Shifts in signing focus

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Watch for the shift in focus at Celtic and Newco in the transfer market this summer. A year ago, Celtic’s focus was on players with development potential, whereas Newco went for players at the peak of their career. For Celtic, this was strategically right, albeit with short term risks (which were successfully handled).

This year, those across the city have learned something from us. The only sustainable plan for a football team is to sign players with development potential, hence they have busied themselves in the emerging talent market.

Getting this right is really difficult and I expect they will spend next season learning some lessons for the next campaign, but, as I said, at least this is a sustainable model. Cheap, young players, on low wages, will allow the club to shift towards financial viability, not before time.

What of us? There is a new sheriff around these parts too and it will be interesting to see if this summer follows a path which delivered so well in recent seasons, or if we depart from plan and focus on more short term objectives.

There is no right or wrong strategic choice for Celtic here, but if we aim for players in mid-career, we have to be prepared for the cyclical crash we’ve seen so often before.

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  1. Prestonpans bhoys on

    I take it Lawwell junior left to deploy this successful model to other clubs and further his career 🤔

  2. “For Celtic, this was strategically right, albeit with short term risks (which were successfully handled).”

     

     

    I’d argue successfully handled is still for debate. We won a double fair enough but unless we shift the squad fillers the manager does not want and minimise the financial hit then “successful” might not be accurate. If we are prevented from doing business this season due to mistakes in the past it might yet bite us more than just the financial hit to the bottom line.

     

     

    Often when we sign players that do not fit the manager/playing style (as opposed to duds) we often come out relatively unscathed – Klimala etc. More of this will be required, and hopefully quickly so we maximise return and free up spaces so we can do quick business to get new players in and settled.

     

     

    “There is no right or wrong strategic choice for Celtic here, but if we aim for players in mid-career, we have to be prepared for the cyclical crash we’ve seen so often before.”

     

     

    I am not sure a cyclical crash is inevitable. Mismanage such players and put older players on longer contracts on high money beyond their sell by (Bobo being a good example) and it can hinder us but done right we can mix youthful potential and experience pros and not have to expect a crash surely.

     

     

    QB

  3. !!Bada Bing!! on

    SAINT STIVS on 12TH JUNE 2024 11:48 AM

     

    ok, celtic shuld roll up at the training camps and just sign the players,

     

     

     

     

     

     

    just like that,

     

     

     

    You should really stop dissecting every post,and taking them all literally, a Monday Morning Smart Arse Quarterback, keep on with the empty seats stuff BTW

  4. Almost impossible in the confines of Scottish marketplace. Anyone commanding a fee North of £5m will have Scotland way down his list , regardless of the cash you pay him.

  5. that cyclical crash happens once every 13 years.

     

     

    celtic plc, even when signing players, get more right than they get wrong.

     

     

    in business they keep on being succesful, read the accounts.

     

     

    lawwell senior is not in any operational role.

     

     

    lawwell junior is no longer there,

     

     

    but we only won a double, and we are pish in europe, and the main stand is ver 100 years old.

     

     

    first world problems.

  6. !!BADA BING!! on 12TH JUNE 2024 12:21 PM

     

     

    it is wednesday.

     

    what has a quarterback got to do with our football ?

     

    so you didnt mean go sign players now, you meant something else ?

  7. glendalystonsils on

    Cyclical crashes only happen if players are signed by the wrong people, for the wrong reasons and on the wrong contracts . No more McCarthy’s .

     

    Trust Brendan to sign 2 or 3 more experienced players alongside the development model . Nothing is risk-free but last season may have turned out very differently if it hadn’t been for the manager .

  8. there is a very funny thread on the bears den kitroom thing,

     

     

    apparantly Mulharney (irish name) in charge of the sfa and the mighty alloa, is a placeman for lawwell, and his 250 mill for hampden is a smokescreen to allow celtic park to be offered as an alternative national stadium, and ergo 100 mllion given to improve the main stand, increase capacity to 75,000 and the plc wont spend a penny.

     

     

    genius

  9. THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY on 12TH JUNE 2024 12:33 PM

     

    BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 12TH JUNE 2024 12:07 PM

     

     

    What happened to the Arsenal shares money?

     

     

     

    …………..

     

     

    ….. and the St. Etienne bike.

  10. McCarthy’s .

     

     

    he has never let us down, cannot think of a game he cost us points.

  11. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    Recent transfer windows have been a complete disaster. We would not have won the double had we had to rely on the likes of Yang, Palma, Oh etc. etc during the run in.

     

     

    A one-in-ten hit rate will come back to bite us.

  12. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    “if we aim for players in mid-career, we have to be prepared for the cyclical crash ”

     

    —————-

     

    Not to mention the danger that they could pull us too far in front of partner club and spoil the old firm…..

  13. bournesouprecipe on

    Paul67

     

     

    Which is a polite way of saying somebody screwed up last summers window. It’ll take more than this summer to repair and offload ‘projects’ who have no room to develope in our league.

     

     

    Brendan will do well to lead the buying of his own players , he did a fine job and won more than the double, as he confirmed himself as the right man for the job. With most of the Celtic support. Paulo Bernardo and to a lesser extent Luis Palma is a very poor ‘projects’ return from the nine players we signed.

     

     

    Daily comparisons with R2gers and their penniless arcade is a disservice to Celtic supporters, and seen by many as contribution to the continuity myth. We operate in a different world it’s time to show it, inflationary cost of living increases with no new match day enhancements won’t cut it.

  14. glendalystonsils on

    SAINT STIVS on 12TH JUNE 2024 12:37 PM

     

    McCarthy’s .

     

     

    he has never let us down, cannot think of a game he cost us points.

     

     

    ======================================

     

    Neither have I for that matter .

  15. a large squad with dozens of projects and loans has been in place at our club for many years now, and indeed at all the top clubs.

     

     

    turover of players is huge.

     

     

    i cannot bring myself to categorise last season intake as a disaster, just a continuation and work in progress of the model. in a couple of years it can all be summed up and credit/debit given, then you can properly access it.

     

     

    when a player doeant make it, everyone in the chain gets blamed, the finder, the hirer, the analyst, the sports scientish, peter lawwells family the first team coaches and brendan for not getting his way.

     

     

    what about the player himself, not making enogh of his talent to force himself into the team, or taking their chances when presented with them.

     

     

    if we have a hit rate of 1 in ten (what is the success metric by the way ? games for the team versus cost ?)

     

     

    the players get the easiest ride of this.

     

     

    i see oh maybe will move on, who scouted him, was he a hot or a miss / will he go on and be succesful somewhere, i think he will.

     

     

    dont get me started on frimpong, who scouted that waster

  16. !!Bada Bing!! on

    SS- The Transfer Window isn’t open as you know, I heard Bernardo deal is already done,and waiting until it’s open to announce it

     

    Sign players you want as early as you can if possible, but you being a parsimonious Lawwellite will want to keep as much money in the bank for as long as possible, and lose out on targets ,and wait until Peter Lidl gets 3 players in with 10 minutes of the Window to go.If you think Lawwell has nothing to do with the running of Celtic, you haven’t been paying attention.

  17. greengray1967 on

    New home jersey x 3 arrived yesterday. Myself, Mrs Greengray and Greengray jnr (12) who travelled over to 12 matches with me last season. Approval by all three here and another order for the other two lads (adult but daddy still pays). 15 year old daughter who has no interest in football also wants one! Facebook profile will look great tho!! Fantastic strip compared to the last two!

  18. A big turn around in our squad numbers is required , we have 10 or more out on loan who will be back in addition to the surplus already around the squad, not an easy task with players on decent contracts loyalty bonuses etc, most of the last 3 transfer windows have been an expensive waste of the club’s money.

     

    Hopefully BR is in charge of who comes into the club and his judgement is sound.

  19. Tom McLaughlin on

    SAINT STIVS

     

     

    Didn’t you know some posters are entitled to their opinion but mere mortals like you and I are not allowed to contradict or disagree with those opinions, ie have our own opinions?

     

     

     

     

    BADA BING

     

     

    Celtic signed Alistair Johnston at the end of the 2022 World Cup.

  20. police have released cctv of a well known monaco based international conman seen on edminston drive on 12th jun 2012, in possession of a saint etienne bike, arsenal shares, an edwardian loving cup, a historic replica of a european cup winners cup trophy, a debenture seat and two big bags of onions from the canteen.

     

     

    miss davina murray an old lady who owned these things says she was duped by the notorious charlatan as she gave up her possesions for a pound.

     

     

    going by a number of aliases, the man is believed to be using the names charles de blanco, haw he haw he hawe, and should not be approached by the general public.

     

     

    https://tasteoffrancemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/D99M93-min.jpg

  21. TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 12TH JUNE 2024 1:04 PM

     

     

    alrighty,

     

     

    i am just consistenly baffled that people ignore how the buy/sell player trading model works in the modern football environment.

     

     

    the loaf of bread from asda was a good example.

     

     

    if only it was that easy.

     

     

    ———-

     

     

    onto another subject, and because you are in edinburgh, can i assume you know hearts and hibs supporters, even some of their business types ?

     

     

    pauls disparraging comments on their business model recently, what is you opinion or observation, genuinely interested.

  22. PeterLatchfordsBelly on

    Might’ve been strategically right but execution by our old muckers the Lawwells was a car crash.

     

     

    I don’t advocate for lots of mid-career signings from the EPL. That would be a short-term sugar high.

     

     

    Bernardo and Idah are the ideal profile if we can identify more of those types. I also want a pathway for the likes of Lawal, Vata and Kelly.

     

     

    No point in blocking their path with equally inexperienced players from abroad that are inferior.

     

     

    Quality not quantity this year please. And don’t staff millions on the likes of KT at his peak.

  23. !!Bada Bing!! on

    TOM MCLAUGHLIN on 12TH JUNE 2024 1:04 PM

     

    SAINT STIVS

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Didn’t you know some posters are entitled to their opinion but mere mortals like you and I are not allowed to contradict or disagree with those opinions, ie have our own opinions?

     

     

    Awe naw there’s 2 of them…..pots and kettles? A blog is about posting opinions, we have a gaggle of Headmasters ,who tell us we can’t spend this,we can’t do that…..get over yourself. What’s wrong with suggesting we sign players early? Seriously…..

  24. Before winning the cup final for celtic Berardo and Idah were considered as not really that good by many a blogger, and not really worth keeping.

     

     

    what changed i wonder ?

  25. Bada, thats fine,

     

     

    come back with a list during the euros of all the business done by clubs snapping up players during the tournament.

  26. What is the Starz on

    Parsimonious Lawwellites of The World Unite.

     

    You have nothing to lose but your…???

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