKenna, Mulumbu – not so much a scouting network as a guy in front of a telly watching Sportscene. How much does Lee Congerton get paid? I’m pretty sure I could do that and I’d be a lot cheaper.
I wanted us to sign McGinn AND Mulumbu at the start of the summer as replacements for Armstrong and Kouassi respectively, allowing Kouassi to go out on loan and get some experience.
Happy we got him eventually, but whatever the next two days brings it shouldn’t hide the fact this transfer window has been a complete clusterf**k and once it’s closed the board should sit down, review and take appropriate action to ensure it doesn’t happen again (some hope!!).
Heads should roll, one in particular.
I’m happy with Mulumbu,very impressed with him against us at Rugby Park,he even distracted me from admiring Charlie Musonda that day.
Mulumbu is a start.
At least they aren’t signing the player with a view to develop and sell on for a profit.
Still over 24 hours left for the amateurs to prevent an unmitigated disaster.
They don’t know the first thing about football.
HH. ?
TIMMY7_NOTED on 30TH AUGUST 2018 1:17 PM…..
Great post mate ???
Keyboard warriors, There is a line in one of our many songs that goes like this ” we dont care what the Animals say ” perhaps we can change it to ” we dont care what the bloggers type “,
After my wee afternoon nap I will be of to Celtic park tonight, and back again on Sunday.
H.H
Any leaks yet about the starting line-up..????
just over 24 hours until transfer window closes and lawwell can close deals to sell ; whilst throwing Brendan meagre crumbs Izzy and Mulumbo.
its actually funny to watch our host engage the ostrich position in regards to our illustrious CEO failures ; although not the snidey remarks aimed at Brendan.
Brendan has mentally checked out after being shafted by Lawwell.
The article should read
Removal of CEO for failings may be too late to rescue season
That would encourage debate and respect.
To add further to the mix; I am also of the opinion that while the board should do more they supported the manager quite well. People can’t just pick and chose when they want to quote Brendan. It is on record seveal times when he has stated that he could not have got amy more backing.
A look at our operating cost will confirm that. We also spent £9M on a striker who is still a project. Like all managers he would have been told his budget and he will prioritise where he wants to spend it. Having spent 9mill on a striker plus wage enhancements fir Rogic etc any fan who thought that Celtic will spend about £27Mil on a transfer window is clearly delusional. At £9M a pop 27Mil will get you 3 players without even considering the wages.
So if our identification of targets is to point to a player in EPL then don’t be surprised that it would be a non starter trying to push that over the line in several fronts. Cost for the player and wages. Even if we afford the cost and push the wages to 30K, it creates more problems than it solves. There will be other current players knocking on the door wanting parity with wages. Soon it becomes unsustainable. ..once that genie is let out of the bottle it is hard to put back in. Take a look across the city.
Now on the footballing side ….how much exactly did AEK spend on their squad that they could beat us. How much did Hamilton spend that we just managed to scrape through, or Hearts for thst mattet. Across the city Rangers has overhauled their squad with less than we spent a a single striker. If we are conformably beating all the SPL teams who we over-spend then l may entertain that we are losing in Champion League because the teams their are over spending us. Else pointing at recruitment us a deflection from management when they are not getting the best of resource at their disposal.