The squad planning thread

Squad of today

Keepers:
Joe Hart (36)
Benjamin Siegrist (31)
Scott Bain (31)

LB:
Greg Taylor (26)
Alexandro Bernabei (22)

CB:
Yuki Kobayashi (23)
Maik Nawrocki (22)
Stephen Welsh (23)
Liam Scales (25)
Cameron Carter-Vickers (25)
Gustaf Lagerbielke (23)
- Nathaniel Phillips (26)

RB:
Anthony Ralston (24)
Alistair Johnston (24)

Midfield:
David Turnbull (24)
Matt O'Riley (22)
Reo Hatate (25)
Odin Thiago Holm (20)
Callum McGregor (30)
James McCarthy (32)
Tomoki Iwata (26)
Kwon Hyeok-kyu (22)
Paulo Bernardo (21)

Wingers:
Yang Hyun-jun (22)
Marco Tilio (22)
Daizen Maeda (25)
Mikey Johnston (24)
James Forrest (32)
Luis Palma (23)
Liel Abada (21)

FW;
Kyogo Furuhashi (28)
Oh Hyeon-gyu (22)

Very bid squad in CB and Midfield, need to sell some deadweight?
Aging keepers

 

Think 3 of the centre backs will be away in January.

Kobayashi likely back to Japan for new season starting, and 2 from phillips, scales and Welsh will likely go out too. Extra numbers will give us the chance to get Welsh out for half season loan, which would help his development, especially if he's gonna be out for upto 4 months just now.

Think Turnbull mite go, although may fancy signing a pre contract and going in the summer.
Think Mccarthy will need to retire for us to get rid of him.

Johnston will likely be away if he can stay fit enough long enough to do a medical.

Then there's still the obvious upgrades that should of been done last month. Gk and left back. So hopefully shift Bernabei and Siegrest

Would make the squad a bit smaller and more competitive

 

GK, DL and probably FC in January, hopefully.

Siegrist, Bernabei, Yuki, Scales, McCarthy, Turnbull, Johnston hopefully out in January.

 

Goalie and left back are still the priorities for me in terms of incoming.

 

It's been a priority all summer and dismayed we haven't bought quality players for those areas .

 

Should also add time left on contract to the OP for the full picture.

 

We need to make sure we’re planning for players being sold.

We can’t go back to the old way of holding on to players until they become unsettled, bored or too comfortable.

I would say there’s a good chance Hatate and O’Riley move on next summer. We should really be provisionally making that decision about now and trying to buy at least one but probably 2 quality midfielders.

CCV will probably be in the same boat so again we should be actively scouting a quality replacement now.

I can’t stress enough that this is what needs to fundamentally change at Celtic. We can’t keep players for a long time and we need to be about a year ahead of them leaving.

 

Given the summer window there we will have a big job to do in January and next summer now.

For Goalkeepers we will likely need two in as Hart and Siegrist will be away.

For full backs we badly need a left one and for Anderson or Frame from the youths to come good for us. Bernabei just needs moved on. We may also need a right one if Johnston continues to impress.

Centre back Phillips, Scales and Kobayashi will all be away in January, unless we have more injuries and we keep Phillips for the season. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if CCV comes back well to see him want his move next summer.

Centre midfield is another area that we have a lot of bodies but Turnbull, O’Riley, and Hatate won’t be here come next summer. So a lot depends on Holm and Bernardo being successes and one of Iwata of Kwon getting game time. The way things are going you wouldn’t be surprised if Iwata was away back to Japan or elsewhere come January as he hasn’t had a sniff so far this year. The club are also trying to get McCarthy away but he looks like sitting tight.

Centre forward we are very light unless Maeda starts playing more centrally and then we are loaded with unknowns out wide.

We are essentially looking at over the next two windows needing.

-GK x2

-RB if someone buys Johnston.

-LB, also hoping one of Frame/ Anderson come through.

-CB if CCV goes

-CM x2 and that’s if Holm and Bernardo come good and the later signs on a permanent. If not then need 3.

-Possibly RW depending on how Tilio and Yang do and whether Abada is still here.

-A striker unless Oh really kicks on but we wanted one there in the summer and need Asia Cup cover.

So another 9 players, of which most have to be first team quality.

On the deadwood side to move that picture has improved McCarthy is probably the only one that is on good money that isn’t contributing at all.

Moving on the likes of Kobayashi, Scales, Johnston and Iwata if he continues to be surplus to requirements, will all likely be straight forward and they won’t be on big money.

Siegrist may end up being loaned out at first as he apparently wanted a move but couldn’t get one, even another SPFL team would take him to put him back in the shop window.

Forrest’s here until he calls it a day by the looks of it. Mikey Johnston feels like it’s time for him to go. It’s definitely last chance this season for him, again Johnston won’t be on that big money.

 

The Jota replacement saga was/is downright embarrassing. Doesn’t matter if he moved on sooner than we’d thought he might. We already knew he was quality before he signed permanently, so as soon as he did, we should have immediately started scouting a replacement, knowing that a club could come in for him at any time.

 

Spot on with this Martin.

Although he only signed last year, he had been playing very well for us for 2 years and that means he's on the radar and could go at any time, or have his head turned.

We need to be more on the ball with this stuff. This is where our club will either stagnate or thrive.

To me, Hatate / O'Riley / CCV are the next big ones. I'm expecting the club to be on the ball with replacements. Proactive, not reactive. I feel like that's the way we were going under Ange but we're in danger of not learning the lesson and letting it slip.

 

Scales might prove he's worth keeping around in the coming weeks, he's already well on his way with his performance at Ibrox..

 

We did sign Palma, Tilio and Yang so we've brought in 3 wingers, time will tell if they are good enough..

The failure to strengthen at LB is more of an embarrassment for me..

 

I think we need to get out of this way of thinking to be honest.

He's played well, credit to him. He might even go on to do a great shift over the next 6 months or so.

But ultimately he isn't good enough for where we want to be and that's all there is to it. We should be capable of getting better players in his position without breaking the bank, so we should move him on as soon as we get any decent offer.

 

I think we need players who are happy to be squad players and who will give everything when they play.. not getting carried away with his performance at Ibrox, but he was excellent..

Let's see how he goes if he indeed gets more opportunities, it may be Lagerbielke and Philips v Dundee on Saturday.. although he would be really unlucky to be dropped after Ibrox..

Maybe he isn't good enough longterm, just don't like that idea of emptying him after that performance..

 

Don't think that's how it works mate. It's an ongoing process identifying players, we'll already be tracking multiple players for every position. For both replacing players that move on, and more generally to bring good players in regardless.

 

You're too nice for this game JC Anton. You need to start taking pleasure in destroying people's dreams. You're missing out.

 

The fact that we’re debating which of our transfer window embarrassments is bigger says it all…

 

Was a good performance, if he's gonna dislodge anyone it'll be Welsh's 4th place position. Guess it's up for grabs.

 

We need to identify some home grown players that can come in and eventually replace McGregor and Forrest. GK needs some attention. Overall the age of the squad is good. Need to secure the spine of the team for the next 3/4 years.