And from the ashes of Barrowfield, the Celtic “Training Centre in the East End” arose. One of the limitations of the Lennoxtown facility is it does not have a full size indoor field. This presents a specific problem in December and January, when trialists arrive at Celtic, but the pitches are either completely unplayable, or not in a condition to accommodate an additional game.
The driver here has come from English Premier League clubs, who have invested in the best facilities for their Academy players. Developing footballers is no longer about solely about hard work rest in the appropriate measures. Look at the shape of players now, compared to how they were 20 years ago. They are indistinguishable from athletes, each muscle toned to the right proportion and no more.
You can have all the talent and speed in the world, but if your shoulders are not strong enough, you are not going to make it. Young players are coached, get the best sports science and nutritional advice, and will be supported through their entire physical development at this new facility.
The project is at the planning permission stage only, but it is set to add a fourth major sporting facility to the area, after Celtic Park, the Emirates Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. The additional facilities will help attract major events to the Arena and Velodrome; there are big wins for the city with this investment.
Recent years have been good to us financially, much of which is evidenced by the collection of trebles amassed, but long term plans are always needed.
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First?
He shoots, he scores! Not had one of those for a while.
Good morning from an incredibly wet Forres.
Kalimera
Buenos Dias from Majorca (actually, Buenos Tardes here)!
HH
Light shows and training facilities? Get some decent players in fgs.
I hate to sound like a broken record here, but once again the “strategy” makes no sense at all.
Look, I usually drool over infrastructure spending. Why not this time? Because this time we’ve been promised that proper money will be spent on the team, and that needs to be done because only that will overcome the very real limitations of the man in the dugout.
Brendan Rodgers was and is an exceptional coach. With him no longer there, we need a leveller. Only by bringing this first team squad up to a higher standard can we assure that we’ve got that. That’s where the club’s focus ought to be at the moment, and all efforts should be bent towards that goal.
And no, it doesn’t mean we should stand still in other areas … I am just frustrated that the only place we HAVE stood still in recent years is on the park itself.
There’s also a certain irony in today’s lead article and the whole concept being unveiled here; the irony is this. With a more progressive manager you would see a clear link between the man in the dugout and all this finery, which really IS the stuff of top European clubs.
Here’s the catch; we hired one of the few managers in the UK who is ON THE RECORD as opposing exactly these sort of proposals specifically BECAUSE they don’t deliver in the short term and they eat into the transfer budget.
What’s worse is that Lennon and I are actually on the same page over the need for investment in the team before everything else … but if we’d made the right call for manager then I might see in this some kind of over-arching theme, some kind of consistency.
The board’s long term vision is utterly undercut by their choice of manager. All this talk of players being athletes first … this is one of the principle arguments which some of us offered AGAINST Lennon getting this job in the first place. How incredible to see it now utilised as proof of our strategic outlook.
That strategy is all over the place. All over the place. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing here. There is no pattern to their thinking at all. It’s as if they are making it up as they go along.
JF is it your contention that the proposed future development at Barrowfield is going to affect the coming transfer window? H H Hebcelt
Paul,
How much would a training centre like this cost? I’m guessing it is a 10-20m type investment?
Dave King is looking to get his 3 Bears Group to convert loans into shares which will eliminate the need to repay the loans and strengthen their balance sheet. As it clearly leave his consortium with an outright controlling interest, he is wanting other shareholders to waive their rights to be offered cash for their shares.
This would help straighten out their balance sheet for Financial Fair Play rules.
https://www.footballscotland.co.uk/spfl/scottish-premiership/dave-king-controlling-stake-rangers-16386958
JF
its at planning permission stage, much like the much vaunted Hotel, neither of them (apart from Architecture (fees) have eaten into the transfer budget, and lets be honest, given the leaked document the budget doesnt look like its being stretched out.
I share your scepticism of the PLC (mostly)
The first thing to recognise, that whilst Celtic are by far the biggest and richest club in Scotland, they do not need two training complexes. It would therefore be sensible to assume that once the new facilty at Barrowfield is up and running and to scale, then Lenoxtown wil be open to offers. I think this is going to take at least 5 years till completion and that a lot of water will have passed under many a bridge by then.
In the meantime, investment in the first team squad will be made, further Titles will be won ( or lost) and we will most likely have a new manager in place by the time it all comes to completion.
Enjoy the moments folks. These are great Celtic days we are living through
I thought Lennoxtown was meant to be state of the art!? The fact that it doesn’t have the right sized indoor pitch and we’re now talking about a new facility, makes me realise we’re always playing catch-up. I agree we need good facilities and that these could lead to producing better players. However, we need better players right now. We will be in a war next season on a number of fronts and need to use our financial muscle to help us win it.
@ JAMES FORREST on 6TH JUNE 2019 11:44 AM
PL’s comments re the team not needing a big overhaul; that Neil knows how Celtic operate in the transfer market, taken together with Neil’s comments that he now wants to promote youth (an about turn) and that LG is like a new £6m signing; and the leaked transfer document all point towards little investment in the first team.
Brendan made the Celtic directors look good. The performance of the team, the trophies and the riches have given the impression that we are incredibly well run (an amazing turn of events given that such a claim would be a difficult sell under the Ronny years).
P67
I think you have been sold a pup — the indoor pitch is utilitarian in the extreme.
Please go the Rubb UK website to get some ideas on what we are planning.
The mug up on the Sunderland / WBA training centres where they have something similar.
They are big rigid tents with a lightweight lattice frame and lots of fabric cladding.
They are not in the same league as the Emirates, the Hydro or even SEC.
However the facility is badly needed — it was a mistake to build L/town without one.
Score that up as — TB 1 / PL 0 — He lost that battle but his view has won the war.
Hopefully we don’t penny pinch and build in some growth potential.
The news points to a full size pitch — 105M x 69M — which is what we need.
However the tech goes up to at least 90M clearspan and hopefully we use it.
If you build it bigger — width and height — you can put in seating / facilities later to make it a fully functioning indoor stadium / arena rather than just a pitch. The CGI points to three rows of seats in the current plan — very low rent. Better to make it 10 rows with great views and get more productive use out of it.
Interested in what is possible look at the Meadowbank Multi Sports Arena in NI — more facilities and spectating options than we are showing.
However what we are planning is just a start — the changing block in the plans is just 500M2 of portacabin or modular building as it is known in the trade. This must be for the youths as the facility just doesn’t cut it as a first team facility. Good start but lots to do.
Now comes the hard part — the budget …
Two existing parks refurbished with new fencing.
Changing block / gym — 500M2 portacabin.
Rubb style “Rigid Tent” — 120M x 90M x 10M sidewalls.
Parking for 100 cars / 6 buses.
Plug number time = £7Mill target.
ZIGGYDOC1 on 6TH JUNE 2019 12:19 PM
I thought Lennoxtown was meant to be state of the art!? The fact that it doesn’t have the right sized indoor pitch and we’re now talking about a new facility, makes me realise we’re always playing catch-up. I agree we need good facilities and that these could lead to producing better players. However, we need better players right now. We will be in a war next season on a number of fronts and need to use our financial muscle to help us win it.
=======
Apparently its £462 per 0.1 hectares to make our application (TBC), so transfer budget probably not going to be affected by the news.
HH
I’d rather the money was spent on a new main stand .. the current crumbling 70’s eyesore is stopping CP becoming a 5 star stadium.
http://stadiumdb.com/lists/uefa-5-star-stadiums
P67
What about Lennoxtown?
What about the questions that haven’t be addressed?
Why wasn’t the indoor pitch / extra facillities built at Lennoxtown?
Does that mean that Lennoxtown as currently set up is not state of the art?
J”B”M @ 12.30
We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
Or multi-task as my wife calls it.
* We should have a budget to improve the squad.
* We should have a budget for small and medium facilities project: £1 – £5mill every other year.
Fan zone / Reserve Stadium / Indoor pitch / training pitch upgrades.
Budget can flex due to potential income streams and the urgent needs of the squad.
* We should have a budget / debt source to rebuild the Main Stand in full.
Here’s another concern, and it’s a common problem with Big Shiny Thing Syndrome.
Not only are there startup costs aplenty for a project such as this, but the infrastructure running costs are likely to be high. Running one training facility is expensive enough. Now we want to burden the club with the long term costs – permanent costs maybe – of running two of them?
Did we suddenly move to the EPL and nobody told us?
JF @ 12.43
The plans for Barrowfield are nowhere near “Big Shiny Thing” standard.
They are utilitarian in the extreme and the running costs should match this specification.
By all accounts we have been running two training grounds and nobody told us.
No matter that the focus shifted to Lennoxtown we have still been using Barrowfield.
From memory one manager used B/field for Friday training.
Plus we have been using for the youth teams.
My big gripe would be that we have been neglecting the upkeep of B/field.
We are not great at looking after the stadium so maybe there is a pattern developing.
Paul67
Not sure I like the look of the shape of our ‘alleged’ English player, targets.
Waiting for the real signing possibilities to emerge, as SMSM are clueless.
WGS wanted a full size pitch no brainer to put it in Barrowfield, where we can.
Bit of State Aid always welcome.
The squad overhaul and the development are not mutually exclusive.
The way I see it, Celtic need to buy 9 players:
3rd choice keeper,
first team RB, backup RB, backup LB, 2 back up CB’s
First team LW, backup CM
First team ST
JOHN1314MAC on 6TH JUNE 2019 12:30 PM
I’d rather the money was spent on a new main stand .. the current crumbling 70’s eyesore is stopping CP becoming a 5 star stadium.
http://stadiumdb.com/lists/uefa-5-star-stadiums
——————————————
That list is 12 years out of date. They even state that and that they do not know the current criteria or present 5* Stadiums.
As we are being strongly linked with George Baldock, I pulled this from a fans forum review of their defenders:
George Baldock A really good first season; he maybe faded a bit towards the end but proved a really good signing and with Freeman out, he played very well at the highest level he had ever played. He started this season and scored but was given a roasting by the lad Montero who turned the game for Swansea. After playing at Boro, lost his place and a few injuries/niggles meant he only played one of the next seventeen games. Freeman did well to start with but then lost his form and eventually early December Baldock came back in and other than a three-game spell (Reading, WBA, Wednesday) and then a late game against Millwall, Freeman was not a starter. He was often not on the bench as Wilder opted not to name whichever did not play, having Cranie and Stearman on the bench and using Basham if needed in this area.
Baldock has had another excellent season and I felt finished really well. He has had some odd poor games but has been quite consistent. You know what you are getting. He gets up and down, is quick, athletic and cover so much ground. He does ok defensively and is better than Freeman in this aspect. At times he still gets caught ball watching a bit – I recall a few dozy moments in games but these moments have become less and less. He has been more disciplined, been tighter to his man and not got beat anywhere near as much. He has also improved his heading. Going forward he is constantly in motion and always getting into good areas both nipping inside and outside his man. He shows good footwork and is quite skilled and works opening. The major weakness is that his final ball still is often rushed or poor. He hits his first man or panics a bit and needs to work on pace and weight of delivery and just trying to pick men out rather than just hit and hope. I feel he has the skill and application to improve this side. He is still only 26 and hitting his peak but this summer he has to almost just practice crossing over and over again. If this side of his game improves and he can also maybe weigh in with a few goals (2 is very poor for someone who is very attacking minded and the system we have) he can take his game on even more. I feel he may start next season but also feel we could add some competition in this area also.
Add Afghanistan to Melbourne Mick’s list?
I was listening to John Beattie on Shortbread and he was doing a feature on D-day which included input from more recent times. He got a text in from someone, who had served in 2 Scots, which he read out. The guy said he had served in Afghan and found it an eye opening experience with families driving about in cars with goats and lots of children running about wearing Celtic tops and Man Utd tops.
Pog .. it’s all I could find .. don’t think we’ve ever volunteered or been asked by uefa to use the stadium for a major European final ..
Imo .. that says it’s not 5 star.
RoddyBhoy: (from previous blog)
Posting here can be a nightmare with the the post disappearing as you type.
Happened twice (correction three, now four times) with this post.
Can’t understand why P67 hasn’t sorted it.
ZIGGYDOC1:
Thanks for that intel on the Sheffield Utd boy. He’s the right age, he’s experienced, he’s been playing at a better level than the SPL. He would be a fine backup option for the real target.
If he is the real target then I’m not overwhelmed, but not terribly concerned either … he is young enough that he’s got the legs to be an improvement on Lustig.
It’s a no-risk one, provided the price is right.
JOHN1314MAC on 6TH JUNE 2019 1:16 PM
I agree with you, the South stand is dilapidated and badly needs a refurbishment but I’m not sure increasing the capacity would be beneficial. If this European Super League we hear of takes off then there would certainly be a reason for increasing the numbers of seats. The problem is that it would be cheaper, in the long term, to do a complete rebuild with increased capacity in one stage. It would also be much cheaper for the Board to do feck all.
JAMES FORREST on 6TH JUNE 2019 1:31 PM
ZIGGYDOC1:
Thanks for that intel on the Sheffield Utd boy. He’s the right age, he’s experienced, he’s been playing at a better level than the SPL. He would be a fine backup option for the real target.
If he is the real target then I’m not overwhelmed, but not terribly concerned either … he is young enough that he’s got the legs to be an improvement on Lustig.
It’s a no-risk one, provided the price is right.
___________
If we spend circa £3M on this boy, then he will definitely be the main right back target (wether we’re underwhelmed or not). A decent review I thought from a well balanced forum. The other boy, Mouset doesn’t appear to be a freescoring striker, then again a lot of his appearances have been as a substitute.
ZIGGYDOC1 on 6TH JUNE 2019 1:55 PM
Non-freescoring strikers were the future once.
Not all innovation is good.
HH
John1314mac on 6th June 2019 12:30 pm
I’d rather the money was spent on a new main stand .. the current crumbling 70’s eyesore is stopping CP becoming a 5 star stadium.
http://stadiumdb.com/lists/uefa-5-star-stadiums
—————————————————————————————————————————
Oh Dear. of all the things to worry about.
You do realise that when Ibrox and Hampden were aded to the list, none other than Ernie Walker was the man in charge of UEFA atdium ratings and bestowing 5star priviliges?
On that note, interesting read on a slow news days:
FIFA, UEFA AND LALIGA AGREE: IT’S EITHER INNOVATION OR GAME OVER
How can football maintain its hegemonic position within the sports and entertainment industries in this new era, in which new technologies transform the tastes and habits of the population day by day? The most visionary minds in the sector, gathered last Friday in Madrid for the first edition of the Football Innovation Forum (FIF), have no doubt: the only way is innovation.
https://worldfootballsummit.com/fifa-uefa-and-laliga-agree-its-eather-innovation-or-game-over-for-football/?mc_cid=b615abba21&mc_eid=e13022397c
JOHN1314MAC on 6TH JUNE 2019 12:30 PM
I’d rather the money was spent on a new main stand .. the current crumbling 70’s eyesore is stopping CP becoming a 5 star stadium.
============================================================
Care to elaborate about the ” crumbling ” Main Stand. Do you sit there.
Pog … @ 1.40
We need to totally rebuild the Main Stand to offer a better selection of seating options / new levels of hospitality. Plus the Main Stand is well past its sell-by date and the internals are a rabbit warren of wasted space, tight passageways and poor access arrangements.
The stand as it currently stands would shame Motherwell or Dundee.
Total rebuild should be on the cards — if we have a waiting list after some of last season’s performances think of the crowds if we actually played flowing football.
Consequently I would increase the capacity by 6-7K — a figure of 67K has a certain ring to it.
Plus have space in the attic for another 10K seats for high days and holidays.
Budget = £50mill at the very least with £60-£80Mill being more realistic.
Revenue potential = £8mill pa possibly even £10mill based on more seats and a better premium offering.
Funding = Thinking caps on …
20% = company reserves and naming rights …
20% = short term debt, concessions, sponsorship and debentures …
60% = 20 year bond at 4 / 5 / 6% ?
We need to plan ahead.
MADMITCH on 6TH JUNE 2019 2:43 PM
The issue of the Main Stand has been raised at AGM’s over the years but given short shrift I believe, not sure of the reason given. No demand for higher capacity right now, can’t justify a business case (ie. the cost) etc etc.
Do agree though that even if increasing capacity is not sanctioned there must be a plan to modernise it at some stage.
HH
I am worried that something we built 15 years ago didnt have a full sized indoor pitch away back then.
i am worried that the main stand frontage put up in 1987 is a 70s crumbling edifice.
this place, jeese oh.