Brendan Rodgers is a master of what to say and what not to say. Blame, well, “I can’t fault the players”. So not the players then. He adds, “However, if you want to progress, then, as I said, you need to bring in quality.” Is that pointing the finger of blame? There’s plausible deniability; I’m sure if asked directly, Brendan would wax lyrical about the support he received from Dermot and Michael, but plausible deniability does not cut through publicly in football. You, me and Brendan know that.
Martin O’Neill made it clear at an AGM 20-something years ago. With Dermot Desmond sitting a few seats along from him, he explained that it was not his job to worry about development, finances or sustainability. His job, as he saw it, was to campaign for better players. It was up to the board to hold their line and worry about what they needed to worry about. Martin was always charmingly frank.
The upshot for today is a degree of urgency which means the manager will inevitably get what he wants, just like last summer, when we spent £26m on Idah, Engels and Trusty. Celtic have the money to back Brendan like this again, I fully expect they will.
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ChairBhoy & Burnley68 from previous blog
I know money isn’t/shouldn’t be an issue, and we should be signing players regardless of manager status but the manager contract status is very relevant to signings at this stage. Surely it helps negations if the manager can show he’s here for a while, if he’s here for a while he should have a bigger picture view on what we need and when. If he’s contracted for a longer time he should have more clout with the recruitment team to get what he wants.
But In saying all this I’d prefer he wasn’t involved in the next batch of signings. I’ve a theory his teams hit a wall 3 or 4 seasons in when it’s his signings that dominate the squad and most of the good players he inherited have moved on. He’s capable of making a right mess of this season, even more so if it gets out this is his last season.
His record on the transfer market is poor, we need to avoid more Trusty or Idahs, o matter how much money we have.
Apologies if I don’t reply, I need to avoid getting pulled back in to losing hours on CQN/CQN addiction. :giggling emoji: (I’m sure/hopeful emojis will be banned on here)
EN
Plc success is totally reliant on fc success
Could things be done better – yes.
Could they be worse, very easily
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Estadio Nacional on 25th July 2025 3:49 pm
ChairBhoy & Burnley68 from previous blog
Someone told me – where have you heard that before? – that the backroom staff have a fair say in identifying potential recruits.
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Bashi-Bazouks @ 3:32 pm,
As it happens, I agree with my analysis:)))
The PLC is nothing really.
R2ngers were a PLC last season, now they aren’t, they are still a football club though.
One that’s about to get fleeced.
Celtic are a football club who have been getting fleeced for well over a decade.
The cash in the bank to revenue ratio at Celtic PLC is nothing short of a disgrace.
Nothing to spend it on eh!!
2004/05 saw Celtic go into necessary retrenchment under a strict financial controller.
This was said to be, to ensure the survival of Celtic FC.
However the policy carried on for half a dozen years after it needed to, to make money for the PLC…
Every excuse in the book was used, plenty of them around to day.
Yet do you know what my policy is when I’m hearing corporate whining.!?
Follow the MONEY!!
Let me give you are very pertinent and current example.
Last season Celtic were having a great season.
In January we had potential to make it an Historic season.
Last 24 in the new UCL format and a domestic treble.
We sold our top striker in January and never replaced him.
We had a fortune in the bank, we had a fortune coming in, in revenues, we had made vast profits on player sales in the last two years.
Yet we did not strengthen the squad in January, in fact we never even replaced our centre forward, so we came out of the window weaker than we went in.
Did we have a great season?
Yes
Did we have a Historic season
No
Why?
Because the PLC would not spend one thin dime to make us better.
Hundreds of millions we now talk about and not a penny spent to give the supporters every chance of a Historic season.
Please explain that one in football terms.
‘Cause, like you say, we are, first and foremost, a football club.
Hail Hail
mon the Joe Root
Fritzsong @ 3:59 pm,
That’s interesting, and I could well believe it, reading what Brendan Rodgers said the other day.
He said he was assessing several of the players after they arrived.
Hail Hail
Just read a piece about Dane Murray online.
Nothing new in it but not bad nonetheless
During preseason I think he’s looked OK but not much more.
Still a bit clunky looking but real potential there for sure. Has decent pace for a big guy.
His best bit of work last night, IMHO?
Matching the speed of the winger and easing him to the ground in the box. Goal kick.
We were exposed with Ralston up the field.
Watching with my son, I said to him “Just watch. That boy will think he can take Murray on the outside. Dane will match him”
And he did.
Didn’t panic. Didn’t rush. Checked what was going on in the middle behind him, then took control of the situation.
Impressive.
With Welsh out we’ll need another Scot in the squad for Europe.
(Right now I’m counting only 7 incl. Dane)
Partly for that reason, I reckon we are done with CBs (if CCV stays)
I expect the quartet to be CCV, Trusty, Scales and Murray.
Over to you, Dane.
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2025 4:01 PM
Totally agree about last season – opportunity to be historic missed.
From a plc point of view do you think there would be more commercial income after a historic season? More income would be bigger exec bonuses and bigger share returns. So, surely they were motivated to do better too. So they potentially lost money from error in not signing a goal scoring forward.
Exceptional is rare. Really rare. I aspire to it, crave it, but willing to acknowledge we still did well.
I’ve looked back over last 25 years at European results and the number of clubs from similar sized countries that out performs us is small. I don’t count Portugal or Netherlands as they are bigger countries with more competitive leagues. Di I think we could match them on occasion- that’s my aspiration. It would be exceptional, but I think possible and would have huge commercial returns too.
We can dream and hope.
What is my aspiration – continued domestic dominance, real engagement with fans, last 16/8 in CL every two to three years. Is it achievable – I believe so, but it would truly be exceptional.
would have Dane start ahead of CCV , who imo has been going backwards in terms of performances and fitness levels and not kicked on as per expectations.
Estadio Nacional @ 3:49 pm,
Well it’s good to see you posting again, even if it was under sad circumstances.
If you are not replying then it’s best to agree to disagree.
My feeling is there is a lot of myth around Brendan Rodgers and poor recruitment.
If you hear him talk about incoming players he’s normally pretty close, if not spot on.
POV: If Brendan bigs up a player or recruit like he did in the case of Matt O’Riley, Kuhn and Benji, they normally turn out to be the real deal – far from perfect of course, as Celtic deal in limited markets, yet after thirty odd years doing it, his eye for a player is very good.
Hail Hail
….. and all while keeping the club profitable
If the community doesn’t object –
I’m going to look into the statement ‘Dermot Desmond is the most successful person in that position in modern UK/EU sporting club history’ this summer.
I’ll need the collective unconscious and our community narrative on the way.
pleasescrollpastmyramblingscsc
I’d gladly double board/exec bonuses and share returns for that
Chasirbhoy – ref this –
The cash in the bank to revenue ratio at Celtic PLC is nothing short of a disgrace.
————————-
I have pondered this and come to some theories.
They cannot stop making money.
Even when having record spending on transfers, higher individual wages (not the whole squad), £20m on infrastructure, and new organisational appointments, well someone comes in and buys another assett for a fee that we must allow the player to go. Commercial, multi-media, gate revenue (1.6m through the gates0 multi-media sponsors, all grow some and in the main are profitable.
They cannot indeed spend it fast enough to make a dent in the cash reserves.
Now my theory, the risk adverse PLC has decided, they want a years equivalent revenues in cash reserve for worse case disaster planning 9pandemic/war/super inflation0 whatever.
Offcourse they could have held ticker prices or reduced the. They could put kids cl tickets to a tenner, tehy could give away a free scarf/tammy/pie to everyoner every game. But they wont do that,
they could make a massive donation to the kano foundation and to the celtic foundation, but they wont do that either.
They could come up with a 5 year construction plan for celtic park and its environs 9i hear wispers of companies to submit proposals).
We will not spend half ot the reserve on players, I jst cannot see that the quality that attracts a price will come to sdvottish football.
So we are where we are.
Back to pondering.
bashi-bazouks on 25th July 2025 4:13 pm
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2025 4:01 PM
Totally agree about last season – opportunity to be historic missed.
From a plc point of view do you think there would be more commercial income after a historic season? More income would be bigger exec bonuses and bigger share returns.
————–
only DD is getting a shre return st 6% fixed on 6 million preferencial shares.
Estadio Nacional on 25th July 2025 3:49 pm
*Fully concur with you here
SAINT STIVS on 25TH JULY 2025 4:23 PM
But execs do get bonuses- surely bigger for bigger level of success
The Liverpool greats – greats but relatively short lived
Leicester rugby – greats but relatively short lived
West Indies cricket – not trophy based
RM/Barca – multiple ‘chef de club’ persons but need to look into
Man U Fergie – staggering trophy count but multiple ‘ DD type position’ persons
GAA – low trophy count
Bayern Munich – need to research
Tennis greats – coaches not ‘chef de clubs’ persons
Galatasaray – dunno
Leinster rugby – low trophy count
Arsenal under ‘I saw nowt Wenger – don’t think so’
Minty – I’ll do the count but he destroyed his club; God bless him but didn’t last long enough to challenge DD
40s and 50s monopolies – need to check out
French footie – dunno
neverapologiseforwhattheceltshaveachievedcsc
RC on 25th July 2025 4:15 pm
would have Dane start ahead of CCV , who imo has been going backwards in terms of performances and fitness levels and not kicked on as per expectations.
_____
I’ve been hopeful of young Dane developing into a first choice for us, since I first saw him against Midtjylland (4 years ago was it?). He seems to be growing in confidence slowly and I’m hoping he loses the trade mark short pass back to the keeper that our CBs often do. Time will tell if he’s good enough. Still think there’s much room for improvement in our CBs.
Bashi-Bazouks @ 4:13 pm,
Well you make a very good point about our PLC – you would think that opporchancity would be siezed by most good businessmen.
Apart from potentially more income, the kudos with the football fraternity in general and sponsors like Adidas in particular would see you splash the cash.
Yet, we come back to Maslow’s Hammer – risk averse retrenchment, financial controllers are what they are.
At the risk of boring all to death – Again
My point re-symbiosis (AI Stylee)…
“Symbiosis refers to a close and long-term interaction between two different species, where at least one organism benefits. This can take many forms, including mutualism (both benefit), commensalism (one benefits, the other is not harmed), and parasitism (one benefits at the expense of the other).
Types of Symbiosis:
Mutualism: Both species involved benefit from the interaction. An example is the yucca moth and yucca plant, where the moth pollinates the plant while its larvae feed on some of the seeds.
Commensalism: One species benefits, and the other is neither helped nor harmed. A classic example is a barnacle growing on a whale; the barnacle gains a habitat, while the whale is largely unaffected.
Parasitism: One species (the parasite) benefits at the expense of the other (the host). Head lice on humans are an example, as they feed on the host’s blood.”
The relationship between Celtic FC and the PLC I guess should be Mutualism.
The relationship I’d like to see is Commensalism, where Celtic Football Club strive to be the best it can be and the PLC sticks to it’s administrative and compliance roles.
Yet what we have imo is parasitism, where the PLC Board invests just enough to keep the Football Club environment viable and team just ahead of it’s domestic competitors while taking out the revenues and profits.
Yet overall, I’d agree with your aspirations…
“…continued domestic dominance, real engagement with fans, last 16/8 in CL every two to three years. Is it achievable – I believe so, but it would truly be exceptional and all while keeping the club profitable.
Would be fine by me.
Hail Hail
RC on 25TH JULY 2025 4:15 PM
would have Dane start ahead of CCV , who imo has been going backwards in terms of performances and fitness levels and not kicked on as per expectations.
…
Crikey , I’m biting ….. you would get Celtic relegated if the rest of your preferences are of a similar nature
HH
Hmmm rugby league?
Suddenly and as if by magic folk blaming the board because Brendan mentions ‘quality’. It’s like dear old pavlov dogs.
If anyone can explain to me what Brian Wilson or Tom Alison or any of the board, except perhaps Nicholson and the finance guy, have to do with signing players then I would love to hear it.
As Chairbhoy continually tells us Brendan and DD have a direct link and as we all know the recruitment expert (specialist knowledge of lower tier English leagues) is Brendan’s appointment.
Quite where the board, which so many seem to default to, fit in I dont know. I certainly do know that no one gets big fat bonuses for paying big tax bills due to having too much cash.
What Paul says will happen will happen. Whether we get value for our hefty spend will be a different question. Whether the manager stays around after we blow the money will also be another matter. For me if we miss CL I am sure there will be a stack of subtle ‘blame the board’ innuendo as he exits into the distance. Of course plenty will fall for it again. ‘Where is the money from gen dom’ will be the cry.
Double bonuses when we have, Huns excepted, practically a league full of £300,000-ish clubs as opposition?
Pish in Europe since 2004, or Neil Lennon’s 2012 Heroic CL Team.
Tories? Whit are they like?
Do away with the bottom 6 and create the bottom 10, then call us “Up there with the MON and The Lisbon Lions” type of guffoonery?
We won the big cup when we were giving half the gate money to the opposition we played against.
AND, up to 30% of EVERY home crowd got in for FREE!
AND, PLC era suckers will say: “What did the old board do with all of the gate money?”
Sentinel Celts SHILLS were SHILLING that narrative last week lol
The Lisbon Lions didn’t need the club to be guided by the $Billionaire Yachting Secret Societies, cause the Lisbon Lion’s were recruited fae Glesga and its ourskirts, free wheeling chancer by nights from Japan, Korea, etc, etc, didn’t have the stuff….and they still don’t!
A club moving to PLC format became a success when its opposition died, but the Huns shouldn’t have been blamed for what David Murray did, and wee cowardly Timmy beasties, waving their share portfolios above their heads, hid behind the sofa keeping its powder dry when its fans were the main victims of the EBT crimes, wholesale sackings of Celtic PLC Board should have been the outcome for that cowardice.
But fans proved that they are as sleekit and cowardly and 2-faced as their PLC Grand Masters!
Oh aye they ur!
Data from Transfermarkt, external shows Premier League clubs have spent £1.63bn (1.87bn euros) on players since the transfer window first opened at the start of June.
Last season’s top four make up five of the biggest spenders this season, with Manchester United – looking to make up ground after finishing 15th – the outlier.
Of the total figure, just over £1bn has come from six teams, the traditional so-called ‘big six’ in the Premier League era – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.
Saint Stivs on 25th July 2025 4:20 pm, 4:23 pm,
Well, I cant help but think these guys entrepreneurial skills a bit limited.
As for putting money away for a rainy day.
The guy in charge of Celtic during the pandemic would not be allowed to look after my hamster during a pandemic.
It’s great that Lennoxtown and particularly Barrowfield are seeing the benefit of inward investment and hope you are right about seeing more at CP.
DD’s return on the 6 mn has to be put in context.
I think of it in loan terms, a loan that allowed us to build the stadium that allows us large revenues and profits.
Hail Hail
Who was ‘in charge ‘ of the club in Stein era?
Bob Kelly then Desmond White Stein picked the team.
thanks DB
Burnley78 @ 4:45 pm,
Your point re the Board is well made.
However, I don’t think shrinking violets like Big Pedro or Tom Allison are not engaged.
If, as you say, the Board really aren’t engaged why don’t we move the chaps on and get some young blood in.
Young with an entrepreneurial spirit would do us fine…
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY on 25TH JULY 2025 12:35 PM
‘My feeling is there is a lot of myth around Brendan Rodgers and poor recruitment’
Too right, we even had references to Barry Ancelotti’s superior European record on these pages, just to diss Brendan. Every Celtic manager since we began has had mixed fortunes in the transfer market market, it’s the very essence of a transfer market where players move, somebody might be cashing in, or getting rid, somebody has to get burned somewhere in football. There is no guarantee that £10M quality player is any better than Shin or a Nygren, but we should be closer to a Sevill, than nearly quarter a century away.
It’s “ Brendan signings “ or what’s he’s now referring to as “ club signings “ cherry picking Idah, Engels and Trusty for the purposes of showing BR’s bad record is typically absurd , as well as unproven, – he signed Bernardo, Kuhn, Jota, and Tierney unless they were “ club signings “ too, you know the script bad ones Brendan, good ones somebody elses, he’s explained the process again as recently as yesterday
Not a single football job, not a single football credential between them, until they all fell into the same boardroom in Parkhead. No apprenticeship, no ‘development ‘ elsewhere just pass go, and straight to Celtic, where there’s even occasional role play switching seats, and guaranteed record breaking bonuses – we know the script . The billionaire and a few of the dinosaurs let them get on with it.
Pontius Pilotting their way beyond the demise of Rainjurz not a single thought is given to the supporters except when they want money, or new ways of getting it ‘ Brendan gets what he wants ‘ is part of the narrative, why not Celtic get what they want?
All of that, and we’ve won the league in every season BR has started in Parkhead.
HH
Suppose it’ll all come down to what does ‘in charge of a club’ mean?
On this day……..🎶 you are my Larsson, my Henrik Larsson🎶