I’m not the kind of person who is, by nature, a pessimist. If you’ve ever listened to the podcast, you’ll know we do predictions about what the team will do on the pitch, and I usually wildly overestimate their performances and the likely results. It’s just in my nature to always look at the most optimistic outcome, and there are times when I undoubtedly see this team and this club through green-tinted specs.
In short, because I want the best, I always expect the best—at least on the pitch. As regular readers will know, I also expect better outcomes off the pitch at times. For example, I didn’t believe we’d sell Kyogo before Wednesday’s game against Villa. It seemed too ridiculous to even entertain as a possibility.
But the people at the top of this club continually find ways to shock me with their absolute lack of strategic thought.
At yesterday’s press conference, Rodgers said two things that gave me encouragement and appealed to the optimist in me.
The first was that he has personally spoken to Jota and wants him on board enough to have made a direct appeal. He also mentioned that the deal has been in the works for some time. That offers me a crumb of comfort. Jota is a player Rodgers had been looking forward to working with, and it’s clear he wants to scratch that itch.
The second thing that gave me confidence was Rodgers’ assertion that signing Jota—and even the possible signing of Tierney, which he didn’t go into—is not enough to consider this window a success. He’s lost a striker, and he wants a proper replacement. That reassures me. It suggests we won’t see Maeda moved into the middle, Jota moved wide left, and us ending this window in almost the same position we went into it—except with an inferior set of options in the forward line.
But that’s where my encouragement ends. I see no evidence whatsoever that this club will meet the manager’s ambitions when it comes to signing a striker. At best, I suspect that we’ll get a stopgap option for six months, which tells us two things—both of which we should already know as fans.
The first of those things is this: our scouting system is not trusted by the manager at all. In any way, shape, or form. How do we know that? We know it from last January when he turned down virtually every option he was offered. We know it from the summer prior to that, when he trusted the people at the top of the club and then stopped trusting them the moment he realised what they’d given him.
The scouting network discovered Arne Engels—that’s a feather in their cap. But Rodgers found Trusty. Rodgers probably identified McGowan, having watched him play in this league. The two other major signings were both players Rodgers had here on loan during his first spell, so he already knew they could contribute positively.
Right now, our signings this window look like being Tierney—a player he’s worked with before—and Jota, who was signed in Ange’s era, when he was in total command, and is someone Rodgers clearly rates and wants to work with.
I’ve accused this club of lacking imagination in the transfer market, and going back for two players who’ve already been here doesn’t change that view. It doesn’t matter that they’re hero-worshipped by the supporters. The fact we don’t seem to have alternative targets in mind tells you all you need to know about how much faith the manager has in those responsible for identifying talent.
Further proof of this can be found in the hiring of David Pleat. People wonder what an 80-year-old scout brings to the table. Well, one of the things he brings is experience at the highest level of the game.
Let me tell you a little about our scouting department…
The guy who is head of scouting is Jay Lefevre from Arsenal to be our lead scout. I trust him because he has experience working at a massive club. Lefevre’s career path is impressive—he was a scout at Arsenal, then an analyst, and eventually their chief analyst. His pedigree speaks for itself. Similarly, Brendan Rodgers’ appointment of Steve Watson in 2018 was another positive. Watson had worked at Spurs and Brentford before joining us, which brought a level of credibility to our operations.
He has brought in Mark Cooper, who has knowledge of the American markets and elsewhere. That’s a positive step. But the rest of the scouting department? Utter mediocrities. And I make no apologies for saying that.
Take Tosh McKinlay, for example. He’s never worked at another club in any capacity. He has coaching badges, works as a media pundit, and has been employed as a scout at Celtic since 2017.
Lee McCaffrey was appointed in January last year from Hamilton, where he was chief scout, presumably bringing with him an extensive database of lower-league Scottish players. That’s exactly the kind of thing that will help us in Europe, isn’t it?
Then there’s the curious case of Neil Moran. On paper, working at Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid sounds like outstanding pedigree. Except during his time at Real Madrid (2011–2016), he worked in the media department. And during his stint at Atlético Madrid (2011–2014), he was a translator. If he has any scouting experience, I can’t find it. Yet here he is, working for us as a scout.
And finally, Craig Strachan. Some describe him as the “head of UK and European scouting operations” although he appears to have not a single qualification for that role to speak of. Not one.
He’s 42, retired after a very undistinguished playing career that ended at a non-league club, and has been working for us since 2019—after Rodgers left the first time. He holds a UEFA A Licence, but that’s for coaching. Yet we employ him as a scout and apparently at a very high level. Why?
Probably because hiring two Strachan’s for the coaching team would look a bit odd, even for Celtic. The influence of the Strachan family at our club is remarkable, especially considering at least two of them have been allowed to hang around for far too long. And let’s not forget their dad, who had some unspecified role as a “consultant” with a remit nobody ever clearly defined.
A lot of weird stuff happens at our club, but this January transfer window might just take the biscuit. Hiring an 80-year-old scout, David Pleat, certainly raised eyebrows. Now, I didn’t mind that hiring. Pleat isn’t here to take training sessions; he’s here for his knowledge and experience, and he has plenty of both. He probably knows some excellent scouts down south if we’re finally planning the full-scale football department rebuild this blog has been advocating for years.
But the signings of Jota and Tierney—players who’ve already been here—are no-risk moves for the manager or – and think on this – they are considered less risky than relying on the people currently running that side of the club.
Combine that with Pleat’s appointment, and it’s clear Rodgers isn’t impressed with the names being proposed to him. He doesn’t seem to trust the calibre of people advising him. These signings scream pragmatism; Jota is clearly a fantastic footballer and Tierney, when fit, is elite level and I will be overjoyed if he exceeds him expectations and plays every week. What a bit of business that will be.
If Rodgers is allowed to conduct a full rebuild—if he and Tisdale get their way—then we could be in a much better place two or three years from now. But the real concern is where we’ll be in two weeks. How much faith does Rodgers even have in the scouting department to get him what he needs right now?
There are plenty of names being floated, but let me immediately dismiss one: Louie Barry from Aston Villa.
Barry is a left-sided attacking midfielder, not a striker. I’ve read the erroneous claim that he is. But he’s been playing in England’s League One and League Two, and while his record there is decent enough that Villa are offering him a new deal we cannot, must not, and hopefully will not attempt to replace Kyogo—a Japanese international who scored 85 goals for this club—with a 21-year-old kid who’s been plying his trade in the third tier and fourth tiers of English football.
The suggestion that Barry might sign a new deal at Villa and then go out on loan is even more troubling. If that’s the solution to replacing Kyogo, fans should head straight for the car park, because that’s an outrage.
Rodgers told us at the press conference yesterday that the club has known about Kyogo’s situation for months. We allowed him to leave before the Villa game—a game for which we can no longer register a replacement—and with two more Champions League matches on the horizon, where a potential last-16 spot is at stake.
The financial reward for reaching the knockout stages far outweighs the transfer fee we received for Kyogo. No argument in heaven or earth will convince me it’s good business to sell our star striker now, with such much forewarning, only to hand the manager a stopgap loanee who is surplus to requirements at his current club.
If that happens, the fans will have every right to be furious.
This argument that we’re going to hear—that our top target wasn’t available in this window—isn’t going to cut it with fans at all, because if your top target to replace your top striker isn’t available in this window then you shouldn’t be selling your top striker in this window. It’s really as simple as that.
That deal should not have been sanctioned unless we were 100 per cent sure—not 50 per cent, not 75 per cent, not even 99 per cent, but 100 per cent sure—that we could replace him immediately.
And by “replace,” I don’t mean scrambling around for a last-minute deal.
The replacement should already have been lined up, with all that was required being the pushing of a button. We either prepared for this scenario or we didn’t. We either have something ready to go or we’ve gambled and will apply a sticking plaster and hope that we get away with it, and in those circumstances, it will be the equivalent of someone putting the mortgage on red or black at the casino.
If it fails, heads should roll. If it works, we shouldn’t be applauding the people who took such as colossal risk; we should demanding that they at least have the good grace to admit what they did, pack their bags and piss off.
Right now, we are the club that sold its top striker just days before a Champions League match—one of the most critical games of the season—without having any possibility of replacing him. Worse still, one of the only other players who could conceivably play in that position is banned for the game.
In short, we are capable of any sort of breathtaking screw-up and I do not trust us to get the striker signing right, not one bit.
Selling our best player without having done the necessary work on his replacement would reeks of a momentous sort of negligence. Leaving it to chance, or worse, trying to fob off the manager and fans with some loan option as a stopgap, will be unacceptable. The manager expects quality, someone bought in the here and now, probably for big money, and too bad if that hurts the accountancy types.
There is no universe in which selling your top striker and replacing him with a short-term solution is the action of a so-called big club.
And let me be crystal clear: bringing ex-heroes out of the tunnel in their new Celtic kits with shiny new squad numbers won’t impress me one bit if that turns out to be what we do here. In fact, the very act of rolling out ex-players as marquee signings during a window where we fail in the principle task of emerging stronger will only solidify the view that this club is grossly unprofessional at times.
Under the current custodians, we’ve seen a pattern emerge. Only a couple of truly outstanding managers, with singular visions and the strength to impose them, have managed to drag this club forward over the last four years. They’ve been the exceptions in a building otherwise filled with mediocrity and stagnant thinking and if you don’t believe me consider this; If they had their way, Mark Lawwell would still be shaping the squad.
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Yup 100%. And while we are at it. Why not go after patrick roberts or edourd? Hell!! I would even consider the king of kings at this point.
Honestly this is all a dream right? That christmas video thing yeah?
The idea of Maeda through the middle is exciting to me, look at the season he’s having, he plays, first name on the team sheet so if Jota and Kuhn are playing then Maeda is through the middle. If we do actually sign a striker then Jota is on the bench and Maeda goes back to the left. I trust Maeda through the middle to be as good as he always is. The time is now for Idah too.
I agree with what you are saying but if Maeda plays as a striker we will still need another winger to back up Jota.
As we knew Kyogo was leaving some time ago I think we already have another striker lined up.
It’s obvious you will never be happy with our recruitment or those who run the club, you keep telling us Brendan is in control so if that’s the case he must have sanctioned the Kyogo move at this time and whoever comes in he must be happy with, I for one am happy especially with Jota coming back who was a big player for us before leaving, Kyogo has been a shadow of what he was 18 months ago, I think it was the right thing to do. Oh and by the way I can’t see us beating Aston Villa and that opinion would have been the same with Kyogo playing, hopefully I am wrong but that’s my opinion.
MW
It doesnt matter whether you believe that we would have beaten Villa or not, the main issue is that we have willingly handicapped ourselves before the match
Spot on MW, I think we will sign another top striker and big Adam will do fine for now…
I justlove you’re optimism Terry,we knew months ago seemingly that kyogo was leaving, surely our new striker would have been announced at least 2 or 3 weeks ago,except we don’t have a new striker, kyogos money will go straight into the bank alongside the 70 million we already have,it’s near the end of January and still nothing about anyone coming in ,and good as Jota is we still need a number 9 ,like hartson or giacomakis,and we definitely need a hard midfield enforcer like broony or Lenny or dare I say gattuso,but nah no mention of either,and a left back, Tierney is a brilliant player but if he got injured playing in the EPL which is more civilised how on earth is he going to cope with SPFL hammer throwers and dodgy pitches like Killie,we will win the league this year but we really have to tool up for qualifying for CL next season. and I just don’t think our board are willing to speculate to get us there
For someone who is supposed to be very optimistic James, you sure have expressed a lot of negative thoughts. In an ideal world what you are saying is correct regarding a bit of forethought and a readily available replacement etc., but without all the background information as to how the whole situation evolved we cannot judge on that basis. We don’t know when the Rennes interest in Kyogo suddenly surfaced, we don’t know what Kyogo’s reaction and demands were and the Winter transfer window very seldom gives anyone an opportunity to sign top class players in the middle of their respective football seasons.
At the end of the day though, we just have to accept it and get on with it, dwelling on it, looking for answers, scapegoats etc. is counter productive and we, as a Club have to do the best we can with what is available. Yes, Brendan and every one else would like a immediate suitable replacement, but the constraints in the transfer window, with lots of clubs eyeing up the same targets as we are, makes it very, very difficult.
All I can say is que sera, sera, shit happens, let’s see what transpires, be patient and manage it as best we can.
Johnny.
Rennes managed to sign up a top class player easily this window, in fact the selling club bent over backwards to do so before a massive champions league match next week which is a disgrace, especially as they knew that Maeda and any possible new centre forward bought before then wouldnt be available for that match.
Absolutely, we don’t know what has been going on behind the scenes regarding deals, as per last season, and that didn’t turn out anywhere near as bad as a lot of the moaning soothsayers predicted. In Brendon I trust. HH.
My reply to Johnny Green.
You’re very naive Billy,you obviously don’t know the mechanisms of pistol Pete and his hoarding money grabbing cohorts
Fuck ‘que sera’ what happened to the ‘World Class’ in everything we do’ mantra continually espoused by our Board?
Nickel & dime bean counters.
Shit only happens when you don’t prepare or your priorities are wrong. You do not cut off your right arm before a fight unless you are Lawwell and before anyone comes away with the ‘Ah but he’s only the Chairman and doesn’t have any input in the day today running of the Club’ nonsense, if that was the case why not appoint a Chairman from outside the club.
Pistol Pete’s fingerprints are all over this, he never left. When he ‘fell on his sword’ he was just taking a sabbatical, out of the firing line after the farce of the 10IAR year. There’s a reason our invisible man of a CEO hasn’t given an interview to the SMSM, he would have to be filmed sitting on Peter’s lap while Don Lawwell manipulated him with his greedy hand up Nicholson’s rectum.
Lawwell spent 20 years building a regime inside Celtic Park that descended into nepotism and cronyism. He wasn’t ever going to walk away, it’s too lucrative for him.
Irrespective of Jota or Tierney being in the building, we will finish this window weaker if we don’t have a proven striker, not a loaner or project, in the door before the 3rd of February. If not this League title is not a done deal, 13 point and 27 goal lead notwithstanding.
That is a brilliant comment SFA ,spot on my friend,this board and Rodgers are still run under the command of pistol Pete and if any right minded Celtic fan doesn’t realise this they never will,this has got big pistol Pete’s hand all over this and I fear Brendan is just his and Desmonds puppet,but a well renumerated puppet so why would he go against the money mens wishes.
Absolutely bang on SFA
It didn’t seem very difficult for Rennes Johnny did it ,they wanted kyogo put the wheels in motion maybe months ago ,and hey presto they’ve got their man,now how can the Celtic board not do that ,I’ll tell you why because they’re too greedy and penny pinching.
Jeez – And here’s me thinking that signing former players was a Sevco only trait…
Regarding the scouting systems –
I can be The Highland League area scout for Celtic…
Sign striker James Anderson from Clachnacuddin FC please –
Ach well – I’ve probably as much chance of success as ‘Sonny’ Lawwell had at Celtic…
And I won’t squander a gazillion(th) of a fraction of the cash that Sonny Boy did for sure !!!
Selling your best striker before a Champions League game without a replacement reeks of stupidity and arrogant entitlement.
Kyogo who thought he loved Celtic left to join Rennes for more money.
Jota who does love Celtic left Rennes to join Celtic.
Tierney who does love Celtic left Arsenal to join Celtic for less money.
Simples
You’re wrong Terry,if Jota had loved Celtic he wouldn’t have left the first chance he got,same as Tierney ok the guys are entitled to grab every big money chance that comes there way,but please spare me the joys and Tierney love Celtic, even before those two jumped ship they were on wages you and I can only dream about,these two coming back should be on no more money than Taylor or calmac or Ralston,and I think Tierney coming back is a big mistake,he’s got dodgy knees, SPFL players will be told to lay into him and put him out,but hey the guys a multimillionaire so he could like Jota play for nothing but they won’t and as history shows us guys coming back to Celtic are never the same and these two won’t be any different
If we end up with only Jota and Tierney, imo it’ll look like a planned and blatant attempt by the board, tae deceive everybody intae thinkin that they’ve done well bringin back these ‘old favourites’ and appease the support for any shortcomings. That would be insulting. They have the money. Strengthen the team while we’re still ahead.
Spot on kev these two guys coming back are a joke, they left Celtic the first chance they got,which is their porogative but ,like you say spare us the prodigal sons return,this is a cheap move by this skinflint board trying to fool the support which they do , instead of investing in real CL class players, Tierney much as I liked him jumped ship the first chance he got as did Jota,I hope I’m wrong but history tells players coming back are never the same,at least Jota is young and fit , Kieran is not old but is susceptible to injury and especially it’s going to count at Killie away and all the thugs that pass as footballers in the SPFL,but my main concern is we need a hard tackling midfield enforcer,which we don’t seem to be talking about as far as Brendan is concerned and we need an out and out striker like hartson, Sutton or giacomakis but neither of these positions seem to be looked at so on we go ,the rest of league with a weakened team,thanks to pistol Pete and hopefully not withstanding Rodgers puts his foot down and demands some new players but I fear he’s now in pistol Pete’s holster like he was the last time around, when he wanted MC Ginn Pete obviously told him ,no chance work with what I’ve given you and be thankful and doif your cap to me and Dermot
Just a thought; Maeda was dismissed at the end of the game. We must have already done the deal with Rennes. Think about it; Kyogo goes all out and sticks 3 away, albeit they were all ruled out, he’s seriously going for it with Rennes watching. Then Maeda gets a red. But Kyogo’s already packed, contracts signed and medical done. So it could be that yes, he was off but Maeda getting sent off was an unforeseen disaster. So yes you could argue that the planning (unsurprisingly) from the suits was awful. And now, they have to back the manager.
Kvistgaarden looks good but £13.5M? His club aren’t daft. They know we’re desperate and have Frankfurt and Leipzig as competitors to sign him. I agree, forget Louis Barry, we’re wasting time, Emery wants him. So that leaves ‘someone’ else. I wouldn’t be adverse to taking someone like a Hopper from a Huddersfield set up. We never went for Toney but he’s done okay at Brentford. Sometimes you have to take a punt. A championship player may not have top tier experience but might have the grit and power we want. Or look at Eastern Europe. City picked up Khusanov. Okay he wasn’t cheap and they pay big but that’s the level of player we could get – with good scouts!
On a positive note, we have a very compelling offer for a new striker. Knockout CL football and the CL shop window each season to showcase their talents if they want a bigger league in a few years. That is more than mid table premiership or any other big league could offer. Not in money but if you’re a young striker, would you rather have the option of Ipswich or play Madrid and get scouted by a top Euro side. We have to use that advantage.
So I suspect that the plan was Maeda through the middle till summer but with the red card we now need a striker. Also, although PG says he thinks Kyogo just went for money, I wonder if he was finding it too hard to get picked for Japan playing alongside the other two. That might only make sense if he goes to WC 2026. But he’s the past and he’s not coming back like Careless Whisper or KT. So onwards and upwards, let’s pay for the big Danish lad or someone similar and show intent ?
Celtic are there to make money from a football team and devout support. They are after financial certainties. Yes we could have kept Kyogo and possibly reached last 16 but we may not qualify. This way they definitely get the CL money to date and the £10 for Kyogo, it’s guaranteed. They will also wish to recoup the overpayment they had to make for Idah. They won’t have forgot that. Tierney and Jota are clever strategies. They know they were heroes for the fans so that will get the fans on side even if they are not the players they were. And the cash pile continues to grow and grow
James, when are you going to realise this board only cares about making money,ok we get Jota back but who’s to say he’s going to be the player he was, Tierney with his injury problems and dodgy knees,how long before every manager in the SPFL tells their hammer throwers ,one half hearted tackle on Tierney and he’s out the game, when are we going to sign a hammer thrower midfielder which we have needed since broony left,and when do you think we’ll get another striker,coz Idah is decent but not an out and out striker as yet, maybe he will come good,but it’s when we let giacomakis go ,we never replaced him either,I don’t we’ll strengthen at all this January, because Rodgers and pistol Pete knew kyogo was leaving this transfer window,why don’t we have someone a striker ready to come in ,I’ll tell you why the board aided and abetted by Rodgers thinks maeda and Idah will suffice,so take the kyogo money and stash it in the bank and let’s see what the season holds for us,aye we will probably hang for a league title but next season we need to qualify for CL , good luck with that under the present circumstances because knowing the Celtic board they’ll hope we can qualify without the money men and shareholders losing any money.Oh one more thing we slag sevco board shareholders etc but Douglas park who we hire buses off,and other sevco board members at least dip into their own pockets to keep sevco afloat,does anyone think lawell or Desmond would dip into their pockets if Celtic ever needed handouts to stay afloat,I wouldn’t bet on lawell or Desmond putting their own money in,all they’ve done quite successfully btw is keep Celtic solvent but not at their own expense it’s been the fans and supporters who’ve kept us solvent.
I justlove you’re optimism Terry,we knew months ago seemingly that kyogo was leaving, surely our new striker would have been announced at least 2 or 3 weeks ago,except we don’t have a new striker, kyogos money will go straight into the bank alongside the 70 million we already have,it’s near the end of January and still nothing about anyone coming in ,and good as Jota is we still need a number 9 ,like hartson or giacomakis,and we definitely need a hard midfield enforcer like broony or Lenny or dare I say gattuso,but nah no mention of either,and a left back, Tierney is a brilliant player but if he got injured playing in the EPL which is more civilised how on earth is he going to cope with SPFL hammer throwers and dodgy pitches like Killie,we will win the league this year but we really have to tool up for qualifying for CL next season. and I just don’t think our board are willing to speculate to get us there
Lee McCaffrey’s appointment and credentials would appear to suggest that his role is to spot up and coming talent within Scotland at an early stage. That seems eminently sensible but, perhaps, not within a mindset where everything must be criticised and condemned.
If Celtic don’t have a replacement in the door by 3rd FEB then it’s one of the strangest moves ever by this board. It could be that in their view the play off round was the target in the Champions League, and they think they’ve already won the League.
With the financial weakness at The Rangers, Lawwell and Desmond are probably right about the League, but if it becomes any kind of close race there’ll be a lot of criticism coming their way.
I always like to be optimistic when it comes to Celtic, this board seem to go out of their way to make that hard. They seem to be of the opinion that the Villa game doesn’t matter, let’s hope BR and the manager don’t think like that.
That should read, let’s hope BR and the players don’t think like that
We should have had a striker already to join us immediately after Kyogo’s exit?
Really, who are these strikers that are desperate to come to Celtic Park in the middle of the League seasons. Is there a list of them to pick and choose from, can anyone name them please?
Jesus wept!
Rennes got lucky in the right set of circumstances with the Kyogo deal and there’s not a lot we could have done about that., apart from saying no and forcing an unhappy player to remain.
Agree with you here Johnny. I would add that our player trading model (essential to attracting players like Kyogo and others in the first place) relies on trust and working with players. If we got a reputation for not allowing players to leave then how many do you think would be willing to come and play in Scotland and or sign contract extensions that allow us to secure transfer fees for them?
There’s more than a whiff of hypocrisy in some posts expressing views that we should have held Kyogo and traded him in the summer when it suited us and us only. But then the same posts criticise Kyogo for leaving when it suits him…
Heroes come and go – time for a new hero to step up.
The biggest thing I find strange is we are still being linked with the same players who were originally touted when Lawell was in & leading the scouting.
Kvistgaarden was the big name being thrown around 2 summers ago when we had the disaster of a window.
Now I don’t follow what the guy has done since but to me, if he signs for us it raises 2 questions. Either Mark Lawell wasn’t the biggest issue in the scouting set up or more likely as you’ve said in this article. The scouting set up is not up to scratch & all they can do is suggest the same players over & over.
I generally find that when someone is linked to Celtic for more than 1 window the deal never happens.
The media rumours around Celtic have to be the most inaccurate of any team in Scotland. We are linked with minimum 10 players every window & I don’t think any generally turn out to be true.
Look at the previous window. Ignoring Paulo & Idah who were here previously & it was clear early we intended to sign them.
Engels, Trusty, Schmeichel & Valle (even though it was only a loan) were all done within days of the link being reported.
I think only McCowan had longer term links with us & came to fruition so I’d say if they aren’t a Scottish based player & you’re reading a name being linked with us. It’s probably bollocks.
I think we will bring in a Striker but it won’t be a name we have seen in the media.