Jozo Simunovic is in Italy, preparing to sign for Torino tonight.
That, to me, might well be the strangest move we’ve made all through this window. Brendan Rodgers hasn’t even had a chance to watch this guy yet, and he’s being shipped out. He played exactly seventeen games, and although he’s been injured he’s not got a rep as injury prone.
That means that in this transfer window thus far we’ve let two central defenders go – and arguably one of them a potential first pick – and brought in one, a 35 year old. Sensible? You tell me. Efe Ambrose and Dedryk Boyata are our two backup options now, if one considers O’Connell part of the first team. You could add Ajer to that as well, and convert Lustig, but Ajer was signed as a central midfielder and so playing him at the back would be a little risky.
I understand slimming the squad down, but I’d have shown Ambrose or Boyata the door before I’d have let this guy leave.
This one just seems kind of odd.
There are suggestions, of course, that he never settled here, and if that’s the case fair enough. If Celtic are concerned that his injury issues are perhaps indicative of an underlying fitness problem or attitude, then that, too, would be understandable.
This is one of those times when you just have to trust that this is what Brendan wants and that there’s a good reason behind it.
Trusting in Brendan only goes so far though; he’s not the only person at Celtic Park and that’s an extra £3.75 million in the bank, on top of what we got for Johansen. If you believe a club’s ambition can be measured by “net spend” you’ll have mixed feelings here because this window has seen us spend precisely zero, when you consider our sales.
With the window due to close tomorrow night you’ve got to think we’re planning to do something big. We deserve it. I can’t say that enough times. We’ve waited for the club to show the right level of ambition, and I’ve been really delighted with the quality we’ve brought in so far. This is one of those years when a fairly moderate net-spend of £3 or £4 million would seem like incredible business if it resulted in a team and squad this strong.
But to be posting a profit at the end of it … I think that would be seen as pretty ridiculous by the vast majority of Celtic fans. I mean, what the Hell is the money for if it’s not for giving to the manager? This is extra cash, this wasn’t anticipated … this needs to be seen on the pitch. Fattening somebody’s bonus payment at the end of the term simply won’t be acceptable. I said before the second Champions League qualifiers, those in Astana, that Brendan would get sole credit if we got through that game. We added Sinclair before the Hapoel match, but to have not done that would have been scandalous. It was the least Brendan was entitled to.
These successes belong to the manager. If other people want credit they have to produce more on their end, it’s as simple as that. This website isn’t shy on giving it where it’s due; look at. James Forrest, my namesake. I would have had him out the door at Celtic Park for his lack of commitment, and it made it pretty clear where I stood on it. Yet he’s signed a new contract and is playing as well as I’ve ever seen him.
I’m glad to be wrong. I love being proved wrong, when my expectations are exceeded, when things happens I didn’t expect. That old refrain we hear that every penny we make gets spent on the team … this is the perfect time to prove it. Fans can add up and money in the bank is money not out on the park, where it belongs.
If the board comes through and spends even this extra £5 million, cash we didn’t have in the bank last week, cash in addition to the £30 million we’ve already netted from Champions League qualification, then we’ll all be saying “job well done.”
Anything less and I’d understand anyone who felt severely short-changed.
Brendan deserves this backing, and this money. So do we.
Come on Celtic, for once shoot for the moon.
Don’t just meet the low-level expectations of cynical sods like me, by “settling for.”
Do as you did with the Brendan appointment, and shock the lot of us.
Pull something huge out of the hat, and send us into the international break on a high, and at the same time demonstrate some intent for this Champions League group. Show some steel and send a message to the rest of Scotland … we’re top and we’re staying there.
In Brendan We Trust.
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