Not Actually that Crucial a Summer as of August 2023...beginning to now think everything isnt fine!

Would you no move Jota back to his natural position on the left and get someone of that kinda calibre for the right instead?

 

We have Jota, Maeda, Haksa and Mikey Johnston (out on loan at the moment). All of them are natural left wingers. Literally the last thing we need is yet another left winger.

Not to mention, why would we want to replace Maeda? Given that Forrest is past his prime, no other winger on the roster can do what Maeda does.

 

Soccer !

 

A energetic, box to box 8 of quality. If he has some physicality that'll be a bonus but someone who's comfortable being pressed and in tight spaces. Someone more like a Hatate although doesn't have to be....just someone who can drive with the ball and has the legs to get beyond the striker. We've seen how we lose a fair bit when the likes of Hatate are out. Ange also knows he can't go with pairings of O'Riley/Mooy or Turnbull as the 8's. It doesn't work. We absolutely need a couple more in the engine room who are dynamic..

A left back who has real athleticism and quality obviously to go by his man and whip balls in. Someone who knows the position and comes inside like Taylor, who has a bit of the Johnston in him and who is maybe as good attacking the space as Bernabei to whip balls/cut backs in. Taylor has been fantastic but I think we can improve on him and he'd still be good competition and get plenty game time. Bernabei doesn't look like he'll be fancied in my opinion or ready, yet..

A right winger of real class. This is one of the big ones for me..

We've had Abada who's been excellent overall but does lack and goes hot and cold. Jota filling in but is better on the left. We need a real game changing type out there. A left footer preferably. Don't even think we have a left footed winger?

I feel like those are areas that need the most work first team wise to take us to the next level..

You could then argue we need competition at
Keeper
Centre half
Another centre mid
Another possible right winger
Striker or winger who is versatile enough to play there well..

So at least 3 to go in and make a difference and around 4 who are upgrades on the what we have on the bench/squad now. We'll get rid of quite a few fringe types this summer, and some assets so I don't think 7 or so is that unrealistic all in..

 

I don't know if there is any but I wouldn't be adverse to seeing seeing some young homegrown talent being signed that is outside of celtic.

I've been saying for ages that I see GK as the main role that needs additions so we can go into the season after next with someone who is ready and able to oust Hart.

But as it seems more and more like Abada is leaving, a direct replacement for him is the main position we need to fill in.

We are now in a position where we don't need to be going in and getting 5+ players in every window. We can now be more detailed and thorough and spend effort trying to source 1 or 2 genuine quality to bring in.

Then as I say, if there is a market for it, look at some fresh young homegrown talent that is out there we could add to the squad.

 

Based on his statements, I could see us keeping all of our more important players (what he meant as "core"), and making minimal amounts of new signings. He wouldn't make such a statement without checking on what were the players planning. Also, it seems it was us here who kickstarted the Ito rumor, but Ange has no plans to sign him.

 

As things stand right now, we have 18 non-homegrown players. 16 of them are undroppable. The other 2 are Siegrist and Bernabei. Under UEFA rules, we are restricted to 17 non-homegrown players for our european games. Long story short, there's an opportunity cost involved when targetting non-homegrown players. We cannot realistically buy a new one unless we offload at least 2 such players from our current squad. I assume this is why Ange alludes to minimal changes.

 

Today is a warning shot for sure. He gave fringe players a chance and they weren’t even close to it.

A reality check for the players as well, can’t just turn up and expect to win, need to put the effort in first. Not been many games under Ange we could say the players didn’t give 100%, this was the worst so far.

 

I have absolutely no doubt we will strengthen significantly in the summer... Today was a wake up call that shows if we are missing big players we are in trouble..

 

Spot on.

Whether you like it or not, Ralston, Kobayashi, Bernabei, O'Riley, Abada, Iwata, Turnbull, Oh and Haksabanovic could and probably should be all upgraded on. Jury is still out on a few of them but they've not blown me away. Far from it.

Then there's others like Hart, Maeda, Taylor and Starfelt that badly need some strong competition.

We have to improve. No two ways about it.

 

It's better to have today's sort of game now rather than next season.

It'll be a wakeup call for Ange, 100%.

 

I thought we were sitting pretty good, then we had to watch that today and oh wow is our second string *.

Players I'd sell in the summer
Kobayashi
Bernabei
Oh
Abada
Ralston
Turnbull
McCarthy

big problem here is losing 3 homegrown talents

if we get a good off i'd also sell O'Reilly

Need a GK, RB, CB, LB, ST, RW, CM maybe 2

do the business Celtic, dont get * complacent, this squad will get embarrassed in the CL

 

We needed a few in before today to kick on for europe, what today showed is the squad players cannot be trusted to step in against a decent level of opposition and that’s a problem because you can’t pick and choose when someone gets injured or suspended

 

The only upside from today is we have learned a lot about some players in the squad.

And a little bit tactically when we play them

We are far too dependent on ccv mooy jota and kyogo. Missed 3 today and we were on our * at the back, dominated in midfield and offered little up front.

Abada and o’Reilly are my top 2 priorities to get moved on while their value remains high(ish). Not starters or home grown so easy money in to fund better options.

Bernabei needs gone also. Take what we can get in.

 

Its clear we need a Centre Half, Left Back, Centre Mid and Right Winger. Probably a Keeper too, though woukd like to see Siegrist

Not saying Kobayashi has no future, but he's not currently near the level of the 2 in front of him and that shouldn't be the case.

 

Iwata so far has been excellent and only with a handful of starts. By far the most physical midfielder we have and has the technical ability.