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Probability of better defenders on loan market for Celtic

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

After a flurry of transfer activity, it was reassuring to hear Brendan Rodgers say “We will look to do more business, January is important for us.”  We have brought in players who will help us with domestic and European challenges this season, but the strategic objective of arriving at the Champions League qualifiers with strong central defensive choices remains.

While the manager is in Dubai, Celtic scouts are busy on this task.  The previous two transfer windows saw Marvin Compper and Jack Hendry arrive on permanent contracts but fail to impress.  Getting players in is not the problem, but signing players capable of competing in Champions League qualification games is another matter.

Our most reliable method of recruiting central defenders in recent seasons has been loans from English Premier League teams’ younger ranks.  We have a reputation there for improving defenders, adding value for Manchester City and Leicester.  It would be better to add value to our own playing assets, but squads can have both strategically consistent players (Vakoun Issouf Bayo) and short-term patches (Filip Benkovic).

Would we get a better player through this method than buying on the open market?  Probably.

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  4. Jobo Baldie on

    Deniabhoy – good food for thought there.

     

    I may be in the minority here but with the benefit of hindsight I’m actually glad that we failed to make the Champions League and instead had a fighting chance in each of our games in the Europa League. Obviously the club loses out financially. But if we continue to fail to spend these mountains of cash then what other benefit is there to qualify for the Champions League then risk some severe batterings home and away? If we really want to ‘compete’ in the Champions League then we’d need to be seriously investing in improving our first team squad. But you look at some Clubs spending tens of millions and yet that still doesn’t really make that much of a difference.

     

    There’s a real dilemma here. We can continue to dominate domestically by signing players in the £1M – £5M range because there’s no other Club in Scotland that can pay such fees and associated wages. Spending significantly more than that won’t, I fear, improve our chances of doing any better than we currently are. yes, I agree that it certainly improves our chances for ‘qualifying’ for the Champions League. But if qualifying is the realistic extent of our ambitions then is that really something we should be throwing money at?

     

    Having said all that, I do hope that we are sill looking to bring in (preferably on permanent deals) a right back and a midfield enforcer.

  8. DeniaBhoy on

    BOURNESOUPRECIPE – a big difference in the pricing between the two clubs. I was looking last week at the prices for tickets in Valencia as I would like to take my son up there (it’s only an hour drive for us) – wow, hardly anything below 100 euros. Anything close to the action around 150 euros.

     

    Not sure if anyone has experience in picking up tickets for these kind of games at a more realistic price? I assume our support will be somewhere up in the Gods where the pitch will look like a subbueto set.

  11. mike in toronto on

    Deniabhoy

     

     

    A thoughtful post.

     

     

    Bada bing

     

     

    Are you having a toast today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Sopranos?

  13. !!Bada Bing!! on

    MIT- BSR sent me an interesting interview with David Chase,who created the show.Sky Atlantic showing The Sopranos from the start at 9pm HH

  15. mike in toronto on

    Bada

     

     

    It has been years since I watched the Sopranos (recently, watched the first few episodes of the Wire… great!) … when I have some time, I should go back and watch a few episodes of the Sopranos.

     

     

    I wouldn’t be upset to see a few Icelandic players at Celtic…. their national team is not flashy, but they all seem to be disciplined, well-drilled*, and play with a team-first attitude which I admire…

     

     

    * no, that is not a dental joke… although I think the last Icelandic manager was, like Jim Craig, a practicing dentist.

  16. bournesouprecipe on

    Deniably @ 6.41

     

     

    Very good

     

     

    El Cid would have paid 150 Euros to get into the Mestalla ? ( don’t know how they justify it )

     

     

    I think we were up in the Gods when we last played

  27. big packy 1 on

    hi bhoys will somebody please explain to my 65 yearold napper, where sevcos money is coming from, please help.hh.

  29. thomthethim for Oscar OK on

    We are a development club.

     

     

    Why?

     

    Because we can’t afford the fees clubs look for when selling developed players of the standard we require.

     

     

    AND

     

     

    If we could afford the fees, then the salary a developed player would demand would be out of our reach.

     

     

    Therefore

     

    We have to try and develop some of our own youths, which we do and top up as best we can,which we try to do.

     

     

    We do not claim to be a top European club, but we aspire to be, together with investing in infrastructure and facilities.

  30. fan-a-tic on

    BADA BING

     

    I hope the boy Gutman if signed has been warned about the vicious backlash he is about to be subjected to by the mssm for rejecting their club to sign for Celtic.

     

    There will be no stone unturned in an all out effort to undermine and destroy the guy.

  31. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    SAINT STIVS on 10TH JANUARY 2019 7:25 PM

     

     

    John Divers.

     

     

    Bertie Peacock in the background ?

  32. fan-a-tic on

    BIG PACKY 1

     

    A wee hun called Arlene came into a fair chunk of money through a Tory government self preservation scheme.

     

    I wonder how she spent it?

  33. Bateen Bhoy on

    Big Packy,

     

    That’s the sort of question you get on QI, and, you have to Hold up your ‘joker’ ( not to be confused with the GG4 joker) because the answer to the question is….”no-one really knows” ??

     

     

    Bada Bing, MIT,

     

    I read today that HBO have a ‘prequel’ to The Sopranos in production, based sometime in the late 60’s ( ’67, hopefully ). Sure if you Google it, there’ll be more information than I’ve provided here.

     

     

    Come On Celtic. Sign Sumdae. Been two days now, wtf is going on !!!?

  34. stebhoy on

    getting a couple of things of my chest with the crest.

     

     

    I agree with Sutton – thus far, Celtic are gambling with the title. There are no guarantees with experienced players, however they must be considered less risky. I’m excited to see how the youngsters will fit in – Bayo especially, however my gut tells me they will need 6months. I’m worried they will not handle the madness of the run in.

     

    We need 2-3 proven international players – period!! If we don’t do this and we lose the league, PL needs to go.

     

     

    If we do this and still lose the league, then fair play to whoever wins the title.

     

     

    Secondly, I’m not happy with BR comments re Griff. Griff has a mental illness and if “being on holiday” mode helps his recovery, then thats what he should do. Mental health is far more complex than sitting down with a therapist – Griff will know what he needs on top of the support provided. Comments like ,he’s well paid and shouldn’t be on holiday simply don’t help and in fact could alienate him further. Brendan, if its an internal matter and its being monitored by Celtic experts, please leave it at that.

  35. jamesgang on

    Stebhoy

     

     

    Said the same myself this morning.

     

     

    ‘No comment’ is all BR should have said.

     

     

    HH jg

  36. Sid1888 on

    DeniaBhoy on 10th January 2019 6:56 pm

     

     

    DB – Are those prices from Valencia or from ticket agents?

     

     

    From what I’ve seen on their official website Valencia haven’t started selling the tickets for their home leg yet and my mate who lives in the Cost del Sol made enquiries directly with Valencia earlier in the week and said the same.

     

     

    Confused.comCSC

  41. Turkeybhoy on

    Once again the blog inundated with lunatics.From the planet Zanussi.Sign him,we need him we must get in,yada yada.No idea of the finances involved,no idea of the wages involvef,but get them in.Take Celtic from a position of total strength to one of similar to the Neely Dunns.All for one defeat in 13 games..Away and fek yourseves.I am happy to win 8.Thats it..Maybe that does not please the fantasists,but thats it.

     

    Treble Treble,that will make me happy.

  42. The hands cant hit what the eyes cant see on

    @ STEBHOY on 10TH JANUARY 2019 7:43 PM

     

     

    I think you are being generous to Griff. Mental health is a serious issue and Griff should (and seemingly is) receiving all the help and support he needs, but this does not abrogate him of all responsibility: he remains a professional athlete; he remains on very high wages on Celtic’s pay; there must be parameters within which he must act.

     

     

    Going to the races with mates and having a few beers is extremely unimpressive in the circumstances. Griff is not the only player in the world ever to suffer from mental health issues (not to say everyone should react in the same manner), but an expectation of professionalism still remains (and would so at any organisation).

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