Always on my days off. Always.
Having decided, late last week, that I needed some time off I cleared the calendar of three days. I should have known that Ange would announce that we were to sign two players before the week ended.
I should have known they’d do it today.
Actually, I’m buzzing here because this, of course, is great news for all of us.
Not only did we secure a deal for Mooy, but we brought in Moritz Jenz as well.
These weren’t put together in five minutes, so it’s obvious we’ve been working on them a while.
Some of the questions we had for this board have been answered.
Ignore any nonsense about net spend; this is about us bringing in what the club and the manager needs, and I don’t care if we spent tens of millions on it or if we got them free.
As long as the boss is happy and as long as we know that these guys can come in and do the job.
Mooy is an Ange signing. Jenz has been on the radar a while, and Ange would have scrutinised the playing history of this lad before ever committing to the deal. This is exactly the kind of thing we wanted to see. A tough midfielder with experience and who can play in several roles and a big hard ball winning central defender.
It’s an excellent day’s business from Celtic, and just what the manager wanted the club to do. We are very nearly at a point where this squad is complete for the season ahead … Ange may or may not want to add one other player, but as things stand right now, I reckon the big man is going to be fairly happy with the business done and the talent we’ve brought in.
The manager sounds delighted. Well he might. This squad is now – without question – stronger than it was at the end of the last campaign. When we were putting our lists together at the end of the last season we’d have said another central midfielder, a left back, another centre back and a backup goalie; those were the four key positions fans identified.
And for once the manager and the supporters are all seeing the same thing. After years of glaring issues going unaddressed by respective coaches who seemed utterly oblivious to obvious weaknesses, we have a man at the helm who fixes them.
I don’t even wish they’d waited until Friday.
It’s a good day for Celtic.
Jenz being a loan with option to buy makes a ton of sense. If he doesn’t work out, he goes back to France. I’m curious what the price is on the buy option though.
And I know James doesn’t want to focus on the net (or gross) transfer spend after a couple big articles on it already, but it’s worth mentioning that total spend in this window is still around £17.5m with the transfer business either complete or nearly so. It’s almost as if the board set a budget limit for Ange and he had to find adequate signings within those budgetary parameters.
Whether that is or is not the case is irrelevant. The whole point is Ange thinks he has a squad to win the League and compete in Europe. If the big guy is happy, then so should we be. Stop paying attention to Daily Record and you will be a lot happier.
The story of the £20m transfer budget originated with The Athletic, not the Daily Record. And the author of the price is a dedicated Celtic writer who is a former season ticket holder. He’s no hack and doesn’t make shit up for the clicks. The Athletic doesn’t care about clicks anyway as they don’t have any advertisers to please. He also explicitly stated that the £20m figure was given to him from people inside Celtic Park. That Ange was given a budgetary limit from the board at all should not be a surprise given what we know about the board and their history of pinching pennies. Having read the article myself, the only thing that was even mildly newsworthy in the piece was that the budget was £20m and not some other figure. I’m just a bit puzzled how and why that became the basis for a full broadside against a legitimate Celtic-minded journalist when the evidence thus far suggests he has legitimate sources inside Celtic Park and the information he’s been given is accurate. James is better than this, at least 99% of the time he is anyway.
I think you are making way too much of it to be honest. You can’t rely journalists, whether it be the Record, the Athletic or James. You should be intelligent enough (and I assume that you are given your response) to join the dots together. I don’t think, however, any criticism should be going James’ way for this one.
To be fair I think that is how the majority of non sugar daddy owned clubs operate.. and is something I have wanted to see for ages … the board set the budget and the football dept use that money to get in the players that they need. Could not give 2 shiny shits if the CEO sings and dances like Peter did or is silent and efficient like Nicholson seems to be.
Lawwell had gotten far too big and important for his position .. which is why we had the farce transfer window of Rodgers last season with the Sporting right back (Piccini) who Rodgers was convinced was signed sealed and delivered only for Lawell to move the goalposts and the deal fall through .. not to mention the famous McGinn situation and dare I say it more recently with yer man Davies who we wanted to sign on a pre contract instead of paying upfront .. again if the board had set the budget and these deals were not completed because they went over budget then fine .. the football dept had obviously gone rogue BUT if that was not the case and Peter wanted to scrimp and save on the deal then that is unacceptable. Therefore if there is a budget that Ange knows that he has to stick to and can find players within that ceiling … I dont understand any problem personally.
Good news. I am happy too. I would still like to see Ajeti GTF and be replaced with quality. However, other than that, I think we are pretty much good to go.
Actually. We do need a 3rd striker. FFS Celtic, stop pissing about. LOLZ.
Don’t be greedy. We have Kiogo, Giakoumakis, Maeda and Johnny Kenny
All clubs have certain parameters on outlays. Credit to the Celtic Board for getting business done sharply and with a significant commitment in cash. Jenz and Mooy may not have been first option targets but that doesn’t matter, neither was Ange. A very positive pre-season. Let’s see how they do from kick-off in the first competitive match.
Why did we not buy Davies? I dont get that at all. That Argentinian LB who looks 16 and has the physical strength to match means that the left side of our defence is even more vulnerable than last year. We will wait and see but the opposition will target that side of the pitch.
Not again…can’t you get off the lad’s back? It took the whole team a few months to really begin to get what Ange was trying to do…He’s been here a couple of weeks. How is his English? The only interview I’ve seen he’s speaking Spanish. He’s a young lad living abroad in a strange country for the first time and hasn’t had time to settle in the slightest. Does he have any family here with him?
He can bulk up. Juranovic is tiny and he gets by okay…Starfelt looks like a wimp but was apparently one of the best in the league last year. Then again, a young Schwarzenegger might’ve looked wee standing next to big CCV…
But give the boy time for God’s sake. Ange clearly sees something in him. Remember when the media all said Kyogo was too weak for the SPFL? How dumb do they look now? I’m sure we’re both hoping that you look just as much of a twat at the end of the season when Bernabei is picking up his POTY awards…
That would be hilarious, you must admit..?
That maybe true but it is the start of the season and Kyogo is one of the strongest players per pound I have seen. Watch the man jump against defenders larger than him. Look at the physique of Kyogo next to Bernabei. So eye test for you so you can see POTY awards
Superb transfer window
And so now the negativity begins from Scotland’s alleged SMSM regarding the disastrous double signing of Aaron Mooy ,and Moritz Jenz. If Celtic made a double signing of Messi and Neymar,that inept lot would find fault! Look out for’ did not visit their grannies often enough’stories!
We needed a left sided centre back, Jenz is right footed. Why did we let Liam Scales go is my question?
Jenz is the interesting one. With Starfelt injured, the slot beside CC-V is there for the taking. Would expect Jenz to get some game time on Saturday. Will wait to see him in the flesh, before deciding hit or miss.
Its true we’ve filled those positions that we all pretty much said needed filling and yes the board supported the manager. Lennon was happy when he brought in a Moritz at the back, Duffy at CB and JJK of Everton, both EPL quality, on loan too. Ajeti for £5m? All supported by the board.
For the sake of the £1.5m we’d get, I’d keep Julien too. I do hope Ange is right but once bitten, twice shy. Judgement is reserved for now.
In regards to this seasons upcoming European adventure this has been pretty underwhelming so far. Mooy, it seems, is replacing both Rogic and Bitton and i personally don’t have a problem with that if he is what he’s supposed to be. The new CB, as far as i’ve read, seems well short of CL level and it’s going to take the young Argentinian kid a while to settle in. So basically, in regards to Europe, we are in a similar position to where we were in the conference league. …although we will have a couple of players fit again who missed the shambles that was Bodo (i’m assuming Starfelt doesn’t have a longer term injury than what we’ve been told). It looks to me like we’re going to need to gain CL entry again next season in order to get the quality in that we need to make any sort of impact. But this is Celtic and anything can happen! So i’ll just cling to that until further notice.
“These weren’t put together in five minutes, so it’s obvious we’ve been working on them a while.”
Change of tune James. Wasn’t that long ago you were saying transfer business is easy. From the rest of your article seems you are in total agreement with the way things were done. You really need to make your mind up and stick to it rather than putting up contradictory statements to suit your rants.
I said busy was being done, but too slowly.
The Govan manky mob will be crying their eyes out ha ha.
Really why would they be doing that? They have been strengthening their own squad and after beating West Ham 3-1 tonight, they won’t be giving a shit about us. I watched the game and they played well, three good goals and Matondo was impressive, especially when he blessed himself after scoring. 🙂
As I said in another article to James…….ignore THEM at your peril.
It’s going to be a long hard fought season.
Agreed, this league will be more of a challenge than expected. They probably can’t believe their luck that Ajax fancied Shirley B that much. I struggle to believe it myself and as a result they do appear to have recruited well avoiding that forecasted liquidation. The newco are here for the long haul now and that’s another hard to take outcome.
I don’t necessarily think they’re gonna miss Bassey and Aribo that much and have concerns that Mooy and Moritz won’t be what we need particularly at the CL level.
I’m not sure we’re ahead, more like head to head in what’s gonna be season long battles. I say battles because teams will follow the Blackburn example, at times and at differing stadiums refs are gonna watch us get kicked all over the place
New away shirt being bought tomorrow, bring it on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ND4tTu8D50
James
Your readers might enjoy this video of Aaron when young.
Sensible comment from Johnny Green.
THEY are a good side and have strengthened well.
We need to watch all this arrogant talk about how lucky they are and what we’re going to do to them.
No side gets to a Euro Final and only misses out on Penalties just by being lucky!
Iv’e been hearing that they are going bust for years……nope! How Big Mike’s gonna destroy them……nope! How the Stadium is falling apart……nope! How they will never be able to buy players…..nope!
We are NOT ahead of them. It’s neck and neck at best and I’d still bet on them to win in Europe much more often than us !
Weneedasutton