Another day starts with radio silence on all things Celtic transfer related.
Everyone says that nature abhors a vacuum. Well, that’s what we have here right now: a vacuum where good, hard information should be. And in a case like this, what fills the vacuum? Noise. White noise, rumours, speculation, nonsense.
Most long-term readers will be aware of the enormous respect this site has for Big Bad John Hartson. Not only was he a fantastic player for Celtic, but he’s continued to be a fantastic ambassador for Celtic in his new role in the media. He talks a lot of sense and never gives the club a hard time unless we absolutely deserve it.
But I have to say, I profoundly disagree with his comments yesterday on Adam Idah, where he blamed Norwich for the position the player and Celtic find themselves in. As we’ve asserted on this blog over and over again, we’re in this position for two reasons.
Firstly, because we failed to get a right-to-buy option inserted into the contract when we got Idah here on loan. And secondly, because two months have now passed and Celtic has yet to submit a bid acceptable enough to get us to the negotiating table.
I keep hearing stories of Norwich moving the goalposts, of Norwich asking for an exorbitant transfer fee. You know what? Most of the clubs trying to deal with us over Matt O’Riley think exactly the same thing. The fee we’ve asked for would break the Scottish transfer record. And Celtic will not budge until a club offers what we believe is fair.
That is all Norwich have done here. Idah is their player. They don’t have to sell him unless their fee is met. This is very simple. And Celtic has options here.
It’s not as if we’ve been pressed against a wall with a gun to our head. Celtic can walk away from that deal entirely. We can tell Norwich thank you, but no, we can tell the player it was nice having you here but we have to move on. That’s what Celtic should have done weeks ago if we did not intend to meet Norwich’s asking price.
The only way this is Norwich’s fault is if Celtic is floundering because Adam Idah is the only striker on the planet, which he isn’t.
This entire window has been a masterclass in a football club dragging its feet and taking the piss out of its own fans. Even if stories that Norwich have slapped a massive £8,000,000 or higher price tag on Idah are true, even if that price tag is actually in eight figures, he’s their player and they have that right.
And yeah, at the end of this, Norwich might find themselves with an unhappy footballer. That’s their problem, not ours. We have our own problems and our own set of priorities. If we were just a little bit better at working on those, we wouldn’t have to worry.
It seems to me that too many people here are focused on what Norwich are doing with their own player, not so much on what we’re doing.
Blaming Norwich for the state Celtic finds itself in and for the mess we’re making of this transfer window isn’t going to fly. If at the end of this window we don’t have two strikers signed and ready to play first-team football, in addition to the one we have at the club right now, that will be the fault of the people at Celtic. No one is going to make the excuse that we’ve been victims of some goal-post shifting elsewhere. This is down to us.
All through this window, people have been trying to tell us to be patient, to wait a little longer. At the end of June, it was the same. “Things are coming in July,” they said. We got through July, and these people kept saying, “We might not get the business done till August.” Well, we’re now a week into August, and we continue to wait.
Something has gone very, very wrong this summer. I don’t know whether it’s a failure at the scouting level or the executive level, but I certainly don’t believe that the manager hasn’t identified players or at least given the club a blueprint of the sort of players he wants to sign. But this is heading towards being Celtic’s single greatest transfer window failure since the concept was introduced, and all of it can be summed up in the Adam Idah saga: a single solitary offer and no Plan B.
When people ask me in the future when I completely lost faith that this window was going to deliver anything other than a slap in the face to the fans who paid for season tickets, and to the manager who won a double last season after this board tied his hands behind his back, I’ll tell them it was when I realized we were going to play this ridiculous game with Norwich over one of their reserves.
And that’s what we’re doing. This club could have brought this entire saga to a definite end week ago simply by telling the media, “Adam Idah played a great role last season, but we are moving on to other targets.” It would have been as simple and easy as that.
That we are here, looking flat-footed and stupid, is nobody’s fault but ours.
The most likely outcome of this sorry saga is not, as some seem to think, Norwich breaking and sending Idah up here on the cheap; it is of Celtic engaged in a last-day scramble to end up with a dreadful set of options and a panicked signing on loan.
If that day comes, nobody had better attempt to blame Norwich for the mess we’re in. We will have done it to ourselves.
The annual Celtic FC ‘look flat footed and stupid’ pantomime continues then…
This year – every year (Ange season one apart) –
Still they’ve three weeks to fumble along…
Oh me of little faith – Eh !
The moment I knew the window was going to be a spectacular failure was when it was obvious Lawwell was still in charge (i.e. before it even opened). Until he and the rest of the incompetent yes men leave the building it will be forever thus.
Mediocrity is the benchmark of this Board. The bonuses for it are fantastic though!!
James, when last season ended, we knew we needed a keeper, a left back, centre half and 2 strikers. With all the money sitting in the bank, was I expecting to see Celtic push the boat out and see if we can take the club forward? No… this is exactly how I imagined iit to be. This window to be another damp squib with the Celtic board sitting silent, hoarding the cash. And I wont be surprused if they sell our best asset Matt O’Riley into the bargain. This is exactly hiw I anticipated it.
I totally agree but would push the point we were aware of all of this back to February when Joe Hart announced he was retiring. All the other short comings were evident before then & that completed the list of requirements.
And where was the investment from the income that was brought in from Jota sale.
John Hartson 100% correct, Celtic board are a disgrace not for Idah but for the whole of this transfer window. I’ll tell you the moment I knew this would be a disaster of a transfer window,day one.
IMO Celtic are awaiting the cash for O’Riley before some is given to Brendan, scandalous state of affairs considering what we have in the bank and what we could receive if we have a team good enough to progress in Europe.
O’Riley is a certainty to move and we should have a replacement in for him now.
We are working in a small club mentality.
Hartson as you rightly said is wrong. It is their prob if they have their once third choice striker back to where he was.
Celtic should have other players under consideration month’s ago.
It’s all fair and well saying difficult market etc but you pay what a selling club want or negotiate close to that number, you get your player.
Our season has started we should have our squad in place. Simples.!
It’ll be worse if oreilly is sold as Norwich and other clubs will raise prices further. They all know celtic have money anyway. Deals need done now because of this. Those detractors from previous articles are absolutely nuts, agree with all your articles on the club dragging its heels. The key question is why? Is it to raise stock values for a share sale, is it lawell fecking brendan back for lawell junior? One thing is certain, it’s not a cohesive plan to bring in a LB, CB, CM and a Striker. And yes, a clause for idah would have benefitted us here tho idah was a last minute roll of the dice due to previous bad transfer windows. Pay them or move on Celtic, you are there to serve your fans and give us hope in Europe.
Brendan will walk & have every right to.
Lawell v Rogers rematch is taking place.
Brendan has done everything he can with this team & will take his pride with him.
Just wait until the premiership teams come knocking again.
The board are fannies.
I hear your context in that the board are fannies Peter and smiled accordingly…
But folks might also conclude that fannies are very nice things and useful things which the board are very much not…
Unless it comes to hoarding CELTIC SUPPORTERS’ MONEY of course !
Usual pathetic Celtic and their double standards. In the transfer market. That’s our money they are hoarding in the bank! They insult us every season with their pathetic rhetoric and BR is also becoming part of this pantomime.
Apart from a goalie, it’s been a shambles in the market! Shame on the useless board again!
I completely agree with this article well put together and the truth is just that.
From the executives that govern the club to the managers words what do we hear , quality and ambition to progress especially having a stronger quality team to compete in the CL as there are certain positions that do need to be strengthened to compete at this level so to say not be outmatched and being serial losers at this level. The ambition we all want to see celtic progressing but the days of the nearly iffs and being told we need to strengthen we need to learn from this level , please don’t patronize us anymore. Show us the money buy where needs to be improved and also to have to compensate due to injuries if we had 2 injuries to key players I think we are in trouble I think we are just riding a wave at moment until something crashes , not taking anything away from the coaches or current players but spend and improve the team simple. These executives that in my mind are very naive and won’t invest in the current squad. Even if Idah joins we are still at same level from last season.
So sad it has come to this sad, unprofessional, comedy show that this bloody board has overseen since the window opened. If I was Kyogo, Hatate or Carter Vickers, would I want to stay at a club with no ambition and happy to tread water in Scotland? I would be banging down the manager’s door to transfer list me asap
John Mcginn, Steven Fletcher saga all over again thanks to this tin pot ,greedy biscuit tin board,you mentioned a slap in the face to the manager as well as the fans, well I’m sure the manager can do something about it ,I just don’t understand what happened when he agreed to come back after the last debacle,why does he not have it out with desmond or is he happy just to stay quiet and take the money,I wouldn’t have thought so but I can’t figure out where he stands in all of this.
I’ve just read this article and I’ve got to say I was blaming Norwich also.
But reading this I have to agree that Celtic should’ve and could’ve had this sorted out before now!
As the article says Celtic are only doing the same as Norwich in trying to get the best price for Matt O-Riley! I Hope we get Idah. But hey who knows?
Then again nothing surprises me with this board at Celtic!
John must think that I am as nieve as he is as we get more like the currants every day.
I watched their peroid of domination from a rivals point of view and there is a reason why no one liked them after that ARROGANCE & REFUSAL TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR MESS.
I don’t know who is to blame for the ridiculous position Celtic are in but I have a mountain of past historical evidence in my head .
Why is there a refusal to bring in a football transfer expert to a football club ?