Where is this relationship going?

340

Signing young players on loan has worked well for Celtic in the recent past: Patrick Roberts and Odsonne Edouard, being good examples.  While others, like Charly Musonda, failed to make the grade.  Musonda had talent (you remember that chip against Zenit), but he never looked up to the physical challenges of the professional game.

When Celtic sign the likes of Timothy Weah on a short-term loan, our initial thought is, “Where is this relationship going?”  Will the loan be extended, as it was for Roberts, or end in a purchase, as it did for Edouard, or will this be a one-off gig?

Weah appears to have abundant talent but his chances of breakthrough at PSG are limited.  Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani head an illustrious list of strikers at a club always looking to add to their squad.  It is more likely that the Paris club will look to build Weah’s value at Celtic in the hope of earning an inflated transfer fee.  This practice is how all tier-one clubs operate and underpins their Financial Fair Play credentials.

It is important for Celtic to build a squad – to manage our assets.  The try before you buy model, used effectively with Edouard, works well in this regard.  Building relationships with PSG or Man City, who know their players can gain necessary experience and appreciate in value, means we remain a valuable option for future deals.

But we also need to win football games, irrespective of more strategic concerns, even if there is no long-term relationship with the player.  Sometimes it is OK for a relationship not to last beyond the summer.

Welcome to Celtic, Timothy.

Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

340 Comments

  1. Thomthetim

     

    If you don’t mind me butting in

     

    I personally believe Celtic as a club could have done much more these past few years to beat the challenge and expose FtSFA

     

    I do get your point on no club backing us

     

    But

     

    Celtic have a duty to protect its shareholders interest – legally they could have therefor challenged numerous organisations, irrespective of what FtSFA, UEFA or FIFA may think

     

    Unless the board have decided this is Celtic best option ??? I would disagree

     

    Again only a personal opinion

     

    Celtic, or Celtic employees are conflicted in what has taken place, particularly this past 7 years ??

     

     

    Legally we have not tackled FtSFA – the Res 12 guys have provided the smoking gun, yet still silence

     

    Incidentally PL has met these guys once in 5 years ( ok twice through an alternative planned meeting)

     

    Not the level of engagement I would expect from our CEO representing shareholders

  2. Apologies if someone already posted.

     

    Regarding songs for our new bhoys. Bayo

     

     

    Bayo lonely prison wall.

     

     

    D. :)

  3. Man this place would give you ire, Huns make 2 shrewd signings, 2 has beens, and our signings dissed before they kick a ball.

     

    Reality of any signing is we just don’t know how good or bad they might be. However it is just as easy to be optimistic as pessimistic and life is a lot more fun.

  4. Incidentally Welcome to the World Famous Glasgow Celtic

     

    Timothy Weah

     

    &

     

    Vakoun Issouf Bayo ???

  5. I was chatting to a guy today whose two sons were called Cameron and Blair, had to bite my tongue

  6. RIMTIMTIM,

     

     

    If it talks like a Hun,walks like a Hun,is as ugly as a Hun,

     

    you know the rest.

  7. What is the Stars on

    Anyone else beginning to think that we wont sign anyone this tranfer window ??

     

     

    No ?

     

     

    Just me then

  8. BAY-OH! BAY-OH!

     

    Kick-off comes and he’s gonna score goals

     

    Bay, me say bay, me say bay, me say bay, me say bay, me say bay-ay-o

     

    Kick-off comes and he’s gonna score goals

     

     

    He’s a six foot, seven foot, eight foot GUN!

     

    Kick-off comes and he’s gonna score goals

     

    Left foot, right foot, smash dem huns

     

    Kick-off comes and he’s gonna score goals

     

     

    Welcome aboard Vakoun, from the BelafonteCSC

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQXVHITd1N4

  9. mike in toronto on

    Fritzsong

     

     

    Firstly, I was not the one who suggested that there was a war. My point is that there is no war between Celtic and Rangers.

     

     

    But to answer your question. If by analogy, you mean a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification, yes, there is an analogy.

     

     

    Is there an equivalency? Of course not. But, I never suggested there was.

  10. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    THOMTHETHIM FOR OSCAR OK on 8TH JANUARY 2019 7:59 PM

     

     

    Your sense of perspective is to be respected.

     

    The insult ignored.

     

     

    Don`t be gagged.

     

     

     

    As if you would.

     

    :-)

     

     

    CoLumbine CSC.

  11. BADA,

     

    He would be the one I would want in.If Boyatta is staying,I am not that concerned about a CH.I dont think any new signing would get game time enough to matter,if he and Benkovic remain till the summer.I hope we have someone lined up,in case Boyatta goes.

  12. Fan-A-Tic @ 1.30 pm

     

     

    “You said (Salzburg do so by the RB money and privileged position.)

     

     

    The financial record’s involving their transfers have shown that they are profitable in this regard.

     

     

    But your above response only offers your personal opinion and is not fact.

     

     

    You are one of the sharpest posters on this blog and often in your rebuttal’s to other posts you are quick to demand proof and if they can’t and only offer opinion you can be dismissive.

     

     

     

    Firstly I accept, and I stated so, that the sketchy evidence I submitted was not compelling but was indicative of a cosy relationship. But I don’t accept that this is merely opinion or not a fact. I did not sit down and invent this out of thin air.

     

     

    I listed the teams involved and said there had been examples in my original reply to you some months back to evidence the point.

     

     

    For example, Salzburg have sold Naby Keita and Upamecano to Leipzig recently. I know they have sold to other German clubs too, but does that not raise any eyebrows with you? Does the point not have any merit? Did Leipzig win an open market transfer race for these two valued stars, one of whom has been, and the other will be, sold on at a great profit? I am sure that both clubs will have a defensible position on this but if I had the power, I would be ordering an audit of the books of both parties.

     

     

    Now, a quick look at their incoming shows a keeper, Carlos Miguel, signed from RB Brasil U-20, another keeper Kohn, signed from Leipzig, a RB Ludewig signed from Leipzig U-19 and Centre Forward, Prevljak also signed from Leipzig . 6 players in their squad (Samassekou, Schlager, Mwepu, Szoboszlai, Wolff and Berisha) were all signed from FC Liefering (the Red Bull club operating in Tier2 Austria that I misremembered as Ingolstadt).

     

     

    Now, that is a highly suggestive relationship though I am fairly sure it keeps itself clean by most of the loose laws governing finance.

     

     

    But it is evidence. It is more than opinion

     

     

     

    As for including my reply to Madmitch, it is true that the burden of providing evidence on the financial ties of the RB clubs, lies with me, the person making the argument. In MadMitch’s case though that evidence trail falls to him, not me, to provide.

  13. I have no clue if the boy from the Cote de Ivoire will be what we are hoping for, if he was indeed recommended by Lubo and I know that Kolo will know about him from the international team so here’s hoping.

     

    The Weah fella, I am genuinely excited about him, from what I have seen on vids he really looks the biz, I think if he does Ok he will stay for another year, Burke, I honestly can’t fathom that one, seventeen starts in the past couple of seasons and can’t get into a championship side doesn’t bode well, but he might surprise us, still happy enough so far, but we do need to sort the defence, if Boyatta is for the off we obviously need to replace him, not great planing for the qualifiers, either the CL or the europa with a new defence, shambolic in reality, we have had years to sort it, it matters not who people want to blame, be it Brendan or who ever, the CEO carries the can at the end of the day, he is the coordinator, the buck stops with him.

  14. BTW

     

     

    Tiny Tim’s rather harsh assessment of the You Tube video evidence of our 3 new signings, is possibly close to the opinion of many who watched the link.

     

     

    Certainly, I share his assessment of some of their strengths and weaknesses.

     

     

    On this video sample, Weah looks, unsurprisingly as a PSG signing, the best of the lot. He has frightening speed and will take on defenders on the outside as well as finishing cooly. Bayo looked very leggy and unbalanced but fairly good in the air (I too, doubt he will hit the team running). Burke does have an awkward end product in that he regularly played the ball too far forward as he relied on speed and power. However, he is far from being a rugby player, a charge more fairly levelled at the likes of Cosgrove and Stockley of the Dons. In fact, I think, Ollie is a great candidate for improving under the coaching of Brendan as his faults are more easily rectified.

     

     

    Anyways to undermine both the credentials of me and TT, I will remind myself again that I thought Dougie Somner would be a better CF than Brian McClair and TT thought that Moussa Dembele would be a waste of space on the evidence of his first few games.

     

     

    It’s no easy, this scouting game.

  15. PB- i think they all struggled at Poundland, except McGregor, maybe Boyata will talk Castagne into signing?

  16. Just to be fair to Oliver Burke’s game time, here are the players he ahs to get past in the pecking order

     

     

    Hal Robson Kanu- signed after a great Euro performance for Wales

     

    Jay Rodriguez- signed for £12m

     

    Dwight Gayle- on loan from Newcastle

     

    James Morrison & Matt Phillips- Scottish Internationalists

     

    Wes Hoolahan- Irish internationalist

     

    Chris Brunt- NI international

     

    & Bakary Sako- Mali Internationalist

  17. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    THE EXILED TIM on 8TH JANUARY 2019 9:34 PM

     

    I have no clue if the boy from the Cote de Ivoire will be what we are hoping for, if he was indeed recommended by Lubo and I know that Kolo will know about him from the international team so here’s hoping.

     

     

     

     

    The Weah fella, I am genuinely excited about him, from what I have seen on vids he really looks the biz, I think if he does Ok he will stay for another year, Burke, I honestly can’t fathom that one, seventeen starts in the past couple of seasons and can’t get into a championship side doesn’t bode well, but he might surprise us, still happy enough so far, but we do need to sort the defence, if Boyatta is for the off we obviously need to replace him, not great planing for the qualifiers, either the CL or the europa with a new defence, shambolic in reality, we have had years to sort it, it matters not who people want to blame, be it Brendan or who ever, the CEO carries the can at the end of the day, he is the coordinator, the buck stops with him.

     

    ==============================================================

     

     

    You think that the monkey`s should carry the can , not the Board organ grinders .

     

     

    PL does what he is told.

     

    His remittances , bonuses and continuing employment suggest that the people who actually KNOW about his personal performance are extremely happy with same.

     

    Unless of course you think that we have a Board replete with philanthropists.

     

    I don`t think so .

     

     

    Do you seriously think PL chooses signing targets or is responsible for their performance ?

     

    While Brendan et al. are merely interested bystanders ?

     

     

    Well maybe you do.

     

    I don`t see Brendan as anybody`s pushover .

  18. TET

     

    SFTB

     

    a friend, PSG ST holder who has wathched Eddie & Tim come through rates TIm the better player

     

    speak soon

     

    night

  19. SFTB

     

    Three managers haven’t played him at WBA……..

     

    By the time Brendan works his magic the boy will be gone, just doesn’t make any sense imo.

     

    Looking at that list it smacks of pish planing by west brom ;-)

  20. St Stivs, 1965 LC Final, I was there, this is the game I reckon was the catalyst for the Big Cup and NIAR as it proved that not only could we beat them in a final but could also stand up tae them physically.

     

     

    I was at Clydebank Tech on the Monday and a couple of zombies fae Rhu, the birthplace of the Kinning Park boatmen, were boasting about being on the park after the game.

  21. MacJay

     

    Pedro is doing a grand job for the PLC and a woeful one for the FC.

     

    IMO obviously.

     

    Please don’t give me the we have loads of money and we are better off financially than we have ever been, that is down to the manager and the players, nothing to do with Pedro, if anyone from the board should be getting the plaudits it should be Dermo for appointing Brendan, but you and your fellow suit lovers can knock yourselfs out believing that Pedro is some sort of Guru.

     

    BTW, I actually know very, very well how a PLC is structured and works.

  22. Take me home said Bayo

     

    across the Irish Sea

     

    Home again said Bayo

     

    where once I roamed so free

     

    Take me home said Bayo

     

    and let my body lie

     

    Home at last said Bayo

     

    beneath an Irish sky

     

     

    Needs a wee bit tweaking ?

  23. Guys the songs are Brilliant.

     

     

    I bet over on FF they will be thinking how they can fit Defoe into the Silly Boys.

     

    Cavemen Feckers.

     

     

    D. :)

  24. TET

     

     

    I accept he has been by-passed by others at WBA since he was last rated at both Leipzig and Forest.

     

     

    Mind you, 2 of those WBA managers were Pulis and Pardew so I’d reserve judgement.

     

     

    Players can always meake late improvement. We saw Liam Henderson fail to shine at Rosenborg and be outperformed by McGeouch and McGinn at Hibs, and fail to persiade Celtic managers, despite a strong CQN fanbase, to play him. Yet he goes to Bari and wins a transfer to Verona and interest from bigger Italian clubs.

     

     

    Not saying he will make it- just that his career is far from dead at age 21.