We’ve known for a while the strategic alliance Celtic have had with Manchester City, but how we have burrowed into the France international youth setup is, frankly, highly unlikely for a Scottish club.
First came Moussa, then Olivier.
Olivier Ntcham (21) will have known Moussa Dembele (21) from the French youth setup, and Patrick Roberts from their time at Man City. How both flourished at Celtic last season was a prime motivator for the player to head north.
With Olivier and Moussa flourishing in Glasgow, Brendan Rodgers was able to convince a third French youth international, Odsonne Edouard (19), to come to Celtic. We are now an attractive destination for players graduating from one of the world’s most productive international academy environments.
Edouard is here on loan. Celtic have the option secured with both Paris Saint-Germain and the player to turn this into a permanent transfer, should he developed as hoped over the next season.
The story is a little more complicated than just this, however. Odsonne was convicted of shooting someone with an air gun in July and given a suspended sentence. This, frankly, is grossly irresponsible and a suspended sentence is one of the better outcomes for Odsonne. Whatever influences were in his life leading up to this point, a new course needs to be taken in Glasgow.
I have no doubt that this conviction thinned the heard of some potential suitors, unprepared to take the risk on him. He has a year to develop his potential and set himself a new course. If he does, Celtic will acquire a remarkable talent for what in the current market, is a snip.
Patrick Roberts back on loan means that we have retained all first team players from last season, while augmenting the squad with several others. Patrick agreed terms to join permanently, but Manchester City were not prepared to let him go. They, like many others, believe there could be enormous potential on Celtic’s right wing this season. What happens next summer is too far away to contemplate with any certainty.
Jonny Hayes now looks third choice for the right wing slot, but he’s more likely to be utilised as backup for Scott Sinclair on the left. While Patrick Roberts was pursued throughout the summer, we were always going to have to wait until City made their decisions. This left us with only James Forrest for the right wing position for the qualifiers – and James is no stranger to injury. Jonny was available early in the window, so was an appropriate acquisition.
Kundai Benyu (19) arrived from Ipswich after a season on loan at Aldershot. Like Hayes, he can cover for Sinclair in left mid.
Rivaldo Coetzee (20) is the one that got away. He would have competed with Kristofer Ajer for the fourth central defender berth. With Simunovic fit, and Boyata and Sviatchenko both back from injury this month, there was no chance of us splurging big on a central defender. A strategic purchase, like Coetzee, was another matter.
The litmus test for any transfer window is, did we come out of it better than we went into it? Such outcomes are seldom evident the day after the window closes, but having retained all, and added such potential, we have delivered.
What we need to do now is develop Ntcham, Edouard and the others, win the league, perform well in the Champions League, and solidify our position as a club where outstanding talent will flourish and succeed. This is what success looks like for an economically disenfranchised giant in a highly dysfunctional industry.
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TURKEYBHOY on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2017 2:29 PM
Yes,it is.I still think the Hip Ops have affected him.
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Is Mikel a rapper? ;)
Mikels With Attitude csc
Can anyone name a centre half that moved in the summer window that was in our budget and would have improved our team? Just one will do.
You don’t just keeping moving down the list until you find someone and say they’ll do.
Liverpool with all their resources, have a shaky defence, were prepared to obliterate the world transfer record for VVD. They couldn’t get him. They didn’t just go and sign someone. They’re going to wait until VVD becomes available. They also sold their best back up in Sahko(akin to us selling Sviatchenko last night) and their fans are now chatting about Emre Can dropping back from midfield in case of injuries.
Man City with all their resources, have a shaky defence, were trying to sign Jonny Evans for £20m+. They couldn’t get him. They didn’t just go and sign someone. They’ll now likely promote Tosin Adarabioyo from their academy in the event of injuries(and Kompany is extremely injury prone)
Ajax have reportedly taken in £144m in transfer fees in the last 2 years. They have reportedly spent £45m. They reached the Europa League final and finished 2nd in the league. Their fans are expecting them to kick on this season right? They lost their manager, their captain and their star defender. They didn’t need the money, it’s just extremely difficult to keep these guys in inferior leagues(and the Dutch league is rated way higher than Scotland). They got put out of the Champions League 3rd qualifier, and out of the Europa League play off to Rosenborg.
I’m disappointed we didn’t sign a centre half. But I don’t want someone just to make up the numbers. I don’t want us blowing £3m just to have cover for the PSG game. When everyone is fit, we have a stronger squad than at the end of last season, and way stronger than this time last year.
HH
*obliterate the world transfer record for a defender
CHAIRBHOY
I said earlier that every window we take a step forward increases the chasm between us and the rest.
And provides us with the money to do it the next year.
Seems such a shame that it took so long for the penny to drop…
TRADITIONALIST88
Okay, so the boy from Norway you mentioned can maybe be ruled out.
What about other countries though.
There are certainly plenty of them!
As things stand, we are going into the CL with the same central defenders from last year who weren’t good enough.
Everyone knew we needed a central defender to play beside Jozo in order to stand a chance.
The most glaring weakness in the first 11, before anyone signed this season, hasn’t been addressed.
What makes it so disappointing is that if we had signed the type of player required then we could have had a good shot at it.
Confirmation bias,
So we can sign a good prospect from the french league but it appears that, according to some, we can only buy a CB from England for millions of pounds, my goodness what a strange transfer market we work in.
Reggie – Rivaldo?
Would imagine and it’s pure speculation on my part that Brendan has an idea of his centre half and will wait to get the right man rather than add another 80 to 100 large a month onto the wage bill just because we have injuries and are in a tough CL group.
Sometimes patience is a hard ask for football supporters but in just three windows Brendan’s team is really taking shape..
Buying for the sake of buying left us with squads of forty before filled out with some of the biggest duffers I’ve ever seen at Celtic Park..
Boyata for me has all the tools to be a really good centre half, I know that’s maybe not a popular view on here but I think he is a good player and will get even better under Mr Rodgers..
I’m trying to trace a woman called Mary Kathleen Keenan who was born on 16/11/1942 (perhaps in Ireland). She worked as a nurse or midwife in Glasgow around 1968. I believe she may have gone to Belfast in the late 60’s or early 70’s. I heard she was wanting to emigrate to Canada around this time.
Last address I have is 45 West End park St, Glasgow, G4. PLease pass the word around.
If you have any info please contact me by email on bobbypetta@sky.com
Starry
I too think DB is a good defender, its his current ability at passing thats his downfall, AT TIMES.
Given how much thought BR puts into every game im sure he’ll have plans to address this.
It wouldve been very good to get a CB, Denayer as our fourth choice ;-) for example but he ho we go with what we have and im sure we’ll surprise a few, especially the bedwetters in our support.
TRADITIONALIST88
“Are we ruling some of these guys out too easily because we don;t think they’ll turn us a massive profit? This guys already 23, is that now too old?!”
It’s probably at the top end,bud. Think about it.
We sign him at 23,he impresses sufficiently in his first season to attract the scouts. End of his second,we sell him to a lower-level EPL team.
They sign him for ability-as did we-but also with the intent of a profit.
At 25.
Means the top-end club that buy him next,at 27 or 28,are signing a finished product. Who can only decline. But top-end clubs need not worry too much about the money.
SS- I think you will see a few bhoys getting improved contracts in the next few weeks
Here, has that utter hooligan NatKnow been binned off the blog yet…?
;)
GO TELL THE SPARTIM
Agreed and when he plays with Jozo, Jozo should take the baw:))
We have to beat Anderlecht and get a result over there and hope the other results go our way to drop into the EL.
I’m not expecting much against PSG and BM new centre half or not but ye never know especially with Celtic.
HH
lambert14 on 1st September 2017 2:47 pm
Not sure if its as clear cut as that. Boyata has come on leaps and bounds. Sviatchenko is not part of the long term vision, agreed.
The boy from Norway was just an example, and you’re right – lots of options, even in the big leagues outside the EPL, where many clubs arent awash with cash (mid/lower Serie A, La Liga etc).
I’d love to know the thinking of the scouts and management. The Norwegian boy is playing for a club I’ve never heard of. Like the EPL clubs are trying to gazump us by cutting out the middle man, maybe we should sign him before Rosenborg pick him up( like they recently did with another new cap).
Even just a glimpse of the files and the comments on these players would open all our eyes I’m sure.
HH
REGGIE
Very much a specialised position.
We found the new Beckenbauer in South Africa,but discovered he was crocked.
It not an injury,more a bone deformation.
No way of knowing how long he will last at the top level,and less of selling him on.
Shame for the lad. But he was our primary target,and I suspect no-one else came close enough to be a Plan B.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 1st September 2017 2:54 pm
Agreed – I just worry that we try to fill the squad with too many ‘projects’.
The days of a Paul Telfer, do a job with no resale value, may be gone forever :)
HH
DAVIDOPOULOS on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2017 2:56 PM
Here, has that utter hooligan NatKnow been binned off the blog yet…?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBH,I was beginning to think you had been!
Good holiday?
A song for Forrest and a Song For Paddy …. James Forrest Song ( Finger of fudge Tune ) Jamesy Forrest is good enough to get fans off their seat , wee jamesy Forrest is quick enough that any defence he’ll beat , he plays out on the right wing an his goals are just a treat , wee Jamesy Forrest is good enough to get fans off their seats . Song for Mr Roberts (go west ) Roberts …oh the joy he brings , Roberts …dancing on the wing , Roberts ….Jinkys gift from heaven , Roberts ….Jersey No.7
Can anyone explain to me why Ajer has been written off based on a single performance in Central Asia on a plastic pitch where everyone around him was playing like a total diddy anaw (his captain being an even bigger diddy than everyone else)? Naw? Cool. Bear in mind this was in a tie that we won COMFORTABLY over two legs…
If standards were applied evenly then Brendan should have signed a new starting 11…
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
It was a strategically timed transfer window CQN break (were ther lists btw???). I even went to bed last night at 9:30 to avoid the temptation to refresh twitter every 15 seconds.
I woke up gutted that we hadn’t sold Dembele, Armstrong, Simunovic and Tierney for pyoor mullyins…
SUPERSUTTON @ 2:39 PM,
Well, this is the real difficulty, we saw the top performers in Lenny’s team go, it left holes in the team we are just beginning to address.
Hopefully though things will be different under Brendan. For a start by clearing the decks at various levels we won’t be dealing with so much “churn” in the transfer windows. We should now be selling quality players for their real value.
Like you I believe the fact that these players will go for better wages is inevitable. Yet having top quality Scouting network and a Manager that knows players, implements a system and tactics that allows these Players to slot seamlessly in, means replacements will be in the pipeline minimising the impact on team performance.
BMCUW @ 2:46 PM,
Well that’s very true, I’ll leave for the moment the fraught times before Rangers went bust but you have to say there was large sums of European money available to us by getting the Team up to a commensurate level.
We failed to often and my take is we lost money. This has been addressed and in a very professional and sustainable way.
It means we are now, not so much in the business of building chasms in Scotland as closing them in Europe.
Hail Hail
This does seem to happen in every window – a short term injury “crisis” turns into a “glaring squad deficiency”.
STARRY PLOUGH
If yer still about…
I am currently regrowing my hipster beard and I remembered this…
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STARRY PLOUGH on 29TH MAY 2017 3:45 PM
If Celtic sign Johnny Hayes I’ll eat the Green Man’s bunnet and David O Hipster beard..
Nothavin’it CSC
————————————-
Please don’t eat my beard. I’ve just got past the itchy phase… Plus it’s now laced with citrus beard oil.
It’s an orange beardstard…
Davidopoulos
If we’d signed Ajer yesterday I think people would have been far happier today
Phil is back in business-with a vengeance!
https://philmacgiollabhain.ie/2017/09/01/the-difference-between-representation-and-reality-in-the-summer-transfer-window/
No Die Hard jokes,please. They’ve suffered enough!!!
DAVIDOPOULOS
I’m still surprised that we signed him and to be honest I’m still not sure why..
But he should be given a chance like all our new signings..
Good to see ye back among the hip and the unsaveable:))
CELTIC40ME
Absolutely. Plus we would be hearing about that time that Ajer shot an elk with an air rifle. Hopefully he’s rein(deer)ed that behaviour in now…
Is everybody happy?
Yes?
Good.
We are stronger today.
STARRY PLOUGH
But he should be given a chance like all our new signings..
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He was; for about 12 mins in Rosenborg, then I realised that the UCL Qualified Specialist Jamesie Forrest was the messiah…honest, I did!!!
All kidding aside, I have foreseen that Hayes will score against the Sheep at Pittodrie and scanner just about everyone in Scottish football apart from us…
DAVIDOPOULOS
Have to say yer outa practice,old bean. Won’t take you long to get back into the swing of it.
Feel free to practice on here.
Thankfully,my cot is calling.
Maybe he’ll scunner them too, who knows…
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2017
I’m flattered that you think my effort are normally better then that.
You must be tired or sumhin…
DAVIDOPOULOS on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2017 3:03 PM
Can anyone explain to me why Ajer has been written off based on a single performance in Central Asia on a plastic pitch where everyone around him was playing like a total diddy anaw …
Think Ajer can perform ok when he has an experienced CH to play alongside him and mentor him. Problem with Astana was that all 3 of our experienced CHs were injured and Bitton was trying to adapt to playing a position foreign to him over his years as a player, thus making him positionally naive.
If Ajer was playing alongside Simo or Dedryk to coach him through the game, he would perform more than adequately. I think Brendan recognises this.
While on about players trying to play a style they are not used to, I feel that our GK suffers that in spades. For a coupe of decades he has cleared the ball long from his box as GKs always did, but it’s obvious that he finds playing the short ball unnatural and he often looks very uncomfortable doing so, as was countenanced last week.
I had just stated that we needed to be looking for a young keeper who was at home with this style of releasing the ball short from the back some 60 secs before CG presented St J with their goal !
I also agree with comments that Mikel’s legs could be his weakness over the next year. I also think that Brendan is as aware of these above issues as we are. He will already be planning January and next summer signings as we type.
He is 15 months into his project – buckle up for the ride !.
DAVIDOPOULOS
Jonny has a long way o go to be as valuable as James in our team..
Flash the CL Bhoy..
DAVIDOPOULOS on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2017 3:26 PM
CELTIC40ME
Absolutely. Plus we would be hearing about that time that Ajer shot an elk with an air rifle. Hopefully he’s rein(deer)ed that behaviour in now…
Haha
DAVIDOPOULOS
Ouch! Good guess,but housebound today.
Still hoping to make it over to The Irish Centre again shortly. When a suitable date occurs-Celtic playing lunchtime Saturday-I’ll expect you to join us. Well,it would be nice(!)
And in your usual sartorial style,wearing a dashing little sash to suit your beard.
You have a reputation to maintain,after all…
If this report is true,Newcastle are doomed.
Where are they gonna find an excellent manager who can improve players on a low budget?
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/01/rafael-benitez-job-offers-newcastle-mike-ashley-west-ham
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Finding a suitable fixture is on the to do list. Will email you over the weekend!