Barkas was first to go. Bolingoli has followed him.
Of the three names the hacks constantly try to taunt us with, two have departed and only one remains. The guy who’s left has played more games than the others, and is taking a full part in the pre-season.
But Albian Ajeti will very soon be gone just like the others.
He cannot survive the next phase of the Ange Revolution. There is no sign that he is considered a starter, and if we’re really looking for a new striker then the writing is surely on the wall.
The clear-out is in full tilt now, with Bitton, Rogic, Soro, Barkas, Scales and now this guy gone. We may yet see Jullien follow them. But Ajeti certainly will. If we get money for him, it will be a minor miracle. But we long ago understood that.
I haven’t seen any Celtic manager squander cash the way Lennon did on these three.
Add up the total spending on them and you get what Ange was able to assemble a title winning team for.
That is an incredible statistic.
I recall reading that Lennon had been hired “because he knows how to spend (our) money” … no wonder people want to forget that now.
Barkas, I feel a little sorry for. Because he was signed at a dreadful time, just as Ajeti was, and shoved into a team he didn’t know and had no chance to associate with. He was brutalised by the media and a section of our support, and I don’t believe he ever got a proper opportunity in that first campaign, free of the pressure and scrutiny.
Ajeti had a chance. He was given opportunities. He never looked remotely like the player we had all hoped to see, and that might have been in part because of the same issues as Barkas; being thrown into a team of strangers at a seriously screwed up time. But nine goals in 47 games is atrocious for a striker who arrived at Celtic at such a cost.
Bolingoli, I did feel dreadful for.
One of the reasons I was so vocal in my defence of Carl Starfelt is that you could see the game the media was playing. They had destroyed Bolingoli on the basis of a couple of games, then the following year they helped to destroy Barkas. They were determined to make it three for three, and a lot of our fans were going along with it. That was just wrong.
Thankfully Ange was never going to bow to that kind of nonsense, and he defended the player and kept the faith with him.
Bolingoli, I always thought could play a bit. He never got time to get his feet under him before the press was sniping at him, and a section of our support seemed to hold it against him that he wasn’t Kieran Tierney.
But talk about being the architect of your own demise. At a time when the tide was already flowing against him he had his crucial moment of stupidity and broke COVID regulations, getting banned and bringing trouble on the club.
That was it for him. Everyone turned against him at that point.
Even if he’d been a far better player, and even more consistent, the writing was on the wall. He never looked like he had a future from that point on, and nobody will be sad to see him go.
The last phase of Part One of the Ange Revolution is almost done.
This is his squad now, forged in his image. Once these guys are gone there will be very little left of the previous regimes, not just under Lennon but that which Rodgers briefly forged as well.
We are definitely better off for it.
The Filth And The Fury: How Much Longer Can Scotland Tolerate These Peepul?
Neil Lennon had players foisted upon him. When Pistol Pete said that NL had an eye for a player he was covering himself from scrutiny. So many players that are not bad footballers have fallen at the wayside because an accountant played the scout and thought he could make millions in the market. How many of NL’s ” picks” were actually his,(Brenden also as evidence of the who the F policy), Players have to fit the style of the manager and too many were never part of the team. With Ange working hand in hand with his CEO, and getting the best he can proves that the past model was inept. Let’s hope that we now have a joined up scouting and signing policy that will be a success. We now have the opportunity to progress the recruitment policy to suit the team.
let us hope that ajeti and julien can be removed from the wage bill and the incomings are as a result of having a lawyer rather than an accountant as ceo
A clear-out James?
You include Bitton and Rogic who as far as I am aware left the Club of their own free will, so do you know something that I don’t?
Also Liam Scales, mentioned as if he has been cast aside. He’s a young player out on loan getting game time that will improve him in the long run and whom we don’t want to sell to Aberdeen at this stage. He’s no different from Ryan Christie or Kris Ajer werre in that respect.
I don’t get your drift at all.
Bolingoli certainly does not go with my best wishes. Although he was not solely responsible for the debacle of the ten in a row season his jaunt to Spain during lockdown put us on the back foot from early on due to having to play catch up. This was a situation we never recovered from. He was an embarrassment to our fans and our great club and as far as I can see he has never shown any remorse. Good riddance!
Jesus what a bunch of whiners in the conments section today.
I really enjoyed this article. Sure it was sad to see Rogic and Bitton go. But the fact that Ange let it happen tells you they weren’t right for his vision.
Tom is a beautiful footballer but not a 90 minute one. Obviously Ange wants players who are prepared to run themselves into the ground if need be. As for Bitton, I love that big guy. A really good old fashioned utility player. Just not what Ange needs.
I also really like Christopher Jullien. But I inderstand the reasons for letting him go. Sorry mate, off you pop. And as for Ajeti – as soon as that guy came on as a sub for us against Dundee Utd in his first game for Celtic I was like “Wit?”. Sure he scored the winner but it was one I probably would have stuck away better. And I am shite at fitba.
I am loving what Ange is doing at the club. There were times last season when I thought we were flagging but he got us over the line. I expect more this season. Here’s to number 52.
Only 2 behind your smelly lot to any hun pricks out there reading this.
Roonsa you are wrong that’s the deid club team the new club team sevco only have 1 tainted title the dead club had least ten tainted fake titles FACT.
Spot on Peter
No appeasement, lest you not forget