Jota - Welcome Home!

End of the day, country not club...poor opposition, not a glamorous place to play football and less money than other markets will ALWAYS be out of our control, until we leave (and prob huns as well) to a newer comeptitive league model

 

This is quite a depressing situation really.

As if the epl isn’t bad enough for coming in for our players and managers… we now have ‘money no object’ middle-eastern no-marks able to attract players through nothing other than raw cash. You can rule out every other motivation for any player going there…. It’s purely about money… and sadly most others would probably do the same if offered.

Unfortunately it’s shifting just like the MLS and is no longer the big club stars seeing out a final payday… they are targeting younger players that will be able to see out long contracts and/or retain a sell on value.

Most depressing of all is that Celtic are provably the precise type of club with the particular type of player that they will target.

Ok .. lots of €€$$¥¥££ incoming.. but just creates an ongoing air of constant instability and accompanying bad taste in the mouth.

A sad day if it happens… and not just in terms of the loss of the individual player.

 

So I’m gonna assume he will be Rúben Neves the same thing aye



Yer no playing for us because you’ve moved to Saudi Arabia

 

If the markets continue going like this I can see a lot of people, including myself, tapping out of the sport altogether.

 

More than likely the case…. and only further shows that there is absolutely no motivation other than money.

 

Actually, he didn't specify how the recruitment will work in any interviews. Neither has anyone within the club, not to my knowledge anyway. This appears to a theory that has cropped up in some attempt, by those looking to champion his return, to whitewash his poor history of player recruitment. Which isn't just confined to us btw.

All he alluded to in his interviews, so far, has been structural changes to the team/s behind the scenes, the work done to date of that team/s and how he was looking forward to working with them.

Let's not forget, this is a man who threw a very public hissy fit because he felt he was getting players foisted on him. A man we are led to believe, that one of the main reasons left 1st time around was because he wasn't getting the players he really wanted.

Are we now to believe that When he wants a player and someone tells him "you can have X, Y or Z for that position, pick one", he is going to continue to accept it? I simply don't buy it that he was sold on a return under those conditions, not someone with his ego.

 

All I would say, is that I hope if it does happen - we need to replace him with a player who could immediately fill his position and contribution, and not a 'project'.

There are guys out there that can fill that gap, that are still relatively young and won't cost an unrealistic amount of money.

Someone like Václav Cerny. He's playing in a better overall league (Eredivisie) for Twente. He's only 25, played 37 games for them last season - 14 goals and 11 assists. Played twice for the Czech Republic, one start, one sub appearance and scored 2 goals in one the matches.

Jota played 37 games for us domestically last season - 13 goals and 11 assists. Jota is only one year younger than Cerny, so it would be an almost like-for-like replacement.

Cerny is naturally left footed, albeit plays on the right wing most of the time and cuts inside. Obviously we had Maeda playing on the left and Jota shifting to the right for a large period of last season, so depends how Rodgers intends to line us up - but Cerny can play on the left if needed. At probably somewhere around €8 million, a player like this (for example) is a brilliant replacement who can make up for the goals and assists we'd be losing in Jota.

If the money being reported is even remotely accurate, we need to spend around the €8 million mark to really replace someone like Jota, we can't just reply on taking chances on cheaper punts, who aren't proven at all at a higher level.

It's probably wishful thinking with our recruitment, but if we are to really made any sort of progress in European football, as has said to be the major goal, we need to spend the money we make and bring this squad to the next level.

 

Look at American sports, you have be Elite++ to get a sniff, the Collage football is probably in par is not more professionally ran sports in Europe. The money they rake in and the audience it pulls in is unbelievable. This in essence makes them untouchable as a brand from break away leagues. Granted you have Hockey, American Football, Basketball in other countries, Japan has a high level of Baseball but nothing on the magnitude of America. Money talk, if someone wants to pay a dollar in the US there's always someone that can and will offer two. I think once and if the Saudis get a foothold, then wave goodbye to any sort of rational within world sport.

 

I didn’t forget anything.

It’s extremely warm which isn’t ideal, but you’re pretending there isn’t already millions of people living there and a league of pro footballers being played there.

Nobody is saying there aren’t downsides to playing your football in Saudi Arabia but that’s where the £220k per week tax free comes in..

 

Harsh reality is as some have said on this forum already. It's not celtic that is the problem these players leave early it's the pathetic weak league we play in. And the bigger clubs see us as easy targets I mean how many players have we sold in last 10 years and we all say we should have got so much more. I guarantee if jota played for Porto, ajax benfica, feeyanoord * teams from Belgium Ukraine as well. He would be going for 60 70 million. Football changing more and more we have to get the * out of scottish football. Preferably a euro select league.

 

C'mon now Crow. Don't be at it.

Neves has over 50 appearances for Portugal. His inclusion is already justified. As well as playing for how many years in the "greatest league" in the world?

Like it or not, Jota was on the Portuguese managers radar BECAUSE of the CL. He said himself, quote for quote. Scotland is still a "football backwater", even to the Portuguese.


He's never getting picked unless he's leaves Scotland for a top 5 league, or has regular European football where he impresses.

 

Is negotiating something like this partly why PL has been ‘openly’ brought back in… ?

 

point still stands though doesn’t matter if it’s Saudi or Scotland


Jota’s ability will get him in the Portugal side he’s suddenly no gonna get a look in because he’s a different league

 

It does though.

International managers may like a player, but they have "justify" their inclusion to the public. If he plays Jota and it backfires then that decision had to be justified. The media line up.

Ie. ",Jota maybe in Scotland, but we've seen what he can do in Europe". Justified.

It doesn't transfer to Saudi Arabia. Who the * watches Saudi football in Portugal? Seriously?

They'll be asking why a player in Saudi Arabia with only two seasons in Europe is being included over player a b and c in the domestic league, or in the top 5 or 6 leagues in Europe.

I'm in Portugal RIGHT NOW! Chatting with my mates da (benfica fan), even he says he's no hope. None.

As I said, Neves position is already justified. Jotas insnt. He was on the cusp of it . Now he's done for at least 2 years.

As Shelby put it, he's talented enough to go there, make his money, get a move later on a good league and get a crack again.

But zero chance he makes the squad playing in Saudi Arabia.

 

Brilliant 2 seasons, performed in the big games and in Europe. 4 years left? Not even peaked yet and away for less than KT…a Scottish left back aswell. I thought when the KT money came in it would be a game changer but obviously not. If we can’t get more than that selling Jota then we simply never will.

 

I’ll guarantee you that he will be involved in the Portugal teams in the future

 

If he goes , my magor disappointment is what we are getting from the sale.

 

Can't agree with that mate.

There's always a dumbass DoF or idiot manager out there willing to take a gamble on something they think they see.

Hence why BR signed Hendry.

Or why Ajax thought it was prudent to * half of their budget on an actual horse, ie. bassey.
Or why everton thought it a good idea to * absolute millions on a "project".
Look at how much Utd paid for that chimp Maguire.
Or us paying millions for scheidt... comparable to an EPL club today spending about 40m on said player.

People are * morons man.

We "could" sell above 30 three times on this window alone if we pitch to the right idiots.


It's actually how I've seen this Jota deal play out.

In my mind, his agent has a contact, pushed a meeting, showed the vids and the quotes from the Portuguese manager, and constructed a deal with them on the "get in now or lose out later" basis.

It's basically how agents work. I know two.

Both twats btw

 

That scatter gun approach has been prevalent at almost every club He has been at though, not just Celtic. Can't see that suddenly changing because we have different personal from last time around.

I get how scouting works but a manager will always have final say and will equally already have an idea about precisely which players he wants, even before any scouting reports are presented.

Mate, youve used the term "I think" a few times there and youve obviously got an optimistic opinion on how things are going to unfurl based on these thoughts and hopes, fair do's and I genuinely wish i could share that. Based purely on history and form I just can't believe that things will be any better under Rodgers vis a vis transfers.

Maybe I could buy into it more if we were working under a DOF/head coach set up.