I read one highly unlikely article yesterday suggesting we were going to sign Alfred Finnbogason AND were still bidding big money for Kevin Doyle ahead of an 11pm tonight signing deadline. It’s hard to be so wrong in so few words, but this one hit the mark.
Alfred is a target but, and this is the key point the newspapers have not picked up on, he is one of four strikers Celtic are seriously considering at the moment. He looks the part, as do the others, I am assured, but the deal has to be right for Celtic to move.
Our strategic plan is to buy players at a comparatively low price, develop them on the Champions League stage, and sell high, in order to be able to build a team capable of competing further in the Champions League.
To do this we need to buy from the right markets, at the correct age and on the right wage. There will be exceptions to this rule. A few weeks shy of his 27th birthday, Dirk Boerrigter is unlikely to appreciate greatly, but teams need experience to tackle the Champions League, as well as some specific skills, so Dirk is here for what he can give today, not to be the next £12m exit.
We will see more business like Wanyama and Hooper. Before Celtic agree a deal for Finnbogason there would need to be a gap between the buy price and the projected valuation IF the player is a success. If this gap doesn’t exist we will do business elsewhere. Sticking to strategy is more important than pursuing a target like some latter-day David “this time we’re really going for it” Murray.
You can also forget about the 11pm deadline tonight. That is only relevant if we need two or more new players to overcome Shakhter Karagandy. If we want to add Finnbogason, or any ONE other player, the deadline for a Wildcard signing is a day before the game, or pretty much when the team leaves Glasgow Airport, so there is no effective deadline tonight. As such, I would be surprised if a deal was concluded today.
Right now, at Lennoxtown and Celtic Park, people are deciding how to invest our money. We have the kind of choices consistent with a well-run club, but while we are a well-run club, we can’t get caught up in the hubris.
We are living through some big changes in our financial model. Revenue from domestic football (season ticket sales-now discounted, Rangers game £42-per-head ticket sales, hospitality sales, commercial income) has fallen, or disappeared completely (I reckon we’re in the region of £9m p.a. down in these areas, we’ll have a better indication when accounts are released later this month). On top of this, the club was running at a loss without Champions League football or significant player sale (£7m for season 2011-12, the last we have accounts for), and as well as some income streams falling, costs have risen.
I heard that one ‘St Mirren’ supporting journo on Radio Scotland on Saturday said with last season’s Champions League income and money from player sales, Celtic have a £40m transfer kitty.
In the name of all that is sacred, nine years after ‘What the Celtic fans want to know is where is all the Seville money?’, the same nonsense is being peddled. As far as some are concerned, we are back where we started on CQN. The first thing you do with your money is pay your bills, including tax… there is no creditor left behind at Celtic. After they are taken care off you can look to invest in footballers.
This year, the underlying loss has been flipped because of player sales and that Champions League income, although not by nearly as much as journos who regard researching accounts before commenting on finance as an unnecessary indulgence, will tell you. Without Champions League income (this season potentially £14m plus any prize money earned), the money from Wanyama alone would not make this a profitable season, even before the spend on our new signings.
The road ahead is clear. Get into the Champions League as often as possible without allowing any individual failure to cause a collapse, sign players who will flourish at that level, sell them for a profit, repeat and reinforce all aspects of strategy with an improved budget.
Over any business period, every penny which comes into the club, has been, and will continue to be, spent. Our money will be invested in footballers who will appreciate in value, and who will give Celtic their best chance of pushing further in the Champions League on a persistent basis. It will not rest in a bank account earning a pittance in interest. The strategy is ambitious and sustainable but not reckless.
A year ago some wondered if Celtic could survive, never mind flourish, without a Rangers-branded club in the league. If successful, this strategy will not only allow the club to flourish, it may even result in higher long-term income than Celtic achieved while locked in an arms race with a former rival, with a corresponding improvement in Champions League achievement.
Is Alfred Finnbogason the man, is he better than the others we’re looking at, good enough to excel in the Champions League? I’ve no idea, but he is just one detail in the wider Celtic strategy.
Stick to plan, Celtic.
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A recognized striker? Alfie ? I have never heard of the guy until 10 days ago, gimmi a break.
RobinBhoy
11:19 on 13 August, 2013
KevJungle – “C’mon the Cellic !!!”
Who scouts the players?
____________________
Who signs the cheques that pay the scouts that scout
the players with a success rate of – Vic 67 – Ki – Kelvin – GH ?
GCT
Powerful post this morning my friend,shivers down spine.
———————————————————————————-
Clink\o/
22:56 on
12 August, 2013
Did Dave King not receive £25 m back from the huns very shortly after investing £20m.
More of a short term loan than an investment.
Or have I got this wrong
======================
Clinks ,this was my understanding too(albeit I understand very little) another
leech amongst their great support..
========================
Kev J SAYS ,Two best people he has ever met are his lovely wife and kid…
………………………………funnily enough they don’t talk about him :O)
Sold the season tickets
Sold the new home kit
Sold the new away kit
Sold Magners £5.00 a pint
Sold, to the man with the big floppy hat at the back of the room.
auctionhouse csc
voguepunter
11:23 on 13 August, 2013
_____________________
Kev J SAYS ,Two best people he has ever met are his lovely wife and kid…
………………………………funnily enough they don’t talk about him :O)
______________________________________________________________
If only you new….they both kick me up n doon the blog on a daily basis – almost :))
HH – Hope yer well fella.
Anthony Stokes – released
Praecepta
Gracias.
Money Money Money .
Today’s La Gazzetta Dello Sport [ Italy’s biggest selling / most read paper] says.
Total money spent by Serie A clubs on players from outside Italy since 1/1 /2013 =
175.5 Million euros / 51 players .[ 29 Europeans / 20 South Americans / 2 Africans ]
Under Marin O’Neill we were not exactly flush but we went into to debt to build a whole bloody team. Under Neil Lennon, who in no wee part is responsible for all our recent windfalls, the club don’t seem to have the faith, or ambition, or both, to back him with securing the signature of a goal scorer.
Does anybody know what Celtic’s five year plan is?
Is it to get us out of Scotland? Well they failed.
Is it to get us a level playing field? Well they failed.
Is it to bring back the thunder by introducing stadium wide Wi-Fi and hanging the Green Brigade?
To all the posters happy that we haven’t replaced hooper and victor with a couple of quality players.. Will use still be happy if we get knocked out in the champions league play off round??
Celtic have never been in a better financial position so why can we not expect celtic to spend a few million and replace the quality that has left.
Although that pitch against elfsborg was terrible in 2nd league we were absolutely brutal in that match and a repeat performance will see us eliminated.
I seriously can’t get my head round the fact we are playing a game of poker with champions league qualification hoping the players we have will get us through.
Kev J
I’m good mate ,have bought you a new mixing bowl for your Christmas HH
bournesouprecipe
Oh no, not me
We never lost control
You’re face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World
SoTunis – no mention of Kyle Lafferty?
or is he spitting on people in Serie Z?
From The_TBK via twitter.
@RFCSwitcheroo @hen1rik @GrahamSpiers @Martin1Williams
this explains….
http://t.co/GtQQplPY
@RFCSwitcheroo @hen1rik @GrahamSpiers @Martin1Williams
The CLUB formed in 1872 was INCORPORATED in 1899 & given the company No SC004276
@RFCSwitcheroo @hen1rik @GrahamSpiers @Martin1Williams
Last tweet very important… NO HOLDING COMPANY!
THE CLUB was INCORPORATED!!!!!
#SEVCONIAN PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
3. Our Glorious Leader says “all the problems the club had historically” (not the previous holding company)
@thehotshot67
I believe on the year of our lord,1899 on the 27th May, The Rangers Football Club (founded 1872) became a CORPORATE ENTITY
Right off oot and remember don’t panic the club will sign the right players.
I think that we ought to see the bigger picture on the maths (or accounting) around this buy low sell high. Each time we’ve sold a player for millions e.g. McGeady this is reported as cash in the bank. It’s not. Other players of the same generation like Ross Wallace, Jamie Smith, Mark Fotheringham, didn’t move on for big bucks. None of this is for free.
All players cost money week in week out, but only a few are moved on for millions. While sounding like a board apologist. I’m not. The board must be aware of the commercial value of the team and players, and the occasional marquee signing is needed to keep that value high, even given the markets we are looking to buy from sometimes you need to push out the boat and spend a bit just to stop from going backwards.
My sincerest hope is that something surprising will happen soon and a quality player which the MSM haven’t yet linked Celtic will be shown off at a press conference from CP having just signed a deal.
What if –
Stokes scores more goals this season than Hooper did last season.
Samaras continues to be a goal scorer in CL qualifiers and away games.
Kris Commons keeps scoring wonderful surpise goals.
The new Dutch player excels.
Our Australian midfielder does a VW and motors in the midfield.
They are all what ifs.
and a more likely outcome than bringing in a new striker will GAURANTEE we get through against the Kazaks.
In Lennon I trust.
In ten days we will be marvelling that our bhoys won away in europe again.
or
we will be saying , we will hammer them at home.
I just cant get this panic.
I would say that 10% of the moaners in here are hurting Huns, could be more yi never know do you? Any way I have never been so happy being a time in all my years as a supporter, as I said before, cep for the winning the cup wi the big ears and 9 in a row, I couldn’t be any happier ;)
DBBIA
Laugherty scored on Sunday for Palermo in a second round Italian cup tie against some lowere league side in a 2-1 home win.
Dont expect him to reach double figures by the end of the season.
HH!!
talk of not getting into the champions league already !! towel chucking this early in the season, must be a record, a broken record. When we do get in to the group stages will you be moaning that we didn’t do it with enough style. I am sure Big Vic will set the EPL on fire, we couldn’t hold on to him but 40 games ago we didn’t know his name. I wish G H all the best on his way back down to the lower leagues and I look forward to a better replacement in the next few weeks. Kelvin Wilson we can replace easily. Panic merchants united. Enjoy it while you can , the hoops will give the Celtic support and Neil Lennon and the board lots to smile about this year.
All players are risks.
– Will they be good enough?
– Can they fit into the team?
– Will they settle?
– Will they be injured?
No guarantees.
Congratulations to Jobo and Mrs Baldie.
An achievement to be celebrated.
hen1rik.
Where do you get your links to Clyde and ssb.
I’m nightshift at the moment and usually asleep when they are on.
I no a lot of posters on here don’t give it the time of day, I find it hilarious listening to sad Huns trying to convince everyone…thems did no wrong and they are cash rich.
sipsini
11:08 on
13 August, 2013
stevenagebhoy
10:38 on 13 August, 2013
——
You register and sign in and it’s all back to nor…..nah….I need another expression.
_________
Nae worth the bother. My email address would be an immediate give-away anyhoo…..
RobinBhoy
11:16 on 13 August, 2013
Peter Lawwell scouted the strikers who failed?
What a load of nonsense, he buys whoever John Park and Neil Lennon recommend who are within budget. Miku, Lassad, Bangura, Murphy were not scouted by Peter Lawwell……….
Giesabreakcfc
Having read your wee list maybe Peter Lawwell should scout our players.
Assetmanager @ 11;07,
I think that’s about the size of it.
PL and the Board know what they are doing, they have sold the spine of the team for 20+mil and show no urgency to replace them.
They are taking a calculated risk with qualifyimg for the CL proper.
They must know this…
Ergo, they are comfortable with it.
They know they’re in Europe till Christmas, they know that they have the squad to wim the SPFL, so unless the right player comes at the right price they will not do business.
Hail Hail
Tallybhoy- seeing wee Kyle on the ole score sheet gives me one less worry to add to my crowded in-tray.
Work forges ahead on the new third forth bridge.
TBB
When are you heading to Santander? I have friends who live there who I could email – they are on holiday till late August.
Remembered a place worth visiting (could take you there but forget the name) – near the Old Market. Small bar/ restaurant – real old fashioned frontage (about 4 streets up from the promenade). Opens up in to what was a wine/ sherry warehouse – fantastic restaurant.
Why it’s worth seeing – Picasso used to eat there when he was a young artist. He paid for his meals by painting the tops of the stacked sherry casks (many are still on display). The restaurant has continued the practice and there are many ‘Picasso style’ examples by his students work stacked all around the walls (and the food is excellent).
I worked with a Spanish manufacturer in Santander and travelled there once or twice a year over the past 10 years – spent many an enjoyable weekend there!
DBBIA .
Lafferty will be gracing Serie B .
He’s been scoring in friendlies v amateur teams from Austria etc .
Heard him on the radio a few weeks back opining that the passion of the Palermo fans easily surpassed those of ” Glasgow Rangers “.[ he did not appear to be capable of even one word in Italian]
Many cynics believe that he was signed to be Gattuso’s spy in the dressing room .
A bad start to the Serie B campaign and Gattuso will be bagged.
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Jon Brookes, died this morning aged 44. http://t.co/UtycM1r55Q
Chairbhoy. I am sorry to say you are bang on
Ps. Indeed PL sets the budget for players so that’s why we have been unable to secure a goalscorer for a number of years
He sets the policy and its that policy upfront that has failed
saint stivs
11:40 on 13 August, 2013
tonydonnelly67
11:40 on 13 August, 2013
Thank God there are some more happy Celtic Supporters in our midst…….HH ……..KTF, through one of the best periods in our history….. oldco gone / SMSM in mourning / sevco in disarray….. Celtic in Europe until at least Xmas……and…..with money in the Bank / great team on the park ….. What’s not to like…. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sydneytim
11:51 on 13 August, 2013
Dooooooooh ….that is all…!!
I don’t understand this theory that some folks are now saying. There is a train of thought that is now suggesting if you have say 20 million quid kitty in the bank and want to sign two players, then the wages for the duration of that new players contract should be paid out of the 20 million kitty.
Now Im not an accountant, (cue messages saying “it shows”) but in the past when we signed players we almost certainly didn’t have all the wages for the duration of the new signings contract in the bank
As an example, when we signed Gary hooper we paid a couple of million quid to bring him here. I’m fairly certain as I can reasonably be, that we did not say to ourselves, that we will also pay him say half a million quid for the next four years so we can’t sign him unless we have 4 million in the bank on the day we signed him.
Im trying to understand how much money we had in the kitty the day we signed Scott Brown. According to some, we must have had 4 million quid transfer fee, plus 5 million quid for the next five years wages. But surely if that was the case then his wages would have been paid in year 1 and would not have appeared in subsequent accounts as a debit
So I just don’t understand the latest spin that all the players wages for any new signings must also come out of the current kitty, perhaps we could reasonably state that the first years wages must come out of the kitty. But it looks like I’m not the only one on here who isn’t an accountant.
It looks like the latest spin to reduce expectations; it’s a poor one though.
According to some, if we earn 20 million from the Champions league and another 20 million from player sales, we should not expect any significant signings. Hmmm.. for the sake of argument, lets just assume win the CL next season and bank say 50 million quid for that, should we still not expect any significant signings? On that basis then I wonder how much we would need to have in the bank in order to sign say two guys in the 5 million quid range on 30k per week on a five year deal. (about 25 million?)
Personally speaking, IMO for what it’s worth, the money being made from the sale of players and CL runs is compensating for the loss of income caused by empty seats. As long as we can continue to sell our best players and at the same time still beat the likes of Barca, our board will continue to be geniuses.
I’m not sure that regularly selling our best players however will help us to continue to beat the likes of Barca and I wonder what will happen if/when the time comes that we can’t beat the likes of Barca and our cheap signings cant be sold at inflated prices.
What is it with you clappers….someone disagrees with your politburo stance and suddenly its the scattergun hun accusations…grow up
wouldn’t it be boring if we all agreed about everything….this isn’t North Korea yet,
and if I want to moan about having a suitable replacement for GH…I most certainly will.
PL get your finger out…you are getting it far too easy….sign a decent striker…end of :)
HH
@ Tony donnelly.. I had a wee moan there so that must make me a Hun does it?? Well if spending a few thousand pound each season following Celtic travelling home and away makes me a Hun so be it.
Maybe it’s just a case that the moaners love Celtic and hate seeing us beaten and always want the best..
The reality is Celtic should have signed replacements for our best midfielder and striker from last season that we knew were leaving months ago. We haven’t done so and are takin a massive risk with champions league qualifiers.
a stor mo chroi
11:45 on 13 August, 2013
It really is pointless to point out anything logical to the panickers / negatonians / bhun lurkers …..HH