Celtic FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15 Mod Warning post #6011

Antifa161 · 13-12-2013 06:21PM

Strachan's Celtic side was worse than what Lennon's had, it played in a league with (and lost to) a Rangers team, yet did better in Europe. That's because he had a system which we stuck with. That system was not very attractive and I think ultimately it got him the boot, but it worked.

RoryMac · 13-12-2013 06:29PM

Lennonist wrote: »

If there is no movement we will end up going backways. I don't think we have a choice in the matter, we have to gear upwards to some extent. One or two 6 million pound signings and wages of 30k can be done with an element of risk attached and would make all the difference if they get it right. If we gamble and lose trying to gear upwards then it's better than losing not even trying to make the necessary changes to the financial model, which is what will happen. We have no choice in the matter but to modify the financial model.

Everything changes at sometime, that time is now for Celtic if they are serious about maintaining a presence in the CL Group Stages and getting some better results than this season while they are at it. Being overly conservative is not the answer, there has to be some risk involved and they are long enough around the game at CL level now to get it right. They are also well pad enough to get it right, the guys running the financial side of things I mean. Time for them to up their game.

I think there will be movement or at least attempts to attract players that will move us forward, I just don't think it will or should happen at the rate you would like.

Our financial model is geared towards a steady increase in the quality of the players with the money made by selling being re-invested in so that overall quality of the team improves.

Now obviously we failed to do that in the summer but not because the money wasn't spent as again we spent quite a bit by our standards but more imo because we lost 3 first time players in the one window which we hadn't expected(Wilson anyway) and we failed to attract our top target to replace Hooper. I don't think we missed that target because of penny-pinching but more likely the player just wasn't interested in signing. On of our targets(I forget his name but he plays in Germany) scoffed at the idea of playing in Scotland, what would you have us do, throw an extra 10k a week at him?

And you still haven't addressed how we handle all of our current players wanting a pay rise when these new guys come in, instead of an extra 30k or 60k a week being paid to the new players we could be looking at another 40k - 60k on top of that to keep the current players happy.

We simply don't have that kind of money at present

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 07:53PM

RoryMac wrote: »

I think there will be movement or at least attempts to attract players that will move us forward, I just don't think it will or should happen at the rate you would like.

Our financial model is geared towards a steady increase in the quality of the players with the money made by selling being re-invested in so that overall quality of the team improves.

That steady increase in quality needs to move steadily to the next step.

RoryMac wrote: »

Now obviously we failed to do that in the summer but not because the money wasn't spent as again we spent quite a bit by our standards but more imo because we lost 3 first time players in the one window which we hadn't expected(Wilson anyway) and we failed to attract our top target to replace Hooper. I don't think we missed that target because of penny-pinching but more likely the player just wasn't interested in signing. On of our targets(I forget his name but he plays in Germany) scoffed at the idea of playing in Scotland, what would you have us do, throw an extra 10k a week at him?

There will be players interested in coming to Celtic particularly if we are in the CL and perform well in it. Some European players will look at us as a place to go for a couple of years, make a name for themselves and move to the bigger leagues like Hooper and Wanyama have done.

RoryMac wrote: »

And you still haven't addressed how we handle all of our current players wanting a pay rise when these new guys come in, instead of an extra 30k or 60k a week being paid to the new players we could be looking at another 40k - 60k on top of that to keep the current players happy.

We simply don't have that kind of money at present

Sign two players for 12 million, one for 5 the other for 7 or 6 each whatever, give them 30 k a week. Give our current players - the ones who are worth rises to stay if needs be. For example Lustig would be worth a rise, Izzy wouldn't, he can leave if he doesn't like it. There are players at the club presently that are on different wages. Brown is on more than most. If we keep qualifying for the CL and win games at that level it would pay for these modifications.

In the worst case scenario, if some calamity befell us and we failed to qualify; we have a 30 million overdraft facility. Tap into it to cover the losses in the short term. Sell the players we signed on big wages and offload the others on big wages and go back to concentrating on winning the SPL and other domestic honours. Play EL football and await the cavalry in the shape of the new Rangers to arrive.

None of that will be necessary if we maintain a CL presence and perform well at that level. Take a calculated risk in the knowledge that the sky will not fall in if we are very unlucky and it all goes pear shaped.

RoryMac · 13-12-2013 08:20PM

Lennonist wrote: »

That steady increase in quality needs to move steadily to the next step.

There will be players interested in coming to Celtic particularly if we are in the CL and perform well in it. Some European players will look at us as a place to go for a couple of years, make a name for themselves and move to the bigger leagues like Hooper and Wanyama have done.

Sign two players for 12 million, one for 5 the other for 7 or 6 each whatever, give them 30 k a week. Give our current players - the ones who are worth rises to stay if needs be. For example Lustig would be worth a rise, Izzy wouldn't, he can leave if he doesn't like it. There are players at the club presently that are on different wages. Brown is on more than most. If we keep qualifying for the CL and win games at that level it would pay for these modifications.

In the worst case scenario, if some calamity befell us and we failed to qualify; we have a 30 million overdraft facility. Tap into it to cover the losses in the short term. Sell the players we signed on big wages and offload the others on big wages and go back to pumping the cannon fodder in the SPL and await the cavalry in the shape of Sevco to arrive.

None of that will be necessary if we maintain a CL presence and perform well at that level. Take a calculated risk in the knowledge that the sky will not fall in if we are very unlucky and it all goes pear shaped.

On my phone so can't answer that fully but to summarise that is nuts!

Thankfully there's no way the club is going down that route

rosskind · 13-12-2013 08:28PM

I actually can't believe there is anyone who thinks Rangers' situation is doing anything but hurt us. Don't you miss the days when you'd be mad to make a perfect start to the season just to go into the first Old Firm game ahead of them? When two dropped points before Christmas was an absolute disaster cause it meant we'd be going into the new year's day's game behind? And fighting for every point before the two crucial games towards the end of the season.

Now we can turn up on a Saturday, not show up for the first half, turn up the pressure in the second and try to force an equilisier or winner. If it comes, great. If not, it's no big deal, we'll still walk the league anyway. That doesn't test the players or challenge them to develop and the lack of a real test shows in how the same players have underperformed this year in Europe in comparison to last year. Then take the fact that it's not a great incentive to potential targets. We need a full strength Rangers back and I'm sorry but I just can't argue with anyone who thinks otherwise.

As for the striker; yeah, Long would be brilliant. Would a 26 year old coming towards the peak of his powers want to move to the SPL? To play for six competitive games between Sept-Dec (maybe a few more in the new year) and just have a holiday for the rest of the time? I doubt it, but maybe. He's holding out from West Brom though so I'd imagine we'll have to break our wage ceiling considerably. 45k a week (and that's if he's feeling generous) is over 2.5m a year for him alone. As others have pointed out, that becomes another 10k for Sammy, Ledley and others when contracts need renewing. We have a core of a good ten players; that becomes 100k more a week, that's over 5m a year. Now I'm not saying it will be that drastic, but we need to take baby steps.

Also I don't believe the idea that we're at a crossroads. We've qualified for the group stages of the CL for the second time in a row under this model, having gone five years without. The model is working. Of course we'd all like it to work faster, but the 'walk before you can run' proverb comes to mind. One mistake could send us back years.

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 08:33PM

RoryMac wrote: »

On my phone so can't answer that fully but to summarise that is nuts!

Thankfully there's no way the club is going down that route

It's not nuts, if that's all ya have to say then maybe you shouldn't bother.

I'll tell ya what's nuts. If the club continues threading water and fails to recognise the changing circumstances the club is in; vis a vis being able to access CL funds and ends up failing to qualify for the CL due to being overly conservative - that's nuts.

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 08:43PM

rosskind wrote: »

I actually can't believe there is anyone who thinks Rangers' situation is doing anything but hurt us. Don't you miss the days when you'd be mad to make a perfect start to the season just to go into the first Old Firm game ahead of them? When two dropped points before Christmas was an absolute disaster cause it meant we'd be going into the new year's day's game behind? And fighting for every point before the two crucial games towards the end of the season.

Now we can turn up on a Saturday, not show up for the first half, turn up the pressure in the second and try to force an equilisier or winner. If it comes, great. If not, it's no big deal, we'll still walk the league anyway. That doesn't challenge the players to develop and the lack of a real test shows through in how the same players have unperformed this year in Europe in comparison to last year. Then take the fact that it's not a great incentive to potential targets. We need a full strength Rangers back and I'm sorry but I just can't argue with anyone who thinks otherwise.

As for the striker; yeah, Long would be brilliant. Would a 26 year old coming towards the peak of his powers want to move to the SPL? To play for six competitive games between Sept-Dec (maybe a few more in the new year) and just have a holiday for the rest of the time? I doubt it, but maybe. He's holding out from West Brom though. I'd imagine we'll have to break our wage ceiling considerably. 45k a week (and that's if he's feeling generous) is over 2.5m a year for him alone. As others have pointed out, that becomes another 10k for Sammy, Ledley and others when contracts need renewing. We have a core of a good ten players; that becomes 100k more a week, that's over 5m a year. Now I'm not saying it will be that drastic, but we need to take baby steps.

Also I don't believe the idea that we're at a crossroads. We've qualified for the group stages of the CL for the second time in a row under this model, having gone five years without. The model is working. Of course we'd all like it to work faster, but the 'walk before you can run' proverb comes to mind. One mistake could send us back years.

Not doing enough to ensure the team is good enough to prevent that "one mistake" from happening - like losing a qualifier; is what I want the club to guard against. Just because Rangers went out of business, throwing money around doesn't mean Celtic should be afraid to take calculated risks when needed, especially if we are safe in the knowledge that we wont go down the tubes if it doesn't quite work out. We're not talking about spending multiples of millions here. Calculated risk taking with safety nets attached if it doesn't work is what i want them to do.

rosskind · 13-12-2013 08:46PM

Lennonist wrote: »

There will be players interested in coming to Celtic particularly if we are in the CL and perform well in it. Some European players will look at us as a place to go for a couple of years, make a name for themselves and move to the bigger leagues like Hooper and Wanyama have done.

I can't agree with that. It's not as if clubs just tell their scouts to watch European games for good new talent. Football is worldwide now. Any lower-table major league team is better than us in terms of exposure. And second division in a big country means the big league is just a year away. If you're good enough, you'll get seen.

Lennonist wrote: »

Sign two players for 12 million, one for 5 the other for 7 or 6 each whatever, give them 30 k a week. Give our current players - the ones who are worth rises to stay if needs be. For example Lustig would be worth a rise, Izzy wouldn't, he can leave if he doesn't like it. There are players at the club presently that are on different wages. Brown is on more than most. If we keep qualifying for the CL and win games at that level it would pay for these modifications.

I think a £6m player would bring wages of more than 30k. That brings about the point above of increases for everyone. It's snowballs, and it's a lot of money.

Lennonist wrote: »

In the worst case scenario, if some calamity befell us and we failed to qualify; we have a 30 million overdraft facility. Tap into it to cover the losses in the short term. Sell the players we signed on big wages and offload the others on big wages and go back to concentrating on winning the SPL and other domestic honours. Play EL football and await the cavalry in the shape of the new Rangers to arrive.

None of that will be necessary if we maintain a CL presence and perform well at that level. Take a calculated risk in the knowledge that the sky will not fall in if we are very unlucky and it all goes pear shaped.

I think Rangers are a pretty good example of what happens when you spend money you haven't got or earned yet.

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 08:55PM

rosskind wrote: »

I can't agree with that. It's not as if clubs just tell their scouts to watch European games for good new talent. Football is worldwide now. Any lower-table major league team is better than us in terms of exposure. And second division in a big country means the big league is just a year away. If you're good enough, you'll get seen.

I think a £6m player would bring wages of more than 30k. That brings about the point above of increases for everyone. It's snowballs, and it's a lot of money.

I think Rangers are a pretty good example of what happens when you spend money you haven't got or earned yet.

You're ignoring the other side of the argument. If the club threads water, fails to bring in a bit of quality and ends up failing to qualify- which could easily happen, nearly went out to Karagandy this season; then they will lose out on the CL funds, the revenue from TV exposure, full houses at Parkhead, supporters maintaining interest in SPL games due to the feelgood factor of CL runs etc. etc.

It's a balancing act. They have to show financial acumen and have a set of balls to make the right decision. A set of nuts maybe as Rory might put it:pac:. They've got big decisions ahead alright, crossroads time in my view.

rosskind · 13-12-2013 09:08PM

Our budget and stature is miles ahead of Karagandy and Elfsborg and yet we didn't beat them too convincingly. Failure to qualifying can happen to anyone, as anything can happen in football on any given day. If we lose to such a team, it will be because we had a bad game not because they're better than us. A few better players will decrease the probability of that happening slightly, but the team will still be subject to the possibility of underperforming.

I think we're all in agreement that we should be looking to spend money. I'm sure the board are looking to spend money. All players are a risk. Identifying such a player worth the risk takes time and effort. We almost had one in Finnbogason. We got one in VvD, and Wanyama and Hooper before him. Our squad is full of examples of it. I can only hope we carrying on doing so. I'd love if we got a few more but finding ones that are willing to come is difficult.

RoryMac · 13-12-2013 09:22PM

Lennonist wrote: »

That steady increase in quality needs to move steadily to the next step.

There will be players interested in coming to Celtic particularly if we are in the CL and perform well in it. Some European players will look at us as a place to go for a couple of years, make a name for themselves and move to the bigger leagues like Hooper and Wanyama have done.

Sorry I just don't buy that, we're not an attractive proposition for most decent players. Players of the standard we require can easily go to one of the bigger leagues and play against decent opposition most weeks whereas we have 6 games a year to attract them?!

If either Wanyama or Hooper had gone to a big club in the EPL or another league we might have had an easier job as we could offer them a stepping stone. There are similar sized clubs around Europe that can offer players a far more likely route to the big clubs than we can at present, Ajax, Benfia, Porto etc

Lennonist wrote: »

Sign two players for 12 million, one for 5 the other for 7 or 6 each whatever, give them 30 k a week. Give our current players - the ones who are worth rises to stay if needs be. For example Lustig would be worth a rise, Izzy wouldn't, he can leave if he doesn't like it. There are players at the club presently that are on different wages. Brown is on more than most. If we keep qualifying for the CL and win games at that level it would pay for these modifications.

So on top of the outlay of £12m and the extra 60k a week you'd offer new deal to some(how many?) but guys like Izzy can go presumably to be replaced by another £5m signing?

Lennonist wrote: »

In the worst case scenario, if some calamity befell us and we failed to qualify; we have a 30 million overdraft facility. Tap into it to cover the losses in the short term. Sell the players we signed on big wages and offload the others on big wages and go back to concentrating on winning the SPL and other domestic honours. Play EL football and await the cavalry in the shape of the new Rangers to arrive.

None of that will be necessary if we maintain a CL presence and perform well at that level. Take a calculated risk in the knowledge that the sky will not fall in if we are very unlucky and it all goes pear shaped.

The worst case scenario is extremely likely imo, one bad draw or even bad performance in the 3 qualifying rounds could see us out. We then have to try to sell players to break even but who will buy them then?

I can't see there being a clamour to buy the players that let us down in the qualifiers.

It's exactly those kind of ideas that got Rangers, Leeds etc in the trouble they are still trying to get out of. The only way to run a football club is to live within your means, spend what you have but no more. We just don't have that kind of money and it would be nuts to risk our current success on the role of a dice.

Lennonist wrote: »

It's not nuts, if that's all ya have to say then maybe you shouldn't bother.

I'll tell ya what's nuts. If the club continues threading water and fails to recognise the changing circumstances the club is in; vis a vis being able to access CL funds and ends up failing to qualify for the CL due to being overly conservative - that's nuts.

I have to disagree, we have come a long way in the last 3 years and despite a poor transfer window just gone I think we will continue to improve over the next few years. You might see consecutive qualification as threading water but I don't.

I firmly believe throwing money at the team in the hope of becoming a regular in the last 16 is nuts.

Dempsey · 13-12-2013 09:32PM

Antifa161 wrote: »

You forgot to call them neds this time!

The GB can pay the bill for the banner displayed during the Milan match

The neds can pay for the damage done at Fir Park

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 09:33PM

RoryMac wrote: »

Sorry I just don't buy that, we're not an attractive proposition for most decent players. Players of the standard we require can easily go to one of the bigger leagues and play against decent opposition most weeks whereas we have 6 games a year to attract them?!

If either Wanyama or Hooper had gone to a big club in the EPL or another league we might have had an easier job as we could offer them a stepping stone. There are similar sized clubs around Europe that can offer players a far more likely route to the big clubs than we can at present, Ajax, Benfia, Porto etc

So on top of the outlay of £12m and the extra 60k a week you'd offer new deal to some(how many?) but guys like Izzy can go presumably to be replaced by another £5m signing?

The worst case scenario is extremely likely imo, one bad draw or even bad performance in the 3 qualifying rounds could see us out. We then have to try to sell players to break even but who will buy them then?

I can't see there being a clamour to buy the players that let us down in the qualifiers.

It's exactly those kind of ideas that got Rangers, Leeds etc in the trouble they are still trying to get out of. The only way to run a football club is to live within your means, spend what you have but no more. We just don't have that kind of money and it would be nuts to risk our current success on the role of a dice.

I have to disagree, we have come a long way in the last 3 years and despite a poor transfer window just gone I think we will continue to improve over the next few years. You might see consecutive qualification as threading water but I don't.

I firmly believe throwing money at the team in the hope of becoming a regular in the last 16 is nuts.

Everything you are saying is valid to where the club was 3 years ago, not now. The club have to adapt to where the club is now to maintain CL status, getting to the last 16 - like we did last season - would be a bonus.

I'm not advocating going down the Rangers/Leeds route, if you can't see that then there's not much point continuing the conversation. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm hopeful the club will take a more proactive approach this season than continuing with what would be an unnecessarily ultra conservative approach if they carry on like before now.

RoryMac · 13-12-2013 09:40PM

Lennonist wrote: »

Everything you are saying is valid to where the club was 3 years ago, not now. The club have to adapt to where the club is now to maintain CL status, getting to the last 16 - like we did last season - would be a bonus.

I don't think we need to change what we are doing, we had a poor transfer window even though we upped our spending.

We just need to do more to ensure the summer window was a once off thing.

Dempsey · 13-12-2013 09:44PM

Lennonist wrote: »

Everything you are saying is valid to where the club was 3 years ago, not now. The club have to adapt to where the club is now to maintain CL status, getting to the last 16 - like we did last season - would be a bonus.

I'm not advocating going down the Rangers/Leeds route, if you can't see that then there's not much point continuing the conversation. We'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm hopeful the club will take a more proactive approach this season than continuing with what would be an unnecessarily ultra conservative approach if they carry on like before now.

Ultra conservative? You forget that the club sold McGeady to pay for the outlay on players that Lennon wanted. Celtic fans hadnt heard or seen most of them play football. There was huge changes made at the club when Lennon took the job. Thats not an ultra conservative approach by any stretch of the imagination.

We need to learn from the mistakes made in the previous window, not overhaul the squad or change the philosophy. Patience and Perseverance in a long term strategy is considered risky in a era that demands short term results.

Hagar the Nice. · 13-12-2013 09:45PM

Haroki Yamada is at CP tonight.

Hagar the Nice. · 13-12-2013 09:47PM

Dempsey wrote: »

Ultra conservative? You forget that the club sold McGeady to pay for the outlay on players that Lennon wanted. Celtic fans hadnt heard or seen most of them play football. There was huge changes made at the club when Lennon took the job. Thats not an ultra conservative approach by any stretch of the imagination.

We need to learn from the mistakes made in the previous window, not overhaul the squad or change the philosophy. Patience and Perseverance in a long term strategy is considered risky in a era that demands short term results.

True but there are some 1st team regs who should never get the chance to insult the jersey again.

Dempsey · 13-12-2013 09:51PM

Hagar the Nice. wrote: »

True but there are some 1st team regs who should never get the chance to insult the jersey again.

No doubt a few players need to come and go, same can be said every season at every club but I think the spine of the squad is quite good

Hagar the Nice. · 13-12-2013 10:11PM

Dempsey wrote: »

No doubt a few players need to come and go, same can be said every season at every club but I think the spine of the squad is quite good

It is,but I hope John Park can come up with a few good targets in January,there a good few players in the Ukraine and Romania.

PauloMN · 13-12-2013 10:35PM

Lennonist wrote: »

You're right people are sick of you saying that because it's incorrect. It makes no difference to Celtic and what they need to do to maintain a presence at CL level whether Rangers are around or not. When they are in the top tier in a few years it may make things a bit more competitive at domestic level, it will not alter things at CL level - different ball game.

I'm amazed that anyone would think that the absence of the only challenge we've had the league for years would not make any difference to Celtic. There's no point in stating the obvious ("what they need to do to maintain a presence at CL level whether Rangers are around or not") - of course they have to do that.

My point is that an already tough task (maintaining a presence in the CL) has become tougher when players do not have a challenge in the domestic league. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either completely deluded, or is in self-denial.

As for throwing £12m+ (and associated wages) into new signings, I don't know how any Celtic fan who has seen what's happened across the city could even contemplate that right now. We have got through a very tough period in good financial shape thanks to prudent spending. Sure we'd like results in Europe to be better, but it's a fine line between survival and getting into huge debt again.

eire4 · 13-12-2013 11:25PM

Dempsey wrote: »

No doubt a few players need to come and go, same can be said every season at every club but I think the spine of the squad is quite good

I would agree. I don't see any need for big changes. We have a pretty good team if we can keep the core players on board and add in a few players in key spots of need most especially a pure goalscorer being needed.

Lennonist · 13-12-2013 11:56PM

PauloMN wrote: »

I'm amazed that anyone would think that the absence of the only challenge we've had the league for years would not make any difference to Celtic. There's no point in stating the obvious ("what they need to do to maintain a presence at CL level whether Rangers are around or not") - of course they have to do that.

My point is that an already tough task (maintaining a presence in the CL) has become tougher when players do not have a challenge in the domestic league. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either completely deluded, or is in self-denial.again.

.

You're cherry picking what I'm saying to suit your own narrative. If you want to give your opinion give your opinion without misrepresenting what I'm saying. I disagree with what you're saying in relation to Rangers not being around having a negative impact on Celtic's CL performances. It impacts on domestic competition, not Celtic's Euro exploits, that's my view of it. There is nothing Celtic can do about the way Rangers have conducted their business, there's no point in going on and on about it. They will be in the top tier the season after next anyway.

PauloMN wrote: »

As for throwing £12m+ (and associated wages) into new signings, I don't know how any Celtic fan who has seen what's happened across the city could even contemplate that right now. We have got through a very tough period in good financial shape thanks to prudent spending. Sure we'd like results in Europe to be better, but it's a fine line between survival and getting into huge debt again.

.

Again misrepresenting what I'm saying, I'm not talking about throwing money around the place, I'm talking about increasing spending on signings and wages in line with increased revenue from CL participation and further increased funding from those revenue streams that will take investment to maintain. 12 million on two players may be unrealistic, but I believe we should be prepared to up our top price we are willing to pay for the right player if needed. We should be willing to pay 5 or 6 million for a player if we have to, given that we are accessing CL funding for two seasons now and want to continue to play in the CL.

Dempsey · 14-12-2013 12:17AM

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11781/9071680/celtic-boss-neil-lennon-defends-transfer-policy-amid-growing-criticism

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has defended the club's transfer policy amid growing criticism following the Champions League defeat in Barcelona.

"We are in a difficult position because of where we play our football domestically.

"Then you've three qualifiers. Then you've no guarantee that you'll get to the Champions League. Eventually when you do you've got a two-week window to try and attract players to come and play and that's a difficult thing to do.

"Now even if we had spent £7m on a striker, would that have guaranteed us getting into the last 16? It may have made us a little bit better but maybe weaker in other areas of the pitch.

"Shakhtar Donetsk have spent £160m, didn't qualify. Juventus didn't. Napoli, who were very unfortunate not to, they haven't. And nor have Benfica.

"I think we overachieved last year. We finished fourth in a group where we were seeded fourth this year. And it is what it is.

"Now we will always look to invest in the team when we can. And we'll look to do that in January. But it can't always be the perfect scenario that we all want."

Lennon has his say about the transfer policy. Hard to argue with anything he's said really

Lennonist · 14-12-2013 12:32AM

Dempsey wrote: »

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11781/9071680/celtic-boss-neil-lennon-defends-transfer-policy-amid-growing-criticism

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has defended the club's transfer policy amid growing criticism following the Champions League defeat in Barcelona.

Lennon has his say about the transfer policy. Hard to argue with anything he's said really

I saw that earlier, I imagine he 's dampening down expectation with fans as to what Celtic will spend in January. Best way to make signings is to identify the target and get a deal done quickly, with little talk and discussion about it prior to the signings made.

Dempsey · 14-12-2013 12:34AM

All easier said than done these days.

RoryMac · 14-12-2013 12:44AM

Both Strachan & Lennon have spoken about how hard it is to attract players to the SPL, Strachan spoke before about an agent telling him the only way a player would go to Scotland was if he was kidnapped!

I don't think they are playing a game here to get signings in under the radar, I believe it is very difficult to get any decent players to sign even if money wasn't a problem.

Hagar the Nice. · 14-12-2013 12:55AM

Today's back page of the Daily Wreckord is still yapping about CP and about shutting the ground,what a load of utter shoite.:(

rosskind · 14-12-2013 04:42AM

I don't think getting a deal done quickly is much good if the player hasn't been scouted properly. Infact, I'd say that's more of a failure than not getting any players at all, you're just throwing away money. Also, people are forgetting we spent over 10m this summer. I think that's a decent sum for a club our size and a definite increase from previous years. That's a (big) calculated risk there.

The nature of our 'buy young and cheap, improve, sell high' is that player turnover is going to be more than other top teams competing for titles. This means players may take time to settle. Lustig and Wilson had as bad, if not worse, starts to their Celtic careers than Pukki, Balde and Boerrigter. I don't think it's fair to judge these players yet.

As for Rangers' absence; it's not just four games, it's that every game mattered back then. Every single one. How many times has the league been decided by a point or two (or even goal difference) in the last few years? Anyone who thinks we'll do anything but walk this league is deluded. So too is anyone who thinks these players can play the next six or seven months without a competitive game and then turn up for European duty as better players.

Lennonist · 14-12-2013 10:35AM

Some pathetic crawthumping going on around here. Yes we are all Celtic fans lads, that doesn't mean those who run the club are beyond criticism or that they should be prepared to consider adapting to changing circumstances and apply some flexibility.

As for this hankering for Rangers, they'll be back the season after next, do you think we can survive until then? It's pathetic. We've done well in their absence, had first bite of the cherry when it came to Europe every time. I always enjoyed the Euro nights, even the ones this season when we often struggled much more than any "Old Firm Derby" as it used to be called. I want Celtic positioning themselves to be a regular competitive club at CL Group Stage level with getting beyond that being a bonus or getting into the EL latter stages. I don't think that's unrealisitic. It might happen slower than I would like, but I'm still hopeful they will realise they need to open the purse strings a bit over the next two transfer windows to get that bit of quality that is needed to ensure CL qualification and to do better when we get there.

Pompey Magnus · 14-12-2013 10:59AM

Lennonist wrote: »

I'm still hopeful they will realise they need to open the purse strings a bit over the next two transfer windows to get that bit of quality that is needed to ensure CL qualification and to do better when we get there.

If there is any major activity in the January transfer window it will be players leaving, the board aren't going to make a major signing in January and pay a decent player half a season's wages for a league as good as won and with no European football.

If they have plans to bring in a bit of quality the best we can hope for is for it to be done before next season's Champion's League qualification rounds, and knowing the board they will probably wait until after qualification has been decided.

Celtic FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15 Mod Warning post #6011

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