Ange Postecoglou’s departure from our club was not an isolated incident but part of what’s become a troubling trend; a complete absence of even the most basic expectation of loyalty to our club from those which it employs. This has troubled me from the first.
iIt is now readily apparent that part of Ange’s thinking when he was telling players that they would be allowed to pursue their “ambitions” even if that meant only paying lip-service to contracts that they had just signed was linked to his own intentions.
I thought right from the first that it set a deeply troubling precedent although as long as we were replacing departing players with those who were as good as, if not better, than them I thought it was only minimally harmful.
But it’s now clear that we cannot keep ourselves locked into this cycle of constant rebuilding; it is equally clear that we cannot have managers putting in place what they claim are long-term plans only to depart at the first sign of more money somewhere else.
Celtic needs more stability than that, and whilst I have traditionally agreed that it’s better in principle that unhappy players are shipped out, I think the behaviours of certain people in our recent history, Rodgers included, justify a new status quo.
We should be calling out this kind of behaviour and demanding a little more, and as long as a manager makes this expectation clear from the start there ought not to be any issue with it at all. That’s how we turn this moment to our advantage.
Is was unconscionable that two players were allowed to leave in January having given us such a brief period of service. We out to have stamped on that idea … the manager clearly had no issues with it, and so we all presumed it was part of a plan. But in fact, it may just have been making a moral case for his own eventual departure … it’s ridiculous.
The first signs of this shift have already taken place.
Kennedy has been denied a move to Spurs, at least for the moment. If the manager speaks to him and he still wants to go then we should not stand in his way. I wrote about this the other day. But he will have to make that absolutely explicit and if the manager would rather fight that decision then Kennedy should be told his only other option is to quit … I wouldn’t support this kind of thing as a one off. As a change in overall policy it would be worth backing.
It would be worth backing because it would let us know – definitively – the state of the playing squad going into the next campaign. If the new boss comes in on a long term deal he can start convincing us that he intends to see it through by telling the players that all of them will be here next season and that if they want to leave next summer that’s fine.
But no more of this crazy one year/two year cycle where someone can come to Parkhead, give us the bare minimum of service and go off to England or elsewhere. Enough of acting as though we’re some feeder club for the big boys down south. If a player signs a five year deal we’re entitled to three years minimum out of the guy before he is allowed to move.
Unfeasible? Unrealistic? Have we ever tried it? There are some who’ll say that it will stop players coming here; that’s telling us we’ll miss the taste of a chocolate treat we’ve never had in our mouths in the first place. Some players will balk, yes, but everyone who hears it will take it seriously and take us seriously as a result. We’ll get the right types.
Celtic is about to undergo a major series of changes. It’s true that fans have become very cynical; so should the club as a result. We need to protect ourselves better and making sure that everyone who signs up knows what is expected of them is the best thing we can do for ourselves … and this makes creating a team an easier job. You cannot guarantee sustained success when three or four key footballers have to be replaced every year.
As I said, this is not just an appointment it’s a revolution and the thing with a revolution is that those who come out on top of it can decide what the future looks like. If Rodgers signs expect a long-term deal. That’s the first sign of commitment. The second would be to demand it of others instead of creating an environment where people think it doesn’t matter.
It’s precisely because Rodgers once did this to us that he’s the perfect person to come in and announce that the club will no longer tolerate it. People – Rodgers included – have taken the piss for too long. If things are to change, then let’s have everything change.
Well said
I’ve always thought these 1 year rolling contracts we give our managers awful – to me it says that the board don’t really trust their own judgement, and so if they need to sack him it’ll only cost a years wages.
With this message being given to the manager, is it any wonder?
Gotta disagree about GG & JJ leaving, I think it was smart business, upgrading on players who had done a job, brought in more than we spent. This is how a team grows and evolves.
HH
We’re a selling club. Did you learn nothing from the Kent and Morelos disaster at Ibrox? If big bids come in players will be off. You can make up 3 year periods if you wish but that will change as soon as an EPL club slap down £20m on the table and the player is offer 4 times his current salary.
Interesting and thought provoking.
I think there’s definitely merit in what you’re proposing here. I do also think the club should be pragmatic about this and treat each case on its own merits. Juranovic & Giakomakis were allowed to leave in large part because (1) Ange had younger and arguably better players already lined up as replacements, (2) the club secured a healthy profit on the sale, and (3) still had money left over after buying their replacements. It was a win for everyone involved and is a sign of a healthy player trading model. We shouldn’t discourage that if the team is better off for it!
Managers leaving after such a short time has the potential be very disruptive though in the manager-as-God model Desmond seems to prefer. Ripping up the coaching staff and all the backroom people every 2-3 years is no way to run a club in any sustainable way, and we’ve paid for it on more than one occasion. Ideally the manager should have in his contract the list of people he’s allowed to take with him when he leaves (and it appears that happened with Ange, so at least one lesson seems to have been learned). Additionally, I would suggest that the club stop appointing managers on rolling contracts and instead give them a 3 year contract with a club option for an additional year. Inside of that contract should be a release clause that protects the club by declining every year of service, and also a 2x multiplier that is in effect during the season. If Brendan wants to leave, the club should demand £20m the first year, £15m the second, and £10m thereafter, and double those figures if he wants to leave in the middle of the season again.
The nature of modern football is that every club except for maybe a dozen across Europe are now ‘selling clubs’. That goes for players as well as managers and increasingly backroom staff as well. The result is that participants either succeed and move to their next club within 2-3 years or fail and run down their contracts. Succession planning is paramount, and in the case of critical employees such as managers, it’s imperative that the exit strategy – both timing and circumstances – is addressed by all involved at the time such individuals are brought into the club. I think Celtic could handle Brendan leaving after two years (or less) provided that they start working on that succession plan now.
Hi James
I agree entirely with your point. The club needs continuity and consistency if it is to do better in Europe and its needs to be able to plan-so minimum contract should be set. This is going to be the 3rd rebuild in 4 years, and just because it has happened to be successful it still leaves too much to chance. There is also an important message to agents that Celtic will no longer be a soft touch.
Just out of curiosity .. any reason for this particular foto ? Are we expecting one or both to try and leave the club ? as it is we are going to have to change our mindset as hard as that may be … If we sign a player for 5 years then we expect 2 years minimum .. the 3rd should be either convincing them to extend or ideally identifying their replacement and bringing them into the club (as was done with Juranovic and Johnstone) .. likewise with a manager – if we get 2 years of success then unfortunately the vultures from the bigger leagues will come calling.
I think you are reverse engineering to an extent here. Yes it was jarring to have players leave so soon after signing but we did it full in the knowledge replacements were on the works, one an absolute upgrade and the other potentially so, certainly in attitude.
We can’t have that type of absolute mentality that players must give us an agree minimum service, it’s counterproductive.
None of this makes any sense. So being loyal means fulfilling a 5 year contract and then moving on for nothing? Rather than signing such a deal and then moving on for triple the money we paid for them after 2 years service? In addition, players come here with the tacit understanding that they will be allowed to leave if the buying club is prepared to meet the asking price. that usually means a top 5 league. Are you really arguing for a return to a situation where players run down their contract and leave for nothing like Collins did?
They could start by telling Rodgers right here and now to show that commitment by signing on the dotted line within the next 12 hours or withdraw their offer to him. You would really think that it wouldn`t be too difficult for a multi-millionaire who made his millions by being, in the main, compensated for his failures, to make up his mind. He is being offered a job that thousands of people would love to have. He doesn`t need the cash. Just what is the hold up? All this James
Bond style rubbish of flying in on private jets to Mallorca (it used to be Majorca) to virtually beg someone who, in reality,
should be down at this moment in the centre circle of a packed stadium asking forgiveness. I won`t go a far as to say
he should be whipped but even a kick in the spArse wouldn`t be out of place. Say what you like about Beale but he couldn`t even wait until his predecessor got the bullet, he virtually passed him going out on his way in. He even left
the EPL for the SPL. Celtic have had more than enough time to get this deal sorted. The weeks are going in fast.
Time to ask him if it`s yes or no, preferably whilst standing at an open door. As for Kennedy: he was supposed to be a defender and yet under his tutelage Celtic have never ever had a decent defence. If he wants to go they should ask
Ally McJoist to run him to Carlisle for Ange to pick him up.
Talking about private jets: it`s a far cry from Billy McNeill taking over from Davie Hay in a dark car park on the outskirts
of Glasgow.
good point james about postecoglou shipping out players whose hearts weren’t in it, when all the while, his heart was looking elsewhere…
how do you enforce this?…yea, hold them to the contract…but as we all know…an unhappy/unsettled player can sow similar within the dressing room…and BR is hardly gonna be the one to stand up against a player angling for a move…i think it’s the way celtic will always be a “stepping stone” for the foreseeable future…
as regards john kennedy…i think that guy, more than anyone, deserves to be allowed to leave to whoever if he wants – with the clubs good wishes…he’s served his time and owes us nothing at this stage..and again…why keep someone who wants to be elsewhere ? it’s not that terribly long ago, a lot of fans were calling for him to be punted…
i can’t recall what your own opinion of him was…tho do seem to remember your criticism of him during lennons 2nd tenure…i could be wrong…
just an observation….where are the huns getting the funds for the incoming players? – thought they were skint ?
i’m really a wee bit deflated about BR’s return…not sure that he is gonna be the all conquering presence he was was first time around…the hun is a different animal(pardon the pun) this time. i still think knutsen would have been a fresher option, his work with bodo is excellent and great football too…
but the summer and next season is gonna be very, very interesting…
HAIL HAIL
12 month rolling contract mate. Says it all.
Well said James. The club should make it a policy. If you sign a contract you must honour that. Otherwise, how could you build and maintain stability.
The agents should not have to tout their clients any time they wish.
I agree with building in a minimum requirement into the contracts. If you sign for 4 years you commit for minimum 2 years. If you sign for 5 years you commit for minimum 3 years. Unless, the club decided otherwise not the agents.
The managers must abide to the same policy. They should not sit in front of the media and encourage the players they could leave if they wanted to.
I get the sentiment. However Celtic have several USPs and these need maximised to attract the cream of the young talent. Our club shares a tv platform with the most cash rich league in Europe. Players are bought with the lure of being exposed to the funny money available in England, and the promise that the club won’t hold them back should they come calling. Maybe the answer is in the sell on clauses that clubs insist on, maybe these should only be triggered after criteria is met, or maybe the answer is penalising agents in the contracts agreed. Penalty clauses for lack of loyalty, Players don’t tout themselves agents do it. Hit the agents in the pocket and they won’t be quite the pimp.
Stability brings faith. Faith leads to trust. Trust breeds commitment and security. These all should lead to success. But they all need built on a strong foundation and longevity.
Look at the big clubs who have had the biggest successes in recent times, their structures have all of the above (plus a few with dirty Saudi money, but we won’t go into that just now).
WE are a big big club. We need all of the above, and should have all of the above. We have a huge fan base we generate huge self revenue, all we are missing is the TV money that they so called other “big” clubs have.
That’s why as I said in a previous post on one of your other pieces on Rodgers the other day he needs to be in on a 4 year minimum contact. We know who he is and what he gives us so no need for any of these initial 1 yr rolling contracts to see what happens in the first year etc. This also will tie in with your last story about building all aspects of the club on a firm foundation. He had put all of these cornerstones in place the last time he was here so again the perfect candidate for the role.
I’m hoping and praying that Rodgers has reached a point in his career where he wants to settle for a while and build a proper legacy. He’s been around the club’s. Done well as he could at the top end and where he’s been and he’s young enough to give us those years of stability, and then if he is still looking for it another crack at the premier League should someone want to give him a go at it.
What we need to do here now is show him our backing, show the club we’re ready to get behind him and his plan and let them know that it’s stability that we want. That will bring us success naturally. God bless you all. HH.
Now that Davies, Rodgers right hand man doesn’t seem tae be comin with him, prob a fair chance john kennedy’ll be in the dug out for……how many managers is that now ? It’s ridiculous. When its happened, we’ve been seein the same basic weaknesses in our defence for every season he’s been there i. e. set peices and this zonal markin shit. Especially in Europe. That’s nae coincidence imo.
Celtic FC also has 12 players out on loan. Too many.
Ange was responsible for some of these players through overbuying.
Players will no longer come. The selling point of Celtic is to allow players to play at a high level geographically close to the ‘biggest league in the world’. They can show their worth in the champions league and raise their profiles as Celtic players. The fact is that English clubs operate in a different financial world from us. If they want anyone from our club they will get them. Your idea of somehow handcuffing them to the club and constantly playing hardball sounds a bit whacky to say the least. Almost every club apart from the elite in the top leagues are to some extent selling clubs. I enjoy your blogs but just think that we need to accept where we are in the food chain. Sad though it may be. We also need to move our assets on when they are at their highest value. Insisting players do a mininum ‘sentence’ would result in players hanging around when unhappy on long lucrative contracts. Sorry too many holes in this argument mate. I think we need to learn to support the jersey and accept that all the players filling it (with very few exceptions) are transient. Hail Hail . Like i say I love your writing but disagree on this one. And im waiting on my car getting fixed and this is helping pass the time!!??
Agree with everything you said board should sit up and take notice
100% in agreement. UP THE CELTS
Yes, totally agree.
Former big European clubs like ourselves, Benfica and Ajax are now considered as ‘feeder clubs’ for the mega rich clubs owned by Arab States , US Companies and any passing oligarch who fancies a flutter.
Some ‘insurance policy’ has to be put in place or Celtic will remain a European 3rd or 4th tier proposition. Hail Hail !