There can be no doubt that Brendan Rodgers has played his cards very publicly this week. I don’t know the ins-and-outs of it, but it cannot be over losing a player he could not promise a starting position to. I’m not buying that, there has to be something we are not seeing.
We have a modestly important league game tomorrow and a hugely important Champions League qualifier on Tuesday, so between now and Wednesday, at the earliest, it would be preferable not to allow this week of internally created negativity to drag on into yet another press conference.
We are also trying to convince Dedryck Boyata and Moussa Dembele to sign new contracts. You and I know that talk getting in the way these objectives is as inexplicable as it is indulgent.
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You will note I deliberately miss spelled illiterate!
Lastly, we took the chance on increasing salary when Brendan joined. What has changed if that is the constraint?
Mullet
Hat toffed
A post that appeals to the bean counters mindset
It’s official: welcome back Emilio!
KTF
Good afternoon from a wet North Staffs – first time it’s rained for more than an hour for weeks – anyway welcome back Emilio – really unexpected signing.
Don’t really know what to think about the Brendan situation – time will tell
Good bit of business getting Emilio back….
Any truth in the right back rumour circulating – looks a belter. Played against us in the old Maribor team that knockjed us out.
Paddy coming back ?
Moussa fit. Boyata back. Both on new contracts ?
Reasons to be cheerful csc.
VFR
Thanks for posting that!
I’m content.
Most will agree that BR is the best manager in many years and probably better than most thought Celtic were capable of attracting. He clearly loves managing Celtic and his personal life has never been better.
BR has clearly reached the end of his tether. If signings are not forthcoming he will leave and walk in to a job in the Premiership.
How on earth have we come to this point? Identifying, pursuing and signing suitable players who are within budget is difficult but far from impossible. Celtic must back the manager as far as it possibly can. Money cannot be wasted on new lights.
Questions over scouting must also be addressed. Who is responsible for identifying targets? Are they doing their job? Who identified Compper and how on earth did he pass a medical? Does anyone think Hendry is a better player than McKenna at Aberdeen? Everyone knew DB is into the last year of his contract so if he hadn’t signed an extension he should have been sold and replaced.We have potentially lost £9-12M for a player very few fans rate.
It is bizarre and baffling that Celtic are in this position.
Welcome home Izzie
??
VFR…I, like you, am amazed at the acceptance of the words of Chris McGoblin…he is spinning this to suit his own agenda. He has a very high opinion of himself, as do the other cesspit clowns who scribble with crayons. He will be enjoying the limelight at the moment…shameless! Also very disappointed that James Forrest has fallen into the smsm trap…
CHARLIE72
BR has clearly reached the end of his tether.
……………………………………
You have obviously discussed Brendan’s situation with……err, Brendan then?
See VFR’s post above.
I can’t remember the last time I read so much made up kiddy on pish on here.
Shame.
Welcome back Emilio…your smiling face has been missed…
WBC 1237
If Chris McLaughlin is lying in claiming that he has spoken to a boardroom source then wouldn’t he be banned with immediate effect from Celtic Park.
Such a ban was recently issued to Keith Jackson was it not?
VFR
Apologies for repeating myself but i wrote yesterday that ‘the SMSM are now like a dog wit a bone’. That bone was fed to them by BR.
He can now talk about the respect he has for the board until he is blue in the face, but it will make not a jot of difference. They have their negative story and will now flog it to death.
It will breed tangential narratives: players not signing because they unsure if the manager is staying; Rogers panicking because of Rangers ‘improvement’ etc, etc.
Unfortunately and much to my total bewilderment, many, many Celtic suporters continue to believe what is written in these rags. It influences their view, which in turn reflected back on the club.
This is why i am livid at what BR has done. I cannot believe he is naive to the way the media operates in Scotland and his actions are at best a huge error of judgement.
THE BLOGGER……………………….
Don’t read the papers and………………………reeeelaaaaxxxx!!
C’MON THE CELTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank God we have 2 tough games against Hearts and AEK coming up to distract us from this Soap Opera and its interpretations by Celtic fans playing at being Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan and Roland Barthes.
And no- they are not signing targets :-)
This was always going to happen when you hire a multi millionaire Celtic supporter that doesn’t need to work has great contacts in the game and close contact with at least 1 of our previous managers.
I would imagine Brendan has good lawyers and accountants who keep him up to speed with the ground he is walking on.
TGBS…@ 12.42…not necessarily, Celtic are extremely tolerant of the media. Did they ban the Record after ‘Thugs and Thieves’?
Anyway, hedges to trim before the rain comes again…
Btw…that noise you hear around Swinecastle is not the lawnmower, it Lafferty sharpening his elbows for tomorrow…
Philbhoy
I do not read newspapers. In fact I consume practically no Scottish media.
However many, many Celtic fans do. Therein lies the problem.
‘s
What a terrible situation to be in . A double treble , more enjoyment against thems than I can remember , not just victories ,handing them skelpings . Financially sound . Yet there is trouble in the camp . We have a terrific manager , IMHO as good as we’ve had since the great man big jock . Who before joining us , and having known the working of the club at the time ,demanded FULL control of the team before committing to taking the managers job , he knew there was interference from the boardroom , god we all knew who picked the celtic team at that time . Brendan Rodgers has upped our game , he as far as I,m concerned should be given every assistance to take us farther . There was near 60000 at celtic park on Wednesday , I’m sure had everyone had a say on importance of stacked cash in the bank , or a quality team on the park , and a fully supported top notch manager . It would be a no contest . This scenario is worrying me . I will be honest I fear this will lead to Brendan leaving , and will be the biggest own goal lawwell and co will have scored .
TBC 1253
Thugs and thieves was 15 years ago, Jackson was banned in the last year or so. So I think recent precedent is that rather than turn a blind eye the club will ban journalists where it’s viewed that there are grounds to do so.
If McLaughlin is lying in claiming to have spoken to a boardroom source then he is deliberately fermenting discord between the manager and the board. That is a serious matter that goes way beyond the usual media misrepresentation and presentation of opinion as fact.
I can’t see any situation where Celtic would give a journalist peddling such serious and agenda driven lies continued access to the club.
Enjoy your gardening!
Interesting times at Man U. Interesting parallels
Manchester United did not follow through with some of José Mourinho’s transfer targets because of misgivings about the players he had identified and a decision, from the top of the club, that he should not be allowed to get his way if it meant potentially wasting tens of millions of pounds on a short-term fix.
As the transfer window closed on Thursday with no more arrivals at Old Trafford, new details have emerged that highlight the differences between an increasingly disaffected manager and the people above him, primarily the executive vice-chairman, Ed Woodward, in terms of the players on Mourinho’s wishlist and whether they would have been worth the money.
To Mourinho’s intense irritation, United’s conclusion was that in most cases he had targeted defenders who were no better than those they already had and who, in today’s inflated market, could conceivably have cost upwards of £70m without vastly improving the team.
Mourinho’s enthusiasm for Harry Maguire was not shared by the Old Trafford decision-makers and when the club approached Leicester they were put off by the kind of fee that would have been necessary to sign the England international in the wake of Virgil van Dijk’s £75m transfer from Southampton to Liverpool last season.
The interest in Maguire was abandoned and, for all the speculation linking Toby Alderweireld with Old Trafford, the truth is there has been only one conversation between Woodward and the Tottenham Hotspur chairman, Daniel Levy, throughout the summer. That was Levy calling Woodward to ask about two of United’s players, one being Anthony Martial. Woodward wants to keep Martial and that, again, is a serious issue between club and manager.
Mourinho was willing to cut Martial free and, behind the scenes, he has been withering in his assessment of the player.
The suspicion of United’s hierarchy is the manager is taking a short‑term view rather than thinking more strategically about what would be better for the club in the coming years. Alderweireld will turn 30 in March and, as well as a fee reputed to be more than £50m, would have warranted a salary in the region of £25m over the next four years. United decided the player was not worth such a huge outlay, particularly given his age.
Mourinho sees things differently and can argue that, without new signings, it is unrealistic to expect his team to overhaul Manchester City. He made that point in a press conference on Thursday by stating United’s second-placed finish last season, 19 points behind City, was “one of my biggest achievements in the game”.
Yet the club have had to balance the manager’s wishes, and the permanent battle to keep him happy, by taking into account Mourinho is notorious for wanting short-term measures, rarely stays too long at any club and does not tend to worry about what happens when he leaves. Their own vision of team-building is considerably different and that is why Woodward is against selling players such as Martial, Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw when they could conceivably be an asset to the club for many years.
United did have significant money available for summer signings and would have paid in excess of £100m for Raphaël Varane if the French World Cup winner had been available from Real Madrid. Woodward had breakfast with Real’s president, Florentino Pérez, over the summer but nothing came of it.
Woodward was also willing to make an exception for Diego Godín of Atlético Madrid and inquired about the Uruguayan’s £18m release clause this week. The money was considered reasonable for a player of Godín’s ability but the 32-year-old was reluctant to leave Spain and another deal was scratched off the list.
Otherwise, United were reluctant to spend vast amounts of money on players they did not consider to be elite performers. Jérôme Boateng of Bayern Munich would once have appealed and Mourinho was keen on the Germany international. However, Boateng’s injury record counted against him, especially as United were mindful they had already bought two players from Bayern, Owen Hargreaves and Bastian Schweinsteiger, whose time at Old Trafford was notable for how many games they missed.
Mourinho’s desire to bring in another centre-half indicates he has misgivings about Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelöf and Eric Bailly, despite the latter two being his own signings.
Yerry Mina was another possibility but United were put off by what they considered to be excessive agent fees. The sum in question is not clear but must be significant: United will say in private they hope Everton, who have signed the player from Barcelona, have not paid the same, on the basis it could seriously distort the fees demanded by agents in future.
The irony is that United helped to create that market by routinely flexing their financial muscle and, in the case of Pogba’s £93m transfer from Juventus, the mind-boggling sums that went to the player’s adviser, Mino Raiola. Alexis Sánchez’s contract – £391,000 a week with an extra £75,000 for every game he plays and an annual £1.1m signing-on fee – is another indication of how far the club are willing to go when a category-A player is available.
Yet United blame other clubs for the transfer market spiralling and trace it back to Kyle Walker’s £53m move from Spurs to Manchester City last summer. Neymar’s £200m switch to Paris Saint-Germain took the market to another level entirely, but the view at Old Trafford is that the most outlandish deal was Barcelona signing Ousmane Dembélé from Borussia Dortmund for a fee that could rise to over £135m. United believe Van Dijk’s fee will not seem disproportionate within a year but, with the prices currently so inflated, the club do not want to pay similar amounts unless their targets are at a certain level – higher, plainly, than Maguire or Alderweireld.
Perhaps surprisingly, United are not among the clubs – Spurs being one – who are regretting the early closure of the transfer window and the feeling at Old Trafford is that the rest of Europe will eventually fall in line The bigger problem for United is how the summer’s transfer business affects the club’s relationship with Mourinho when the only signings are Fred from Shakhtar Donetsk, the injured Diogo Dalot from Porto and Lee Grant, as a third-choice goalkeeper from Stoke.
Mourinho has so many players ruled out of the game against Leicester on Friday, or not deemed fully fit after their post-World Cup breaks, he floated the idea the substitutes may include “16-year-old boys without experience”. On this occasion, however, he chose not to question the club’s transfer activity. It was time, he said, to “stop thinking about the market”, insisting he was going to enjoy the season and it was “a lie” to say he did not get on with his players.
Unlike his first two seasons in Manchester, Mourinho stopped noticeably short of talking up United as potential champions but his spikiest moment, presumably with Liverpool in mind, was directed towards the media for “making people that finish second look like they were relegated and people who win nothing, finishing below us, look like serial winners”.
Welcome Home
Emilio Izzaguirre of Celtic
Hail Hail
My friends in Celtic
BR is a very articulate, intelligent and astute individual.
To suggest he was unaware of any impact his statements would generate is disingenuous.
HH.
PS : Welcome back Izzy.
Some comments question why posters would take MSM accounts seriously or accurately. The ‘McGinn wanted first team guarantee’ by bbc Maclauchlan being cited as an example.
Short answer is very few of us do take the MSM without all the necessary caution and caveats.
Huge elephant (squirrel??) in the room is why the CQN leader on Wednesday was parroting the same bullshit as the bbc a few hours before kickoff. (If it’s bullshit, at least make it plausible bullshit!!!!)
And now has the gall to talk about shutting up and focussing on the big game(s) ahead, with the obvious inference that it’s aimed at BR but the balls to come out and say it.
Dogwhistle fitba blogging doesnae work on me or for me.
DailyExpressCSC
HH JG
Breaking news on SQN:
Mourinho leaves Man U.
Zidane to be appointed manager in next week.
Mourinho heavily rumoured to be taking Celtic job – somethign he has stated as being on hids bucket list since Seville final 2003 – as board and Rodgers fall out.
So 10iar has now been mitigated to title forever. Amazing suckers on here.
I wonder what the rest of Timdom thinks of this Debacle. Hunbelievable.
From what I see on the timternet it’s looking like mass
I don’t read any papers, not bought one in 4 years, don’t read them online and never will.
I will make my own mind up what to believe and what not to.
I, like my father before me love the Famous Glasgow Celtic and everything to do with it.
I have passed that love onto my children and grandchildren.
Boards, managers and players come and go, but my love of Celtic will never go away.
I get butterfly’s in my stomach when I know we have a game and that gets worse nearer kick off, I am 51 years of age and love the feeling Celtic gives me.
If that makes me a £49 mug, fool, idiot,then so be it.
Hail Hail
???
D. :)
VFR 1207
The MSM don’t need to destabilise our club. It is happening from within.
The only area of discussion on it is whose fault it is.
I’ve got my opinion,shared by many. Many others take the opposite view.
That’s fine,we disagree. But the disconnect is internal,and nothing to do with the MSM manufacturing a problem.
Sadly,it is real.
Celtic quick of the mark with the news of Izzy, wonder why. They usually wait until the deal is 100% done including the works permit.
Man U board and fans will be delighted to see Mourinho talk himself out of OT, sponsors pouring millions in watching his moaning coupon at every presser will want him out too.
Paul
Are you implying that Brendan is being indulgent? Seems to be the implication of your final line.
If that is the intent of your comment, I find that indulgent on your part.
We have big games all the time. Is BR supposed to sit and keep quiet about such important matters simply because we have a big game on the horizon? There would be no point in him making his frustrations known after the window has shut as I presume one aim of his articulation is that same might have triggered the Board into action.
BR has every right to call the PLC out at this stage. Indeed, it might be argued, he has a duty to do so when he sees the club standing still or regressing.
The parsimony of the Board has lessened our international reputation. We have been embarrassed in this window.
No-one is calling for reckless spending. What its demanded is an ambition by the Board reflective of the prize on offer (CL football).
We have known for ages about the frail defence and requirement for proven quality. Yet, we continue the charade of last minute transfer window failure instead of getting business done early when the prices are actually cheaper. The requirement for earlier activity is all the more so given that our season starts in July.
The Board were happy enough to invest our time, effort and money in encouraging us to buy SBs, to come to CL qualifiers, to subscribe to Celtic TV and to buy kits and merchandise. All fans had a reasonable expectation of some significant investment in new players, particularly in defence.
The fact that the disappointment is nothing new should perhaps teach us a lesson.
The performance of our centre back pairing on Wednesday should teach the board a lesson.
Izzy a no brainer, Miller will get loaned out now…
Managed to get a ticket for Firhill next week,you know things
are bad when I get a ticket for a away game.
I think we should always be sceptical of the press. The main reason for this is that the most measured words can be twisted into clickbait headlines. There is always an agenda to make a scoop. You can see this as trying to cause trouble or “having an agenda”. Maybe in the past it was more “agenda”, these days I think the press are just desperate for clicks.
But increasingly I’m sceptical too of people who reflexively blame the press when they hear something they don’t like. Chris McLaughlin is doing his job. I am worried about what I’ve heard but I don’t blame him. He has reported on genuine tension.
We have – a lot of – terrible press in this country but the worst thing we can do is swallow the full Fake News Trump agenda. The only dafter thing than believing everything is choosing to believe nothing you don’t like.
Only a fool, or a bad boxer, would be continuously floored by the same punch.
Time to alter your shuffle.
Empty the park, and stop being played for fools.
Guid luck.