The march of Jamestown Analytics continues with Union Saint-Gilloise remarkable win at Dutch champions PSV last night. The Belgians led 0-3 until PSV scored a 90th minute consolation. Dutch and Belgian football have now both been humbled by Tony Bloom’s system. Change is in the wind for Scotland.
It hurts not being involved in the Champions League and I expect it will hurt more if Kairat go down meekly at Sporting on Thursday. If the Kazakhs were able to put a few points on the table this season it would soften the blow of elimination.
The prospect of a Europa League game at Red Star one week from today is daunting enough. I doubt we are ready for the rigours of a Champions League campaign. I’m telling myself we need a season in the Europa to pick up some coefficient points. Hmmm.
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We all do that Bhoys town,made me smile
So you saying you are not a hun? Well we look forward to your contribution regularly,
HH
Glasstwothirdsfull @ 12:09pm
Nice one. You make a good point about domestic competition in Belgium.
I wonder … in the midst of the recent remote love-in with FC Bruges – itself used (only partly) to mildly spank the ass of our board …
… if some have overlooked the fact that FC Bruges were pipped to the title by these upstarts?
Genuine (largely rhetorical) question.
Feeling the way we do right now … having been papped oot of the CL by #318
How many of us would have preferred an alternative outcome
… where we were still in the Champions League
(like Bruges)
… along with the Scottish Champions, R2ngers
(like USG)
… with R2ngers having won impressively away from home last night?
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
Bhoys Town on 17th September 2025 1:55 pm
Quadrophenian – we have to assume Brendan thinks at least some aspects of his game need development, possibly tackling. In which case he should possibly be out on loan? He is 23 after all, not a kid. But I agree he looked technically and positionally good with a real drive about his play, as does Yamada.
——
Yep I think BR coldly said Ina ‘wasn’t at the level’ for Champs League – and hinted at some defensive frailties.
That said, in games to date Saracchi and Tierney havent needed to make or be brill at the ole tackling.
Hopefully Ina will be coached into a fine player for us in seasons to come. Yamada too.
CELTIC40ME @ 1.58pm
“(Hearts) sit top of the league.”
I know it’s just a wee slip and doesn’t undermine the gist of the point you were making, but of course they don’t sit top of the league, Celtic sit in that position, under the rules and regs of the league. BTW I hope Hearts keep up their excellent start to the league, except on Sunday 26th October of course.
Ave Ave
man united made a loss of 18 million on turnover of 660 million.
after a sustained and brutal number of cost cutting methods
but they avoided corporations tax.
what a way to run a company.
TBB @ 12:56pm – brilliant.
Genuinely not trying to stir the pot here, folks
There is one other absolutely key stakeholder whose willingness and ability to embrace this has to be queried.
Brendan Rodgers.
And, we already have a potential reference point for that query – he was Liverpool manager when this model was in place and had an ultimately prickly relationship with the ‘transfer committee’.
I’m not aware of similar previous exposure to this modern phenomenon among our board many of whom (non-PC alert !) are old duffers.
Cue memories of Brian Quinn leaving a voicemail on the wrong mobile phone.
An Tearmann on 17th September 2025 2:14 pm
We all do that Bhoys town,made me smile.
So you saying you are not a hun? Well we look forward to your contribution regularly,
HH
—–
Sorry, thought the question was a joke. Definitely not a current bun. Long time lurker and avid reader of the different views on here. Old enough to have stood in the Jungle, was nearly crushed as we won the league v Dundee in ’88. Terrifying experience which made the awful events in Sheffield a year later no surprise.
I remember the dark days of the financially doped ’90s which makes me a bit concerned with some of the present day hysteria from some about where our club is today (while not dismissing legitimate criticism of a board that clearly has a communications problem).
SS
I thought they lost 33 m
CELTIC40ME
Talented boy, Yang. Who knew? 😂
Tiny Tim @ 145pm
What he ☝️ said. 👍
Saint Stivs re Man Utd
… I hear you.
Devil is always in the detail of course …
But it’s difficult to immediately reconcile “Record turnover”, “cost cutting”, and “made a loss”
USG’s three big summer signings, were brought to the Club in June and early July.
Basically, whilst P67 was busy calling people bedwetters, USG were signing players.
Today he lauds, USG…
Someone is taking the absolute piss.
AN DÚN on 17TH SEPTEMBER 2025 2:53 PM
Perhaps because they actually wanted to come to USG, unlike our targets who were wanted by their clubs until after the qualifiers and then didnt want to come at all.
TBB – just on your earlier summary of Board competencies and interests ..
For a while now, I’ve squawked about the need for a Chief Customer Officer on the Celtic board.
Clear gap, IMHO.
In the unlikely event of a restructure, and with your post firmly in mind, maybe it’s time to get this role below in play too ….
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_data_officer
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 17TH SEPTEMBER 2025 2:47 PM
A polymathmatician?
I’ll get my coat
I see Ihaneacho was wanted by Brendan in January. With that and Jota’s swap deal we could have had a whole Summer without the Kyogo and Kuhn replacement saga
James Forrest 12:03 pm
Do you stand by your statement from 25 Feb that Celtic are a “strong, healthy club”?
If so, how do you reconcile it with your blog on Saturday that “the mismanagement of Celtic has been festering for years”?
JF-I see the blogger bashing has been going full-tilt whilst I’ve been away. Now we’re “Beer Hall Putschists” as well, eah? With all the connotations of this. This is an alleged Celtic fan talking about other Celtic fans by the way, which shows what gutter he crawled out of.
AT – what is it that gets you James? Is it no control over cqn moderation- i take it such questioning would not be allowed on your site.
The faux outrage at Celtic fans and the way type to each other makes me smile,would have to look to deep on your thrice daily output
JF-For the record; do a little looking around. 70% of those who were at the game at the weekend chose to join the protest. 500 plus Celtic fan groups, from podcasts to supporters buses, now support the no confidence motion in Lawwell, Desmond, McKay and Nicholson.
AT – The upset is over recent windows James,i think there will be change,I feel PL will step back as the cbc case goes towards close,I see no reason for CMK vote,MN you may have a case to contest.Re DD your talking of someone in control of the tectonic plates Celtic are built on since 1998,good luck with your vote,suprised James not a word on the NEDS,
JF-I’ve got news for some of the self-proclaimed spokespersons for unity; there is unity.
AT i dont doubt your unity,I would canvas more for communication improvements,in today’s info age we need to be part of the message,not remote as now
JF-It’s this site and those on it who are the outliers. I come on here some days and read some of the stuff and it’s honestly like visiting a parallel universe to reading the blogs, listening to the podcasts and looking at the strength of feeling which exists elsewhere.
AT- Outliers I don’t see,I read plenty who may not support you,they put their points to you but don’t get any or much of an answer ergo default to labelling,take the point on James,maybe some here have board experience and can see the damage done,whatever the point made take it on,break it down and explain,there is little of that,as stated above you wouldn’t have it on your blog,so don’t go all snipes as its a diff point o view
JF-Sometimes I think this site exists in an entirely seperate reality, from the host to some of the guys who post. And sometimes what’s on here is so divorced from the feelings of all the people I speak to that I wonder if there’s not some subtle trolling going on or if certain people at Celtic Park are posting so frequently on here that it explains bad transfer windows and why we never get anything done.
AT-its not a seperate reality James,its just a point of view some have here,a point you default to the ad hominem-sweep when it could be explained
JF-In case it’s not clear; the voices of tens of thousands of fans who are currently silent aren’t going to be ignored. Unlike some people we will reach out to those guys to find out what they think and what they want. And when it comes time to ask the broad sweep of the support to take action then we’ll see what we see, but we’ll treat them with the respect they deserve, not the contempt they’d get on here.
AT- i don’t think they get contempt,i just think you can’t breakdown their point.You are used to not being questioned James,On talking to several chaps i know,they wouldn’t follow ‘the movement’°due to your own presence sadly,
°- Can you change that?
JF-None of the snide comments and the general bitching on this site ever considers that we’re all on the same side. Disagreements are fine. But we all care about Celtic. Supposedly anyway.
JF-Talk of enemies within and crap like that … that stuff belongs on Follow Follow, but that’s what this site is turning into. Intolerance of the most appalling kind, Celtic fans directing at it at other Celtic fans, smug gits talking down to the rest of the posters like children.
AT- another chance lost to counter James,go for the ad hominem sweep
JF-I respect my fellow Celtic fans. At the core of this campaign is that respect. I have as much of it for a guy who wants to just support the team and keep going to the football as I do for the battler hardened veterans of previous campaigns who are throwing everything into this one because they love the club just as much but express it in a different way.
I don’t know what some people on this site think they look like to the rest of us. Pretty abysmal, I can tell you that.
AT nope,never picked up anythin there on getting 4 boardmembers with a no confidence motion?
There is still plenty to do James,shine a light on our voting,the remoteness of our board?why fans are isolated from the club?what can be done to close these gaps?Anythin being asked to limit board Tenure as TBBs post we are just ready for new and dynamic change at board level
HH
EMERALDBEE \O/ A DOUBLE NINER!! on 17TH SEPTEMBER 2025 2:24 PM
Fair point.
Agreed, all for a decent challenge from Hearts
Celtic40me
Perhaps because they actually wanted to come to USG, unlike our targets who were wanted by their clubs until after the qualifiers and then didnt want to come at all.
—-
Both Clubs USG signed their two biggest summer signings from had UEFA qualifiers to play.
Bhoys Town on 17th September 2025 2:39 pm
If you lurked for a long time BT you’d know that was always the welcome 1st time posters got,your
very welcome and long may you post.
Yeh the Dundee game was quite a memory,the attendance changed to 60,000 from the old boards chaos standard of 21,000,this eejit was flying up and down from London over those 6 years,dark days were over as Fergus flew in.
Keep posting
HH
AN DÚN on 17TH SEPTEMBER 2025 3:23 PM
Their biggest summer signing came from the mighty NK Olimpija Ljubljana for their record fee for a sale. Not exactly the hardest transfer they will ever have to complete. Perhaps €5m is a lot of money for them compared to going through how many rounds of qualification for the Conference league.
Maybe we should be looking more at players with that sort of profile
Good afternoon all from the Brazen Head. I asked Mrs BRRB about sacking the board. She said it’s about time I used the ironing board. Girls nowadays. 🙄
Brugge had 4 of their top 5 signings in the door by the 24th July.
Bologna had 4 of their top 5 summer signings done by 19th July.
Atalanta had all their top 5 signed by the 4th July.
Bodo had their top 5 completed by 24th July.
Slavia Prague had their top 5 in by 1st July (2 were signed in Feb 2025).
But players don’t want to sign for us. Clubs don’t want to sell. Players hold out for deadline day.
Our list of excuses do not stand up to scrutiny.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cly687ylvx2o
The headline of the article is
“Kelly’s a hero for Juve – so why did Newcastle sell him?”
Hmm. L£t m£ th£nk
FSR eh?
Some clubs treat it as a guardrail.
Others as a hurdler treats a hurdle
.. and others still .. like a dare at a frat party
CQN Book Club
Just finished reading…
MEN IN LOVE
by
Irvine Welsh
The sequel to Trainspotting, set in the late 80s, immediately following on from Renton’s big betrayal.
A magnificent read, both tragic and hilarious in equal measure. I couldn’t put this down.
An outstanding read.
AD- That’s no way to run a club, and be ‘ World Class ‘ in everything you do….
AN DÚN on 17TH SEPTEMBER 2025 3:41 PM
“But players don’t want to sign for us. Clubs don’t want to sell. Players hold out for deadline day.”
Thats what happened with Dolberg, its hardly an excuse.
I dont know about any of the signings that you’ve listed there, without more information its hard to know the circumstances around each signing but we’ve done Brugge before.
A quick look Bologna’s big signing wasnt done until 24 August. A big fee from a club that didn’t have qualifiers but still held out for a player that was in demand. Marseille had already had spent £30m on a left winger so they were looking to sell and also maximise his price. Tough deal to do even though he obviously wanted to come and the club had to sell
Talking of Marseille it was good to see Matt O’Riley doing so well last night in the Bernabau, he looked very much a champions league player. What a great career he’s had so far, that move that to Brighton you laughed at seems to have worked out ok for him.
Tom- BBC done a very interesting half hour interview with Irvine Welsh recently, covering his new book,will be on I Player
Irvine Welsh The Next Chapter
Thanks Bada.
I saw his appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, but will check out the BBC interview.
Russell Martins recent phone call to his mother probably went something like this
Mine is just another scene
Of a world of broken dreams
Gers life is not the right life
for my life.
A few subtle changes to the Willie Nelson classic.
USG sold two centre forwards for a combined €37m in the summer window. They bought one for €5m who wasnt even on the bench last night.
Their front three last night were signed in summer 2023, 2024 and 2024 for combined fees of £4m from Ecuador, Isreal and Estonia.
There’s one answer to the perennial moan about not replacing players.
My imagination is asking.
What life at Celtic would look like if Tony Bloom bought out DD
Peter, Michael. ????
Hmmmmm
67ECW
An Dun …………Very interesting stats, it’s not rocket science
to get business done to give new players a full pre season.
Are clubs on the continent at an advantage to source
new players ie Alberg preferred Ajax rather than cross
the sea to Glasgow ?
Thread on old Celtic Park
https://x.com/_footyheritage/status/1968269087328645161?t=8FA4L5SDwk4Wv0RZC2uJow&s=19
HH
I respect my fellow Celtic fans. Except…
…an alleged Celtic fan who crawled out of a gutter…
…the self-proclaimed spokespersons…
…from the host to some of the guys who post [on] this site…
…the smug gits talking down to the rest of the posters…
…they look pretty abysmal.
Apart from them.
TBB
Fit for Purpose? Since you mention AI here is something I got last week in response to this question.
Can I ask AI what skill what skill set would a CEO of Celtic PLC need to do the job of running Celtic PLC?
Here’s a breakdown of the skill set a CEO of Celtic PLC would need:
1. Strategic & Commercial Leadership
Ability to set long-term strategy balancing football success with financial sustainability.
Experience in revenue generation: sponsorship, broadcasting, retail/merchandise, ticketing, digital.
Understanding of shareholder value and how to communicate strategy to investors.
2. Financial Acumen
Strong grasp of corporate finance, budgeting, and cashflow management.
Knowledge of UEFA’s Financial Sustainability Regulations (FSR) and how they impact squad spending.
Experience in managing risk, especially around player trading and transfer market volatility.
3. Football Industry Knowledge
Understanding of the football ecosystem: UEFA, SPFL, SFA, FIFA, player agents, broadcasting rights.
Awareness of how player recruitment, youth development, and sporting performance affect financial outcomes.
Ability to balance short-term football ambition with long-term structural planning.
4. Stakeholder & Governance Skills
Experience with corporate governance in a listed company environment.
Strong boardroom skills, ensuring alignment between directors, major shareholders, and supporters.
Political awareness — able to navigate supporter groups, media, and regulatory authorities.
5. People & Organisational Leadership
Ability to recruit, retain, and inspire senior executives (football operations, commercial, finance, marketing).
Culture-building skills to align staff, players, and community with Celtic’s ethos.
Experience leading change in a complex, high-profile organisation.
6. Communication & Public Profile
Media presence and resilience under scrutiny.
Diplomacy when representing Celtic at UEFA, government level, or in negotiations.
Ability to articulate Celtic’s values (heritage, community, global identity) alongside its business strategy.
7. Digital & Global Growth
Understanding of global fan engagement, international markets, and digital platforms.
Vision for expanding Celtic’s reach beyond Scotland through branding, partnerships, and content.
Wire in everyone.