It fits the Brendan Rodgers era well that some of the footballers we saw take a bow today at the end of the game will never again pull on a Celtic shirt. The commentators went to great pains to suggest a few names; Roberts, Tierney, Dembele, Sinclair … but that’s a flight of fancy. Patrick isn’t our player yet but as I said earlier that looks as if it might change.
This is the media doing what it always does; on a day like today they have to find a negative, something, anything, any thread they can pull on at all.
Whilst it’s true that a number of our players from today will not be at Celtic Park in the next campaign those some in media were speculating on will be amongst them. Roberts may yet go; I wouldn’t bet on it, but Dembele, Sinclair, Armstrong, Tierney and others will all be here, will all be wearing the Hoops, when the next campaign gets underway.
There as a point this season where I thought a number of others would be gone; indeed before a ball had even been kicked, on the day Brendan joined us, I’d have said it was curtains for Forrest and Rogic, who swiftly signed new deals and went on to play starring roles.
When things kicked off some players seemed so far off the pace I would have sworn they’d be gone long before the campaign came to an end. Take Dedryck Boyata, for one. His time looked up. Now it looks certain he’ll stay after a storming end to the season, including weighing in with a couple of goals. I thought Callum McGregor would be gone, not having the quality Brendan was looking for. But he has been outstanding in recent months and most certainly has a future at Celtic Park. I would have bet that Bitton would leave; I’m not so sure now.
These guys can all play a role. So who won’t?
Two of the guys who were very visible today almost certainly won’t; Efe Ambrose will leave, with Neil Lennon keen on giving him a deal. I hope he does, because Efe should be at a club where the manager knows him and appreciates him. The way Brendan has handled him has been brilliant. There is no other word for it. Kris Commons has certainly played his last game for Celtic too; it was great to see him, as part of the Family, getting his chance to take a bow. Our big regret, and certainly it will be his, is that he never got to score that 100th goal.
There is talk today that Gary Mackay Steven has been talking to Aberdeen; I can’t even pretend that would come as a surprise. He’s a good kid, and a talented player, but it isn’t working out and you can’t now see that it will. Ryan Christie, who is on his way back after another storming performance today, where he scored a double for the Pittodrie club, is a better prospect by far.
Scott Allan might return for pre-season training, but don’t be surprised if he’s moved on. I strongly suspect he, like Efe, might well find himself at Hibs, possibly as a makeweight in a deal for John McGinn. I have no specific information on that, but it sounds like such an ideal solution that I’d be amazed if it wasn’t being discussed somewhere.
I saw Liam Henderson watching the game today; he might do well to move somewhere on loan. But the manager likes him, so it makes sense for him to hang around.
When I wrote earlier about Roberts I had to take a minute to think about who wears our number 7 shirt at the moment; it’s Nadir Ciftci. We’ve most definitely seen the last of him, and no-one will miss him. His contribution to the cause has been negligible if we’re being kind.
I would expect one – or perhaps even both – of our stand-in goalies to be leaving. I understood why we brought in Dorus De Vries but he’s bench-warming. He was too shaky for us to contemplate him challenging Craig between the sticks.
Logan Bailly is Celtic’s invisible man, and he is almost certain to depart.
And then there are the two players many people forget; Kristofer Ajer and Saidy Janko. I think Ajer will most definitely come home; he has the makings of something good. He can be an asset to the squad, but in central defence instead of in the midfield role where he started his career. Kilmarnock was the wrong club to send him out to; they are dire and any club that’s considering appointing Lee McCulloch as manager clearly has no desire to improve.
Janko is a strange one though, because it’s equally clear that there’s a good footballer there. It’s just hard to see him making it at Celtic Park; the signing of Gamboa seems to be a sign that Brendan doesn’t rate him. We’ll find out one way or another.
The only other player who could have been considered a first team player is Eoghan O’Connell. As a fall-back player he has something to offer but not as a regular starter.
If all these guys were to leave we would be no worse off for it, because although a couple of them have some potential we’re significantly past the point where we can wait to see if they fulfil it. The team needs players who are good enough to step up, and step in, to play top games against European calibre opposition, and these guys ain’t that.
The media will do its level best to insist that other players will leave with these guys; if one first team footballer does go I expect it to be Erik Sviatchenko, for reasons I’ve stated elsewhere, namely that he has made certain noises about being unhappy and was said to be interested in moving to England. I won’t be surprised if he goes, but nor would I be surprised to see him stay and on balance I would prefer that he did exactly that.
Our club can withstand anything that happens this summer … but the clear-cut evidence in front of us suggests that we will emerge stronger than we are right now, with a number of top drawer signings to augment the talent we already have here.
The media is already wailing that we’re too strong for the rest. They are trying to devalue the accomplishments of this season, but you know what? They’ve been bitching and moaning and whining since 2012 and the crash of their favourite club. They would not give a damn if the shoe was on the other foot and we all know it.
Today’s triumph is a joyous end to a spectacular league campaign, and it’s to the credit of Brendan and his backroom team that he has achieved all this whilst juggling one of the biggest first team squads in the UK, and all of it without a melt-down in the dressing room. He knows that this team still has untapped potential. We can go a lot further, and he wants to keep this squad together in order to do it.
This is what they fear most.
Hard lines.
It’s a tough old world.