Whenever I hear a rumour, I put it through the sieve to see if anything is left of it after subjecting it to some scrutiny. You filter the story by thinking of how it tallies with the facts you have available to hand and what you know about all the people involved. There is a theory about why we’ve not made more signings in this window which is naggingly hard to dismiss. No matter which way I approach it, I find it hard to put it aside. Because it fits.
According to the theory, Rodgers has taken command of the policy to the extent that he is able. Managers by and large do not sign players. They rely on scouting and data and analytics and other things to guide them on that. A handful of bosses are also good judges of talent, but that is rarer than you might think. They do know how to build a team and they know which particularly characteristics are needed to do it … but it’s others who compile the factbooks.
The problem with the summer window is that Rodgers was handed someone else’s raw materials, and none of them were up to the job. I have described this as someone being given a second-hand computer and trying to do something with it which it was not built to do. The player selection policy in the summer was ludicrously scattershot, based on signing cheap players without any consideration for how the manager might use them. The madness was his allowing it.
He was angry over that once he realised what they were giving him, and he demanded more quality. But perhaps most significantly, he also wanted more authority. Has he gotten it? According to the theory he has, which is why his language has subtly changed.
Rodgers now talks about not just bringing people in for the sake of it. Which is exactly what the first summer window strongly suggested we were doing. Ten signings? We didn’t need nearly that many, and it was clear that many of them were signings he had no interest in. Has he now taken command of that? Has he negotiated a veto over every incoming? And has he been presented the head of recruitment list and rejected every single name on it so far?
It’s believable. Because if you know the people involved it fits their profiles, doesn’t it? The board which wants to go down the cheap route and the manager who is simply not prepared to allow another “project” signing on the books.
But where does it leave us? With an impasse.
If the board thinks that it can use this as an alibi, they are dead wrong because it makes the head of recruitment look like crap and there is literally no way they can spin that scenario as Rodgers’ fault. If he has made it clear that he will not work with substandard players and that’s all they are giving him, what are they going to do? Not sign anybody?
Hell will be paid if they attempt a strategy like that.
This window, if it closes with things in their current state, will be seen as a complete abrogation of the board’s responsibilities to the manager and a grotesque failure on the part of Mark Lawwell. If it goes wrong and we don’t win this title, then there’s no way the head of recruitment can survive that because it will be a definitive verdict on the job he’s done.
If Rodgers wins the title anyway, he looks like the genius. If they present him with bad options in the summer, and he does what he’s doing here, do we just stand still until someone blinks?
The risk to Rodgers is that there’s no way he can survive a scenario where we lose the league either. It’s also risky because they might just keep sticking him with poor choices.
Just having the veto is simply not enough, he has to press for other changes, like a raising of the wage ceiling so we can attract better players. Our wage ceiling is farcical anyway. It handcuffs us to the bottom rung of the ladder.
Do I actually believe this story? It’s hard to shake. I do believe Rodgers has drawn a line and said that he wants final approval on every player who comes in the door, precisely so we can avoid a summer like the one we just had … but God, it’s not without risks is it?
And I think in the end it’s going to be an impossible strategy to make work as long as Lawwell & Sons are picking his options for him. Yeah, it’s a step forward but not the one we require and not the one that is going to get us any joy in the next couple of days.
Like I said, I’m bracing myself for an unhappy ending to this window, something that makes a mockery of all the claims that we plan in advance or have all our ducks in a row. This has been an utter shambles and matches the summer in that regard, but far worse because now the risk of losing the title is now very, very clear and present.
An utter shambles so far – But they have one more day – So I need to play fair and give them the chance I guess – And then the comments will start from me – And probably the banners in the stands – But hopefully not and they do deliver…
However the timing net is closing in on them !
It could be true. I hate when two sides dig their heels in, in a ‘who’ll blink first’ scenario. In the end we need better players, let’s get on with it and if we’re too late this window then start working on the next one to prevent a hat trick of shambolic windows. And if it costs us the league then all the stubborn fools can go
Why can’t Rodgers then approach the board and say he wants shankland or the Aberdeen striker,they would certainly get us the goals we need to win the SPFL and it would hinder sevco if they wanted any of these two players,at the minute if anything happens to kyogo who have we got that would guarantee us goals like giocamacus did.This league is going to be a very close run thing and a striker like shankland could certainly help us,I know he’s not got much resale value but 60 million CL money is a pretty good return for a 3 to 4 million player.
@ Jim Duffy. Thats the biggest concern. Already we’ve seen kyogo gettin the odd rough treatment in recent games. And absolutely nae doubt thats gonnae intensify imo and he’ll be targeted even more if we fail tae bring in cover for him.
That is not quite the way that it works.
The Head Coach/ Manager can set out all of the technical, tactical, physiological, and psychological attributes they require for every position on the pitch for each system of play they wish to use to deploy their style of play.
The Recruitment Team will use these characteristics to search for players in the market that the club operates in. That market will be influenced by the club’s available transfer funds, the club’s wage structure, and the club’s player age parameters etc.
All players that meet the criteria are identified, analysed, and recommended by the Recruitment Team. The Manager/ Head Coach can throw players into the mix but these will still need to be analysed and recommended by the Recruitment Team. Following detailed analysis the Recruitment Team will compile a shortlist of the best players that fit both the club’s criteria and that of the Manager/ Head Coach.
This shortlist is presented to Manager/Head Coach’s to decide which players from the shortlist that they would like the club to acquire. In the absence of a Sporting Director the club’s CEO willl lead the negotiations to acquire the player. This way of working ensures that the appropriate level of due diligence is done in advance of a potential signing. It reduces the level of risk when signing players and ensures that the player’s have the right characteristics as set out by the Head Coach/ Manager and also fit the club’s financial structure.
It doesn’t really matter if the theory is 100% spot on or just a load of old baloney. The point is that the so called custodians of our club are making a right balls of it. And unless they have been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, they will be 100% aware of our perception. It’s up to them to sort this out, quick smart. The clock is ticking.
Time to block the ned on your blog again james.
Who do you mean?
We have a very tough set of away fixtures coming up. Our rivals have 8 at Ibrox and three away. They play us at Ibrox at the end of that run. This is is this is crunch time . We are head but just I am very concerned as they keep winning and winning so it’s close. Our signings after Johnston have been shocking. Truly abysmal we need to step olio or we will lose a very winnable title. We are 7 clear at one point. Shocking.
Lawwell: “Do we have enough players to win the League?”
Brendan: “Yes but not if injuries kick-in”.
Lawwell: “But we do have enough players in the squad. Right!”
Brendan: “More than enough players – but not of a high quality . . .”
Lawwell: “That’s fine then . . .we have enough. No need to panic.”
Could be. It’s definitely a credible thought. Maybe he’s had enough of their bullshit. Diggin his heels in and refusin tae take the flak for their lack of ambition and negligence. If it’s the case, wouldnae blame him one bit and he should be commended for it imo.
It is still possible to get quality loans in with option to buy I this is the case .
If you are correct James, and Brendan ahs put his foot down over transfer dealing, then it can only be a good thing in the long term. We bite the bullet for now, hope we have enough in the locker to sustain our Title aspirations and we can all look forward to a better future.
Good points. Especially the wage cap which far too many blind fans are as a major stumbling block. It’s not a block to Lawwells wages. The league this season is on a knife edge if we don’t bring in any quality. If the club don’t bring players in then Rodgers needs to tell us why. It can only be, as you said, due to an incompetent signing strategy when Rodgers came in, and or, a reluctance to spend on the quality needed.
Rodgers is driving the team backwards, along with the inept board.
Rodgers only won whilst there was no challenge forthcoming.
The moment a slight challenge from The new Rangers started, Rodgers made a rapid exit.
Covid came and league ended.
The New Rangers then won the league the following season, Rodgers had left behind a deteriorating team, Lennon had his chance but he was hopeless, you should all remember the demonstrations at the time.
Rodgers has slowed the team down with boring pass back style football.
Their is lots of talk about needing a striker, if you don’t get the ball forward you don’t score.
Kyogo would get more passes if he played in goal (just watch each match)
Rodgers left celtic with a team in decline.
He was fired from Leicester with a team in decline.
Are these coincidences, I don’t think so, Rodgers is never going to be good at Celtic.
The whole situation is compounded by a board who are more interested in their profit bonus than adequately improving the team.
Don’t you think that maybe Ange left at just the right time?
Brendan took over a Leicester team in the bottom half of thr Prem and got them top 6 finishes two years on the trot and won the FA Cup. The team was in decline because they sold players and the investment in the team stopped.
He won 12, drew 2, and lost 1 against Rangers.
He also won 7/7 trophies.
Or maybe won 12, drew 2, and lost 1 against Sevco John !!!
I would have said if Kyogo had just arrived we’d all have been saying “he wasn’t up to the job”. All the young players brought in over the summer had perfectly good playing records at their clubs, if Rodgers can’t get a tune out them that’s on him. They were a good team last season and there have been significant improvements (on paper).
You would think DD would check how “his” club is doing from time to time and act accordingly.
This title could come down to the game at Ibrox and I can’t see this team being able to handle the atmosphere. It was a masterstroke by Dave King to limit/ban the opposition’s support.
Is Strickland a rabid Sevco fan and is that a possible excuse for not signing him although Kenny Miller actually scored for Celtic against Rangers if I remember correctly?
The theories and speculation abound, at the moment !
The reality is, we are closing in on the end of a transfer window, which promised so much and looks like delivering mere crumbs.
Sensible thinking would lead you to believe that BR is holding out for quality over quantity and that the recruitment team have failed miserably.
The bottom line is, if we have not brought in the requisite quality by close of window, and we subsequently relinquish this title, then no amount of excuses or white lies will cover it !!!
There’s a certain logic to your analysis James. But what I can’t get my head around is this, why sign Brendan in the first place if they refuse to back him properly.
The 10 incoming players last summer would appear to be Ange’s shopping list or Lawwell mini’s attempts at recreating it and recruiting from the same Asian / Far East profiles. Has Son of Pete made an expensive ‘c@nt ’ of it and loaded Celtic with well paid dross on long term contracts that the ‘suits’ now realise they are lumbered with for the foreseeable future.
Are the Board now considering that they will have to pay off a lot of these contracts and therefore Brendan’s budget is scratched? Or are they trying to force Brendan to use the players that he has previously rejected as not good enough?
There is of course the alternative theory that when Lawwell Senior was parachuted into the Chairman’s role the the ‘Old F@rm’ business model was reinstated. Save Sevco became the mission.
Now I can accept that Peter hates the bhuns with a passion. His upbringing is a testament to that. However he is a ‘bean counter’ first and last and always and probably sees the continuation of the Tribute Act as necessary for Celtic’s Economic wellbeing.
Has the Board formed the opinion that having survived the 10 IAR Fiasco relatively unscathed then that losing this title and gifting the Debtdome the ‘get out of jail free card’ should also be survivable and all the better if they can extract some measure of revenge for Brendan’s earlier ‘midnight flit’?
Regards lawell and how much he might hate sevco,but wants the ” old firm” to carry on,he must surely know that if the shoe was on the other foot they would bury us ,I remember when that rat Murray asked his bank to foreclose on us and effectively shut us down,so surly liewell must be aware of the stance sevco would take.they would love to see us into oblivion.
True but Peter is a business man (sic) and is looking out for his own interests. Chairman’s salary, bonuses, share allocations and dividends plus the soothing of his massive ego.
He went to my school, was a couple of years under me but knocked about with my brothers, he definitely grew up a Tim
For once, I must disagree with you, SFA. Lawwell may have been a Celtic man once upon a time, but over the years he has turned into a bitter, rabid Hun.
One example will suffice. When the original Huns disappeared into the dustbin of history, it was his duty, as then CEO of Celtic, to fight the illegal 5WA…therefore preventing the existence of a new Ibrox club. We would have had a free run at the CL every season. Instead, the treacherous coward Lawwell, decided to prioritise the welfare of the Ibrox outfit. At the same time, he has hamstrung our club at every opportunity….and continues to do so. Future Celtic historians, will be none too kind to the legacy of this cheating, incompetent, Machiavellian fool.
Hail Hail.
Whatever the reasons,
there isn’t much recruitment activity happening this month?
If we were chasing ‘4 quality players’, the club would have been
“linked with” numerous players in the SMSM every day?
But, Kuhn aside, it’s been extremely quiet.
Win or lose the league, BR must be offski end of season?
He could blame his departure on being unable to do the job
he was brought back to do:
and who would blame him for leaving this time?
The missile
That’s who I thought you meant mate 🙂 And you’re right, he’s gotta spend some time in the Sin Bin.
The way he talks to other posters on here is deplorable. He’s gone for a while.
?
I like Scud book….he makes me look sensible.
Spot on James
I think lawwell wants rid of Brendan. Again.
He doesn’t want strong personalities. Chase Brendan and bring back Neil. Or Mark McGhee. Or Owen Coyle.
Wages have gone up, contracts have been extended and Kuhn has been signed, the one and only, true. So far.
I’m still looking down the loan route, preferably option to buy, as I can’t see any significant permanent signing in sight otherwise it so down to what we’ve got.
As for those that say it’s Rodgers fault and the team was playing really well last season. Nonsense, we were pants after Hatate’s injury. Post Xmas was boring unimpressive and effortless.
True that hasn’t changed under Brendan but don’t forget Ange’s last Glasgow derby the rankers 3 – Celtic 0
Sot on, correct.
spot on
Unless it’s Lois Palma taking penalties for Celtic Johnny !!!!!
Just like The Torys Promise everything and give nothing.???
Torys?what did they promise Scotland,they in westminster have nothing but contempt for us as they milk us dry,and anybody who voted to stay in the union should hang their head in shame not grabbing the chance to self governance, for all the doubters who believe we wouldn’t survive out of the union,look up the numbers,the internet and FOI is a wonderful thing,the uk couldnt afford to loose us,,after all,we pay the bills,