It was revealing that days ahead of the international break, the subject of the January transfer window tripped off Ange Postecoglou tongue. It is as though he spent much of the previous week planning ahead.
When you manage a team that competes in Europe your availability to scout players in person is very limited. Most of the work is delegated out, supplemented by TV coverage, but the latter will only ever tell part of the story.
Club managers have been known to take in eight games over an international break. With travel restrictions still in place, Ange is unlikely to see anything like this amount of action, but if he is going to spend some of our money in January, he will want to make the most of the break in Celtic action this month and next.
I’m in the glass half full camp and expect us to improve as the season progresses, but the squad is perilously thin in places. Reinforcements in January will be crucial for whoever wins the league. This is an important fortnight for Ange and his scouts.
206 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
I do think Newcastle would be taking a big risk with Gerrard, if indeed rumours are true. What we don’t know is whether he can stand on his own two managerial feet, having been surrounded by Beale and McAllister up here. I think he’d jump at it (zillions to spend etc) and I’m equally sure Sevco would offer little resistance. I assume Beale at least would be going with him. Remember too, it’s almost a different sport down there what with proper referees so he needs to factor that into his thinking.
Sad and disappointing to see him aligning himself with the UB’s. He’s had plenty to say about Kamara but , of course, racism captures skin colour, religion, nationality and culture. Standing in front of their “stand behind the banned” banner reflects poorly on him.
Of course, perhaps the Newcastle link is unadulterated claptrap and agent-driven. We shall see.
Has anyone been arrested yet for trying to burn Peter Lawwell’s house to the ground and murder him and his family?
Just saying like.
It has been almost five months now.
I’m sure Police Scotland are giving this as much attention this month as they did last month and the month before that. 🤔
Back to Basics
Not as far as I’m aware. However, I suspect PS have a good idea who was behind it ( if not the actual direct perpetrators) but sufficiency of evidence will be the issue.
CONEYBHOY @ 9:38 AM,
Yes, we seem to forget that WGS was part of a professional set-up back room wise.
What nature has provided is not enough.
Spot on. It seems very obvious now that players’ attitudes and their collective and individual coaching plays a great part in their development as a top professional footballer.
If there is any doubt – Celtic’s “Scottish” players that Brendan Rodgers inherited is a case in point.
Of course its difficult to recognise and pinpoint improvement and success when there is radical changes but if you put players like McGregor, Brown, Forrest, Armstrong, Griff etc Celtic performance aside and look at how they improved at international level for Gordon Strachan’s squad it becomes apparent.
You can see a huge uplift in the all round quality of these footballers when they were under better coaches, tacticians, sports scientists and analytics.
Scotland’s NT’s huge improvement at that time colorating exactly with the performances of their Celtic players.
Celtic’s Scots coming very close to beating England at Hampden and deservedly so.
To underestimate the role of Coaching, sports science, analylitics – and personal development and performance plans in the current game is total folly.
Hail Hail
JHB on 8TH OCTOBER 2021 9:07 AM
‘Some may be wondering why this CBC situation is looming large now after only being talked about for a number of years.’
##
What I’m wondering is what the three Contempt of Court Orders involving Celtic included in this list relate to if not the allegations you refer to.
https://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/current-business/court-notices/contempt-of-court-orders
There’s nothing new in any of this. The reputational damage has already been incurred. And any financial hit will most likely be covered by insurance, and in all probability the insurance company will be deciding how to deal with the claims, not the Celtic Board.
The interesting thing about Group Actions is that they are most appropriate where the legal costs are likely to be disproportionate in relation to any damages likely to be awarded. Make of that what you will.
MAZZY on 8TH OCTOBER 2021 10:00 AM
‘I do think Newcastle would be taking a big risk with Gerrard, if indeed rumours are true.’
###
Have a look at the footage of how the hun management team react when Kamara is sent off against Sparta Prague and tell me Beale isn’t running the show. They had to react quickly and there was no time for niceties or keeping up appearances about Slippy making the decisions.
Ernie Lynch
…..precisely.
EL @ 10.40
Class actions — only as strong as the weakest case?
The lawyers will need to do due diligence to the max.
Herd instinct will be involved in this.
Clingons and chancers will be hearing the mood music.
Many of you will be aware that Dom McKay identified Brentford as a model for the future development of Celtic.. I don’t mean to suggest that he advocated slavish imitation just that there was a lot of good things that Celtic might want to adopt. The following link takes you to an excellent article on Brentford and the kind of things the club is doing.
https://premierleaguenewsnow.com/football-through-data-science-brentford-ideologies-make-them-most-interesting-team-join-premier-league-since-leagues-inception/
Paramount is having a mix of experienced players (who will cost more and won’t necessarily be sold on for profit) and younger players who will learn from the experienced players, be coached well and will be sold on for profit.
“ the extent of the job differs from club to club, but Brentford’s way of thinking stems from its charismatic owner in Matthew Benham. As Dykes says: ‘It’s Matthew’s way of thinking. We were one of the first clubs to employ a throw-in coach, a set-piece coach, we were the first to employ a sleeping coach. We teach young players how to cook. We have all these things that we plough into individual development.’”
aTake note: a throw-in coach, a set-piece coach! And this was before they had the mega money of the EPL came Brentford’s way.
I think some of these things were on the horizon at Celtic, but were hampered due to Ange’s late start and the stubborness of the board/DD. eGtting players in to play Ange’s system has been impossible for example although we did manage to bring in experienced players such as Hart, Juranovic, Kyogo, Starfelt and not just projects. There’s still probably too much interference e.g. DD’s scouting of McCarthy and Scales when it’s not sure if either of them are going to suit the system Ange wants to play. Let’s hope they can adapt because Ange won’t play them just because DD chose them. Both Ange and Dom talked about widespread changes but we still don’t have a DoF or a proper scouting system, data analysis etc and Ange apparently is going for what he knows in Japan. Let’s hope he’ll be backed by the board. Dom is no longer around and that leaves Ange vulnerable.
My own feeling is that the board/DD will not finance any major changes until Celtic isin the EPL (?) and they can smell the money in the bank.
Police Scotland informed Peter Lawwell, not so long ago, that they were “not any further forward” in their investigations into the arson attack at his house, though investigations will continue. This will eventually run its course and go on the cold case pile, por cierto
The full-backs bombing forward works perfectly IF you have a quality-holding midfield player able to read the game and move over when seeing the dangers ahead, we don’t have one of those, yet! por cierto
I hope those who were molested and suffered the horrendous after-effects of such attacks receive every ounce of sympathy from us and are compensated to the hilt should the case for them be found in their favour, be that through CFC PLC, or any other football club. Football allegiance is secondary, for me. por cierto.
Dom McKay didn’t walk away – he was pushed out the door. If it was due to the tragic case being talked about – he would have known all about it before he joined, if not, he most definitely should have been sacked.
new article posted.
Mon Scotland – over for my first Scotland game in years tomorrow. Tartan Army pre game drinks in the Classic Grand on Jamaica Street. Was that not a mucky cinema in the 70s/early 80s?
Coney – Don’t forget your raincoat when entering the ole Classic Grand!