How was the transfer window for you? The perceived negatives: we didn’t sign particularly experienced players and we only signed one striker. We also lost the best central defender we’ve had in years.
The positives: we recruited the first on the list defensive (Simunovic) and striking (Ciftci) targets, so we were not scrambling around for literally anyone (Scepovic) on the final day of the window. There were a few experienced, Samaras-types on offer, but the decision was taken to stick to plan.
The first issue I raised was about the striker headcount. We could have brought in any one of a number of players, but forget Fletcher or Michu, we’re not talking that calibre. The waifs and strays we’ve churned through since 2012: Lassad, Miku, Bangura, Scepovic, Guidetti have been a considerable waste of money and opportunity.
An overhaul of process took place for striker assessment, no one would be brought in without new levels of assessment and aptitude. The was an acceptance that we are light in headcount but options available in recent days convinced no one they would be better than Scepovic, and the club were happy to cut him loose. The squad needs focus, fewer passengers and space for our own youths, not just Dundee United’s, to break through.
Although his start at Celtic has been considerably hampered, Ciftci met the criteria. He was watched extensively and the manager knows what role he wants him to play. We’ll see if he proves to be more effective when he returns to the team, hopefully fully fit, after the international break.
Lack of experience has inhibited us and there are certainly experienced players we could have brought in for the money spent on Simunovic. Would this help short-term with the forthcoming Europa League campaign?
From here, it feels like it would, but a team development decision was made. Recruitment criteria is to bring in players capable of reaching the highest levels of the game. Get them in, get them playing the same way together. Recruit late-teens, early-20s and build a team. We can afford players who may have genuine talent at that age.
A year ago, when we were recruiting to replace Neil, I asked for a student of the game who could plan like this; improve players and build a team. I also wanted a striker yesterday, not a Scepovic, of course, just someone Champions League-ready. There’s no question that we have to plan like this, or that the hemorrhage on bench-material strikers has to stop. And I suspect the Champions League-ready bit might be a shot in the dark.
If the plan works, it’s going to take time and a bit of patience (aye, I know, patience, you don’t need to tell me). Other plans are available, therein lies the joy of team management.
Over to you now, Ronny. Show us some of that awesomeness we read about.
I’m going to write later on the business over the city, if only because I’m itching to run an article with the headline:
Green, Whyte and Gaol-d © CQN.
Speak then.
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I did post the other day about how we need some creative thinking to take the club forward.
I said that we could start a club (rather than take one over) at a very low level in England. It could take 10 years to get into League 2.
Still, if we’d done this after MON left, that 10 years would have passed.
Transfer the club’s stadium to CP and see if anybody tries to stop us. In the meantime for those 10 years, we could still keep playing in the SPL.
This is just one thought but a huge amount of very bright people read and post her. Maybe we can come up with something other than the Atlantic League or hoping the EPL will let us in ?
So what if Fletcher and Michu didn’t want to come and play their football here? They would much rather stay where they are and play their footba…………….oh, but wait a minute,……..they’re not getting to play football where they are…………!
They are getting more money sitting on their arses down sarf than they would get winning trophies with the Celtic.
If anything exemplifies the financial inequality of the leagues and the values of the modern footballer, it’s that.
RWE
I often ask myself that very question? It’s been hard work since Malmö. After the dust settles though it’s still Celtic for me.
Many passionate posters on here and sometimes we all get carried away but as you say I believe the majority of us want the same thing.
A viable Celtic able to compete in the Champions League.
I wonder really wonder how Ajax fans see their club now bouncing in and out of Europe after the part in football history they played??
No different from us I expect!
Hope yer mate
SP
new article posted.
Glibby McShameless on 2nd September 2015 2:04 pm
I’m all for signing the best of Scottish talent.
The GREATEST CLUB team EVER, were all from within a 30 mile radius of Celtic Park.
They must however, be capable nowadays of operating against packed defences.
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Well, I’d say that that The Lions more than prevailed against the original bus parkers of Inter.
In fact, they played them off the park. So, not at all sure about your analogy.
HH
CatenaccioCSC
*well RWE
Auldheid
I am sure you know that the vast majority on here trust you implicitly. I would love to meet up with you and hear all the details of the Res12 Saga. Are you in Spain or Scotia?
JJ
67HEAVEN
So you’re looking for fair & balanced shoite are you? ;)
Of course we’ve uncovered some Jems and moulded them into valuable assets. This has been a successful strategy & hopefully it will be so going forward. I already said as much earlier in this thread but it’s what happens after we create an asset where I have a problem.
No need to lay it out again but I believe we should be more proactive instead of reactive in the transfer market.
To use a “Shoite” analogy – It’s a bit like buying a lottery ticket, in that you have to be in it to win it.
Delusional Denial Department
Whyte insists on appointing his guy as Administrator after Hector applies to the court who are minded to appoint their own administrator.
A rag tag of others express an interest in buying the bankrupt entity but all are engineered out of the picture by Whyte’s man until liquidation.
At which point Whyte’s other man heads up the only viable (according to Whyte’s other man) bidder.
Green then shafts Whyte by the old Sevco switch and tries to bluff it out long enough to sell the carcass on for fertilizer.
So the question is…
IF the only person interested in accepting as a gift a clearly bankrupt business is actually a barra boy asset stripper then how does that reflect on the beknighted dictator responsible for rendering the business bankrupt in the first place.
Silence……
Whyte has a story to tell and he may strike a deal which would require to tell the story of how he came to be the recipient of the SDM largesse.
The court was in charge of the handling of the administration of that club and it is clear that the administrators gave false undertakings to the court and never demonstrated any commitment to the creditors in their actions. – from Wikipedia
“As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on running their business. The process – an alternative to liquidation – is often known as going into administration. A company in administration is operated by the administrator (as interim chief executive) on behalf of the creditors as a going concern while options are sought short of liquidation. These options include recapitalising the business, selling the business to new owners, or demerging it into elements that can be sold and closing the remainder.”
Read “Broken Dreams” by Tom Bower and you will find the rogues gallery includes SDM and Wattie the Cardigan. Harry Rednapp, Peter Ridsdale, Terry Venables and Ken Bates, are there too along with a bunch of
“agents” who colluded with them all over signings and skimming millions on player sales. The only mention of Celtic is when Ridsdale wanted to fire Niall Quinn and offered the job to MON in June 2002.
Delusional Denial Department
Starry Plough
I wonder really wonder how Ajax fans see their club now bouncing in and out of Europe after the part in football history they played??
………………………….
They take their frustrations out of visiting fans, like us.
:0(
Wow poor auld Charlie’s getting it today at the court, someone should go get him a cuppa tea :)
Relaxing end to my holiday, enjoying the farce down at the court .
I have always maintained that football is a sideshow, the on going events in Greece, Italy and elsewhere in the Med are proof positive of that.
We get angry when our club refuses to inflate the bank balance of overpaid millionaire football players,how narrow is our train of thought?
Keeping it to football, how duped (the word of the year) must football fans of the team formerly known as Rangers feel? Has reality sunk in yet or will the MSM coordinate another cover story? They have suffered enough…blah, blah, blah…
I think it’s about time we lay off Peter Lawell we all want what’s best for the club.ie good players etc.but as the old saying goes watch what you wish for.our club is on sound footing.we good be worse.I’m like a lot disappointed in not requireing a good centre forward. Muchi and Fletcher.weren’t on the list
The Exiled Tim
I think Ronny has great potential but as yet he is not the complete coach we require.
I have no idea if the signings are his as i have no knowledge of the workings of our club.
His desires and wants for Celtic are in line with mine.
Players behaviour and fitness being prioritized is an excellent start.
So far we are not quite up to the vision he speaks about but that could be for various reasons.
Our spacing on the field is poor and leaves to much room for opponents to exploit.
We are not a complete unit with each area (defense.midfield and attack) not moving as one.
Our passing can be poor but rather than blame our technical level i think it’s because our off the ball movement is poor and reduces our options.
Defensively i feel we lack a conductor one who will dictate how high our line is and when to stay or go.
The defense tends to ball watch so hopefully a designated leader could help change this.
Also think we need a true defensive mid to protect the back four.
Bitton has many good qualities but is defensively poor and has a tendency to give ball away in dangerous areas.
I am optimistic that time and experience will bring Ronnie’s vision to fruition.
Hail Hail
http://youtu.be/jfEm8l2Hg8o Here come Charlie.
Ellboy on 2nd September 2015 3:46 pm
Auldheid
I have no idea what the exact figure was for Scepovic but that was not my point.
Paul suggesting he was a last minute buy to appease the fans is either a lie now or the spin at the time of him being our top target was a lie back then? Can’t both be true?
You brought up Pukki but neither him nor Scepovic can be described as appeasement signings. Both were targeted & neither were last minute throws of the dice. Pukki was lauded as the perfect replacement for Hooper & Scepovic was chased by us weeks before transfer deadline day.
*As a side note, I think both players deserved more of a chance than they got*
Boy is the following question you asked patronising..
“Instead of blaming all the time how about we look at what it is in us that creates what we complain about?
Are you a shrink by any chance? So in the mind of Auldheid, all fans who are disgruntled must have something wrong with them or are weans.
How nice, I shall now go straight to the naughty step.
Ridiculous!
=============================
So fan pressure has no effect on those who want the same fans to come through the door?
That is the point I was trying to make using your post. It wasn’t aimed at you per se but I could have been clearer on that.
The named players may have cut across that argument because of the particular circumstances of their signing but how much of the disgruntlement is down to ourselves?
I’m not disgruntled because I don’t like being disgruntled, but if I cannot stop what is disgruntling me I can stop me being disgruntled at it.
The first is Paradise lost the second Paradise regained.
Its really my fault, I just want everyone to be happy forgetting that some folk are happy being disgruntled.
Sorry if I came across as patronising but I really was trying to offer a solution that works for me when things are outside my power.
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked on 2nd September 2015 4:15 pm
I’m here until end of September. As I’ve mentioned apart from what BRTH reported there has been other work putting the narrative into a form that will catch the attention of journos because it does the research they dont have time to do.
With the latest arrests SFA governance is going to come under scrutiny – they signed a Five Way agreement with Green fGs and if ever we are going to get meaningful reform there its in the next 6 to 12 months.
Contact me via Paul.
“From here, it feels like it would, but a team development decision was made. Recruitment criteria is to bring in players capable of reaching the highest levels of the game. Get them in, get them playing the same way together. Recruit late-teens, early-20s and build a team. We can afford players who may have genuine talent at that age”
Problem with that argument is that as soon as any of them show ‘genuine talent’ they are sold to the ‘giants’ of the EPL and we are once again left with the ‘not so talented’ players so ‘once again’ we have to start the team building process . We have allegedly made huge amounts of money from player sales over the past few seasons but can we honestly say we have emerged from any recent transfer window with a stronger team – as was promised to us? I guess you can say I am staggeringly underwhelmed by our activity in the transfer market -Ciffti – our main striker transfer target? Just let that sink in for a few minutes.
This Dear Green Place……As good today as its always been.
HH
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Lots of angst about…….
Not sure why we expected. Maybe we have lost sight of the stark truth that faces us.
Celtic, as I see it, are imprisoned in an interminable, bad game of monopoly. Without a massive change in the structure of European football, I see no way out of this.
‘Downsizing’ is a word that a select few of very frequent posters on here. Downsizing IS happening. However, it is being used on here as a verb. As something WE (i.e., Peter Lawell) is doing, consciously and deliberately.
I believe that it is happening TO us. A consequence of being a big club in a wee country. A consequence of UEFA’s decision to distribute CL TV money to the extreme favour of the big 5 countries. A consequence of UEFA’s decision to use increasingly extreme seeding algorithms – again, in favour of clubs from the big 5 countries.
The result is that we are condemned to be -at best – Champions League fodder. There is no place for us there. Clubs from the big 5 countries can spend 200 million pounds in ONE transfer window. 30 to 80 million pounds on ONE player. 300,000 pounds wages to ONE player for ONE week.
Frothing at Peter Lawell for not spending an additional 3 or 5 million pounds is futile. As futile as it would be for him to sanction these expenditures. Such an expenditure would be utterly futile in a European context…and unnecessary in a domestic context.
This is where we are.
We are the Motherwell of Europe. And the Real Madrid of Scotland. At the same time.
In any meaningful way, how do we change that? The only way that Scottish football will become more competitive, is if we become weaker. None of our opponents could possibly strengthen to match a team with our budget. And yet, Europe is disappearing over the horizon. Last 16? Look at the group in which Malmo find themselves. Those days are not only gone, but the gap continues to grow.
So, like a game of Monopoly, where the blue, green and yellow properties are pre-determined, we continue on, getting weaker at every roll of the dice.
So, those of you who berate Peter Lawell for not buying an additional player (assuming they are available, and assuming they want to come to this league/country/reality) – keep on shouting. But not about this striker, or that left back.
Instead, ask him, as 25% (heading for 30%) of our support drifts away…..
What are we doing to change our environment? Are we talking to Ajax (a club similarly damaged by the current UEFA model)? Are we talking to the Belgians, Turks, Portuguese? Is there ANY talk of extending our pyramid structure?
THAT is where our efforts need to be. That is the only way out of this suffocating environment. And as the Champions League becomes more and more of a borefest, maybe that is the only way to breath life back into the game. I don’t know.
But I do know that continuing as we are, in the league that we are in, will lead to continual weakening and a continual reduction of our attendances.
Someone needs to be on this, and not distracted by trying to sign some guy who won’t make a whit of difference to our Motherwell persona. Or our Real Madrid one.
Offski.
Ronnie
– See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/recruitment-planning/comment-page-2/#comments
Now, if there ever was a scribe to do a number on the Busted Flush – it would be Tom Bower……….
…………………….helped by Kitty Kelley……………..with lynn Barber editing.
…..just think……..
Literary Sircumcision!
I see there was an angry mob waiting outside the court for green ……nothing changes …. Dignity indeed :)
https://twitter.com/henrikvegetable/status/639124686769664000
swerry words but very funny