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

In a world of perennial speculation and over the top paranoia that we're all in on here, this post is as close to 'on the money' as it gets. Very well articulated, as is usually the case with yourself. Superb post.

 

Michael Nicholson has big brass baws, the quality will be signed by the end of the window, we will qualify for the Champions League and beat the huns. Nothing to worry about.

 

Can't remember ever feeling so indifferent about the upcoming games.

The fecking board have truly managed to completely obliterate all the joy I had for this season.

Absolute shitshow, I just wish I could comprehend their way of thinking. To be a fly on the wall during a board meeting...

 

Indifferent ? There's a title and UCL qualification to play for. Support the team , the board are the board mate.

 

It's not hard mate, it's basically hoard as much money as we can so we get a bigger bonus. Exact same as the old board, their 1st and last priority is what can Celtic do for us rather than what can we do for the club

 

And don't forget we ended up paying well over the odds because it was the last week of the window. I have absolutely no doubt we could have got the players in cheaper had we moved earlier. Making waiting till the last minute even more pointless.

 

Its also possible though, that Norwich actually just were not prepared to sell Idah for less than what we paid. Because we shopped in an inflated market. I think we had been trying to sign him since July and our initial bid was closer to the 5M mark.

So its possible that we actually spent a long time trying to recruit him for a lower fee and in the end, because Rodgers wanted him, we paid close to double what the club actually felt was his correct value. Which again, may now be manifesting itself in the current transfer window.

 

Things aren’t as bad as people are making out - we’re natural born pessimists. I think we’re still comfortable favourites for the league and our squad isn’t as lacking as some are implying. I certainly don’t feel indifferent yet.

The window has highlighted again how we’re in dire need of modernisation when it comes to club structure though. There’s a very unprofessional air around the way we go about things. I think 20 years ago it might have been fine, but as a club we’ve not modernised with the times and football has changed a lot.

There’s also an air of neglect and laziness around the place. Not just with regards to the squad but the state of the stadium, the complete lack of communication on Barrowfield etc.

In summary, we’re not in the worst place but we could be doing much better. The board have the ultimate responsibility of improving us but it still feels like they’re the old boy’s club that’s been in place for the best part of two decades.

 

We finished last season weaker than when we started it.
And weve started this season weaker than we finished last season.

Name another European side with TENS OF MILLIONS of pounds in the bank that is in this situation.

Its time for * WAR imo.

 

Cannot abide this attitude.

I dont wanna be an * but this "glass half full" * is a big reason we're in this mess.

Ive used this analogy a few times now, but here goes again; put a frog into boiling water, it hops right out. Turn the heat up slow and it'll boil to death.
A large swathe of our support are * poached at this point.

If someone wouldve told you "in exactly one years time, we will have lost kyogo and Kuhn, not addressed replacements, not strengthened our mifldfield, ignored the need for wingers and are still needing LB cover.... All of which the club IGNORED for TWO windows, about to go into a CL playoff fixture with Yang and Liam Scales as first choice starters and still relying on James Forrest...whist other sides in our league are msking serious additions, and Sevco look to be making some very good moves in the market...

Would you seriously say "it wont as bad as people will make it out to be." ?

Im sincerely interested, and * need someones mad as * optimisim to rub off on me.

 

What do you suggest?

 

It's plausible but it's speculation and I don't think it's the case because this is not a unique summer transfer window, it's the norm.

What we are seeing this year is no departure from transfer windows of any other season. In Rodgers first season we sold Jota at the very start of the season, we signed a couple of development wingers in Tilio and Yang, we got Holm and Kwon and Nawrocki as well. We then sold Starfelt and replaced him with Lagerbielke a week or so after. Palma, Phillips and Bernardo arrived on deadline day. It's actually an eerily similar window to that, where we sell off a couple of first team starters, one of them one of the top players at the club and try and address it with projects and make a few late panic signings like Tilio, Philips and Bernardoo.

Last season a similar story - we don't buy anyone until MOR out the door and make a few later panic signings in Engels, Valle, Trusty and McCowan - all in the last week of the window. Before that we had only signed 2 goalkeepers and a pair that been on loan last season.

This season, its rinse and repeat of our previous transfer windows. More linked to the first season however as it seems to be project signings are the order of the day and we'll get a few loan signings at the end of the window.

In the past 4 summer windows we have signed 6 loanees in the last week of the transfer window - CCV, Jota, Abildgard Bernardo, Phillips and Valle. It doesn't matter who the manager is, we just don't like spending money on players. I guarantee you there will be at least one loanee in the last week of the deadline again. We have £77m in the bank, we don't like spending money on players, the manager is certainly not stopping us from signing players. We live business until late because we want to see who clubs want rid off that we can borrow. We don't value players, we only value a small outlay.

I think your theory gives the board far, far, far too much leeway.

 

It’s not blind optimism. The squad is not in as bad a shape as is routinely made out, but the window (among others) has highlighted the blatant flaws in the way we operate as club. That’s acknowledging that the board aren’t fit for purpose but not complete hysteria. The core of our (successful) team is still there, and will look far better if we fill the void on the wings.

We’re in danger of sleepwalking into disaster but we’re not there yet.

 

This is kind of the point though. The board are fine shopping in a certain bracket. There has been a plethora of signings down the years that fit into the "project" category. They target cheaper markets where they think there is better value for money. They utilise loans as a way of assessing players before committing to buying them. If the player is a miss, we can usually recoup our fee. If they are hit, we stand to make a big profit.

It think the board would be fine signing a few more of these to strengthen the front three. I think they are basically trying to repeat the trick with Kuhn. Get a guy in for 3M-4M and potentially sell down the line for 3 or 4 times that.

I think its clear this is not what Rodgers wants though. He will tolerate a certain amount of club signings, but he also wants ones that fit more with his way of doing things. Kuhn took 6 months to really get going. Rodgers, in the last year of his contract potentially, doesnt want to risk this. I think he wants a different kind of player.

Last the season there was a partial departure from our normal business. We bought from England and Germany and as result ended up paying higher than normal. I think the reason we did this was to down to Rodgers, rather than the board. I dont think the board under their normal operating model would pay 11M for Engles or 9M for Idah. Their initial bid was 5M or so for Idah. Its often represented that we overpaid for him because we did nothing about it until late in the window. I think the timelines involved dispute this. We made an initial bid almost as soon as the window opened. I think we spent most of the window trying to negotiate a better price but Norwich stuck to the their valuation on it. And we ended up paying it, because he was a player that Rodgers specifically wanted.

 

No need to panic, there are still -6 days until the season starts.

 

I see I’ve got back in a time machine to BR’s first spell at the club… same shitheads running the club.

 

Fair point about how late the spending was. I don't know if you are right about the reason they finally did spend. You may be right about that, I don't know. And I don't know how to find out until Rodgers writes a book.

 

How much would it cost us to just buy the Feyenoord board?

 

A complete boycot and picket.

Picket the stadium during games and encourage supporters to stand together outside and demand change.
Boycott any all official club merch (i have for the past two years now), cancel Celtiv TV subscriptions et al.

Mars bars, plastic sharks etc etc.

What we need most is the GB to step up. This board literally would've continued with Lennon until they put together a sustained campaign of protest outside CP.

WAR man. We need sp much pressure of these * its unreal. They wont care about losing the league,l or crashing out if the CL, at least not as much as we do. As long as theres bums on seats and money in tills theyll keep doing what they do. They are not a board for football club. Not in the slightest.