Celtic's 2025/26 Summer transfer window: Stage: Pitchforks

Bingo.

 

This is probably right although it's ironic as it was apparently the reason Dom McKay got binned within 6 months

 

Completely agree with the first paragraph. There’s a fair few on here who have been banging on for years about the need to modernise the recruitment side of the business.

I have absolutely no doubt though that part of why we haven’t done so is because certain people in our boardroom feel they’d lose an element of control over transfer dealings. Part of the reason McKay was shown the door was that he didn’t run every minute detail of those dealings by the powers that be. Even our next pathetic attempt at making it look like we were modernising was to put a Lawwell in that position, as nothing but a yes man.

 

As many have already said, our situation is a toxic combination of lack of sporting vision and strategy, lack of ambition together with rank incompetence and no freedom to operate 'permitted' by Lawell to actually go and recruit other than embarrassing lowballing everyone.

It's an absolute shambles that's been ongoing for multiple seasons and windows.
Zero transparency and accountability on top.
And we all support and pay for it.

At which point do we collectively hold the club to account?
This can't just go away if we win a few games, or sign a couple of players during the usual end of window panic.
It's our long term future at stake and the current club stewards are making a right royal c**t of it.

 

I think you're right there, but for me if the reports of us putting in ridiculous lowball bids and upping them in £250k increments are true, that would suggest to me a reluctance to spend a bit of dough that would not even come close to the fee brought in for Kuhn (let alone the Frimpong bonus money). As @Foley1888 has said a couple of times now, we could have paid the asking price for Orjaseter, Balikwisha and Breum and had the wings covered by now with some spare change from the Kuhn money. Being slow at completing deals can also be explained by not stumping up the funds to get the ball rolling.

 

A board and club ran in such a way for the better part of 20 years at the time would have been shocked at the changes he was trying to make. Completely alien to how things would operate. Shock to the system that we got rid as quickly as possible, only to bring back a more comforting and familiar face and process.

Change isn't bad, but the internals of our club are so deeply reliant on a single way of doing things, that they panic at any notion of doing things differently.

 

The same old patterns emerging again

Linked with some exciting players early in the window

Support think we are getting it together and this year is going to be the year we push the boat out and get our recruitment right.

Links go quiet, manager shows signs of frustration and disconnect with the board, fans get restless.

Next thing we are linked with loan signings (which tells me the board are panicking and now trying to get stuff done without having to put their hands too far into piggy bank).

We won’t spend any serious money until the end of the window. At that point we are either overpaying for 2/3rd options or calling in favours from the likes of Dudu Duhan.

Complete farce.

 

About 5 years ago, we attempted it. But like most things with our club, our support are far to stuck in the ways. Some of us will make enough noise and when some results go against us, the others will join in. But the club know only too well now, that small symbolic changes will be enough to get the majority off their back and buy them more time.

They got time when PL announced stepping down, only to reappear 18 months later and most folk convinced themselves he was "non-exec" it doesnt matter. His influence is there, to this day, through decades of his control. He now oversees it all from above. Same reason we all hounded for Bankier to * off - but no one at that time cared it was a "non-exec" position.

For today, what point do we hold them account? yesterday - tomorrow - now. We shouldn't need to wait for the board to burn half the squad down, before we wake up and take some sort of action. It is plain to see, by everyone, that the board are not running the football club in the best interest of a football club - which should be both to be financially stable and sportingly at our best.
They only care about the financial side, knowing that the football side will be enough just being the better of a rangers side.

every 3-5 years we should be seeing some wholesale changes in our boardroom and the board members held accountable.
5 year plans - hit them, or move on!

If we aren't gonna modernise in a proper sporting way, at least lets go a way like the Spanish clubs do in voting in their board members - much like government and politicians, they need to remember that their big fat pay cheque is meant for them to work for US! not the other way around.

 

Had we signed those players, even Kvistgaarden who turned out to have a release claus around 6m (so much for the rumoured asking of £12m or so), then going for a loan to buy for the Liverpool lad would be great - because we condifdently took care of the rest. But we don't do it that way and instead stumble our way through the window.

 

Yep, we're all sat here seeing that the forward line / wings are threadbare but the most recent links are for CDM/CB backup loans. The optics are absolutely shocking, emphasised even more by the Huns agreeing fees with the same selling club for another of their star players.

The atmosphere Sunday is gonna be really juxtaposed with the whole celebrating of the league flag but majority of fans restless/frustrated with the lack of activity.

 

Kvistgardeen - £6.5m
Orjaseter - £6m
Balikwisha - £3m
Breum - £5m
Shin - £1.7m

Jota, Maeda and Forrest already at the club.
for £23-24m we could have had a very good front line. Frimpong and Kuhn money would have taken care of that.
A loan to buy for the Liverpool lad, sign a competent CB and we would be good to go - but instead we are * around as per.

Punt Idah for £4m if you could get it to clear the front line out a bit, give Kenny 3rd choice status. The clear out of Lager, Kwon, Tilio etc would generate a few extra quid that could probably pay for a decent CB.

Could still end the window breaking even in transfer spend, yet come out stronger - but no, not that straight forward for Celtic.

 

Good post, just touching on the Spanish model - as you say the directors at Barca and other clubs are elected.
At Barca even most senior directors only take a nominal salary of around £100k - it's considered a privilege and honour to serve the club.
Saying all of that, overall Barca are perhaps not the ideal example to follow - but the basic principle stands.

Big Peter was 2nd highest paid CEO (behind Woodward at Man Utd) in the whole feckin UK in his pomp, far lower today of course.
He's taken home £17M over the years.
Nicholson is around £700k - and he isn't even allowed to offer above the lowball limits set by Peter and Desmond without phoning the golf course for permission to offer a wee bit more.

 

Idah is going nowhere mate..

We were never signing 4 wingers either.. with Jota and Maeda still in the building..

2 is needed and realistic

 

Barcelona are actually a very good example of the highs and lows, but inevitably the very reason electing your board. I assume we are both highlighting their financial downfall during and after Covid season?

They elected in a president that got far too casual with the wage bill - along with other things - and when they realised, instead of sticking with him for 20 years (extreme example to highlight our plight with PL) they actually brought (back) in someone with a better way. To the stage they are financially more stable and growing as a club again.
*, they even got (reportedly) Rashford to basically half his wage to sign for them and if the loan goes well, bag him for £30m.

They're a great club to show the benefits of voting in their board - albeit also a downside. But I'd take that risk, to see us have some sporting ambition.

 

The centre back and centre forward graphic is the stuff of nightmares.

Look at the * state of it.

 

Their competence knows know bounds when we’re punting players to top up the bank balance right enough.

 

The cynic in me is beginning to think that our board is a bit scared that Scottish football looses the attraction of the "old firm". They know that the hun fans won't tolerate their team being 2nd best forever and, even though the hun fans say they "don't do walking away", they have history of doing exactly that. So, maybe our board are not going to strengthen our team and are just going to sit on all that cash in the bank to enable the huns win the league. You might think this is just too far fetched but you only have to cast your minds back to Resolution 12 when our board decided it "was against their interest" to pass it.

 

I think we will have spent by the time the window is complete but its frustrating that board offer no communication and just let frustration build, let the articles of rejected low ball bids pile up, have the manger face the media shrugging his shoulders about what updates there are etc.

A few simple statements of intent would go a long way.

 

It’s a lot easier to sell a good player than it is to buy one.

 

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying at all. Apparently Rodgers isn’t totally sold on Balikwisha though, amongst other names that have been brought to him. So, using him as an example, I think it’s more a case of the board not having full confidence to offer the requested price.

I think we’re lowballing as a result of our lack of confidence or lack of ability to negotiate; rather than as a lack of actual willingness to spend. Put it this way, if Engels and Idah had knocked it out the park last season and the board had trust in our scouts/Rodgers to have that success again, we’d have invested heavily in another two “top” bracket signings this summer.