Last night, a story broke which, I think, most of us had halfway expected. If not in its exact detail or form, the general idea wasn’t a great surprise.
The club from Ibrox is scrapping its B team. And I already know the media will try to paint this as some radical reform by the football department to make improvements. But we all know better, don’t we?
No, we know exactly what this is. This is the start of the downsizing. This is the beginning of sweeping and savage cuts to the Ibrox club’s budget, heedless of the consequences for the management team or the football department as a whole.
It’s remarkable that anyone would attempt to spin this as something else.
Yet the media is busily pretending it’s some kind of rejig of the academy setup. It’s nothing of the sort. In fact, as I’ve written before on this blog, one of the reasons Scottish football finds itself in such a mess is the lack of a reserve league system. And one of the reasons we don’t have a reserve league is because the Ibrox club withdrew from it in its original form, bringing the whole thing crashing down.
That was done for financial reasons, just as this is.
The B team has become a luxury they can no longer afford. Now, while I’m not overly impressed with the progress of our own B team, and I don’t think playing at such a low level benefits our younger players, the existence of the team at least gives those young players games. It also allows us to field first-team players returning from injury to regain fitness and match sharpness.
That has its advantages, and they’re fairly obvious.
A B team is essentially the final step for young players before they’re deemed ready for the first team—although, at Celtic, very few actually make it that far. So, the decision at Ibrox to scrap their B team cannot be seen as a positive move in any way, shape, or form.
Let’s use a recent example to highlight its purpose and value.
Everyone knows I’m no fan of Ianis Hagi. I think he’s one of the most overrated footballers ever to play in this country. But he wouldn’t be in the Ibrox first-team squad right now if not for those B team games. He impressed the coaches enough to recommend his return to the side, even when the manager himself wasn’t convinced. Without the B team, he’d have been a forgotten man.
The decision to scrap their B team tells us one thing loud and clear: cost-cutting has begun, and it’s going to be much more severe than most anticipated. I have another article coming later today with further proof of this and how savage the cuts are likely to be. That story was planned before this news emerged, but review or no review, the new chief executive has already started wielding the axe—and it’s going to be brutal.
None of this should be surprising. For the past week, ever since Patrick Stewart addressed the media, many of the Celtic websites, this one included, have been discussing the looming cuts. His appointment was never about putting them back on top. His remit is clear: make them financially stable.
Keith Jackson may have lamented that Stewart had nothing positive to say at his first press conference, but that was never the point. He wasn’t there to provide comforting soundbites for Ibrox’s media lapdogs. He was there to deliver the hard truths, and anyone paying attention would have grasped the harsh reality in his words. Now, we’re beginning to see what that reality looks like.
This is just one piece of the puzzle. Later, I’ll reveal another.
Patrick Stewart hasn’t been in the job long, but he’s come out swinging. And nobody should fail to see the writing on the wall now.
That club posted a £17 million loss last year, and they’ll post losses in excess of that this year. If they keep going down this road, they’ll be in the graveyard before long. The board of directors is duty-bound to steer them away from that fate, and if that means sweeping cuts across the board, so be it.
Whatever way the press tries to dress this up, it’s farcical. This is austerity arriving at Ibrox—and there’s a hell of a lot more of it on the way.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
The other night we released our latest podcast episode. In light of events across town we called it Sack The Board! Please check it out and share it if you enjoy it! Help us grow and get even better!
Correct, any of the higher ups over there who weren’t on board have left or been sacked and replaced with guys prepared to be (very) unpopular. It was fun watching them spend into the abyss but they can only stabilise as a 2nd place team anyway.
I am expecting major cuts to the first team squad, if by some miracle they can find buyers for them that is. There are plenty of stories doing the rounds about Dowell and Matondo, I would add captain disappointed, Butland, Dessers, Hagi to the list as well. On a side note a see Cortes is injured again, I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to wriggle out of signing him by citing medical grounds as a reason to void his upcoming transfer. Fun times ahead. HH
What is that you noise we are hearing from Govan, you may ask?
Is it the sound of the penny finally dropping over Ibrokes way?
Fun times ahead, if this is only the start !
If we had an honest or competent smsm they’d be all over this …but as we know, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon !
Let the firesale begin and their version of Amazon Black Friday deals! Though over there it will be Ibrokes Sunday to Saturday red, white and blue deals!
A BOGOF anyone …buy Tavernier and get Matondo free!
Interesting times…putting it mildly ! HH
Is this a good time to revive the reserve league?
Is this with immediate effect?
Yup…..as of last night. So there’s a squad of players, reserves, coaches , trainers and medical staff all getting P45s.
Wonder what the contractual situations were for the B team players?
So the ibrokes jumble sale begins.
Jackson’s comments were so disingenuous. Listen to him in other forums he knows there needs to be massive cost slashing at rangers but in his paper he implies the opposite, pandering to the Klan. Guys is a complete dik. Two faced, sleekit and not to be trusted.
What happens to their B team now, friendlies and inhouse games? Did they not do this a few years back to play teams up and down the country spinning it like some ingenious revamp.
Scottish reserve league set up is crap, let’s not mix our words here.
When did Murray Park become auchenhowie??? And Why? So they could punt that and get something cheaper set up.
Stadium naming rights another that has been mentioned many times.
Sell and lease back Edmiston house.
Sell next season’s SB’s for upfront cash, heard that one before, standard practise under Murray.
4 jerseys a season, 2 of them Orange is always popular with a UJ on the back.
Family silver is long gone.
They’ll be selling anybody they can for anything they can get,
and only bringing in loan deals to fill the gaps,
Think that Cerni guy on loan to them is available to them for £6m in the summer,
so he’s definitely away for a start,
Are they on the brink again I wonder?
I presume that a lot of the B team will be released as having short term contracts or be loaned out.
They will have to release B team players on short term contracts or loan some players out.
A few players will be added to the first team squad especially if players leave.
But, But, But – It’s all ok…
Some nutcase (his / her fellow poster’s words on there – not mine) says that Elon Musk is comin to the rescue by throwing gazbillions of spare change at Liebrox…
Beware now Celtic – For Fuck’s sake Beware !!!
Fuck Sake – Should have said the alleged nutcase poster was from CQN forum !