As I walked out of Celtic Park after the Leipzig game it occurred to me that we are a totally different football team than we would be without our three Japanese players. Kyogo, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda transformed Celtic three years ago and the trophies have flowed ever since.
Between them, the cost just shy of £7m, money that is almost within the reach of four clubs in Scotland. We signed them, because Ange Postecoglou knew them from his time in Yokohama. There is value in Japan, but since Ange, we have looked elsewhere.
Last week, it was difficult to avoid talking about Nicolas Kuhn, the breakthrough player across this season’s Champions League (so far). Nicolas signed in January and was cursed in some places by being regarded as a ‘project’. It took less than 6 months for his project to mature into a player we could struggle to hold onto.
There is a common thread between the players signed from Japan and Nicolas – City Football Group (CFG). Yokohama are a CFG member club, who also developed Mark Lawwell for a decade before he reunited with Ange at Celtic as our head of recruitment.
Mark Lawwell’s term also saw Paulo Bernardo join (initially on loan) and Alistair Johnston. He found Yang, Oh and Kwon, all three of whom are back in the South Korea national squad.
And, of course, Alexandro Bernabei, the left back currently ripping it up Brazil, and who we are set to make a packet on, as well as Tomoki Iwata, who is thriving at Birmingham. His hit rate reflected his development with the elite recruiment resources at Manchester City.
Before Brendan arrived in 2016, we discussed how those in senior positions at Celtic had only ever worked at smaller clubs. Brendan’s appointment broke the mould and Celtic’s football operation leapt forward.
The two we recruited from CFG elevated our operations further and were bang on where we needed to be as a club. Our identity and mission was clear, we find talent with elite potential and transform them into winners and Champions League players.
We still have an elite manager in Brendan. We have money in the bank and will continue to buy players. Going forward, they are more likely to resemble Adam Idah (£9.5m, English second tier, will not appreciate in value), and Arne Engels (£11m, German top tier, smaller appreciation likely), than Kuhn or Hatate.
As a consequence, our identity now is less sharp than it was a year ago and our growth potential is inhibited. The future lies in finding gold in places like Vienna, not the bench of an English Championship club.
The Ange Postecoglou – Mark Lawwell era demonstrated what you can find when an elite manager and head of recruitment work together. Listen out, you’ll hear, “How are we going to hold onto these Mark Lawwell signings”, as I did from one CQN’er the walk out of Celtic Park last Tuesday night. Still, those who want to spend money to stay ahead of the other lot, instead of operating at a genuinely elite level across the club, will be happy.
259 Comments- Pages:
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Aipple!
I saw the whole of Kuhn’s moon.
Once again, Paul: we need a balanced approach to recruitment.
Our cycle was self-limiting – the successes were replaced by hopefuls, none of whom as good as he player he replaced, few of whom becoming as good in due course.
Sell-Replace-Hope-RepeatCSC
so there you go then – its mark lawell we have to thank for pumping aberdeen and beating leipzig…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje0kj3z7jeo
Hate going down this road , does it drag us down to their level!
How about a tiffo and a response to that mob for their bile…
Dearie me.
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 12TH NOVEMBER 2024 12:00 PM
Aipple!
Morning TBB – I remember Aipple said he was in Florida on business this week, hence the change in routine, perhaps.
There’s a rumor he’s at Mar-a-lago petitioning for the Secretary of Podium position – could be fake news.
“…than Kuhn or Hatate”.
It’s our problem-free philosophy.
Out of curiosity, who signed CCV, AJ, Jota and MOR?
Paul67 et al
Ah the ol’ strategic concerns theory. It certainly helps when you have the first hand local knowledge Ange Postecoglu had, but didn’t we wait forever and a day to get Eddie Howe on board? And then we didn’t.
Serendipity some might say. Not me I hope you understand. If we look back over the piece, (and am not talking jeely here) since Fergus came back from Canada we could, (well Bournesouprecipe could) list any number of effective players, some we produced, many signed by a number of managers who have helped deliver success for Celtic FC. over the last twenty five years or so. Some might also say that our signing policy has cost us dear in terms of failing to qualify for the one football tournament, the Champions League, which is guaranteed to increase our revenue year on year. And some might also say that when a combination of different approaches merge as they appear to be doing now it might appear to be the result of a strategic plan.
Some might say that.
An important message ahead of the January madness.
Any “quality”, any champions league players we sign will be of the O’Riley and Kuhn variety. Properly scouted, and part of a strategy with a proven record of success.
Amazing how Ange didn’t make sure Mark Lawell got a job at Spurs. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t won any trophies yet.
Deniabhoy 👍
Blimey, Paul; what looked like a sluggish last-week-warming from you to Brendan, who just masterminded our hands-down best sortie in Europe for near 20 years hasn’t lasted long.
We’re flying now mainly becos of Mark Lawwell ? And now he’s gone the future’s bleak???
FUXACHE CSC
GRUDGEDREAD CSC
Hmmmm, looks like that gap to partner club is getting a bit big for some…..
Oh dear, back to the Lawwell and Hardy Recruitment……Amorin has them on Jim Ratcliffe’s private jet as we speak….
I have credited Mark Lawwell on here before regarding Khun
A fantastic piece of scouting
But even a blind squirrel finds the occasional nut
The list below is not exclusive – there are plenty more
And not suggesting Mark or Peter were responsible for all
But we have had some projects that simply did not work out
In no particular order
Ajeti
Abildgaard
Shevd
Tilo
Oh
Haksabanovic
Bolingoli
Shaw
ElHamed
Bayo
Klimala
Urhoghide
I think the strategy mentioned more eloquently than me by TBB above is fair
‘We need a balanced approach to recruitment”
Regardless of who brought them here BR is doing a very fine job getting a tune out of them
Hail Hail
67ECW
Got to kiss afew frogs Paul, vut lest not forget Abildgaard,Urhoghide.Kobayashi, Ideguchi,Haksabanovic to name but a few on the other side of the see saw
We have a balanced recruitment strategy. 9 of the 11 players who started against Leipzig are over 26.
7 of the 9 were signed before Brendan came.
The basis of that team were in the door before Brendan arrived
Success has many fathers but failure is a “ba….” – let’s just call it an orphan child”
We attribute the good signings to our favourite da and attribute the rest to our creepy uncle and your favourite da’s unfaithful wife ( A feminist friendly version of this scenario is available too).
We can safely say that our Japanese contingent (post Naka & Mizuno) were suggested by Ange – but they still had to be bought and approved by someone at Celtic approving the buy. And we can’t forget that near-miss Iwata and still-failing-to thrive Kobayashi all were suggested by the same source and approved by our money men. It was a great hit rate but it had its fair share of parentless orphans too.
This year’s buys are (mainly) looking good too but it’s still early days. Brendan brought many relative failures in his first spell with us and might still repeat this pattern in future transfer windows. That is not an anti-Brendan point- I have never seen an infallible manager yet and when they have a bit of success in the market- they think they can never make a mistake.
I don’t see, as yet, this much vaunted change of strategy either. Yes- we bought big with Idah & Engels but we bought big for Edouard too and spent a fair chunk on Ajeti too in the past. Even the no-brainer signings can go south. David Turnbull was the most promising Scottish young player but he never made the grade here. This could yet happen to players like McCowan if he doesn’t get enough game time over the next 2 years – please remember I said “could”- this is not a prediction- just a warning.
If we have a strategy as a club- it manages the amazing feat of both being unarticulated and disputed. The club has never clearly outlined what this strategy is- Brendan has said a few words about it but we have no idea if this is his articulation of a shared strategy or just putting pressure on our Board, as most managers try to do to save their reputation.
Yet despite the lack of definition, we have furious arguments about what we think it is. The speculate to accumulate group call it buying frogs and hoping we can kiss them better. The “Moneyball” proponents call it buying promising youngsters that let you trade better in future. Both have clear examples that can disprove both sides as clearly wrong.
Our best buys were Larsson, Jota, Dembele, VVD and O’Riley, not Edouard, Idah or Engels (as yet). Yet among the projects/prospects bought we have Amido Balde, and a lengthy list of others for whom there is little defence.
For me- I take it as an indication that failure is built into the system. No manager’s eye or system of metrics can ensure that your promising youngster is more of a Marinello, Freddie Adu or Islam Feruz. No metrics stopped us buying Kobayashi or Haksabanovic (we might have underplayed the erratic behaviour measurements in our battery of tests).
So, until the strategy becomes clearer and we stop claiming all the good ones are down to the Board and the duds belong to the manager, or Vice Versa, this will remain a Mrs. Merton type heated debate.
Tilio is back in Australia, kwon is at a desperately struggling Hibs, bernabei is doing ok elsewhere but flopped here, Yang can’t get a start for us. Surprised some are getting bigged up to justify Mark Lawwell picks. I think it’s a bit disingenuous to credit him with our samurai. I also think you Paul are being a bit disingenuous re Idah. You called him a Hail Mary loan deal without any analytics. You then said we wouldn’t have won the league and cup without him. Now it’s back to we shouldn’t be signing championship players from the bench. There are loads of ways to make money and the question has to be asked would we be coining in the multi millions of CL money this season if it wasn’t for his late winners last season.
For the record I don’t believe Mark Lawwell was the problem. It was his brief. The strategy he had to work to. There was no balance. More importantly players weren’t bought to fit the team. The team had to fit the players.
There was the problem.
Perhaps we should adopt this strategy
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c87x4nvj90wo
Deniabhoy
You are spot on re Ange and recruitment at Spurs.
It’s a huge sticking point which will not end well there.
He wanted his own people and Levy did as Levy does and saw it differently.
His general demeanour and Spurs performances since last Jan window reflect this.
The last 3 January windows have given us:
O’Reilly
Hatate
Maeda
AJ
Kuhn
Idah
I would settle for more of that
Texastim 👍
J77 😂
SFTB 👍
Deniabhoy
That said I still hope Levy / Spurs come up and really gub that lot 3 days before the League Cup Final.
Happy if they then lose to Lazio or Frankfurt or one of the top tier leagues after that.
Not a fan of Levy.
The above comment is not in any way anti semitc in case anyone views it as such.
He is just not a very nice chap in my humble experience. He also is not the best at running his football club.
It matters not who scouted and siged players.
What matters is improving them and getting them to play better than the opposition.
HH.
Celtic40me
Agreed. Although the summer window saw us actually pay out for Adam Idah. That is one which may take a wee bit of time to see how it comes off. The loan deal which (to be fair) was driven by Brendan definitely did get us a return in points and prizes.
The others you mention were the previous discredited (by many) regime which have obviously paid handsome dividends both financially and in terms of points and prizes.
Even allowing for the less obvious financial successes, over period, who were only squad players such as Iwata Oh Bernabei and others the club generally has made a good return and the players played their part.
Pauls point re where we are going forward is valid. It is aligned to his comment re strategic issues made yesterday. Brendan has brought in the type of guy he does. We won’t see Kuhn Johnston Jota Abada or Hatate types anytime soon.
Seven of the nine were out the door before Brendan got his feet under the table.
Greenpinata
Brendan says he is good at that.
So hopefully he delivers. 2 trophies out of 3 and a good CL run so far with a really good squad suggests he might be.
Sorry Paul, today’s missive verges on propaganda.
Mark Lawell joined Celtic in the summer of 2022 and was phased out by January 2024. You are basing your opinion on a sample size of 3 transfer windows and may well have been fooled by randomness. Mark Lawell could be the very definition of Taleb’s lucky fool.
I couldn’t agree more that Kyogo, Daizen and Reo have been outstanding successes, but you are guilty of survivorship bias. From the signing of Oh (3 goals in 12 appearances for Genk) in January 2023, our transfer business has been poor. Indeed, last summer’s window can be labelled and unmitigated disaster should Palma and Yang fall out of the picture completely as not one of the 8(?) signings will have made the grade.
The article is also slightly contradictory: we can only give young players a Champions League platform if we can be competitive in the Champions League. Too often in the past we have failed to make it through the qualifying rounds because the team was ill prepared or we’ve been cannon fodder if/when we get there. I would argue that’s not an attractive proposition for upcoming talent.
This is not to say break the bank and accrue a pile of debt, only that our operating model/strategy was crying out for adjustment.
B78
Jewish businessmen were criticised in the lead-up to Kristallnacht.
You are clearly anti-semitic.
And if you think that bagels are not as good as scottish morning rolls, then tut tut
GREENPINATA on 12TH NOVEMBER 2024 9:05 AM
However there are some realities that have to be faced
I have never thought Mcinnes was a good manager, but just how would you expect him to line up against a team that have just absolutely hammered the second best team in Scotland. Just comprehensively humbled the 2nd placed team in Germany. Just played the highest scoring Italians to a very creditable non scoring draw.
“His team will never beat us for skill. or fitness. We can bring players on that he can only dream about. I can understand he feels he has to mix it. I mentioned at the time I thought Liam Donnelly was completely out of order, but Hatate was very fortunate to stay on the park.
“A final point, check the body language of our players when the minutes silence was disturbed. They looked uncomfortable and embarrassed
——————————————-
Astute and valid points – honest and objective. How you have not invoked the ‘Wrath of Khan’ is puzzling – maybe he is getting his dinner.
Just to add, if you don’t mind – Brendan sees merit in McInnes and mentions it regularly whenever we come up against him. I bow to Brendan’s knowledge of all things football – he rates McInnes and that is good enough for me.
There seems to be a thread that runs through these pages, and others to be frank, that in order to love Celtic you must hate everyone associated with the Ibrox club, past, or present. I have never subscribed to that idea and whilst I could fill page after page with my distain for the practices and behaviour of Rangers FC and its successor The Rangers International Football Club for over a century, irrational wanton hatred is not in my nature. It is not extant within our club and in most of the seats within Celtic Park.
I was not as observant as you and never noticed the body language of our players, however if they knew the context of what was happening, then of course they should have been uncomfortable and embarrassed.
My father, a sergeant in the Royal Artillery, his two brothers and a cousin fought against Hitler’s fascism and holocaust in WW2, only my father came back. I wear a poppy to remember them and others who died. I was at mass on Sunday morning and the vast majority of the congregation were wearing poppies and rightly so.
NI First Minister Michelle O’Neill defied unionists and republican anger and becomes first Sinn Fein leader to attend Remembrance Sunday event as she lays wreath at Belfast cenotaph. She realizes it is time to move on – there is peace and new politics in Northern Ireland, and maybe reunification sooner than some may think.
We have now reached, God help us, a situation whereby a few hundred fellow travellers are now serving up a narrative on Celtic to the world. On Gaza & Hamas – Pyros & UEFA – Poppies & Politics. We may even add, after the Abada affair, that our signing policy is now directly affected – will we ever again be able to attract another Israeli player? No other football club/ ground in the UK have been taken over in this manner. Only the threat and suspended ban handed down from UEFA, and hanging over them, put a stop to pyros at the Atalanta and Leipzig matches. I imagine those who indulge want to ‘keep their powder dry’ and protect their opportunity for forage into Birmingham with ‘all guns blazing’ – we wait and see. Of course there was no such restraint practiced at Hampden in the semi-final because the SFA are being cowardly on the pyros disgrace.
We must ask what Celtic is doing to take back control of our club and to stand up to these few hundred that use Celtic Park as their stomping-ground and platform and who ride roughshod over the wishes of the overwhelming number of supporters. At this moment in time Celtic, by seemingly standing aside, are complicit in all they do. The club has granted this ‘gang’ special favours and access within Celtic Park. If nothing is done then endorsement and empowerment can be added to complicity and that would be a sad indictment on our great club. HH
.
Darwin on 12th November 2024 2:18 pm
” There seems to be a thread that runs through these pages, and others to be frank, that in order to love Celtic you must hate everyone associated with the Ibrox club, past, or present. I have never subscribed to that idea and whilst I could fill page after page with my distain for the practices and behaviour of Rangers FC and its successor The Rangers International Football Club for over a century, irrational wanton hatred is not in my nature. It is not extant within our club and in most of the seats within Celtic Park.”
……….
So WHAT exactly do you LIKE or LOVE about Rangers ?
“Fek them” All of our detractors.
There ye are.
Darwin on 12th November 2024 2:18 pm
Darwin I hope and pray you speak for all or at least most
But for clarity you definitely speak for me
Very well said
I will repost a post I posted in a previous blog
I was “inadvertently” lucky as when I posted it Paul67 put up a new blog
Im not sure what the masses will make of it – but like you I’m not sure the few speak for the majority
Hail Hail
67ECW
I am probably on thin ice here – hard hat on
But……………
I have no problem with not respecting Remembrance Sunday – every man is entitled to his own view
There are various opportunities to show your political belief in support of Palestine
I get why people use Celtic Football Club, it gives a platform for the message
It’s my view that by magnifying the view of some (not necessarily the majority) you dilute the reputation of our Football Club
More you give oxygen to those that want to discredit Celtics good name
It will never happen but I would be interested to know the results of a questionnaire to all Season Ticket holders before the game on on Sunday
Are you Happy to disrupt the minutes silence?
A thousand or so did. What about the other 59 thousand ??
Defend your views I respect your views but what’s it got to do with Celtic Football Club.
PS my own view
I wore a poppy ( Grandfather and Grandmother killed WW11)
I agree what’s happening in Palestine is genocide
But more importantly for this issue. It’s not good for Celtic.
67ECW