My friends in Celtic, you and I have often said that losers get the chance to rip everything up and start again. Winners can be burdened with the belief that sticking with a successful plan is the best bet. As we gather in the afterglow of the most improbable title win of the modern era, it is our responsibility to acknowledge a few truths.
The Celtic team who won the SPFL title last season was the weakest side to take the trophy in the 21st century. I do not say that without appreciating that they found something when it mattered most. But we were eliminated from the Champions League by a side weaker than any of the several weak teams who have done so across the last 20 years. Our Europa League campaign fell short of the previous season’s results in the Champions League. And we were pushed to the last week of the campaign by a Newco side who were nine points behind and out of the race, having sacked their manager in October.
The transfer window of summer 2025 will go down in history as an abysmal wasted opportunity. Brendan Rodgers pursued Kasper Dolberg, then 27, for £10m. The player kept Celtic on the hook before opting for Ajax, where he scored three league goals in 22 league appearances since. Rodgers was unable to solicit a payoff and eventually walked in October. The club then made a remarkably wise decision to bring Martin O’Neill back after a 20-year absence. That wisdom was short-lived, as Martin was replaced by a man destined to be remembered as the worst manager in our history. So far.
I was slower than some to lose faith in Wilfried Nancy. I wanted the outside-the-box appointment to work. But even I could see after four games, the defeat at Dundee United, that he had to go. Celtic held on for another four games before deploying the hook. Martin returned again to produce a miracle, again.
The drama of those final weeks will live long. The 97th-minute Scottish Cup equaliser against Dundee came seven days before the 96th-minute league winner at Kilmarnock. Two goals down at Ibrox and playing truly terrible football, the players got off the canvas to secure a point in the 92nd minute. It felt like a win and proved to be crucial.
Late victories over Dundee and Hibs kept us on the coattails of those ahead. Then the final week of the season produced three unbelievable games. Behind against Newco, Motherwell and Hearts, Celtic rallied to score fantastic goals, win all three, and take the most dramatic title in world football last term. We gathered at Hampden a week later to decompress with some more silverware.
Paul Tisdale was escorted off the premises with his protégé Wilfried. He was not the worst Head of Football Operations Celtic have had, but he has a decent claim to the title. We currently do not have a Head of Football Operations. Recruitment is being done nonetheless, but this is a worrying sign.
Nor do we have a permanent chairman. Brian Wilson acts in an interim capacity, without the authority or knowledge to impose the oversight I would like. At least he stepped forward when no one else wanted the job. We are also short of non-executive directors. I am aware that approaches have been made, but the lack of appointment reflects how unattractive the role has become to anyone suitably qualified to be offered it.
Non-executives should be hands-off. They are there to decide strategy and hold executive directors to account. If the executives fail, or a significant event happens — and this includes the replacement of a manager — they step in. None should be involved in day-to-day operations or contract negotiations with coaching staff. Then there is the toxicity of being a Celtic director in recent years. We are never going to win more than we do. God knows how this sentiment changes, but it needs to, or we will fail to attract top talent.
Martin O’Neill is about to undertake an enormous physical and emotional challenge for a 74-year-old. He is more intelligent, experienced and probably fitter than you or me, but do not underestimate the enormity of what lies ahead. There were points dropped during his time last season, but all had mitigating factors apart from a single defeat at Tannadice. He never faced conflict among coaching staff, squad or supporters. It would be miraculous if that state continued for another 10 months.
He has also never recruited in the modern game. Martin watched players and bought them. The data model is not how he operated. He goes into a new way of working short of people whose job it is to prepare options for him. I hope we have signed well and continue to do so, but to paraphrase the old joke, if you want to have a great transfer window, I would not start from here.
My greatest concern about our board is their last two permanent managerial appointments, both of whom were disastrous. The Nancy appointment was (I believe) an attempt to find another Ange Postecoglou. Ange was a serial winner, Nancy won one Covid-era cup. The re-appointment of Brendan Rodgers defies belief. I know people at every level of the club who had to work with or deal with him during his first stay. It was unfathomable that he talked his way back into the job.
We are now in a process not just trying to recruit board members, but bring in new recruitment people to work on a shortlist for a permanent manager, to be appointed by largely the same people who brought you the Brendan and Wilfried Show.
The 21st century has been ours. We have enjoyed enormous privilege, watched our side win more trophies than anyone else in the world. This drove our oldest rivals into liquidation and has reset many facets of Scottish life. As a Celtic fan walking through the streets of Glasgow or Lanarkshire in the 1990s, you felt like you were living in a foreign land, we were so marginalised.
Never underestimate what has been achieved or fail to appreciate this privilege. We now have fans who did not walk those streets in the 90s, or did and no longer remember. The squad, which Martin got over the line in May with, requires a complete rebuild and we do not have a fully constituted recruitment team. I don’t want to bang on forever about the bringing Brendan back in 2023, but it was the most disturbing decision I have known Celtic to make this century. The bitterness of its ending was predicted on these pages and should have been predictable by all inside Celtic Park.
At halftime during the aforementioned draw at Ibrox I thought it was over. I expected Newco to win the league, income to fall, Celtic to respond by splurging ill-considered money on poorly-scouted players, our fans to turn inwards while Newco fans to unify behind the club. Celtic’s privileged position would have ended right there.
We have won five titles in a row, 14 out of 15, but all dominant empires fall for the same reason. A succession of poor decisions, are masked by times of plenty until it’s too late to stop the rot. I can see this happening in real time.
I think we will struggle to appoint the non-execs we need. Our recruitment reputation will take years to rebuild and will only happen through rare and exceptional performance. Fans will absolutely turn inwards at any and every trophy loss; it is counter-productive, but try telling people that! We will spent plenty this window, but the trading model that has supported our success for so long has to be established again.
I am very pleased that Newco took a manager and two players from Hearts. They weakened the side who finished second to us last term, but brought in players with no developmental roadmap and a manager who is no more than a good SPFL boss. This is not the data-first response I expected from US sports investors.
Had Danny Rohl left sooner, they would surely have gone for Jens Berthel Askou, the prospect of which would have concerned me. Why we did not move for him is an inexplicable worry.
So, I expect us to win the league this season and make it six-in-a-row. If we do, I will celebrate as much as any of you. But, I have enjoyed being a Celtic fan this century too much, and disliked aspects of living in Scotland during the 90s enough, to let the big picture slip. I want the next 26 years to look like the last. We have work to do.
Enjoy the season. Paul67.
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Laxalt – it’s unlikely the pints will be poured. Like the rugby it will probably be tall chiller cabinets stocked with cans of cooking lager, Guinness and G&T, the contents of which get emptied in to plastic cups
If it’s busy it becomes almost impossible to replenish and properly chill the liquids so you end up drinking a warm cup of TL.
Each to their own, but it’s not my bag.
LIONROARS67 @ 10.21
Very good again, amidst the Saturday night Hydra’s and Chat takeover,
Seasons eve, the board has changed and will change again, Ay Aye stuff is polluting the internet and verbalising the Celtic debate. I agree with Celtic there’s maybe too much media, it’s supposed to be all just a ‘Sellick supporters in a comments section.’ in here anyway.
A host unable to separate himself from a continuous Brendan Rodgers dichotomy, doesn’t help. ITK? WGAF anecdotal, character assassination? WTAF, it isn’t the Celtic Story, neither was the Nancy aberration. To partner them as in the regular narrative is almost criminal.
The trophies he won are all that’s left of the last manager. DD normally chooses his managers very well some twice, and MO’N four times? We can’t change ‘the owner’ he has to change himself it seems, there are old Celtic pies, and the new Celtic pies, just around the corner in Paradise.
HH
Or piradise?
Or pieandrice
Or Prioritise
Or pirateyes
Arrrrrrr
QUESTION
“I know people at every level of the club who had to work with or deal with him during his first stay. It was unfathomable that he talked his way back into the job”
what levels ? how many people at each level ? how many of them 1. are lawwellites 2. have ever played, coached, or managed at a decent level ? 3. have worked in other admin roles 4. have sold pies, made bovril elsewhere ? 5. need to a have a good look at themselves.
the rusty staircase
So MartinOneil is happy with his defence,he really needs to go to Spec Savers,
Bollox to the reports today that Celtic will sell AJ to Everton for £14M. In 2021 we sold Jeremie Frimpong for £11.5M after just 36 league appearances for the club, without him having excelled at a WC. That is equivalent to around £14M today. AJ is surely worth much more!
BIGCHIPSUK on 2ND AUGUST 2026 1:12 PM
Because of his age I’d say AJ is much more similar to Juranovic who we received £8m for
I reckon par is £10m
we have been here before.
dont sell in haste when we still have a qualifier to play.
and certainely not at that value
qhy do we never have a bidding war
I was disappointed with £10m for Daizen and I’ll be even more disappointed with £14m for AJ.
I’d love to know how the transfer market sets a price.
I get there is probably a ‘SPFL discount’, but he was a stand out at the World Cup, suppodedly a showcase for the world’s best players.
Had AJ not returned against Falkirk, we would not have won the league imo.
He changed the pattern of that game and gave our right side solidity and an attacking bite in the remaining fixtures of the season.
It would be insanity to sell him and persevere with AR and Donovan at this stage.
Duran’s gonnae get ya
Duran’s gonnae get ya
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 2ND AUGUST 2026 1:40 PM
I’d love to know how the transfer market sets a price.
Age
Potential for improvement
Ability (data etc)
Experience and where gained
Sell-on potential
Country of upbringing (ability to settle culturally)
Price paid for players with a similar profile
Success of players from the same market/club
Unfortunately for us the market has decided that the league a player plays in has more bearing on their value than their performance in the world cup.
You only need to have watched those two games on Friday night and yesterday to come to realise just how little of a test the SPL is. In the EPL AJ will face better teams every week than he’s ever faced in the SPL. You need to really standout to be attractive to an EPL team or a team in a more competitive league
Its why theres a smaller market for players with AJ’s profile. The teams that can afford him will either be looking for an older player who has proved himself in a better league or a y9unger player who they can develop into a better one. They rarely move from smaller leagues into bigger ones without big league experience and if they do its almost always for less than 10m
An example of the how the market works:
Mika Godts
21, bags of talent but 2 seasons in the eredivisie and the europa league, 2 international caps, didnt make the World Cup squad.
Going to PSG, the best club side in the world for £50m
Daizen Maeda 28, 19 games in the champions league, 4 gaols 30 international caps, 6 World Cup appearances, 3 gaols, £8m transfer fee
Great to see the upturn in mood as early signs look encouraging at the prospect of bumbling along on the We’re-Less-Rubbish-Than-Across-The-City-And-That’s-All-That-Matters road to nowhere relevant.
Just imagine the excitement levels if we can eke out a 2-2 draw and sneak an early lead in the old firm championship! Gotta love the ambition!
SAINT STIVS on 2ND AUGUST 2026 1:31 PM
qhy do we never have a bidding war
It does happen, but we dont generally do our transfer business in public
We also dont have players that are wanted by lots of clubs who will meet our asking price.
Crikey – surprised my post went through there, as I hadn’t mentioned Derek McInnes, which I was beginning to think might be compulsory.
GGH
AR will never get near Johnston levels and Donovan , although he is still developing , probably won’t either. We need quality in defence to match what we have up front . As it is , Martin’s comments on being happy with the CB situation makes me a bit uneasy . If anything happens to CCV , we are left with Trusty , Scales and Murray.
There was a time when you could reel off a list of players who clubs massively overpaid for after a good World Cup
It doesnt happen now because clubs realise that the games in nets World Cup arent a real test of how they’ll do in a plague campaign. Canada’s opponents in the world – Qatar, South Africa, Morrocco, Bosnia, Swzerland and South Africa.
Theres always that risk that a player excels for his country but not for his club side
Bigchipsuk
I’d been thinking 16-18m. Be surprised if it’s a lot more than that.
In 2023 … Timothy Castagne , 27 nearing 28 at the time, joined Fulham for £15m.
A few factors …
He had 2 years left on his contract (AJ has 3)
Inflation
AJ is a far superior full back.
£14m is an insult.
PS – if indeed Everton and Fulham are interested?
Neither are in Europe.
If a deal is to be done … do it after 26 August.
If AJ is like everybody else in the game and wants to play in the EPL we cant stop him unfortunately.
CELTIC40ME@2.20 – cheers.
I get there are input variables, but I’m more interested in how the price is actually derived e.g. if you give me certain data on an asset that genertes cash flow I could give you a pretty accurate estimate of its value.
IMHO … and respectfully … the coveting of Araujo needs tempered slightly.
He brought a vibrancy to the team when it was at its lowest ebb.
Rugby Park goal. Wound up some huns.
Tick.
But only played 10 games for us – suffering a couple of injuries.
Decent player but not as good as AJ.
Saints are 1 up
no they’re not 1: 1 st j v killie
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 2ND AUGUST 2026 2:31 PM
In 2023 … Timothy Castagne , 27 nearing 28 at the time, joined Fulham for £15m.
He had 3 years experience in Serie A and, crucially 3 in the EPL. Experience in two top 5 leagues.
Brendan tried to sign him for Celtic then signed him for Leicester from Atalanta for €20m a couple of years before we signed AJ from Montreal for £2m.
loads of caps from a top international team
I would say he’s a better player, certainly more proven
Simple request please, Celtic
Get Aurojo, Baur, a good winger and Saracci. shoulld be simple
kingLUBO
Good afternoon all.
If Johnson’s heads been turned by a move to Everton, very much doubt we’ll see him at his best, if selected to play. Hope I’m wrong.
Johnston – ed
C40me – have you seen him play recently?
Get your point on perceived experience in top leagues …
… but, for me, just another bang average player who is over valued because of the EPL’s inflated sense of itself.
An endless list of players which includes …
( among many )
Maguire, Schneiderlin, Berge, Rodwell, Carroll
Just caught a really good piece with Shaun Maloney on the Celtic App.
Worth a watch
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 2ND AUGUST 2026 2:34 PM
I get there are input variables, but I’m more interested in how the price is actually derived e.g. if you give me certain data on an asset that genertes cash flow I could give you a pretty accurate estimate of its value.
The market decides the price. Its not a huge market so there will be a range and some anomalies but basic market principles always apply. And its not changed much in the last 5 years so everyone has a pretty good idea of what a fair market price is. We can moan about it not being fair, and how AJ is worth more, but the market doesnt care. And only having one EPL team interested, one that doesnt pay lots for transfers tells its story
I couldn’t tell you exactly what makes PSG and Brighton both pay £50m for a young player but what decides their market value is pretty much set.
He was roasted in the WC semi looked slow caught by 1 2s regularly and a total weak link in the France defence. Not tall or physical either.
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 2ND AUGUST 2026 2:58 PM
C40me – have you seen him play recently?
Only on motd. He’s always looked decent enough in the EPL to me, which is a huge step up from the SPL. Looked decent enough in the World Cup as well. Not spectacular, but solid.
“… but, for me, just another bang average player who is over valued because of the EPL’s inflated sense of itself.”
I’m not a huge fan but in terms of quality and entertainment Its miles ahead of every other league these days. Biggest league worldwide by a long way. If everyone want to play there and manager there its not a great surprise that they have a big opinion of themselves.
DESSYBHOY on 2ND AUGUST 2026 3:03 PM
He’s Belgian isnt he?
Brendan rated Castagne so highly he tried to sign him for Celtic for a record fee first time round, then paid €20m for him at Leicester.
I can’t see us letting AJ go for less than £18m.
In this instance the price will/should be set by how much he’s worth to us.