Is selling players for Big Money success...

We finished last year with Tierney being spoken off as the next big thing, already the rumors have started from England and Europe.
Dembele is officially the "hottest" property in British football
Players such as Forrest and Rogic are getting attention
Personally I think it is only a matter of time before someone thinks that Sinclair has "more" to offer to the EPL.

So where does that leave Celtic?

• Do we just accept that the good guys are going to go
• Is it as simple as the lack of money in Scottish Football, mean this is inevitable
• Should we actually be pleased that a dozen of so "Big" Clubs are coming to Parkhead to find their next new star.

The sad fact is we are in effect a feeder club, a team on the edge of the big money, but with high profile and access to the exposure games in Europe.

Can we change it - don't thinks so. Not with the current set up in European football - but would be keen to hear if others have an alternative take on this, or even better a solution....???

In the mean time, taking a fringe (-ish) player like Dembele and propelling him forward is success
Taking a guy that maybe had lost his way like Sinclair is success
Taking a kid and helping him mold him into one of the best left backs I have ever seen is success

 

It's a sad situation.

To be successful we have to have good players who are capable of performing on the big stage.

The problem is, once they get there and perform well, someone wants to take them from us.

And so the rebuilding job commences.

 

We are now a selling club so the board will see it as a success it's up to the scouting team to keep finding hidden gems.

 

It's only succesfull if the money generated is re-invested.

 

Every club outside the big leagues are in the same position teams like Ajax sell there best players almost every season

 

It is what it is. Unfortunately we need to do this to be competetive in Europe. I'm OK with it. As long as we get some good value out of players and a healthy profit to re-invest.
It will always be like this due to the poor TV money we get in Scotland.
Were we in the EPL we would be up challenging after a while.

 

Success obviously brings it's cons. Yes we will lose player's but when you look at it from a realistic point of view, how many player's were being talked of going for big money over the last 2 year?

Now we have plenty. That's what dining at the top table, with a top manager under excellent form is doing..

As long as we can find gems like Dembele and co (which is difficult but under Brendan I trust), then I'm happy with the cycle..

We're on a high folk's. Let's enjoy it..

Feelgood factor is something else just now around the whole club..

 

Every team bar a few of the elite clubs are susceptible to their best players being snapped up.

It's the way it Always has worked and will continue to do so, on the rare occasions you might find foreign players with the attitude Larsson had.

I wouldn't count on that situation happening though.

 

As long as we keep attracting respected managers then we'll attract good players and even though we're a selling club we will become one of the more respectable ones who young talent want to play for. It's a tough world we find ourselves in but the big money teams have happened so quickly there was no way we were ever going to catch up so we have to innovate. I think we're doing well in response to last season.

 

True.

That's key. and it's not easy to do it can take a years to get the right players to replace players sold and Celtic can't really afford to get it wrong in the transfer market when spending.

 

I would argue every club in the world is a selling club when circumstances dictate.
Man Utd - richest club in the world but had to sell Ronaldo when Real came calling.
Barca had to sell Luis Figo to Real. And Real themselves have sold numerous great players down the years.

There's nothing inherently wrong with it, like others have said it's just about re-investing wisely so there's a continual conveyor belt of talent. You always want a couple loyal players to never be sold and become legends though - Tierney for example in the current squad.

 

Is what's making me fed up of football. I can honestly see myself getting to the stage where I give up on football completely and just keep a very fleeting interest in how Celtic do, just out of some bizarre loyalty.

 

Should only sell when a replacement that is just as good, at least, has been brought in.Selling our best player then going to look for a replacement and finding out that the replacement isnt very good sets the team back and its something that Celtic has been guilty of these past few years.

 

The idea is we have to make cheap players into stars I.e. Wanyama £900k - £12.5m. We then need to use that money to reinvest in a squad that will continue to qualify for the CL proper year on year.

Theoretically, if we can qualify for the CL every year whilst turning over a very healthy profit on our best players (e.g. If we get £15-20m for Dembele) if they do insist on leaving, we could end up building a very decent squad capable of challenging in the KO stages of the CL.

In practice we sell Wanyama for £12.5m and proceed to get pumped by Molde at Celtic Park haha

 

It means our scouting and transfer policy is a success. Doesnt guarentee football success once the players have left

 

I think it's more about selling at the right time, when their value is at maximum potential, so we need to get the players to sign contract extensions at the correct times to maximise this.

If we are qualifying regular for champions league:

A/ we don't need to sell to be in profit for the seasons or cover the revenue needed
B/ we can attract the next dembele by offering champions league as the carrot

But if we do move these guys on to, players can see us as the ideal stepping stone to europes elite. Players see the success stories of dembele and want to follow him than sign for Chelsea or city at 20 years old and go on loan for a number of years.

Also if players leave our club and become a further success such as maybe foster or van dik or waynama then clubs are more likely to pay top dollar for our players because they see Celtic as a good conveyer belt for quality footballers.

The more money we bring into the club the better of quality prospects we can also attract.

If we use fort sight into unearthing these quality young players we can give them time needed to develop. Such as lustig although quality player, is aging and a quality young right back would be garenteed significant game time next season. So scouts should be actively looking at this position for example

So the system can work, and having Rodgers and champions league football is the platform to utilise the tactic.

 

It's a hard one this...but i can think it can be done. I think, arguably, the best example of a club that is consistently punching above it's weight is Basel. I've just had a look and think i'm right in saying they've been in at least the CL group stages since 10/11 so if they can do it surely we can. However, all the points mentioned above about timing of buying/selling/reinvestment need to be bang on. They also sold Salah for 11m which is another parallel with regards to Wanyama. Goes without saying.......we're a lot bigger than them.

 

I think the board are going around it the right way.
If we go sell a player on we put in clauses that benefit us.
Selling Wanyama for 12.5 Million + £1million two years later only helps but add to the club.
If in 5 years time we can get 2 or 3 players from our Youth Development burst through we could be laughing. Tierney, Forrest, McGeady, Mulgrew, Maloney, Marshall all products of our youth system.

 

we do not have a choice,very few want to stay with us long term....most just see the bright lights of england and cant wait to get there......we can sell them or keep them and watch them leave for nothing at the end of their contracts.

 

It's all about the money, pure and simple. We have everything needed to attract the top talent in the world except money. We have the support, the history and European football every year. But none of that does us much good when any team in England can outbid us easily even for players who will never leave their bench. Our managers have had no choice but to lose their best talents then try to replace them for a small fraction of the transfer fee we received for them, time and time again.