Our board.

First of all. I'll throw my hat in the ring.

Im not chilled on this. Im pretty concerned actually.

To date we have had an offer for Forster turned down that we didnt pursue. Clearly the board felt there was better options elsewhere. One pathetic trial later and we are back to square one.

Whoever decided that trials were a good idea needs a good slap down. Historically these rarely work and I hope now we realise that we need to get back to what we did in Neils first season. ie Identifying good prospects and buying them in so they can settle in the squad.

Strangely last season when we required 8/9 players in we were able to do it speedily. This season, for whatever reason we have been dragging our heels. Despite probably only needing 2 players , a striker and a goalkeeper.

It now appears that we may be back in for Forster, who really we should have signed up and paid the extra money for. A good goalkeeper is worth his weight in gold. The number 1 debacle so far has showed this.


The irony of all this is that their are posters/ fans saying we cant afford this. Despite having only spent £1m in this window. The Orcs, who we take great joy in slagging off for their perilous financial status seem to again be finding money to buy players. Is it any wonder we have not won the title for the last 3 seasons? Are we a big club? Have we got the ambition anymore. We talk about doing well in Europe and getting back to the Champions League. Well we need to take a reality check on that because it is going to take more investment in the side than what the board is offering at the moment. Clubs all across europe are spending a lot more than we are chasing the same dream.

We got lucky last season, I believe, when Neil brought in so many good players on the cheap. That wont happen every season.

Our board has been severely culpable over the last 3 seasons. In WGS last season we needed a striker in January and probably would have won the league. They then made the blunder of the next manager , when with the right ambition they could have possibly got Owen Coyle. The fact that he left Barnsely for Bolton would suggest our ambition didnt match Boltons. And when I say Celtic, I mean the board.

Again with this season, when we had such a lift from the way Neil Lennon brought some good players in and had us playing attacking football the expectation was we could move on to win the league.

What has happened?

We have made a total * of the goalkeeping situation to the extent that no-one knows what is going on.

For those that think spending £1m in the transfer window on 2 championship players and a 20 year old untested african player is good enough to bring the title back then it will be a long season.

What the friendlies showed me is that our squad in depth isnt as strong as some people might say it is, and that the goalkeeping situation may come back to haunt us.

To say that we cant afford a keeper, or a striker whilst our rivals, who we are constantly told are skint, are actively signing their best players to long term contracts and buying in players for areas that they are weak in, then I am not going to go into the season when we start again this week filled with confidence. And I dont want us to become a debt ridden club, but with a billionaire major shareholder, a fantastic support, these so called marketing opportunities that have been opened up in the far east and fantastic club assets, surely we can afford to spend enough to bolster the squad ?

All very well saying dont panic, window is open till August 31st. But given the half arsed, penny pinching way we have went about it, Im not too hopeful.And I dont like the way Im feeling about this , especially with optimism on the final game of the season.

 

If this post is viewed objectively, and not with the bias we are all guilty of from time to time, then there is very little in it that could be argued with. Good effort mate.

 

It should have defo been sorted by now, Lenny and his team have had a whole season to think about it as it was always a possibility Forster would return to Newcastle. Is this a wee bit of naivety form Lenny?

However on the other hand it all seems a bit more urgent due to the early start of our season.

We need to keep in mind there's the best part of a month to go in the transfer window and players keep their options open right up to the death. We're working on a budget and have to get players in that are right for the club.

But please no more loan deals I hate them let's go for realistic targets who will give more than one season to the club! Let's face it we've not had much luck with loan deals in the past.

Permanent signings and realistic targets please Celtic!!

 

last 4wks of window left and still not got wot we need gk,cf and for me a quality centre half to play alongside kelvin.over the years the board have cost us leagues by not spending at crucial times in the season.i believe we are 3 decent signings away from a good celtic team

 

I'm now completely against the "there is plenty of time" line. That was being said at the end of May and start of June, when it was true. Now it is the beginning of August. There is not a lot of time, really. Players want to have joined up with their new squad and have settled in by now. There will be nowhere near as many people available now as there was back in June. Or July. We really are leaving this too late.

 

ITS CALLED THE * FRUSTRATING TRANSFER WINDOW,the fantastic support and lenny for doing well last year deserves more money in the market for decent signings.the board have to find new investment simple as that or we are going back to the bad old nineties

 

yup and why should we have to wait? the season is started we should be 99% sorted by now. playing a donkey in goal who may cost us points ? . great. be nice to lose the leauge by a point or 2 again or maybe goal difference. get it sorted ffs

 

The fans, ie, us, are the real custodians of Celtic. Not the paid staff such as Lawell and his accountants.

We owe it to the club, its history and its traditions to demand better.

3 seasons without a title against an Orc side that is on its knees financially is not acceptable.

And yet, which club is the more ambitious? Which club is finding the transfer money?

Its a depressing answer.I think Lawell has some cheek coming out saying there is no heat on Neil, when in fact the heat should be on him.

He spouts about financial prudence when his failure to sanction signing a striker 3 seasons ago in the January window probably cost us the title and the following two as well, as the Orcs would have been totally *. So , in effect, it could be argued that he has been as culpable as anyone these last 3 seasons.

All the while he is on more money than the majority of players at the club.

That cant be right? Can it??

 

I agree with all who say we're a bit late on this. The board and Lenny have known for ages when the league was starting and when our european qualifiers would take place.

Celtics dirty laundry is out in public now making Zaloooshka feel like a * and making any team we approach have the upper hand, as they know we're * desperate for a keeper.

There must be a ton of prem No.2/3 or championship players that would only cost a few mil and be much better than what we have.

These players might want a lot more wages than Zaluska, but if they are a lot more better then that's what you have to pay. If we don't want to be paying someone more than the likes of Zaluska etc. then just keep him and get on with it. Players that get paid what he gets paid probably play exactly the same.

I'm fed up with the fingernail biting I do everytime someone is in the box. I didn't even do that with Forster.

Get it sorted

 

I agree with everything you say kemo and would go as far as saying we need a GK, ST, and a centre half, we are still defensively weak i think, and i agree with the poster above, every time an opposition player is in our box i fear the worst.

We get this crap every transfer window, with the board looking at players who under the current budget we could never hope to get, it annoys me that the board think we the fans think that chasing after bellamy or given is a sign of ambition when push comes to shove there is no bid or any kind of movement. Lawell himself stated we need only 3 additions of quality, first team players, yet there is no noticeable movement for quality players, doesn't he realise quality first team players are going to cost a bit of money, the club has frankly been embarrassed with these trialists and courting bellamy and given.

Its down to this really put up or shut up, if you aren't going to be ambitious then don't spout things in the media that give the impression we are really going to spend some cash. I completely agree with kemo about how we all go on about the huns being skint but they realise quality over quantity is the way to go, id rather spend 4mil on a striker or goalkeeper than 2/3 players for the same money who will sit in our squad doing almost nothing.

This squad only needs a few tweaks, so get the right players in and if the board really trusts lennon, let him get who he really wants.

 

Every * season its the same with this transfer deadline,waiting on Celtic pulling some big signing out the bag,but doesnt happen.The supporters deserve more.We are the ones who have put our money up front before last season even finished,by committingto season books.Just about everyone on this forum agrees we need 3 players, a GK,CB and CF.The season has started without any of these.I have every faith in Lenny,but I just wonder what financial restraints he is under from this board.Yes,we understand that we have had no CL money for 3 seasons,but another season without a championship is really unthinkable.We must win the league this season.Its alright saying,oh weve still got 4 weeks to bring players in,but these players should already be in place and should have played in the pre season friendlies.Isuspect that Iwill be sitting up till midnight on Aug 31,with my eyes glued to sky sports news waiting for the usual reports that we failed in a last ditch attempt to bring some player in

 

He suggested in June that we were going to get 2 or 3 quality players in. If he thinks that Matthews, Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson fall into that category (with all due respect to them) then he is very mistaken.

Given the activity across the city, we should not only be matching them but bettering what they are doing.

Chances are they are going out of the CL tomorrow night and the £m's that go with it. Yet their ambition is more than ours. Its disappointing.

If a signing of the quality of a Bellamy/ Keane etc doesnt surface and we are fobbed off with a last minute Willo Flood or similar I will be gutted.

We also need to get a proper keeper sorted out now as well. Not a Stipe who hasnt kicked a ball for two years, someone who is decent. Has played at an acceptable level and we can trust.

 

I know wat your saying Ando, but I tend to think, that our scouting teams should have already had 2 or 3 potential keepers lined, just incase Lenny's plan A didn't work, which it hasn't, and me personaly feel that our new keeper should have been bedded in with his defence, in at least a couple of friendly's.

 

Right on the money mate, spot on.

 

* the window. It's all about Europe for me.

Bringing in a new guy on the week of our first European game will do no good. I'd rather have Zaluska than a top class keeper nobody knows.

Shocking state of afairs. We've known since Boruc left that we didn't own a good enough keeper lol. Disgraceful and if we were Hearts............

 

A GK is an essential part of the team and if you aint got that sorted and it goes * up then they've only got themselves to blame.

Zaluska is clearly not No.1 material and if we go into Europe with him and subsequently get found out and knocked out then questions will have to be asked at the Manager and Board's door.

No excuses.

 

I just think that player replacements should be kept inhouse. It does no good for Zalusha's confidence nor for the Club highlighting a potential weakness to our opposition. Remember when Mowbray came out and said he wanted to bring in 10 new players during the middle of 2009/10, the team went on a slide straight after that statement. Its just plain stupid.

You never hear Sir Alex Ferguson saying they have to bring in players to replace what he has got... he just does it.

 

We're not asking anybody to come out and slate Zaluska.

We're asking for a Keeper who is good enough for this club to give us the best chance of success and everything that goes along with that.

Its not good enough that we're into August and we're in this position.

Anybody who knows anything about football would tell you that getting your GK position sorted and settled is just about the most important thing you can do in a team.

We haven't and until that happens - or worse - it gets exposed and we suffer as a club and as fans and get deprived of European football again then questions will continue to be asked.

 

i think its probably a case of they were convinced pletikosa was the man, apparently he wasnt

have faith im sure someone is on their way sooner rather than later

 

agree there will be other players/keeper on the way... not a worry in the world about that...