Celtic Transfers 2024

ffs there a phrase

 

Well if the shoe fits...

 

I mean they've lost an overrated thug; a good attacking FB who is an excellent crosser of the ball but who is also an absolute bombscare defensively; a decentish midfielder who is a bit past it IMO; and someone I have never heard of. The only one who is a loss is Barasic IMO and even he has major defensive weaknesses we have exploited on previous occasions.

Regarding the bit in bold: have you forgotten the cup final?

 

Fat, lazy and way behind schedule as usual.
Forget when window ends - the target is getting players in for pre-season and start of season - only a few weeks away.

EVERY club has started recruitment bar us.
Our only 'activity' is to start haggling over loan guys we could/should have been negotiating on for last 3 months.

 

The manager has said we could have had 9 players in already if we wanted, but we want the right players in.

Our recruitment hasn't just started, give them a chance before * the bed ffs....

 

These so called 9 are all players offered to us by agents, zero work required by Celtic - if we were only waiting on players to 'become available' or be offered, that's not good.

What we didn't hear from BR was how active or close we were to bringing anyone in.
Nothing at all.
If this windows activity level wasn't normal, I'd be more positive or forgiving, but its not - this is entirely normal and that's (again) worrying.

I'm not particularly worried about our neighbours getting 6 over the line already but its a pretty big indicator as to just how much difference there is in recruitment activity.

 

£80m in bank at year end there
£110m minimum turnover before sales this year July 24 to June 25
4 weeks to season starts
4 months notice goalie was leaving.
Struggling to get 2 loan deals converted from last season
Bloated sub standard squad
Only team in Scotland top flight to yet sign a player

Had the same * last year waiting on quality it never came. McGowan has already said board don't want to deviate much from the same formula if at all.

I am more frustrated than annoyed but it is what it is. Board made statement about hoarding cash it doesn't make business sense they now have more cash since that day.

New board member appointed last week been at celtic 20 plus years.

Think everyone has a right to be frustrated.

 

Exactly.

He didn't say we weren't actively in negotiations.

So maybe just chill the * out and let them do their work before going into meltdown...

 

The wait may well be over.

Ryan Corrigan and Shay Reid from Cliftonville in on trial this week

 

To be fair though, it's understandable that people are worrying. The last 3 windows have removed all trust for a lot of people including me. I have no doubt that we are working hard and are willing to spend the money; but we don't know what changes, if any, have been made to our recruitment structure apart from the obvious 2 that we got rid of. We will get players in; but are we capable of getting in the players with the quality and for the positions we need? Maybe? I don't know. The longer the summer goes on, the more nervous I will become.

 

I highly doubt there will be any major improvements made to the squad. For me that improvement would be a few players to come in and improve the starting eleven who have European pedigree and experience at Europa or even Conference League level.

The board see last season as a rip roaring success, with their targets met and another Champions League participation fee on the balance sheet secured.

Most rational supporters will see it as a hugely inconsistent season at best, with a massively missed opportunity in Europe, culminating in us getting over the line due to some exceptional management from Rodgers, and experienced players such as Forrest, Hart, and McGregor stepping up.

I don’t get why we choose to be like this.

History proves we are much more successful when we are proactive after a bad season. Why does it require a capitulation for us to make huge improvements?

For a club of our size and alleged ambition, the structure and lack of significance of our recruitment department is appalling.

The last player we signed that’s come in and improved the starting eleven is Alistair Johnston. Even at that he replaced Juranovic who was superior from an attacking and technical standpoint.

James Forrest was exceptional towards the end of last season, but the fact we had to rely on him in the manner we did after him barely kicking a ball for 18 months sums up where we’re at really.

 

I agree with most of that; but I think JJ was a better player than AJ and I don't think the board will see last season as a success. I think they know how close we came to finishing the season trophyless. Everything else, I totaly agree with.

It really astounds me every time I compare the current squad with Ange's squad 3-and-a-half windows ago.

 

Great post, sums up feelings of many fans.
It's absolutely perverse that winning an unexpected double may end up being a limit on future growth.

 

I think this summer is being massively played down when in my opinion when compared to recent times there is a squad rebuild required only second to when Ange came in.

We have significant gaps in our starting 11 and match day squad.

- At goalkeeper, we currently have a 3rd choice as our only recognised senior keeper. We need a definite number one.

- We don’t have a left sided centre back or left back at the required level. And only one senior left back on the books.

- In midfield our main player is heavily linked with a move away and another member of our starting 3 is touting himself for a move. Despite having numbers we saw all last season when we were missing one or two of that starting 3 we are sorely lacking.

- Right wing we have numbers but actually had to bring in James Forrest from the abyss as the others were so poor.

- Striker, we have one first team striker and the manager doesn’t really want the type of striker that Kyogo is. Regardless we need another first team option.

Add in the clear out required of largely last years signings. We had actually got the squad relatively lean then signed 10 last season of which about 7 or 8 have been duds.

Guys like Johnston and Welsh have been hanging about for years now and aren’t at the level.

The big difference to Ange’s first season is the money we have in the bank where as we had to rely on selling Ajer, Christie and Edouard to fund our spending.

I am concerned that we are waiting to see what happens with outgoings, mainly O’Riley. We have history for this with that Ange season and Tierney previously.

We never seem to go out and get even some of the players required in before the season actually starts.

By in large take O’Riley out of that team and it is really poor right across the team.

 

I love that people are willing to still be patient and defend the recruitment team, board etc but not for me

Absolutely zero excuse to not have at least a goalkeeper in by now.

 

We knew we needed a new keeper in January. January FFS. We should have had a list of keepers where we could have signed at least one of ready to come on for pre season. It's remarkable how the board keep getting away with this. We actually need 2 keepers. Also need a left back. We are weaker now than we were last season. Trust the board? Aye right.

 

100%. It's fairly clear that the board aren't concerned with improving our level relative to the standard of teams we encounter in Europe. They want to win the league and make the CL with the least expenditure possible. It's managed decline.

It is also an incredibly unwise financial strategy. The transfer market is a gravy train for selling clubs thanks to football inflation, but we have tens of millions presumably sitting idle in bank accounts. As inflation in the market far outstrips interest, we are effectively losing money when it is not invested into player assets.

Because we are insistent on relying on £1m punts, we can never use that money effectively, because you're limited in how many players you can realistically develop through football at one time. Until we start routinely investing more money in players - £5-10m per player, say - and look to sell for £15-20m to clubs down south, we will continue to stand still, which in an inflated market means moving backwards.

 

This is an excellent point which is often overlooked. Far more beneficial to have a thriving squad with upside and plenty of sellable assets, than to have a large bank balance, and not just for sporting reasons like you say.

After O’Riley? It’s incredibly thin pickings on that front. CCV if he can stay injury free but that’s about it.

One of our biggest player assets in financial terms is a percentage of Jeremie Frimpong and he left us three and a half years ago.

 

Probably won't sign anyone until after back from America as signing before means paying for extra tickets for the flights and at least 1 more hotel room.