The story about Matt O’Riley and Southampton this morning may or may not be going somewhere, but we seem to be the only club in football who thinks you actually can have too many good players. Is O’Riley going to go to Southampton with a player coming the other way? And is the guy in question really good enough to step into his shoes?
Shea Charles has played one full season in his career. Granted, it was a high level in a good team and that should be encouraging to me if it turns out that he’s one of the players we want. But a makeweight in the O’Riley deal? In some way, I’m thinking, “yeah that’s smart.”
But a loan with an option to buy? What is that? How would that work? If he’s a makeweight in the deal, why is it a loan with an option to buy, and if we don’t take it do they pay us a certain sum of money to make up the balance of the O’Riley deal? I’ve literally never heard of a player being used as a makeweight in a transfer deal who comes on loan and you have to then buy later on.
I would have to wonder if someone at Celtic had lost his mind.
Why not just do the deal with him in it? If he’s worth having, take something in the region of £17 million with him coming the other way, and that gives us certainty, a new midfielder and a big profit on top of it. If this guy is some future star that’s excellent business. What’s the purpose of the loan with an option to buy? It sounds like a piece of nonsense to me. He just went to Southampton for £15 million. The option to buy would be enormous.
So, the reports today don’t make a whole lot of sense. It all sounds vaguely ridiculous. I think any deal on those grounds should be rejected out of hand for the nonsense it obviously is.
On top of that, he’s a defensive midfielder; 6’2 and strong, so I would welcome that without doubt, and I would think that was smart and it would fill a very big hole in the team. But this is a team that has lost Jota and his goals and assists. And it has lost Abada and his goals and assists. If you are taking O’Riley out of that team you’re giving up even more goals and assists to bring in Bernardo, who can’t replace those numbers, and this guy who has literally never scored once.
He sounds like a Rodgers type player, for sure, but where are we replacing those goals? Who are we playing in O’Riley’s front position who we know can score in that volume? McGregor has done it, and I have long lamented that Callum has to play in too withdrawn a role when his best, his natural, game is playing as an attacking player … our constant messing about with finding the right guy for the defensive midfield zone is what has cost us the best aspect of his game.
If this is an answer to that, I’d take it, happily, but you wonder if the years McGregor has spent in Scott Brown’s job have blunted his attacking edge. We’d find out I suppose, but that’s a risk and nothing will change the fact of that.
I don’t even know what to make of this transfer window any longer. A good transfer strategy when executed well is actually pretty uncomplicated. You know which areas you need players in and what the basic attributes you are looking for are. It’s paint-by-numbers. See, what Ange did in those two windows when he was in charge was brilliant for its simplicity; he knew the style he wanted to play, where he needed strengthening and he brought in the identikit players for each position.
You knew last season was an absolute mess because none of what we witnessed made a blind bit of sense. We brought in three central midfielders where we really only needed one good one, and the one who played in the spot we needed a player most – defensive midfield, exactly where Shea Charles plays – was a second-tier player for Korea miles from the first team.
We brought in two wide men for the same side of the pitch when we had both Abada and Forrest there already. We neglected the left back area completely. We didn’t strengthen the strike-force although that was begging to be done. Most people thought we’d buy a keeper. And we bought no fewer than three centre backs.
It was incoherent. It was shambolic. And this one has somehow achieved the unthinkable; this is shaping up to be worse than last summer, because last summer was incompetence of one sort and this is incompetence on a whole other scale, and this whole window has been an expression of sheer contempt for the fans and for the manager as well.
The big news stories of the day are of us bringing back last season’s player in a deal we’ve been trying to complete for two whole months, and the prospect of losing one of our best attacking players to bring in a defensive player on loan. And finally getting the left back in, and guess what? That’s a loan deal as well, and the “latest development” emerged on a discredited joke of a site which writes nothing but lies and shouldn’t be given a shred of credibility.
Which means that the left-back hunt is no closer to a result than it was before.
This has ceased to be frustrating.
This is genuinely disgusting.
I am appalled at the people “running” our club.
We are locked into a downsizing death spiral under these people. I see no reason to be optimistic in any of these reports today. We have nobody at the club capable of implementing any kind of strategy, because at the core is a board that cannot break free of its own reactive mentality.
No no no , it cant be true if so the gaffer has lost the plot and if its not the gaffer then we will lose him!
Utter madness
Spot On
You are spot on with everything that you said . Idah is never going to happen , Mcgree has just signed a new contract with Middlesbrough and over the last seasons transfer window and now we’ve went back to ‘biscuit tin’ mentality . Kilmarnock on Sunday and is Benardo going to be there ? He’ll probably need a month to catch up ….
Yeah it doesn’t make sense. Southampton don’t want to sell this guy and if they were willing to in order to get O’Riley then they’ll want their money back on what they paid for him at least. If it’s separate deals then they’re probably both dead in the water.
Mate, shut up. This negativity around the transfer window is madness. Every position we need reinforced has been address in links, rumours and discussions so far. Hugo Bueno (Left Back), Paulo Bernardo (midfielder who can absolutely replicate Matts numbers when starting.), idah, Conway, Canadian guy (strikers). Mepham, O’Shea (defenders) Tessman (DM). It’s still July and there is still another month to go in transfer window. We don’t need players in for Kilmarnock or hibs etc. The team is more than strong enough for SPL. Rodger’s wants the right players to take us to next level in champs league and if we have to wait until the end of the window for them, so be it. You and others are all throwing your toys out the pram so early. Wait until the window shuts and if we haven’t signed anyone, then post this bs article. You are literally the worst kind of football fan.
Links, rumours and discussions? Are you a fucking moron?
WHAT ABOUT ACTUAL SIGNINGS? No, fuck all on that front. Fuck all.
And this is not “early” you dickhead.
Regarding not needing players in for Kilmarnock Ryan…
Well we certainly did in the League Cup and The latter half of the year as they owned us on that plastic (only in Scotland of course) pitch…
That we capitulated outta The League Cup to them ended up (probably) keeping The Pathological Survival Lie alive as they won what we’d probably have done though not garaunteed to…
While Celtic supporters and fans of the other 40 senior clubs in Scottish Football know it’s Celtic 118 v Sevco 3 on trophies I wanna see The Pathological Survival Lies blown to bits and players signed before the match with Hibernian should help that !
Spot on.
I hope as fans we start to put pressure on the board though. I accept that as shareholders they won’t budge easily but we need to at least be much more vocal in our disappointment in the lack of vision and ambition within the hierarchy.
I cannot believe that we still do not have the Idah deal done for our manager. Total arrogance on our part.
I want to see the manager fully motivated with a squad he deserves and going into Europe with a complete pool of players ready for the challenge.
You know this, the whole Celtic transfer saga is nothing other than a joke!?!? We have 2 players come in the door…..goalkeepers WHOOP DI DO. The Matt O’Rielly saga is another joke. Do you think Southampton are going to give us a better player than we are giving them!?!? This Celtic board do nothing but Bragg about money yet any player (if any) are either on loan or washed up. Come on bouy’s remember that team that got to the UAFA and look where we are now. Outside Scotland we are the whipping bouy’s thanks to the lack of support from this uninterested board. The only thing they are interested in is lining their pockets. I’ll bet none of this pretenders could name half the team. I’m seriously beginning to lose interest thanks to them
A lot of great comments as per…the majority of us are wholly aware of our unambitious board, headed by PL, and the disquiet they continue to spread amongst our vast fanbase during this transfer window and with other matters.
It is perplexing as to why our transfer dealings can be so prolonged…but this is where we have to try and put a sense of optimism and perspective into the equation, despite the obvious negativity screaming out at us!
Realistically, we are still in July, with the window not closing till August 30 @ 11.30pm. Should we have finalised some of the required outfield signings by now…without a shadow of a doubt!
In an ideal world, :we would love to have ALL new signings in the door now and ready for the new SPL season…whilst ensuring none of our key players are needlessly sold.
With our present squad, I believe we are reasonably strong again, for the domestic rigours ahead, despite the warranted misgivings we know, some of our fanbase feel.
However, if it means that extra time is being taken, to ensure we sign the requisite quality, then we have to respect that. It’s not ideal, but give it some respect, even grudgingly so, IF it happens!!!
We all want to see Celtic make positive progress in Europe this season, so let us hope ( and even pray) that our much maligned board, sign the players that will strengthen our squad, giving everyone a boost and ensuring we do not have to witness any more weak capitulations on that stage.
God forbid, if they fail us, and especially our manager, yet again !!! Highly inexcusable!!!
Whilst we have a board that puts profit before progression, Celtic can never reach the levels we would like to see in Europe.
Only if we back our elite manager in this window and going forward, are we likely to advance in the manner, that ALL Celtic loving fans, want to see!