Tonight Celtic will compete in a competition that they really do not want to be in at this stage of the season.
However, another European stumble would be a genuine crisis at Parkhead.
The current malaise afflicting the seven in a row champions probably started last January.
Clearly, the plan was to get in an experienced centre-half to cover for the absence of Boyata and Lustig at the World Cup.
Of course, the Compper experiment has proven to be an unmitigated disaster.
As with most such catastrophes, it often results from apparent lack of a Plan B.
I was told yesterday that Fabian Schär was also available in that January window, but that Brendan wanted Marvin instead.
Therefore, that one cannot be laid at the door of Heated Driveway Acquisitions.
I also learned yesterday that Rodgers tried to save the John McGinn deal at the 11th hour.
Moreover, he did so with the full authorisation of Dermot Desmond.
However, by that time the Hibs midfielder had been told by Steve Bruce that he would be the main man in the Villa engine room.
In all honesty, it wasn’t a promise that Rodgers could match.
Part of this overall recruitment clusterfuck is that Celtic have been blindsided by the price inflation in the English leagues.
A less charitable soul could point out that exorbitant prices for players in England really should not come as a surprise to anyone.
Yesterday a well-placed source told me that Celtic’s smartest guy in the room was irked at my editorialising apropos his appalling negotiating performance during this transfer window.
However, I’m sure that isn’t the case.
What is undeniable is that the Parkhead club is scrambling to get deals done that should have been completed during the pre-season phase.
Eleventh-hour brinkmanship is all very well as long as the player is signed.
I understand that Celtic did recently ask about two defenders in the Championship and they were quoted prices in the £7-9m for each of them.
Celtic also asked about Liam Moore at Reading.
Unfortunately, it was a case of talking would start at £12.5m!
England is clearly a football market that should be sold to and not bought from if at all possible.
Across the Clyde everything available has been thrown at this league campaign.
In sport, momentum is everything and the McGinn debacle and the defeat to Hearts has given the six-year-old club hope that they can stop eight in a row.
It would be redolent of Heated Driveway Complacency to write off their chances.
The people who do the sums at Sevco know that Europa League group stages revenue is essential to keep the losses down to below the level of catastrophic.
However, Mr Gerrard has let them know that he doesn’t think that they have the depth of squad to cope with such a schedule.
For the first time since he walked through the door at Celtic Park Brendan Rodgers is now under pressure to deliver.
The match tonight against FK Suduva now has an importance that it really shouldn’t have.
I said on another notice board a few weeks ago that our lack of plan B could only be seen as breath-taking arrogance. I don’t care who is to blame, get it sorted. Great article as usual Phil .
Celtic have let complacency set in over the past 7 years.
Rangers imploding and us dominating the Domestic scene whilst hoovering up 10’s of millions in the Champions League has led to an air of arrogance at Board Level with statements like “World Class in everything we do” emanating from the rectum of Peter Lawwell?
Selling our best players routinely for further profit whilst brining in potential as replacement and hoping for the best has culminated in some of the most embarrassing results in our proud history at Europe’s top table as a result.
What we are left with now is a side on the slide and in dire need of immediate repair not only to rescue some sort of semblance of a European Campaign but more importantly to put a firm boot back on the neck of any pretenders to our domestic throne.
We at the moment are a shambles in defence highlighted so spectacularly tonight with yet more Sunday League sorry Pub League Level defending.
Boyata should be punted asap and the money we get should be spent on adequate replacements and if needs be with a £9m Championship Level Defender who no doubt will burst his arse to play for a Club like Celtic.
The buck stops with the Board who over the past 15 years or so have more or less run Celtic with a primary objective to reduce Debt Levels to zero.
Which is all well and good if your only objective is increasing the value of your shares and reaping the rewards of an annual Bonus that would blow the minds of most ordinary working folk.
The money spent tarting up the external area of the Ground,the lights ,the Hotel plans these are not getting done to provide fans with a spectacle on the Park these are improvements (at the Clubs expense) in order to improve their chance of a bigger pay day when it comes to cashing in their chips at the end.
Save the “We are Supporters too” nonsense for the hard of thinking “Supporters” don’t lift just short of a £1m out of their Club on an Annual basis whilst they watch the Club they love struggle to cope in the Big League fur fox hake.
A real Supporter makes a loss every year following their Club.
That by the way Peter is far from “World Class”.
Get a grip Dermot and back the man you brought in and for the love of god get rid of the planks of wood we have “coaching” our defenders.
Time for a clear out?
Congerton first…
I know there’s Visa and work permit issues. Not to mention cultural issues. But if you want defenders, look at the Iranians at World Cup.
THATS REAL DEFENDING. AND GUESS WHAT, IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL THATS PERFECT.
let us be in no doubt, sevco are poor. BUT they getting the basics right. Yes, AEK Athens would have done sevco over, but with quality attacks and just outclassing them. But sevco would not have made the schoolboy errors we did.
Gerrard is an unknown thus far. But he and his management team this far, have done the basics. Do I think we will beat them yes.
Maribor should have beat sevco. It was guilt edged chance after chance. We will make Jose chances and take them. BUT. we don’t defend the basics. Sevco do the basics, that gives them a chance. They know we have A terrible Achilles heel. They know they put ball in mixer off free kicks n corners or just plain long balls send up Goldson and Katic, stick Morelos in to cause havoc (although maybe not score!) then they will ask questions.
They have a wee chance on 2nd September, we aren’t playing well. What has become of us?
What is going on. I really don’t know. We are awful. Something is not right.
I’m inclined to lay most of blame at board.
But, end of day, Brendan has never built a defence. He’s never been into building a defence. We have a weak defence.
A basic well drilled team, could ruthlessly exploit us, we saw it at hearts. I think if I’m honest, we will likely lose at least 1 match against sevco this season. Winning the league is no gimme now, yes it likely but no gimme.
We are woefully predictable going forward.
Everyone knows our defence is poor. Why did we not recruit in January, to be ready. Who passed Compper? What the hell is going on with him.
Can we not raid English league 1? I know it ain’t ideal, but there’s The 38 yr old Northern Ireland international released by West Brom. Surely he would do some kind of job. Give him a year for god sake.
Any one just someone who heads the ball out. Picks up runners. The goals v AEK. tonight v Sūduva, were goals that teams in lower end of our championship division would concede.
I love you Celtic, I always will.
But WTF Is going on at the club?
I find it hard to swallow the story that Steve Bruce “promised” first team football but Brendan could not do so. If he was truly trying to “rescue” a deal at the 11th hour, why would he not “promise” this. You don’t sign someone for htis amount and tell them “Sorry son, I don’t think you’re good enough”. It makes no sense.
If BR truly wanted John McGinn he ccan tell him “Son, I can see you in the first team within weeks of signing”. Then you bring him on as a last minute sub against a bottom of the table team, and you have fulfilled your promise.
How can Steve Bruce or Brendan Rodgers judge in advance, with any accuracy, where John McGinn will be in the pecking order for selection? It is up to John McGinn to be good enough to get a jersey. Once you have his name on the contract, he can hardly sue you for breach of promise.
This story makes no sense at all. It makes more sense to say that John McGinn wanted to play for Villa (bigger bucks and less of a challenge to succeed).
Lawwells squad are on the pitch and running on fumes . BR signings are more or less nowhere to be seen. 16 signings and only a couple on the pitch. The truth of the matter is 16 signings have been made and the bulk of them are not contributing. Scott Sinclair on around 35k a week is kept on the bench by a boy from youth setup.
And rightly so wee Johnston is showing him how he used to play in his first Season.
Wait till the Aussie and Morgan get going too.
Exactly the boot up the Erchie he’s needing as he should have been dropped months ago had we anyone in reserves ready to take his spot?
Not so now the pressure is defo on Sinclair.
Totally agree.The amount of poor signings from Brendan is beyond belief.Still basically Ronnie’s team.The money and wages squandered is unsustainable without Champions League qualifications.There may be trouble ahead.
I couldn’t agree more Phil. Also the prospect of the ibrox side scoring a goal either side of half time against a weak defence at Celtic Park has now suddenly become a very real coffee to wake up to the smell of
I am really surprised that Celtic have fallen short in the transfer department given that Brendan treble treble is in there, so disappointing for the fans to see. The centre back situation is bizarre. Plenty centres out there, Chelsea’s Thomas Kalas has just joined Bristol City on loan for the season. surely……..(you know the rest)
Folk starting to doubt the so called brilliance of Brendan Rodgers.He certainly cannot pick a defender.
Its hard to believe the club are trying their best to back Brendan .
There has been a recruiting malfuction this summer . KT is the only reliable defender at the club . One defender !!
Armstrong yet to be replaced and shockeroony , some project begged from Peps reject bin .
Scunnered 🙁
Keep at em, Phil
Phil, you have touched on what irks me most about Celtic’s transfer dealings for many years now. Never appears to be a Plan B! What’s the old military saying; fail to prepare then prepare to fail. And it appears that everyone at the club took off during the World Cup and pre-season when the preparation should have been happening at break-neck pace as they knew well the deficiencies they had.
Now you are reporting that they have been blindsided by the prices being asked for down south! For love of God, that has caught them by surprise!!!!!! And why is their Plan A to only try and sign players from England when there is a Continent of good players available? Could it be because their Scouting department only knows English players or are they gun-shy now because of the Commper debacle?
Damn, I thought things were going bad at the club before I started reading this, but now I am really concerned that they have gotten fat and lazy and that things are a lot worse than I had thought possible. The gap between us and the other teams in Scotland is not large that some key injuries and plenty of “honest mistakes” from refs can’t eliminate. As you point out, Rangers* appear to be spending like a drunken sailor to stop us and much as it pains me, they have at least shown some urgency (and a strategy) with their off-season.
The English market is nuts, that’s why when we hear our own support saying pay the money for McGinn, we got x amount for Armstrong etc the comment is nonsense.
Spot on about the English market being a selling place, for the obvious price tag reason but also because your £10m doesn’t get much in the way of quality. If we had to replace one of our ageing stars Broonie with equivalent from the English league, ie an established leader prices could start at £15m easy.
Better quality, cheaper price tags in better leagues in Europe.
The 3.5 million for Goldson shows it can be done, but for those who think Lee Congerton is doing a good job they must be realizing how wrong they were. Brendan is a great coach but his transfers since arriving at Celtic are very underwhelming. The need for a competent head of recruitment is essential!
Another interesting post, Phil!
I am inclined to think that tonight’s match against Sudova should not even be taking place. On last night’s performance Vidi v AEK we should be home and dry and relishing finishing the Champions League job next week.
DidsburyCelt
This transfer window has been an unmitigated disaster and we should be scouting abroad and not over the border or other spfl clubs for anyone who looks like they might just do. The fans deserve a better service with the money they pour into the club’s coffers and feel aggrieved to be in the EL instead of the CL. Tonight’s game has to show supporters that this team are still capable of doing something in Europe and that they are prepared to bury the tribute act on the 2nd. It’s over to you Brendan. COYBIG….HH