There were a lot of Celtic fans, including myself who were expecting Celtic to sign at least one more player before the deadline but it failed to materialise.
Should we really have been surprised given the club’s attitude towards many deadline days in the past. Selling Johansen and trying to flog Simunovic while banking a massive Champions League pot put expectations at an all time high for a signing that would capture the imagination, much like Rodgers appointment back in May. Sadly, and I’m told not through lack of trying, Celtic didn’t manage to get anyone in.
Now, there’s two ways you can look at it. You can go the ‘Lawwell is banking all the money for his bonus’ rant or you could look at the manager and think Celtic’s lack of investment on the final day was down to not being able to get who he WANTED. I’m sure there were many agents of players knocking at Celtic’s door throughout the last few days, some who may even have a bit of notoriety but not what and who Brendan Rodgers wanted. In the past we’ve seen deadline day signings like Miku and CKR, brought into appease fans of a signing and to make up the numbers. Rodgers does not do the numbers game, he wants quality, he has his own vision and will not settle for lesser players being thrust upon him because his own targets aren’t moving, in this window anyway.
Deadline day has been whipped up into a frenzy by Sky Sports and I, like many others get carried away with it sometimes. Watching the comings and goings up and down the country is entertaining to watch. The reality, however, is that we work in a different world from the vast majority of clubs that take part in the frantic finale to the window. We have to be more methodical, more reserved and prudent in our approach. Take Bournemouth capture of Jack Wilshire for example, he has went to BFC on a season-long-loan, some Celtic fans thought we should be in the conversation since it was a loan deal and if he’s fit, he can be a great player. The reality of that transfer is Bournemouth are reportedly paying £80kpw wages with a hefty playing bonus on top of that. It’s just not in our world nor do I want it to be. Yes, it would have been nice to Celtic put down a large sum of money on one player with a bit of quality but they must only do this at the behest of Brendan Rodgers and not be drawn in to doing so for the sake of it.
Last night I felt the frustration, as many of you did but was quick to see the bigger picture. The polarising Peter Lawwell once said, we aim to head out of the transfer window stronger than we went in, on that premise alone we have to be happy with what we’ve done.
We now have a top class manager and added Ajer, Dembele, De Vries, Gamboa, Sinclair and Toure. While shedding Boerrigter, Cole, CKR, Mulgrew, Johansen, Allan, Stokes, Fisher and Janko. Forgive me if I’ve forgotten anyone, it is early morning and I haven’t had my coffee yet! With the exception of maybe Mulgrew who could have been great for cover over the season then all the outs are just as good as the ins. If Efe Ambrose’s feet weren’t planted firmly under the table and he accepted a switch to the Belgian league yesterday we’d all be in a state of euphoria.
The frustration of deadline day will pass, and I’m betting, if the team plays to their ability in Celtic’s next home fixture no one will remember the sight of young Paul the Tim sitting on the steps of Celtic Park waiting for something to happen (That’s dedication btw).
Our Champions League group looks daunting and to coin a very Scottish term it would have been great to have some more ‘HONORS’ (backup) for heading out to face some of Europes best players but one signing wasn’t going to make or break that. This is a developmental season and Rodgers will assess his squad in January as well as prepare for next season soon after.
With the likes of Paddy Roberts, Sinclair and a rejuvenated Tom Rogic feeding an ever improving Leigh Griffiths how can we be too down hearted?!
With regards to the rest of the season in the famous words o fa disgruntled Delia Smith…
LET’S BE HAVIN’ YOU!
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We needed a striker and should have gotten one. We are desperately short in that department.
Investment is the only way forward, to sit back now and say “well, we got to the champions league” is not alright. We don’t want to be on the end of a champions league nightmare, and saying “wee club big heart going nowhere” want people To take notice the hoops are on the rise, be afraid be very afraid ! Fingers crossed.
Let’s be honest, how many saw this coming? I certainly did and I do believe Lawwell is protecting his bonus.
We needed a striker and a holding midfielder. I guarantee you will not be so elated after the Camp Nou. This is a failure of management at Celtic. And not for the first time. I can’t believe you actually believe some of the rubbish you write here. Are we to assume that no one at Celtic has a calendar and that they don’t know the date ? You do realise that it is possible to sign players before the last day of the transfer window. Or at least approach players telling them that you are interested. As soon as the Simunovic transfer was off, so was the rest of Celtic’s business. Why? Is the 41 million raked in over the summer ear-marked for something else. I get genuinely worried that some Oldco kind of catastrophe is waiting in the wings. If not why was a chunk of this not invested. Did no one at Celtic Park watch the game in Israel? i hate getting humiliated but that is on the cards, as what we have is superior to the semi-professional dross of Scotland but we will look like amateurs against the teams we have to play in a matter of weeks. Doesn’t matter how you dress it up the supporters have been ripped off again. But hey, we play New Rangers in a week that will more than make up for European embarrassment. We ll most supporters seem to think this. Is playing them all there is? If so, it is only a matter of time before we are just as irrelevant as they are. Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated.
The team is stronger than last season and will win the league no doubt however it has went backwards in the last 10 years because of a continued lack of investment in quality.
Why were we allegedly chasing a player from West Brom last minute who had just signed a new deal? Why were we pushing the McCarthy deal on the final day when we were told repeatedly that he was going nowhere and has years on his contract. His purchase price was way out of our league. The club had well over a month to buy players so why was it not strengthening this position earlier in the window?
We lost two of our games away in Europe to minnows (Hapoel had only just started their season) and having been in Dublin to see the game I am concerned about how we will cope with Barcelona and the other two teams, especially away. What are our chances for the third spot?
Great businesses strengthen when they are on top but Celtic have always pulled back – there were a few titles we lost that can be blamed on the board not strengthening the team when they won the year before.
I would prefer 2 or 3 quality players like MoN did with Hartson and Sutton rather than we did under Delia and buy lots of average ones.
Hopefully we do this in January and that we cast our net wider than England. We also have players playing up to 70 games and globe trotting for WC qualifiers. Hopefully they do not pick up injuries especially Rogic our one gifted midfielder!
To launch Lawell out the door is the transfer I crave.. simple as that.
I would have liked to have seen one or two more players before the end of the deadline. We signed Christian Gamboa a day or two before the deadline would fans have been happier if we had signed him 2 minutes before the deadline???? deadline day is nothing but a hype for english clubs.. Celtic have strengthed in some of the main areas. I think we could have had another playmaker in the mid and even a proven centre forward.. we need a player who is not afraid to receive the ball when celtic need a moment of magic.. our champions league nights are incredible.. i dont want our atmosphere to be the only thing teams are worried about I want us to be a force on the ball aswell and thats why i am dissapointed we didnt go and spend on a few more players. That said… i truely believe that other new team over in greyskull will get fucked up on September 10th HH
Shoulda woulda coulda. Keep the faith ppl! HH
Lots of our supporters seem to be quite happy to beat Newco and get hammered in the CL. I don’t get this. Some have actually deluded themselves into thinking that the money will be there and we will strengthen in January! Because nothing will make Celtic more attractive to decent players than regular hammerings in Europe. Then due to a lack of forward planning we will be trying to sign players for next years qualifiers, where we will be trying to bed them in in time to play sides well into their seasons. It is as predictable as night following day.
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We have to realise that we pay approx £30k per week max. young boys who look promising get near enough that in England. We have to accept that we get a young player who fancies champion league (Dembele), a player who wants to rebuild his career (Sinclair) or a player who fancies one last stab at a big club and know the manager (Toure).
If we had waited and signed a player on Deadline Day then the fans would prob have been happier. Getting Gamboa the day before should not dampen the spirits. Deadline Day has been manufactured by Sky, as has the English league. We wouldnt get near McCarthys valuation or wages. It would have taken a Desmond intervention, ala Robbie Keane, to secure him.
We are stronger now than we were before we went in to the transfer window. Thats all you can ask for. We dont need squad players, we need to have 1st team players who can make a difference straight away.
The game in Israel was a strange one. They had nowt to lose and we had a two goal cushion. This defo played into the teams mind, as it would anyones mind. I prefer to think about the fact that for 80mins at Celtic Park we were brilliant against Hapoel.
I think we have the making of a great team. I am happy with the way things are and we should be behind the whole team. I even think we should be behind Lawell. He has had major stick, most justified, in recent years. He has defo stepped up to the plate this year and sanctioned manager and player recruitment (although ultimately, we have paid for it).
Hail Hail Bhoys