Last night, we got the news that we probably should have expected—Kieran Tierney will not be joining Celtic in this transfer window.
I don’t want to say, “I told you so.” I don’t want to sound like someone gloating over the mess our club finds itself in.
But honestly, some of the people who were talking about this transfer window as if it were already a success—before we had even secured a left back or a striker—should take a long, hard look in the mirror.
Frankly, it’s an embarrassment that so many rushed to praise this board.
The same board responsible for the summer window that left us with players like Yang, Nawrocki, and Lagerbielke. They were always capable of making a mess of this, and here we are, right down to the wire, and it’s looking increasingly shaky.
I asked in a piece just the other day how even this board had managed to complicate what should have been the most straightforward January transfer window in years. All they had to do was add a couple of players in key positions, give the squad a bit of a lift, and yet here we are, in the final days, scrambling just to get back to where we were. A left-back just to replace the one we let go, and a striker just to replace the one we sold.
It’s entirely possible that this window will close with nothing but sticking-plaster loans in two critical positions. That’s outrageous. Absolutely outrageous.
Celtic has made a fortune from this Champions League campaign. We’ve sold players for good money in this window. Right now, we’re posting a multi-million-pound transfer surplus, and yet, with just days left, we’re desperately scouring the market for last-minute short-term deals.
If you still think we have strategic geniuses in charge, you’re delusional.
This window has shown up our board’s lack of strategic sense. Again.
And let me tell you why I say that with absolute certainty. We could have moved for the lad from Bronby at the start of the window and probably got him for around £8–9 million. But after you sell your main striker, the price goes up. The closer you get to the deadline, the higher it goes. We’d be lucky now if we offered £12 million and got him for that—very lucky indeed.
Meanwhile, rumours continue to swirl that we’ve made a bid for the Norwegian winger—you know, the one Brendan Rodgers denied knowing anything about. Let’s see which of those sitting in front of Rodgers today has the guts to ask him why the club is bidding for players he hasn’t prioritised.
He’s made it clear he wants a striker, so every penny spent on a player he doesn’t even know about is money that isn’t going towards the guy he actually wants and people damned well ought to be asking hard questions about why that is. If you think that’s a proper way for a football club to behave, it isn’t. It’s precisely that kind of scattergun strategy that left us in a mess two summers ago.
We can only go with what we’re told. Rodgers was asked a direct question, and he gave an unambiguous answer. So I’d like to think that today, when he faces the media and fan media alike, someone will ask him to clarify that comment in light of Anthony Joseph’s claim that we have, in fact, submitted a bid … and to enquire as to why we’re buying a player in a position where we’ve already signed one when our needs are in other areas.
That looks frankly barmy. It looks ridiculous. It looks as if the left hand and the right hand are each doing their own thing with no brain in between.
This is what happens when you leave everything until the last days of the window. You end up with a desperate, mad scramble after selling your star striker. And every club in Europe we approach now sees the same thing—Celtic, once again, miles late out of the gate and reeking of desperation.
And I can’t help but think of all the people who, just days ago, were talking absolute nonsense about how the board should be patting themselves on the back, how they should be working for the UK Government, and how Michael Nicholson should be made Chancellor. Seriously—these people should be red-faced with embarrassment today for ever having written such sycophantic drivel.
There’s something strange going on at our club. Something isn’t quite right. These people got a free pass in the summer, despite leaving it until deadline day to do anything meaningful—an appalling state of affairs that probably cost us at least one decent target. Are they lazy? Incompetent? I don’t know, but I do know that the manager expressed his frustration at how long deals were taking to complete and that we’re right back here again facing exactly the same problem.
Geniuses? Our board has good PR people anyway, I have to say that. Those people are increasingly successful at getting their message out, in spite of the facts piled up against them. They are making a mess of this.
The tired excuse that it’s difficult to do business in January because clubs don’t sell their best players has been comprehensively debunked—by no club other than ourselves. Because some clubs do sell their best players in January.
Once again, our transfer policy looks like an incoherent mess and for those who are taking comfort in that we still have some time left, I say “don’t hope for miracles.” Every single word of drivel which people wrote in the days after Kyogo was sold about how brilliant our board is for doing deals that weren’t yet done looks supremely misplaced. What exactly are people still basing their confidence on?
For all those who thought we’d only have let Alex Valle go if we had a guarantee that Tierney was coming in, take a look at the situation now—we’re scrambling for a loan signing at left-back. So if you still think Kyogo would only have been allowed to leave if we had a nailed-on replacement lined up, look at the Valle situation and think again.
It’s time to admit to yourself what some us have long known; yeah, we might just be this stupid. Yeah, we might just be this reckless. Yeah, our transfer “strategy” might really be that bad. Yeah our board might just be as complacent and arrogant as it’s possible to be.
Reading some of what was written about them this week I can understand why.
Honestly, some people should be mortified reading it back.
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Bloody hell you ain’t gd
This window has probably been the worst yet all things considered.
Shameful greedy and incompetent
All that’s left now is for a certain blogger/stooge calling us all bedwetters
And two last minute loan deals,if we’re lucky
Hi James the transfer window closes on 3rd FEb
I agree with every word you say regarding our board, The Swiss Ramble has calculated the revenue generated by all 36 teams in this season’s champions league group phase. We are estimated to have revenue of £36.6m and yet here we are looking at a loan signing to provide cover at LB, Brendan sat in the press conference and stated the club had known for months Kyogo wanted to leave so why was no replacement lined up. Our CEO needs to go. No leadership, no strategy, no communication. The quiet man running operation silence is out of his depth.
Came here to say this.
I don’t think 3 more days gives me anymore confidence than if it did close today.
His sentiments are bang on the money either way.
This will be the boards response to BR when he asks what they are working on over the next few days.
“Can’t do business today because there is a match tomorrow, can’t do business tomorrow because there is a match & well we can’t be expected to be working on a Sunday.
We’ll have a look Monday see what we can do for you. There is this Norwegian winger we like the sound of we’ll try get him for you”
Monday the 3rd at 7 AM , this is the last working day today ,playing right into the boards hands.
Once again the board has meddled in the transfer market. We are left scrambling around and will over pay for any players, even on loan. To top it off they will demand a premium price for the next Euro tie of at least £50. We are being taken for mugs again. Rogers will see out his contract and be gone at the end of next season. This board don’t care about the footballing side of the business and they certainly don’t care about the fans.
£50, you’re optimistic! They are charging £37 for a home game against Dundee Utd. £75 minimum.
They will wanna ejaculate big time when they see what they seecas the magical £100 million in the bank…
Meanwhile Sevco will no doubt outgun us with some bling signing after their remarkable success of last night…
It may or may not work for The 12 year and 186 days old club as of today –
But at least they’ll be trying such as it will be !
EDIT = See as – And not seecas as it reads in sentence No1…
Clach, the sons of satan are an irrelevance and not even on our radar!
The sons of Satan… Great description Johnny !
It’s another messy transfer window where we’ve left ourselves short and are scrambling in the last few days. Somebody should be embarrassed by this, it’s piss poor. I don’t share your optimism that we’ll get a couple of loans in even though that’s the minimum we need.
If they don’t strengthen properly before this window closes and it ultimately costs us our domestic season, they’ll be showin once and for all they’re not fit for purpose, or tae stay at our club. How bad would that be, if we blew this league and SC because of their ineptitude. How many more examples would our support need ffs ?
I like to judge upon completion of period. Window is still open.
Yet, clear we need a Left back,a Defensive Mid,a Centre-Back,a goal scoring Forward. Letting Kyogo go mid-season was insane.
Having Yang in a Celtic shirt is insane. Scales in a Celtic shirt is insane.Not having a better Left Back than Taylor is insane.
Which brings me to the Academy, is it a waste of time? As surely we must have players than can plug a hole.
I don’t think the Celtic support as a whole are surprised with the Tierney outcome, it was aways a long shot and unlikely to happen in this window. It was mainly the journos and media spreading the stories of a positive transfer window, the board have been juggling balls and have ended up spilling them all over the place with apparently no Plan ‘B’ in place. I’m not sure though what Brendan’s part is in all this is, he is a clever cookie and I have to ask myself if he has more of an idea of what’s going on than what he might admit to, I cannot imagine him being duped or led astray by the bean counters in his very midst, he is too astute for that.
Anyway, it is not looking good and it has spoiled a successful season so far. I find myself shaking my head and wondering what is going on and why it has become so difficult to achieve a seemingly simple transfer process. Yeah, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.
It’s as if Nicolson, Riley and Lawell are determined to make this League competitive, either that or the complacency at Celtic Park is way over the top.
I know that the Mad Max look from Clement, and the lack of money at Ibrox can make things look easy, but a slip or two from us and the panic button will be pressed. From looking as if we had a very strong pool of players we’re now looking short in some key positions. The L/B position has been a bug bear for a couple of years and although a minority of fans don’t fancy Taylor, I think most fans appreciate he’s been a good servant to the club, and would like to see him offered a decent contract as cover for Tierney when he eventually signs.
I’ve watched The Rangers when on the Telly this season and what I will say is that those players are playing for Clement,
Umpteen times I’ve watched them getting out passed throughout a game, but with a mixture of physicality and long balls, or as Clement would probably say, long passes, and taking their chances, they’ve got results. Sometimes against the run of play.
Three days to lift the mood at Celtic Park, Win at Motherwell and a couple of decent incomings should get us back on an even keel.
As I said previously, you always should be beefing up your team, when you are in a position of strength.
It is hugely frustrating that our board(s) ( historically & over many decades,) have never quite grasped this concept.
Our fans have repeated, ad nauseam, that all we want to see, is the strongest possible team ON the park.
What is difficult to understand about that ?
We dragged the proverbial heels in the summer and paid way over for several players. Consequently, said players, ( who are very good,) get criticised for not performing to the level of an over inflated fee!
Selling clubs certainly have you over a barrel when they start to smell and sense your desperation.
Again, I sincerely hope our manager gets players in, of requisite quality and that are needed for the positions we currently fall short in !
God only knows what we will get, and if by some miracle we do, what the transfer fee(s) will be inflated to!!!!
Come on board, don’t hinder our great start to this season… get the business done and done well, so that we can re-focus on a great end to this campaign! HH
Whatever happens in this transfer window it is a shambles to let first team players leave without concrete evidence of incoming replacements , and to wait till the last few days without these requirements is an absolute scandal.
If this is how this board operates they certainly should take a good hard look at themselves, this isn’t the first time this has happened, have they learned nothing from previous mistakes.
@ jim m. That’s the question mate. If they fail tae deliver. Have they no learned, or is it deliberate, hopin tae suit theirselves in some way. Imo, naebody can be that incompetent and learn nothin, so it must be tae suit their greedy mindset in some way. We’ll see what happens next 3 days.
These guys on our board should be working for Tesco or Amazon. Using the passion and loyalty of fans to line the coffers. What to hell happened with this self proclaimed Dr of football we employed to find players, he obviously is another drain on wages
Critiquing is one thing, critical is another. I don’t know anyone that truly believed KT was a certain January loan given their manager’s back tale and their fans sensible view of KT. Welcome to the club club KT.
The club and BR in particular would be daft to advertise our potential signings in advance for press and media haters. We’ll see on the 3rd if it’s outrageous, not an emotive word I’d use given what else is going on in the world
Wotakuhn,
You’re correct to say that the majority of us didn’t think KT would be here in January, and that we wait till the close of play on the 3rd Feb, before making any lasting opinions!
Just watched BR getting interviewed for Sky at the training ground and he is certainly keeping his cards close to his chest. The usual, “ I know a lot of work is getting done in the background”’ can be interpreted in many ways.
Celtic fans like myself do not get hysterical about transfer business or lack of, as we’ve seen this for more years then we care to remember.
The main issues are, why are we so tardy in our business, and why did we let our main striker exit the building, without having his replacement in situ?
That reeks of negligence and gross arrogance/incompetence!
So no outrage here, we are all just waiting ( as per ) to hopefully see our manager and squad get a much needed boost of new ( quality) individuals! HH
I can see the 2nd winger logic and I know BR said DM won’t be used as the main striker but … we’ll see whether a quality striker will come to us on the cheap when £60m struggles to buy one. That’s DM may come infield. My view of Kyogo is not overly popular I know but he was fantastic for the first couple of years but for the last 12/18 mths he could miss 2 or 3 to score one so I’m putting my support right behind AI. Could benefit from a more trusty centre back too