It’s the silly season again.
Transfer window time, and this is my first article on the site for a while.
A busy life doesn’t leave much time for blogging unless you’re a blogger, and so I told James that when I put in my return I would do it with some aplomb. Hence this lengthy article on the priorities that the manager will have when he addresses the needs of the squad.
There are two types of transfer window deals.
Those which are done primarily for effect and those which are thought out and purposeful. Believe it or not, in the bigger leagues of Europe clubs tend now more towards the former than the latter.
Take Liverpool and their big story of the summer.
Their spending of a vast transfer fee on Darwin Nunes could be seen as a response to losing Salah to Bayern Munich; in fact , I think it far more likely that it’s seen as a response to Man City closing the deal for Haaland.
That’s not to say that it’s not a great move, or that he won’t be a fine player … but it’s a headline grabber at a time they needed a headline.
Now take their signing of Aberdeen’s Connor Ramsey; that’s thought out and purposeful. They’ve paid a decent fee for him and know exactly what they want his role to be. He’s the understudy to Trent-Arnold. (And there they could have had Tavernier; what do these English clubs know anyway?) It’s succession planning and very smart business.
Celtic will do good business in this window. I am sure of it. But it might not be the business that the fans would expect or want. With this manager, we’ll get what we need not what the headline writers might necessarily want. There is a difference.
Because let’s be honest, this squad isn’t in bad shape overall.
This squad won a title last year and showed real progress. If the manager’s career trend keeps up there will be even greater improvements this season. We don’t need a wholescale rebuild.
So let’s look at each area of the team and give an honest assessment of where we’re likely to be when the window closes again.
It’s interesting.
A Goalkeeper: Definate Area We’re Focussed On
We’re going to sign a keeper.
Definitely. We’re in talks with the Siegrist, formerly of Dundee Utd and although one of the hacks is reporting interest from other clubs as the reason we’ve not slammed the gavel down on that one, I am more interested in the fact that we’re definitely looking at that area than I am with who the player ultimately proves to be.
Some in the media think that this is a sort of B list bit of business, but I disagree.
If something happens to Hart we’ve not really got anyone that great to step in for him, and so we do need a goalkeeper and we do need that as a priority.
It’s clear the manager thinks so, and that’s why we moved swiftly for Siegrist and why, if he doesn’t end up signing, we’ll move just as swiftly for someone else.
We can say, without having to speculate, that the boss wants someone in this area.
It is a fact, and there will be news on this before too long.
Central Defence: A Real Possibility … But …
Central defence is a tricky one.
Let’s think about this for a minute. We already have the best centre backs in the league, and we proved it by having the best defensive record in the league. In addition to our starters, we’ve got Welsh and we’ve got Chris Jullien.
The big Dutch boy from Sheffield Wednesday, who was out on loan, is also back at the club, and there is at least one good reserve in Dane Murray.
Jullien is the wildcard. The press suggests that it would be some sort of blow if we couldn’t get him off the wage bill.
To be honest, short of tearing up his contract we’ll struggle to command a big fee and if the choice, this summer, is paying him off and then signing a replacement or keeping him at the club and in the squad – and we know his talents – it might just be that the manger takes the decision to spend the club’s money on another area of the team.
This is the difference between what you want and what you need in a nut-shell.
We’d all like to think we will bring in another centre back, but is this really a critical area of the team now that Jullien is back fit and seemingly keen to fight for his place?
On balance I think, depending on Jullien’s situation, that we might not bother with a centre back in this window.
There is cover in that position already … and our need (the important thing with Ange, remember) is greater in other areas of the pitch.
Full Backs: We’re Fine On The Right But A Left Back Is A Definite.
For the first time in a long time, Celtic is secure in the right back area.
Sterling performances from Juranovic and, most surprisingly, Ralston have made this one of the strongest areas of the team. So good has the kid Ralston been that we’ve seen Juranovic played on the left when we’ve been looking for our strongest eleven.
This has led to Juranovic taking that slot for the Croatian national team.
For all that, with just Greg Taylor, Liam Scales and Adam Montgomery realistically in the running at left back, it’s clear that we need someone in this position pretty badly.
The club has been linked with three or four of them in the course of the last few months and there’s no smoke without fire. We’re clearly working on that area of the pitch.
I think we all like Taylor and want him to be a big success, but we also know that there are limitations here and that we need someone of a higher standard especially for Europe.
This is why Ange is looking at this area of the team.
Montgomery was on loan last season. Sadly, he didn’t impress that much.
Scales is a certainty to go out on loan in this window; neither is seen as offering a solution here.
Juranovic is excellent as a left back emergency backup, but for all Ralston’s talents the Croat international is our first choice on the right, and Ange wants someone just as good on the left.
That’s why we can say with confidence that we will buy a left back from the vast number we’re linked with officially, or the vast pool we’ve talked to or looked at about whom the press hasn’t even had a sniff yet.
You can take this one to the bank.
Defensive Midfield: A Stonewall Certainty.
The man in the picture was not properly replaced.
Not by any of the signings the manager made in either transfer window last summer.
Callum deputised there, McCarthy did his brief cameo, Nir Bitton was brought in a couple of times and Soro was tried and shoved back in the reserves. Of all of them, Callum has been the most consistent.
But Callum is wasted in that role and will never be brilliant in it.
It’s not his natural game, and I can say this having watched two Celtic managers try to play him there. He’s a more attack minded player and he gives you assists and goals when pushed further forward.
Callum is a cultured footballer, not a warrior. And a warrior is what that position requires.
To put it as bluntly as I can we need a hard, tough-tackling bruiser. He doesn’t have to be big, or to look physically intimidating … he just has to have a bit of a mean streak which for all Callum’s talents he just doesn’t possess and nor does anyone else in the midfield.
I’ve heard Callum described as soft.
As being “too nice” for that kind of role.
I think that for all these remarks are a bit sterotypical and cliched that there’s nevertheless an element of truth to them.
We need a nasty bastard.
There’s an argument for saying that we dropped points and lost in the Scottish Cup semi final because we lacked someone like that in the middle of the pitch.
I don’t know how much I buy into that, but we definitely can’t go into the Champions League without one because they are the prototype footballers the super-clubs build their whole teams around.
And that’s what we’re talking about here; the fulcrum of the side and Ange will know it as well as anyone.
That’s why we’ve been linked with half a dozen of them.
It’s why buying one in this window is not a question of “if” but a question of when.
Another Central Midfielder: Why We Can’t Rule It Out.
When it comes to the debate over whether we will get what we want or what we need, no area is more controversial than central midfield. Not the ball winning part, but the link between the defence and the attack, and where we have six players currently fighting for the spots.
On the surface of it, those six players are more than enough.
But are they really?
Two of the six – Ideguchi and McCarthy – barely featured in the last campaign. If we get injuries to a couple of others are those guys really good enough, right now, based on what we’ve seen, to step into the fold and keep the standards from dropping?
The manager signed both of them. He has shown no inclination to move either player on, even as loanees. But I strongly suspect that he is well aware that we can’t wait for these guys to meet the level … they’re either ready for it or they’re not.
Don’t be surprised if there are moves in this window to let at least one of them go out on loan, and if that happens then I think this goes from being something some of us want to being something that the manager and the club actually needs.
McGregor, Hatate, Turnbull and O’Riley are all excellent and any combination of them is just fine.
The ball winner we’re after makes it easier to see a scenario where we don’t go and buy anyone else, but if Ideguchi and McCarthy are going to get it done when the need arises (as it will at some point, almost inevitably) then don’t be surprised if the boss gets someone else in from this area of the pitch, because it’s the most important one in the team.
Wide Attackers: We May Want One, But Do We Need One?
With Jota on the brink of signing, the attacking midfield/inside forward/winger equation seems balanced. We have a top class talent on the left, another on the right and in Maeda and Forrest we have more than adequate back ups for them both.
Yet it’s possible that Forrest’s value to the team is more in the “elder statesman” role than as a player. Maeda may be needed to play through the middle as a central striker.
There are no shortage of scenarios where four players in these roles may not be enough.
Jota is interchangeable.
So is Forrest to a degree.
But if something goes badly wrong on the injury front, do we really want to be relying on Forrest on one wing and Mikey Johnston on the other? If we’re looking at another wide man, I can understand why.
But is it a priority that over-rides the needs elsewhere in the squad?
I’ve seen Juranovic play up in the wide right role. I’ve seen Kyogo moved out to the left. There are creative solutions to this problem which don’t automatically involve a new signing.
I think the crucial factor here will be what the manager wants to do with the strike force.
If he plans to keep Maeda out wide that negates the need for another signing on the wings except, perhaps, as some kind of emergency backup. If he intends to play Maeda through the middle then we definitely need one new player in the wide left role.
Which brings us to the last area of the team …
Celtic’s Needs Can Be Made From The Existing Strike-Force Pool …
If the manager decides to play Maeda through the middle then we don’t need to sign another striker in the window, even if Ajeti departs for pastures new. That decision will change the equation out wide and make a winger an essential purchase.
But if the manager decides to play Maeda primarily out wide, the question has to be asked as to whether we need a third centre forward to back up the existing strikers.
I think, on balance, that if Maeda stays wide we do need at least one striker. And this, of course, is what the final choice comes down to; do we add a striker or a goal-scoring wide man? Jota, Maeda and Abada last season accounted for a lot of our goals … it’s not necessarily a bad move to bring in another wide player. It may not cost you over the campaign.
But I’ll tell you this; any striker we bring in will have to be damned good not to simply sit on the bench every week because in a one striker system we’ve already got two players of immense talent and an eye for goal and they will be picks number one and two … signing a striker as backup is sensible. It’s what we’d all like to see.
Therein though lies the difference between wants and needs.
We want one, just to be sure, but I’m not convinced, especially with Maeda already in the building, that we are crying out for additional strength in this area of the pitch.
It’s money that could be spent on that ball-winning hard man … it’s money we could add to the kitty for that left back we desperately require. Those are the only two areas where you can say there is a critical requirement.
Anywhere else is a luxury and up front most of all.
Whilst I think it’s more than possible that we’ll sign a wide player, that will be because Maeda is our backup striker.
That means we don’t need anyone else in that spot. Of all the positions where we need an extra body, I think this is the one where the need is least … and so the one least likely to get any love in this window.
In Conclusion …
Ange is not a guy who is going to waste money. He’s a guy who will be very careful with his budget, and at the end of last season he was quick to say that he didn’t think the squad needed more than a tweak here and there. Six, seven signings won’t happen.
More than likely it will be three or four in areas where he thinks the need is greatest; left back for sure, the defensive midfield role and one other which will either be central defence or our wide depending on certain variables which will become clear as we go on.
If our central midfielders aren’t all up to snuff, expect us to try to move at least one of them on for a loan spell and to bring someone else in instead.
I don’t see us opting for radical squad cuts. We’re not going to lose half a dozen additional players here, because every warm body was being thrown into battle at one stage last season and Ange has already seen that anything can happen.
But for this window, I reckon steady improvement other than wholescale revolution will be the order of the day. Three players plus a goalkeeper; that would be my guess. Four perhaps, including the backup between the sticks, if one of them is a loan with an option to buy.
That will make us stronger and better across the key areas of the team … and will give us one Hell of a squad for the first half of the campaign.
As James said yesterday, we have one additional advantage. We can spend in January if the manager believes that we need to. By then, we might have a different set of needs.
The Rumour Guy is a writer and blogger from Glasgow. This is his first piece of the window.
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if he leaves the full board better go with him