I am not, as regular readers are aware, one of the “net spend” zealots. These are the people who have never come out of a transfer window happy where we didn’t spend more on players than went out the door in sales. It’s not that important.
We built the core of the Ange Postecoglou team in two windows and posted a profit doing it. That’s really an amazing achievement.
But I wrote earlier in the week about my view that this board is made up of people with the gamer mentality; always pushing to see if this club can achieve more with less. It’s why every step we take forward sees these people take a step back. Every time we reach for the next rung of the ladder it’s as if these people are determined to make it hard to do.
We cannot close out this season posting another huge transfer trading profit. It would be an utter obscenity. How much money do we need sitting in the bank instead of out there on the pitch? As crazy as it will sound to a lot of people, we’re entitled to expect that a substantial sum will be invested in the side. For it to simply keep piling up is just wrong.
We’re a football club, at the end of the day. The talk that we always need a surplus for a season we don’t qualify for the Champions League Groups has been shown up as nothing but an excuse over and over again. We’ve nearly always posted a profit even in those years; there are people on our board who are obsessed with piling money up in the bank.
We spent £1 million yesterday. That’s not net spend yet. We’re still in profit. When we sign Bernardo, we will be in net spend territory, probably. And the need to keep on going is very real, and the manager has earned it through his success in winning the double. The sale of Matt O’Riley would push us into the deep end of a trading surplus again. It would be just wrong if the manager didn’t get the bulk of that money to re-invest.
Note that I’m not saying all of it. I am not suggesting that if O’Riley goes for £30 million that the boss should get every penny of it. The club can still post a transfer trading surplus if that’s what the bean-counters value most, but he can’t get thrown some scratch either and told to make do. The days when this club could report to the fans that with key areas still unfilled that it had made the appropriate level of investment in the team whilst the surplus swells are over.
Rodgers thought he was coming back here to do this job right. By God he should be able to. The first money of the summer has been spent. There needs to be much more to come. We’re never going to be a club that is drowning in debt or which needs a bail-out from the board … even if we spent £20 million in this window and sold nobody the worst that would happen is that we might – just might – post a one-year loss, and not even a very big one.
One year isn’t going to break us, and the simple fact is that every penny we spend gives us a greater chance to put some points on the board in the Champions League and some prize money in the pot. If we’re not trying for that, why bother to be there?
No, I’m not a net spend zealot and I never have been, and as you’ll gather, I’m not even talking in terms of a net spend here. Nor, though, must the people who run Celtic be allowed to simply post an enormous profit again whilst the playing squad suffers. We are all tired of that, and the boss more than anyone. It cannot be allowed to happen this time.
We’ve spent 1 million in how many weeks – months ? Frankly that’s scandalous. This already has all the trademarks of the usual pattern lawwell and co go with. I’m actually dreadin this American tour, because we’re lookin like goin with a side, that in all probability will be embarrassed. And all down tae the silent profiteers sittin up there on top of millions. Millions the Celtic support have put in. Not them. They don’t give a fk about what the support want, it’s what THEY want, with YOUR money.
If we receive a minimum of 30 million from CL which we will,and then possibly 25 million for o Riley,how much can we spend, surely spending 20 to 30 million still leaves plenty in the bank for Desmond and liewell to salivate over, when are we ever going to try and get players in to stop us being the laughing stock of Europe,it’s the same old biscuit tin mentality nothing changes and nothing will because these greedy bastards on the board know the Celtic fans will keep buying STs and merchandise regardless how bad they are treated by our charlatan board,I still wonder if Rodgers was told aot of pish like that lot did to Clemente,he went are still haggling and putting low ball offers in that get rejected and all the time the start of the season and CL beckons and liewell is playing poker with transfer fees ,ie John Mcginn Steven fletcher etc, nothing changes as long as liewell and desmond are in charge and it looks like liewell is still in charge of transfer dealings
Meant to read ,we are still haggling.
Let’s not get fooled by the accountants. If you post an operating loss for the year but record a cash surplus which far exceeds the loss then it’s not a loss!!
The huns might get fooled with the Ibrox club’s accounting technobabble. We should not. Celtic FC is not competing for customers. We are competing on the field. And we need investment on the field.
There is absolutely no point to having money in the bank to that level. It far exceeds a rainy day slush fund for non CL seasons. Even if that is the reason they think we needs tens of millions in the bank they would be as well sticking most of it into gold bars!
These pricks judge the success of Celtic on a bottom line and cash in the bank. Absolutely fk that shit. It’s simply not good enough. If that is what being a football club means now then I’m out.
Oh & Haksabanovic out the door would apparently more than cover the new keeper(s) and Bernardo. Mikey J likely to cover Idah if deal is done there too. Matt O’Riley is, as you say, the big concern. If he leaves we’ll need 2 quality signings to cover the void of creativity and important goals.
I think more to come but it’s always late business with Brendan. I am not sure the board are to blame here or the £ sign off process. It needs fluidity to ensure we get our targets.
Plan B should not be the target.
Johnson will be likely gone late in the window. We need to pick up a couple of strikers. God forbid Kyogo picks up an injury in the US. Then it becomes panic station.
I really don’t buy the gaming thing. And I don’t see myself as a board apologist. I think the board are to a degree risk averse. I think they personally “tooled up” for the 10 season getting in the likes of barkas, ajeti etc but got burned by that. And I think they much rather they got burned buying a number of 2m players than a number of 5m players, and in their minds, I think they see that they hit a 20/30m jackpot just as much with the 2s than 5s.
In saying that, I think they have to be clever enough folks to see the rewards in investment. Rather than striking lucky with the O’Rileys of this world to negate the group of lagerbielkes and turn a profit overall, maybe buy the 5-10s and see an overall larger profit on the group of signings, and the rewards on the pitch from it. We were very lucky that we won the champions league spot this year from what we done in the last 2 windows. It would amaze me, absolutely amaze me if they didn’t see that investing some money stood you a better chance of securing that. Time is dragging on now, I hope they do make a net spend. What would a few wins and goals in champions league return you?
I am still pro protest. Pro change.
I don’t care if we sign 4 players.
We cannot be blinded by new shiny things.
We need real change. Fans need to realise trophies and players are distractions to the reality of the life as a fan under the despot at Celtic Park.
We need to make voices heard.
No signings will change it. It will sicken me to be a dissenting voice this year, no matter how drowned out but that voice will make me sleep at night knowing I’m not allowing these bastards any credit whatsoever.
Stick their balance sheet up their arse.
Why do we operate this way ya shower?
Clear the decks, change needed, unlikely but that’s my stance.
100% agree. The green brigade should be organising a protest outside the stadium now demanding change. We as fans should have been shouting for change immediately after the cup final. We lost mcginn,fletcher,forster and toney because of pishy Peter and his fuckin penny pinching. We need to get him out NOW and he is only the start
Thing is, people respond to comments snarkily to such as ‘the gb should organise something’ get on my nerves. I agree with you completely, they should do something and we join the protest.
This is the whole point of them though. They really should be at the forefront of such things. It goes without saying the respect for their work and support of righteous causes.
But all they have to do is look inward. Turn the attention where it belongs.
It’s time to actually challenge for the greater good of the club, not for your own good.
Quite frankly, either organise and act in the interests of Celtic and make that a cause, or don’t. And ultras and antifa cosplay brigade hence forth.
The board have already banned them, out smarted them and shown their strength on their terms.
But Santa eh, what a laugh.
But Lajee Celtic, look at the change we are affecting.
Meanwhile at Craig lang bowling club, The Celtic board celebrate not being Everton.
If nothing starts this season, see you here next year.
I’m at the just stop oil stage. Embarrass the lot of them on flag day. It’s all they pay attention to.
All the best to Santa Claus but, hope his feelings are better
Take it easy troops, think I will put the frustration to bed, I have only been dropping in here of late and will continue to do so.
Spot on as usual James
Hey, don’t hold your breath. Brenden Rogers clearly stated before the last window that this side needed quality……. what happened NOTHING. We only won the league because Rangers gifted it to us and the Celtic board gambled and got away with it and mark my words. THEIR GOING TO DO IT AGAIN. They are an absolute disgrace and don’t deserve any ticket holders
I have to call out pish when I see it and this nonsense ‘gifted us the league’ must stop.
We allowed them a slither of a chance of the league, WE. but at no point was their any sort of certainty of any rangers outfit winning the league. The reality is, if it weren’t for us dropping a few points, they wouldn’t have been near us.
We were always in control of the league. There was no robbery. It was our gift to give, not their gift to give us. Away and phone Hugh Keevins and uncle Tim it up.
I’m much more relaxed now even though we’ve only signed a supposed back up keeper thus far. We know the board love the ‘we made a profit of…’ good news story rather than trying to find out how good a side we can put together . But maybe we don’t sell O’Riley? We’ve got a better chance of getting better with him in the team, another successful season at Celtic won’t harm his career either. I might be gullible and falling in to the old trap but I think we might have a good window yet.