Yesterday at the Celtic AGM a lot of the focus was on the decisions the club took in relation to the SFA and the Res12 campaign. But far and away the most important thing on the football side that happened was the speech Brendan Rodgers gave to the shareholders in which he reaffirmed his own commitment to the club for the foreseeable future.
This is what we wanted to hear, and taken with what young Kieran Tierney told the BBC the other night we’ve been given the first glimpse of what the long term project will look like.
Brendan says we have to cut the squad size; this is just good sense, considering the number of players who can’t presently get a game – there are four first time players right away; Kris Commons, Gary Mackay Steven, Efe Ambrose and Dedryk Boyata who haven’t even been missed, which is to say nothing for guys like Ciftci and Scott Allan – but the commitment remains to improve it overall. This is music to our ears, and should make for an interesting January.
A good, young squad, a talented manager and a quality back room team, all tied down on long term deals, is the recipe for success every major club strives for. Keep that unit together, growing into their roles, getting better all the time, and watch years of success come from it. The worry ever is that our board will get dazzled by big numbers and let our best players leave as soon as the “right offer” comes in, but Brendan will not stand for that.
If he’s making noises about this being the start of a long process he’s had assurances and he’s happy with what he’s hearing from the board. At last.
We’ll be given a clear indication of what promises have been made in January, when the team building for next season’s Champions League campaign can get underway for real. Players will be coming and others will be going, and whilst I don’t expect Steven Gerrard to be one of them I am sure the manager’s plans are always far advanced.
As we head into Friday’s match at Rugby Park it’s good to see that the club is in such a good place right now. Last month was one of toughest we’ve faced on the pitch in many a year and the reversal at home to Monchengladbach aside it was a grandstanding success. Before this month ends we’ll play the first domestic cup final of the season and if we win that the treble dream will be alive and well going into 2017 and the transfer window.
This is what a united club, with the feel-good factor around it, looks like.
Keep it up Celtic. Keep it up.