Last night in Madrid was a painful reminder of the limitations of being Project FC.
Ultimately, there is a limit to the number of hidden gems that can be unearthed and are also ready to perform at that level.
For the avoidance of doubt, that is not to advocate ruinous spending by Celtic.
One only has to look across the city to see where that ultimately leads.
I was told this morning that yesterday, the Transcendental Chairman sent out around twenty dignified missives to wealthy supporters.
The essential message was that they must stump up to fund the Clement revolution.
My information is that the Belgian is pushing the Dalai Lama of the Blue Room for a Director of Football AND a substantial budget in January.
On the first one, Mr Souness is being suggested as fulfilling that role.
Well, kind of…
I can certainly see where that could go badly.
The chap who was the manager at the original Rangers is definitely his own man.
He also has unlimited access to the London media.
Imagine a scenario where he suggests a player, but the message from atop the Marble Staircase is that it can’t be afforded.
Would Graeme remain schtum in such circumstances?
On the second one, I’m told that Philippe wants a January budget of around £15-£20m.
It is worth remembering that the comments in the presser about “nine players for thirteen million” was the moment that Mickey B went seriously off-message.
The thing is, Celtic DO have the funds to bring in, say, THREE first-team starters in January.
Sevco, at time of writing, does not.
Perhaps Mark Lawwell should ask his daddy about the cautionary tale of Marian Shved.
After all, it’s the time of year to remember the ghost of Celtic past…
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I’m not sure if anyone has a stronger perspective, but I know a guy who’s a regular contributor to a fairly high profile Celtic fan podcast and who always seems to have an informed take on what’s happening at the club.
His take is that Celtic made moves for a number of £6-£9m range players in the summer and that none of them could be persuaded. I think a big factor in this is the Saudi influence: players in that range now have more options, either by going to Saudi or by filling spaces left by others. It’s also possible, given that Celtic have had (perceived/relative) failures in that range (Ajeti, Barkas, Julian) that agents of such players are not massively keen on placing their clients at Celtic either (our squad is ludicrously bloated; agents are seeing CBs signed in the £3m range not get a game because of a guy who looked average at Aberdeen last season etc.).
Not sure if anyone has a better insight.
This certainly strikes me as more likely than Celtic going to great lengths to recruit an elite coach, pay him more than they’ve ever paid anyone, then refuse to sign players in a price range where they’ve shopped frequently in recent years.
Personally, I think we need at least two players if that calibre but absolutely no one if they’re not of that calibre.
The embarrassment of the defeat against Atletico with BR at the helm again highlights the issues Celtic have. A decent manager but one who is bereft of tactics needed in a CL match. A decent squad of players but miles off being classy enough for Euro competitions but hey, we’ve got £70m in the bank and so the shareholders will be kept happy and the Board can enjoy their bonuses.
The Board must find the way to spend wisely so that we can actually progress in Europe without ending up like the old rangers.
No matter how skint the tribute are, they will surely find the money to fund Clement’s first transfer window………………………they always do! HH
One of the biggest problems buying good footballers is getting them to agree to come to the Scottish league. How many want to play in a league with plastic pitches? Or a league that has referees who support one team? Or an FA that supports one team? Or a league where all teams know that attacking Celtic players will be ignored four out of five times? Players and agents know what the game is like here and they also know the wage structure so it is not easy but there are Kyogo’s and O’Reilly’s to be found.
100% agree with everything you’ve said there
Yeah to say we haven’t competed in Europe since O’Neill left is a ridiculous understatement.
Strachan CL last 16 – twice – beating Benfica, Copenhagen, Man Utd, AC Milan
Lennon CL last 16, EL last 32, beating Lazio, drawing with Udinese, beating Rennes, Lille, Spartak Moscow, Barcelona, Ajax in his time there
Brodge in his first spell drawing with City twice and Monchengladbach, beating Anderlecht, Rosenborg, Leipzig.
Ange – beating Betis & Ferencvaros, with a couple CL draws against big spending Shaktar as well.
Celtic CAN compete – but instead of 500k – £2m project signings, we need to be looking at £5-6m players to enhance the squad, not only surface augmentation. We need to be getting guys like we did with Lennon, Sinclair, Sutton etc who have the quality but are frozen out. Its the only way we’ll get better.
The signings this summer were…….. underwhelming………..
Yang – could be good but needs time.
Kwon – looks to be the new hat stand. Awful first touch as well.
Lagerbielke – might come good if he can kill the nerves…. (new Efe?)
Bernardo – all fart and no end product.
Nawrowcki – looked solid til those pesky shoe strings snapped
Phillips – big bottle merchant
Palma – the sniper – will shoot at anything and is believing his own hype. Best of the bunch so far though.
Holm – the boy has something.
Tillio – the next Koki Mizuno? Couple of appearances before disappearing??
We lost Jota, Starfelt, Mooy, Giakoumakis and Juranovic over the last 12 months and haven’t replaced them with like for like quality in the least. And THERE is our issue.
For years this board has short changed the fans. £70m cash in bank is no good if the zombies beat us to the league, because in all honesty, we wouldnt qualify against PSV etc. Either.
Managers constantly operating with 1 hand behind their back while the board happily sits and receives dividend after dividend. Its a disgrace, and its about time there was some substantial fan action to call it out. (Im not talking the nonsense if last days of Lennon or even anything that the GB would concoct) – but organised, legitimate, orderly fan protests!
It is the only answer, but as I’ve been saying for some years now, ‘don’t hold your breath’.
I hadn’t seen this one when I posted my other comment. I agree, but I think it seems unlikely, in the current context, that the issue is the club’s unwillingness to spend. I suspect it’s the reluctance of the players in that range to come to the club.
No doubt our European record has been abysmal for years, Seville being the exception.
However winning the Scottish league brings automatic entry to the Champions League Group stage(for the moment) and the riches that come with it, win, lose, or draw.
Those funds are sufficient to keep or build a team to remain top dog in Scotland. Any progress in European competition would be the icing on the cake.
The current CL holders who have wealth off the radar(remember that one!),have a litany of unanswered charges against them,yet can still participate in the competition whilst Celtic obey & operate within the permitted financial constraints/rules.
That fact alone is still probably just as galling,if not more so than the 6 nil defeat.
BR was the best man available. Spend this, spend that. One of the issues is that in most games we barely need 2 central defenders let alone defensive midfield players. We sign them but do not play them in the SPL. We have no need of them at that level, home or away. Ask James McCarthy. The standard of opposition allows a 4-3-3. It is not going to work at CL level away from home. Not now. Not ever. Not even with 8m players added. The last time we competed in Europe we had a world class forward and 2 very good DMs in Lennon and Lambert. And that was at the Europa League level. We needed a 4-5-1 last night but the problem is that you simply cannot change formation and expect players to perform at this level. Athletico play 5-3-2 every game. Would Celtic fans accept such a formation week in week out? Without the likes of Griezman etc.? Because that is what it will take to compete at this level. Man City play Rodri because even the lowest EPL clubs can afford 20m players. A Celtic team playing a 4-5-1 against Scottish domestic opposition playing a low block would simply not be acceptable to the majority of Celtic fans. So here we are and here we will stay
In 1981 I realised that we would never win the big cup again due to the financial gaps that were appearing in football. We play in a very small league and the only thing that matters is that we stay ahead of sevco. I don’t even think we could get six homegrown players together without some of them getting poached by bigger clubs before they could gel as a team. Beat Aberdeen on Sunday and everything that happened last night will be forgotten about and hope the same scenario happens next season. Stay ahead of sevco in the goldfish bowl. Hail Hail 🍀
This is particularly true this season. Win the league this season and we go straight into the restructured and far more lucrative CL next season, where £50m would be a likely minimum. Fail to win it and Rangers will, shredding our advantage (having more seats in the ground won’t offset that).
So, yes, the next league game is the most important game we have until it’s done.
We all know we have to look to develop players because as a club we live in a guilded cage.
Dominant in an impoverished league,we have to develop and sell players at a profit. Something the club is amazing at.
However as soon as our players have “developed” they they are gone – poached to richer leagues – and we have to start again..
We have to keep these players for at least 4 years by increasing the wage structure to mid division English Premier league standards – £50k to have any chance of winning champions league games
There is a lot of average dross in the EPL earning £50k and our players are underated by an EPL snobbishness that evaporates after half a season of our players going there
Pay them mid EPL wages £50k – we keep them that extra season longer – and we win Champion league games – the profits go up – the transfer fees increase
For me its that black and white
We have to to keep these players for longer or we will never break the cycle.
What you have described are the basic economics of club football in 21st century. At least the team you support are higher up the food chain than the one I support.
I have virtually given up watching so called club football ‘competitions’ as they are rarely competitive these days.
I have nothing but respect for supporters of 10 non old firm clubs who buy season tickets, which are only applicable for league games, knowing they have virtually no chance of winning the league- they are IMO the really dedicated supporters.
I still love football and enjoy watching it on tv especially international football which is less reliant on economics and therefore less predictable.
The biggest problem Celtic have in Europe is Brendan Rodgers. He just doesn’t know how to win European games. Look at his European record over his whole career – it’s quite underwhelming. Remember when Lenny was beating Lazio home and away?
That was Europa league different level where we ultimately belong but we will take the money rodgers was not backed in summer been crying out for a goalie and left back for ages 🙈
Bring back Lenny?
The biggest problem Celtic have in Europe is Brendan Rodgers. He just doesn’t know how to win European games. Look at his European record over his whole career – it’s quite underwhelming. Remember when Lenny was beating Lazio home and away?
Lol, he just told you the problem, and I’m sure Phil will agree, he was stating the obvious. Any problem with Brendan in Europe is about 4th in the list.
Be careful Frankie, I have been savaged on Celtic sites, for giving any praise whatsoever to the guy who was by far the most successful Celtic manager over the past 20 years.
Gordon Strachan? Champs league last 16 twice.