Learning to punch like Dutch and Portuguese sellers

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Josip Juranovic, who was recently mentioned as a target for Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, is reported by Sky Sports to be heading to Monza, currently 15th in Serie A, for around £7m.  It is neither the move nor the fee I was hoping for Josip.  His spectacular World Cup performances, especially in the quarter final win over Brazil, had me expecting he would move on for a more substantial fee and to a tier one club.

Celtic put the For Sale sign up for Josip since before he headed to Qatar, unusually announcing they were unable to agree a new contract for a player with 3.5 years left on his current deal.  He was given the responsibility of going to-to-toe with Neymar, a test he passed with merit.  Still, there are no big bidders.

Despite the balance on his contract, with his replacement already starting at right back (and looking like an upgrade), we are at peak value for Josip, so should move him on.  Potential buyers will be less keen to cough up a large fee if he has been playing backup or putting in mixed performances at left back.

The fee is less of a disappointment than the lack of interest from a top club.  Kieran Tierney remains the only player to have left Celtic to a genuinely wealthy side since Henrik (Lyon were close).  Kieran, a genuine talent, has had mixed success in London and his most often second choice left back at Arsenal.  This is not helpful to Celtic.

For Celtic’s business model to flourish, we need to punch the same weight as Dutch and Portuguese sellers.  If you are a pathway to Arsenal, Barcelona or once-removed to Liverpool (Virgil), you find it easier and cheaper to recruit players with potential.  To make any of this possible, Champions League results are necessary, performances SPFL just don’t count.  There is a lot of work ahead.

Should Premiership teams play Sweet Georgia Brown when Connor Goldson walks out of their tunnel?  If you know, you know.  Sunday’s ‘arms by his side’ nonsense at Tannadice was the worst yet.

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  1. St Stivs/Ernie

     

     

    I think they have a place in the eat coast so maybe get offered jobs there.

     

     

    Similar to Johnny Walker closing in Kilmarnock and offering jobs in Leven. Most people did not want to shift to the other side of the country (I believe)

  2. Agree Coneybhoy some of the Loanees you mention could still be an issue next year but right now we are carrying a bit of deadweight, Ideguchi , Abilgaard & McCarthy don’t appear to have any future with us, Robertson has been told he is not getting a new contract, think he is a player that we might regret leaving go but it appears the decision has been made, for his sake hope he picks up a new Club this window, Stephen Welsh is another that needs to be playing first team Football, hopefully he can go out on Loan & start getting regular starts.

  3. Seems GG and JJ for the off to lesser clubs for fees less than 10Mil.

     

     

    They both have multi year contracts and wanted to extend on wages similar to the top earners.

     

     

    Celtic said no and now both players are for sale.

     

     

    For me both need to sold for greater than £10M or you wonder who is making the decisions. It certainly isn’t Ange — is Lawwell driving the process thru his junior partner Nicholson ?

     

     

    This reminds me of how it started with Rodgers —- an all controlling egotistical beancounter interfering although this time behind the chairmans cloak. History repeating itself.

  4. LUCKY CODY on 10TH JANUARY 2023 11:11 AM

     

     

    What makes you so sure it isn’t Ange? He’s talked a couple of times recently about needing to be more aggressive with our player trading

  5. I certainly haven’t …hope all well with you …as you have probably guessed I am relatively new to the site in the contribution sense 🤔

  6. Both GG (28) and JJ (27) are too old to be commanding fees like we got with Kieran (a generational talent), who left at 21 years old I think.

     

     

    Frimpong was 20, Ajer was 22 & Eddie was 22 for example.

     

     

    I think some of the expectations were too high for a fee over £10m for both.

     

     

    Where is our next big B team talent who will rival Kieran / – Vata seems the front runner.

     

     

    HH

  7. Guys,

     

     

    I loved Charlie Ridiculous when he hit burst onto our scene. But why would any sound minded person give any credence to what he says ?

     

     

    As Corkcelt states we must offload players, we cant keep buying. Incidentally the optimum age for a full back is circa 26 years old. Even KT who is currently 25 will soon be classed as an ” older” player and his value will start decreasing.

     

     

    We are a massive club, we have massive infrastructure to maintain an and we have aspiration for European success.

     

    We do not receive the ” big bucks” from TV and our

     

    take from the Season Ticket holders is virtually maximised.

     

     

    So how do we compete where we want to be ?

     

     

    We maximise our brand and exposure. Foreign tours are a must.

     

    We need to be smart in the Transfer market. Transfer out at the right time and the right price.

     

    Do not keep unhappy players. Potential top talent we recruit must know we can open doors to the richest leagues if they show for us.

     

    The age of modern top players is getting squeezed. If your good enough, then your old enough must be our mantra.

     

    Make the match day experience desirable, happy and family orientated. In summary, make people want to come to Parkhead and want back ASAP.

     

    Forward thinking is a must. Live and play in the now.

     

    We must get more from our academy. The massive investment we make must give us a better return ; or we have a rethink .

     

     

    Finally, we have found the ideal manager. We must do all in our power to retain him for as long as possible, while planning for our future.

     

     

    HH to all, the journey continues.

  8. BIG WAVY on 10TH JANUARY 2023 11:25 AM

     

     

    It’s unlikely we’ll see another Tierney come through and bring in £25m. Players with that sort of promise are picked off by English and European clubs these days.

     

     

    If we could have kept hold of Doak it looks like he would have brought in a record fee.

  9. GREENPINATA on 10TH JANUARY 2023 11:29 AM

     

     

    I would imagine losing Doak and others recently, and the Huns losing some of their best talent would mean a bit of a rethink regards the Academy

     

     

    We’re not in the situation Brentford were in yet, when all their young talent went to Chelsea or Fulham before they got a sniff of the firs team squad and they just shut theirs, but it must be a serious concern.

  10. bigrailroadblues on

    Got my ticket for Morton Cup game. 106 S10.

     

    Coneybhoy, I’ll meet you in McKinnons at 8am for a warmup and a roll n skwerr. 👍

  11. Peter Lawell is trying to sell young talented Charlie Nicolas right under the nose of Ange, who is feeling forced out the door to Everton and Neil Lennon was up at Lennoxtown trying out his training jumper.

  12. meanwhile Beale has spooked the celtic manager, closed the gap to 9 points and is manager of the month , ready to splash the cash on 3 mega star players, and Gareth Bale paying his own airfare to get to glasgow to play for the might glasgow rangers

  13. CELTIC40ME on 10TH JANUARY 2023 11:30 AM

     

     

    True fella. Doak was a real gut wrencher. No blame for the club as we had him in the team very young and gave him exposure. Looks set to be an absolute star in the making,

     

     

    HH

  14. BRRB

     

     

    I’ll be getting square slice at my mammies at that time!!

     

    If meeting you at CP before game, I’ll probably sneak a pint in Oak or 1888 before I meet you

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