The news about Celtic’s new training ground – which broke earlier today – is obviously nothing but good news. This is the kind of high-level infrastructure spending which we’ve all waited for, and which both Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers wanted to be done. The decision to move forward will not be cheap, but this is partly what the money is for.
This is one of the ways you graduate your club to “the next level.” With changes such as these. With moves such as this. Having two outstanding training facilities might seem like overkill, but in fact it’s not.
If we want to be all we can be this is the kind of stuff we have to do. In articles beyond counting, I’ve bemoaned our lack of quality youth coming through; this will go some way towards improving our chances in the future, and that’s all to the good.
There are a lot of people who would like to see us spend this money on the team.
I cannot honestly argue in favour of that. Because although I bemoaned the transfer window, it was the way we spent money that bothered me and bothers me still, not the amount of it we spent. Yes, we posted a profit but that doesn’t really concern me as long as the first team emerges stronger at the end of a window than it was at the start. I don’t mind that we’re well run.
Because days like this are a testament to how well run we are, and that we can afford to spend this whilst still have a title winning team on the pitch speaks volumes. And the best of it is that everything that happens at Celtic is not only built by us, the fans, but it’s all sustainable. Most clubs which do major infrastructure spend take on debt to do it … we’ve just done this, and paid for it out of what’s in the bank. We have no concerns about the future.
In fact, these changes enable us to face that future with much greater confidence, and whilst there are people who will argue that it should have been spent on the team they are taking a short-term view.
This spending will pay for itself in years to come.
The next four or five Celtic first team players to emerge from the academy will come, in no small way, from these changes and that makes it worth it.
The timing of this is good. It comes as Ibrox slides every deeper into crisis and its board, manager and fans deeper in recriminations against one another.
It is a show of strength, not a show of force, but during yet another self-detonation over there it might as well be.
I can’t say I agree with you on this, James, as if we’d spent that money on four experienced players in the 8-10 million range we’d have a far better chance of progress in Europe this year thus upping both our own finances and the Scottish coefficient, which would have counted massively towards us not having to play at least one qualifier in the 25-26 season.
As it stands we could have spent all this money on a new training pitch and not have any players to fill it and even if we did we wouldn’t want to be relying on Scots kids to get us through the increasingly difficult Champions League, should we be lucky enough to qualify.
All in all I have to conclude that the board have done everything exactly the wrong way round once again.
For even the talented kids coming through our academy all these years are desperate to leave us at the first chance they get (Karamoko, Doak, Vata etc) and that indicates a serious structural fault embedded somewhere deep in the board’s thinking and strategy.
To me it seems like a conjurer’s puff of smoke to take our eyes off what’s really happening elsewhere.
Which, sadly, reeks of Lawwell once again.
Spot on we lose to many youth players because there is no path way to first team The board do not invest in ladies team 4th best budget in Scotland The training centre could have been build 4 year’s ago at cost of circa 5 million now looking at reported 20 million we are led by a bunch of dinasaurs who’s are only interested is profit and bonuses for Lawwell and Desmond.
What specific Sevconian ‘self detonation’ are you referring to James?
Please be specific. If it is some new debacle and not just the latest chapter of ‘ The Diary of Adrian (sic) Mole aged 33 n’a bit’ please enlighten us. There is a large number of your readership who do not read the SMSM, ( as evidenced by the media circulation figures circling the plug hole) who rely on the blogs to keep us current with what is actually happening on the Celtic, Scottish Football, ‘Them’ fronts.
Not everything you and your contacts in the blogging fraternity assume as common knowledge is apparent to us.
I think one of the biggest issues we have is that for some reason we cannot keep hold of the best young talent we have coming through. We should be sorting that out while building new facilities. I can’t see how we can have one without the other.
I think the sale of Aiden McGeady alone paid for Lennoxtown (after of course Celtic fans raised the money through a second share issue that was oversubscribed by us)…
This will probably eventually pay itself off as well –
Time will tell if it was the correct time to proceed with it as while we have a very bloated squad they seem to be very brittle boned and made of glass…
The League is IMPERATIVE this season – and every season for that matter !
I dont know if you are aware but the klub from across the city already have a first class training facility .