We had a very real problem this transfer window – our chief scout walked out the door 20 days before it opened. Think what you like about Lee Congerton, but when Brendan Rodgers took him to Leicester, the apex of our recruitment structure left a significant hole in a club that knew it needed to significantly replenish its squad.
The top priority was to appoint a manager, which happened within minutes after the Scottish Cup Final. It would be Neil’s job to identify where we needed to strengthen and the type of player he wanted, but we also had to find a chief scout of the calibre required. There is not a fluid market for such people.
Nicky Hammond had worked at Reading and West Brom and got the gig on a ‘show us what you can do’ basis. He, Neil and Peter Lawwell needed to quickly get on the same wavelength and work with some targets. He was appointed on 20 June, four weeks before Champions League qualification began, with precious little opportunity to scout players. Even when he did scouting, most were preseason, playing friendlies, when it is impossible to measure true capabilities.
When Brendan left six months ago I was not unduly worried. He had clearly been working his ticket since August, allowing no one with clarity on the future, but taking Congerton in May was a low blow. He must have known the carnage this would cause.
11 weeks on from Nicky Hammond’s appointment and we have signed Moritz Bauer (loan with option to buy) and Hatem Elhamid for the right back role, Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli at left back and Christopher Jullien in central defence.
Southampton’s current top earner, but third choice keeper, Fraser Forster made a surprise loan return after Scott Bain was injured, while left-winger Mohamed Elyounoussi also arrived on a season loan from Southampton.
A significant volume of our work this window was done on the youth market. Luca Connell (18), a defensive mid, arrived from Bolton, striker Jonathan Afolabi (18), means the headcount from Southampton reached three. Then last night, we saw right back Jeremie Frimpong (18) come from Manchester City and central defender, Lee O’Connor (18) appear from Manchester United, both on four-year deals.
Out went Kieran Tierney (sigh), Mikael Lustig (again, sigh), Dedryck Boyatak, Marvin Compper, Cristian Gamboa, Scott Allan, Emilio Izaguirre, Doris de Vries and Youssouf Mulumbu, while loaners Toljan, Burke, Weah and Benkovic returned to their parent clubs.
The time to judge a transfer window is at the end of the season, but right now, considering the unprecedented challenges we faced this summer, it appears to have gone better than I expected. We brought in a completely new defence and goalkeeper, lost only two players who would still get into the team (KT and Dedryck), strengthened an already strong forward line with Elyounoussi and bought four teenagers.
Ahead of the visit to Ibrox, it was clear so some of us that despite the Clujbacle, we had navigated a path through some choppy waters. Sunday’s win, and our subsequent transfer dealings, seem to have convinced the more sceptical that this will be our second nine-in-a-row season. A few panicked over-reactions out there? Sudocrem is available from all good supermarkets.
We will know soon if Nicky Hammond will be retained, but in his short tenure, he has worked well with the manager and chief executive. I am sure those inside the club are still too stressed to agree, but maybe we will look back and consider it a good thing that both Brendan and Lee Congerton left when they did. After eight-in-a-row and a treble-treble, you might expect some staleness at the lack of genuine challengers, but there is a fresh feel about Celtic this morning. We are in a good place.
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….aaaand, and………….see the wee staun that’s gonna be built at The Barrowfield Stadio………
Embdy guess what the wee stand capacity should be there?
If you answered 1888, then you would be correct…………..
If we wanted a slightly more capacious enclosure then I’m guessin’
1967 would fit the bill.
HH
SAINT STIVS on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:02 PM
SYDNEYTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 9:23 AM
Bognor. Similar with be. Ma mates given it a bit of banter. Only thing Is now is they are saying “ mm another quiet game “. Seems to be every week now
He does not do enough over 90 mins to get a 1st pick. 1st I have seen him hooked. So good that Neil saw the bigger picture
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another quiet game ? doesnt do enough over 90 minutes to get 1st pick ?
the same guy that NFL said is a true celtic great ?
in the last 10 days ………..
aug 22nd – home to AIK, James scores the first goal, sublime skills, superb finish, space , place, ACCURACY, POWER, accuracy.taken off on 82 minutes to a celtic park standing ovation. I was there. He was praised. He had a really good game. Closed down all over the park, a couple of devensive tackles, closes spaces all the time. Celtic win 2-0
SO THATS A GOAL.
aug 25th – home to hearts, james with an assist, plays the full 90 minutes, had a really good game, celtic win 3-1. his work rate was obvious to those in attendance. A few times in the right back position to take the ball off a player and turn, an out ball for our right back. He even jumped for headers twice in the middle of the park. SO THATS AN ASSIST.
aug 29th – away to AIK. a sublime goal, maybe one of his best ever. Just superb. Followed by an assist. Played 90 Minutes. he SO THATS A GOAL AND AN ASSIST.
and then onto sunday.
where he had a quiet game that involved, running and chasing and closing down , harrying, carrying, being there to take an out ball from the defense.
Aye ………….he is getting rubbisher.
THELURKINTIM
Agreed.The bastards haven’t won yet though :-)
SYDNEYTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:17 PM
HEKNOWSWHOKNOWS If we wanted Taylor we had the cash to pay them
Why did Celtic sell KT to Arsenal when the replacement was not in place. Oops
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Because the English transfer window shut well in advance of ours. Also, you will know he has not recovered sufficiently to actually play yet.
So we could still have KT on our books but needed to sign another LB anyway.
I think we’ve done pretty well out of the situation. KT is a superstar and deserved his move to a financially bigger team / league.
It did mean selling clubs thought they could hold us to ransom. Which they tried and if reports of £1.8M for Taylor are near the mark, then they were not successful in doing so,
THELURKINTIM The world where we had no proper plan for cl qualifiers
Any CEO worth his salt and knowing that 30-40% of turnover requires us beating teams on a fraction of our turnover would like to see a plan
Of course PL plan is same as always. Let’s gamble and try and get there
He failed again. Buck stops with him. He must go
“Ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers sent Kris Boyd a “prickly” text after the striker hailed Neil Lennon’s tactics during Sunday’s Old Firm game, according to the former Rangers man.
Boyd praised Lennon for his set-up on Sunday as the Hoops strolled to a 2-0 win at Ibrox in the season’s first derby day.
The front man, 36, explained in his role as pundit on Sky Sports how Lennon’s men didn’t need “tippy tappy” tactics to manage a victory over their rivals.
However Leicester City manager Rodgers didn’t take too kindly to his comments.
According to Boyd in his Scottish Sun column, Rodgers let him know exactly how he felt with a moaning text after the game.
Boyd, in his column, said: “Brendan Rodgers sees himself as a beautiful human being.
“But going by the tetchy text message he sent me on Sunday night, he’s not half a prickly one.
“I’ll not reveal everything the bold Brendan messaged me because I don’t think that would be fair.
“But let’s just say he didn’t take too kindly to my critique on Celtic that pointed out how Neil Lennon’s team didn’t need to play tippy-tappy football to beat Rangers.”
Boyd went on to explain how he hadn’t been critical of Rodgers’ style of football in his telly analysis – but the “self-centred” Northern Irishman still took his comments as a dig.”
Per the Evening Times.
SUPERSUTTON Aye right enough mate. We showed Killie Got our man for 1.8. But knocked out CL with 40m income because Neil did not have a left back that he could rely on
Right enough mate we won there Oops
What you didn’t mention was that persons in our staff decided to steal notes of our recruitment meeting and sold it to the tabloids. This allowed all to see our targets. At this point we obviously decided to dump all, as we ended up not signing any on the list.
Given we had a new recruitment team then the coaching staff and remaining scouts did well. I hope we bring Tommy Johnston in and with Tosh and a New Head of recruitment giving us a good start.
I thing that moves for Meling and a few others are not gone merely delayed.
I know that we lost Tierney but he obviously wanted to go and we cant keep these players, KT had time out last seasons with Injuries so we have had a taste of live without him.
I know people would like signings early but the circumstances dictated other.
The squad average age will have gone down as well. No bad thing
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON
You’re on the same side as the Orange Order, the DUP and neo-fascists.
Beat it.
SYDNEYTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:38 PM
The targets don’t just disappear lol Paul67 just used excuse for 2nd that Neil was appointed late and no time to get things together lol. Can’t have it both ways
Was reported that lee downed tools and visually zero prep done for qualifiers Pete wanted his compo from Leicester
___
Show me where that was reported. I didn’t see it anywhere.
Targets come and go. Arribo signed for the huns for example. I doubt Nicky Hammond & Neil Lennon wanted to sign players on the recommendation of a guy who had now left.
Pauls general point is that a change in manager and change in the head of recruitment won’t make it easy to get the optimal results in the transfer window in terms of timing.
I feel like the window has addressed what we needed. And while it would be nice to have people in earlier, I still believe Neil had enough tools to beat Cluj. It just was a disaster on the night.
We won’t really know how good this window is for a while yet. Maybe the best signing of all will turn out to be Luca Connell or O’Connor?
A good window should mean that you aren’t scrambling to fix several positions in the next window. I doubt we will have much to do in January apart from getting rid of the deadwood.
MacJay…I called no one bastards…don’t appreciate the connection
Sydney,
Seriously you should consider Waterpolo or something and take your mind off it for a while.
It’s not perfect but it still feels good being a Celtic Supporter.
Macjay. Actually every poll since the referendum shows remain by about 5%
Now that it has been debated people have changed their minds So the 17.4m does not exist anymore
HEKNOWSWHOKNOWS Happy as Larry after Sunday. But we could be doing far better without a bean counter as CEO
How ruder…please ask for that to be removed….
12:48 if you care
Timaloy
https://celticunderground.net/you-reap-what-you-sow/
Anyone…P67’s email addy please
THELURKINTIM
Paul67@gmail.com I believe.
Paul@localplanet.co.uk. Had that from ten years ago :)
Man City insert transfer clauses into Celtic deal for young defender Jeremie Frimpong
Manchester City youngster Jeremie Frimpong completed a deadline day deal as he signed for Celtic.
Manchester City inserted a number of clauses into Celtic’s deal for young defender Jeremie Frimpong.
The 18-year-old secured a permanent move to the SPL champions on Monday after spending half of his life with the Blues in their academy . Frimpong impressed last season as the Under-18s made it to the FA Youth Cup final and the Under-21s reached the quarter-finals of the Checkatrade Trophy but interest from Neil Lennon proved too much for him to turn down.
Celtic have paid an initial £350,000 for Frimpong and there are also up to £650,000 in potential payments which would take the total sum up to £1m. City will also receive 30 per cent of any fee should Celtic sell the youngster in future, but there is no buyback clause in the deal.
Reacting to the switch, Frimpong said: “I joined Man City as a nine-year old; I have come a long way but the ride has been amazing! There have been some highs and some lows but I have always given my best for this shirt.
“I feel privileged to have been part of such club. Teammates, coaches, staff and fans have always been amazing to me and I will never be able to repay them! Came as a boy, leave as a man. Man City will always be in my heart!”
The Blues also saw midfielder Claudio Gomes go on loan to PSV Eindhoven and defender Joel Latibeaudiere sign for FC Twente on loan for the upcoming season as European leagues held their final day of the transfer window.
Source: Manchester Evening News
Robinbhoy…that’s no longer in use
FRANKTERRY on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:51 PM
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON
You’re on the same side as the Orange Order, the DUP and neo-fascists.
Beat it.
====================================================
And 17.4 million voters.
At the start of transfer window I had a few Beers with an old blogger from here “ Michael Collins”. His prediction of the transfer window was
1. Sell KT towards the end of transfer window where the excuse of “ not enough time to spend will be used
2 spend about 15m and the spin from the pl chosen few will be we have spent massively
3 keep the dembele and Rodgers money in bank as the idiots who believe item 2 will keep spinning it
How right he was :(((
Thanks Macjay1…better late than never
SYDNEYTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:54 Macjay.
Actually every poll since the referendum shows remain by about 5%
Now that it has been debated people have changed their minds So the 17.4m does not exist anymore
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How many took part in the ” polls ” ?
THELURKINTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 1:15 PM
Thanks Macjay1…better late than never
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Just like Brexit.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON
This is the last time I’m going to respond to you as it’s completely pointless. It’s good though that you finally accept you are on your knees to the orange order – it took a while but you finally got there.
Secondly, my ‘B’ reference was directed at Johnson, Cummings, Patel etc and not the 17.4 million – who never voted for a no deal brexit – as you are well aware of.
Don’t respond to me again, we have nothing in common.
THELURKINTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:52 PM
MacJay…I called no one bastards…don’t appreciate the connection
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Didn`t say you did.
Read back.
It`s not difficult.
Macjay. The only time leave was in front of the polls was in the week leave won it. It clearly shows the mood has changed
Anyway the two most important referendums were the GFA ones which removed barriers between north and south. Brexit cannot go ahead as long as the GFA is in place
Lol…nope…better never…but what do I know.(looking for a Republic passport qualifier)…
No you didn’t but yer copy n paste did
Look back..it’s not difficult…
FRANKTERRY on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 1:19 PM
This is the last time I’m going to respond to you as it’s completely pointless. It’s good though that you finally accept you are on your knees to the orange order – it took a while but you finally got there.
Secondly, my ‘B’ reference was directed at Johnson, Cummings, Patel etc and not the 17.4 million – who never voted for a no deal brexit – as you are well aware of.
Don’t respond to me again, we have nothing in common.
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Sorry , old son.
Not a solicitor .
Don`t take instructions.
THELURKINTIM on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 1:22 PM
No you didn’t but yer copy n paste did
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Factually incorrect.
MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:48 PM
FRANKTERRY on 3RD SEPTEMBER 2019 12:43 PM
THELURKINTIM
Agreed.The bastards haven’t won yet though :-)
Aye…mibbe I was imagining it
A copy n paste mistake I can live with…but do not presume to know my politics….
Politics now……….
Slownewscsc