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Our opinions on the Celtic transfer window don’t matter at all. Only those of the manager count.

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Image for Our opinions on the Celtic transfer window don’t matter at all. Only those of the manager count.

The Rodgers press conference yesterday didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. He was diplomatic. He was calm. He was composed.

But he didn’t hide his frustration either.

He didn’t hide the fact that he’s working hard to contain a lot of anger. It was there in the words he used—refuting the suggestion that there were no deals to be struck in January, reminding people that we have all the money we need to make those deals. He didn’t want to point fingers at individuals, but the implication was clear: he believes not enough effort or imagination was shown on his behalf.

So Rodgers will work with what he has. He has no other choice. He will get by with the resources at his disposal. But there are two fundamental issues that a lot of people seem to be struggling to grasp. What I want to do in this article is clarify those two issues so we can put some of these debates to bed.

The first of those issues—and I’ve seen it discussed in multiple places—is the idea that we have enough in the squad right now to win the title. That’s probably true.

But if we get an injury to Idah, we’re going to have a problem.

Because, as I keep pointing out, moving Maeda into the middle weakens the left side of the pitch. No matter who you replace him with, it weakens the left side—there’s no question about that. The manager is well aware of this. So if we lose Idah, and Maeda has to carry the water as the only striker, that’s going to be an issue.

On balance, I do think we have enough to win the title, and I expect us to win it. A 13-point lead with 13 games to go seems pretty secure unless we completely collapse—and we’re not going to collapse. This manager won’t allow that to happen. But in saying that we have enough to win the title this year, a lot of people are missing the larger point. And I can’t hold that against them, because we’ve been conditioned by years of this to focus only on the small-scale picture—on what happens here at home.

The people running our club depend on that attitude prevailing, because the only genuine challenge they face comes from inside the club itself. From managers who have tried to push forward, to move us in a more positive direction on a bigger stage. Domestically, the opposition is virtually nonexistent. In footballing terms, it’s embarrassingly bad. And that is why a lot of us no longer believe that the yardstick we should measure ourselves against is simply staying a couple of steps ahead of a club that cannot get its act together.

That’s enough for some people. I recognise that. For some, domestic success is all that matters. They don’t care that we’re failing to take strides on the European stage. They don’t care that we have effectively surrendered any ambition at that level, as long as we can rack up trophies and titles. That’s good enough for them.

I know there are people who believe that we will spend big in the summer. I do not know on what basis you have faith in that. I don’t know what you’re basing it on. The likelihood is that we will spend only what we bring in from sales. Why do I say that? Because that’s the traditional model that we’ve followed for years now.

Ange Postecoglou was allowed to spend only because Odsonne Édouard and Kristoffer Ajer were sold first. Brendan Rodgers’ first transfer window—as disastrous as it was, with not a single player in it that he personally chose—was funded by the sale of the guy we’ve just brought back to the club. We posted a profit at the end of that window.

The summer business, for which this board received all the positive headlines for having “splashed the cash,” was funded by the sale of another top performer, Matt O’Riley. Net spend: zero.

People who claim that the manager was backed are deluding themselves. The manager was not backed. The manager was allowed to spend a portion of what we brought in from the sale of a key player. Anyone still clinging to the idea that this club actually showed real ambition and pushed the boat out on his behalf in the last window is crazy. It’s not supported by the facts.

We have almost a nine-figure sum of money nestling in the bank accounts right now. Think about that. A near nine-figure sum in surplus, while playing in Scotland.

And yet, we could not find anywhere in Europe a single footballer good enough to even bring in on a short-term loan to plug a glaring hole in the team. That reveals a staggering failure—of imagination, of strategic planning, of forward thinking.

So, yes, we probably have enough to win the title.

We probably have the manpower and the means to get through this campaign successfully, at least on the domestic front. But we have already advertised to Bayern Munich that we have no confidence in our ability to get anything from that game. And so, we’ve surrendered it before we’ve even taken the field.

Those who comfort themselves with the idea that we will win this title with the current squad are not really thinking beyond the immediate horizon.

I believe that the failure to properly support the manager in this transfer window makes it virtually inevitable that he will leave at the end of his contract. And if he leaves under these circumstances, we cannot count on anybody of similar quality or calibre taking his place—not that you can believe for a second that this board has the ambition to go and find that person in the first place.

So, while it’s not taking a huge risk with this season—and I say not a huge risk because I believe that, in some ways, we have imperilled this season, although the chances of it ending badly are very slim—we have certainly endangered our future success.

We have certainly put at risk any progress that we made first under Postecoglou and then under Brendan Rodgers, and we’ve done so needlessly. Because it isn’t too much to ask that a club swimming in money put those resources to better use than letting them sit in the bank, gathering dust.

To not use it is not to have it. On transfer deadline day, we were reduced to scrambling around, looking for a last-minute loan as if we were the club across town, which had no money to spend at all. Ponder that for a moment—it’s shameful.

And everything I’ve just written ties into the second reason why this transfer window failure matters. It’s the other argument I keep hearing from all those people out there who simply refuse to acknowledge a few basic facts.

Yesterday, I published a piece about Daizen Maeda and why the idea of moving him to play through the middle is such a bad one—such a rotten, stinking, reeking, horrible idea. Because it weakens our left side of the pitch, which is where we were supposed to have been getting stronger in this window.

And the responses to that ranged from people who agreed with it to people who bitterly disagreed with it and angrily defended the idea that Maeda can play through the middle.

I have never suggested that he cannot. In fact, if you go and read the piece—which, clearly, some people didn’t bother to do—it says quite clearly in the article that Brendan Rodgers recognises that Maeda is capable of playing through the middle and that I recognise that Maeda is capable of playing through the middle.

He’s more than capable of it.

But Rodgers didn’t want to do it.

Rodgers did not want to weaken the left side of the pitch because the board of directors was too incompetent, lazy, or arrogant to go and get him a striker.

And that’s the bottom line here.

It doesn’t matter a damn what I think.

It doesn’t matter a damn what you think.

It does not matter whether you believe that Maeda can play through the middle, and that Maeda will score goals and that the team won’t be weaker. It doesn’t matter that I think we’re moving him out of his best position and that nobody in the squad can offer us the same quality on that side of the pitch.

Brendan Rodgers is the manager of Celtic, and Brendan Rodgers’ opinion is the only one that matters here.

And he didn’t want to do it.

He has been forced to accept a position where he may now have to do it on a regular basis, and that did not need to happen. It is the result of choices made inside our club, in direct conflict with his wishes.

Similarly, a lot of people are satisfied with this window. A lot of people think it was excellent because we brought back Jota and we’re bringing back Tierney in the summer—although that does not help us one iota in the here and now.

And a lot of people are asking myself, Joe, Eric, Dave Faulds, Paddy Sinat, and all the other bloggers what more we expected the club to do and why we’re not satisfied—as if we are the people who have to be convinced that this window was a success.

But only one man had to be convinced that this window was a success. And he isn’t convinced. And he happens to be the manager of the club, and he happens to have a contract that runs out in 18 months, and he happens to be the most high-profile, high-calibre, high-talent individual that we’ve had in the dugout in over 20 years.

His loss at the end of that contract will be felt far more acutely than the loss of Kyogo, or the loss of Jota, or the loss of Matt O’Riley, or any of the other players who this board has allowed to leave over the course of the last few years.

This transfer window did not have to please you or me, and history will not give a damn what you thought of it or what I did.

But our future will hinge on what Brendan Rodgers took from it, what he learned from it, and what he chooses to do next, bearing those lessons in mind.

Do not delude yourself that we don’t have a big problem here. That man is not happy with the outcome of that window and we can surmise, from what happened the last time he was here and was treated the exact same way, that the frustration he’s allowed to creep out in public is nothing compared to how he reacted in private.

And so, we may win this title. We probably will.

But I suspect that real, long-term damage has been done and we are going to have to be much smarter, much more strategic, and much more capable at the highest level of our club than we are right now if we’re going to fix that. I wonder if we’re not too late to even try.

I wonder if the damage hasn’t already been done.

Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

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13 comments

  • Johnny Green says:

    I agree with most of what you say James, apart from your prediction that Brendan will leave at the end of his tenure. I really don’t think he is pissed off enough at this stage to be contemplating that outcome. Time will tell, but Brendan has tried the Premier League on two occasions and he gives me the impression that he loves the job he is in, He may or may not be temporarily annoyed with the transfer window, but I am optimistic that it will soon be forgotten and it will be business as usual tonight and going forward.

    COYBIG

  • mcg123 says:

    I’m not a happy clapper regarding the board . However, they did sanction the circa £9M fee for Idah who has sat on the bench all season. More than likely the Jota deal was dependent on Kyogo so I can understand why it was done. Worst case scenario… we’ll win the league… likely we’ll win another treble. Bayern is a step too far… we cannot compete with that level so let’s stop pretending that a new CF (with over inflated transfer fee in Jan window) would make a difference.

  • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

    Oh it’s been done alright, if Brendan goes, it won’t be long before the message spreads.

    The Board have sent an advance communique to European Football, We are not a ‘Serious’ Club by selling and not replacing our star striker with 3 more Champions League matches still to play.

    We are not a serious Club because we waste other Home and European Club’s valuable time and disrespect those Club’s Playing staff by continually submitting offensive, ‘Lowball Offers’ for their star players. Either deliberately to fail, so that we can say to our support ‘ we tried but the other side were playing hard to get’ or because we genuine believed the selling Club would be grateful for our offer.

    We are not a serious Club because we persistently undermine our Managers, who are only trying their best, by limiting their options in the Transfer Market to low to middle rated or young project players because our business strategy is based on a buy low sell high model and where our playing ambition is restricted to winning a One horse race and occasional appearances in the early rounds of European Tournaments.

    We are not a Serious Club because we have already forced a Senior Top rated Manager to leave because we actively subverted the Manager’s attempt to bring professionalism to our Scouting & Player Recruitment Dept.

    We are not a Serious Club because we are in danger of forcing the same Manager to leave again because we did not live up to the assurances he was given when we rehired him.

    We are not a Serious Club because we allowed a culture of Nepotism and Cronyism to take root within our Club.

    We are not a Serious Club because we have settled for mediocrity at all levels in our Organisation.

    Any more examples, please feel free to add to the Roll of Dishonour.

  • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

    Oh it’s been done alright, if Brendan goes, it won’t be long before the message spreads. The Board have sent an advance communique to European Football, We are not a ‘Serious’ Club by selling and not replacing our star striker with 3 more Champions League matches still to play.

    We are not a serious Club because we waste other Home and European Club’s valuable time and disrespect those Club’s Playing staff by continually submitting offensive, ‘Lowball Offers’ for their star payers.Either deliberately to fail so that we can say to our support ‘ we tried but the other side were playing hard to get’ or because we genuine believed the selling Club would be grateful for our offer.

    We are not a serious Club because we persistently undermine our Managers, who are only trying their best, by limiting their options in the Transfer Market to low to middle rated or young project players because our business strategy is based on a buy low sell high model and where our playing ambition is restricted to winning a One horse race and occasional appearances in the early rounds of European Tournaments.

    We are not a Serious Club because we have already forced a Senior Top rated Manager to leave because we actively subverted the Manager’s attempt to bring professionalism to our Scouting & Player Recruitment Dept.

  • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

    We’re not quite at a 13 point (effectively 14) lead yet…

    We should be – Home game, Dundee coming off a home hammering by The Scumbos…

    On paper it should be a home win – However games ain’t played on paper as we found out up at Dens Park just very recently…

    We might win as The ‘Wonderkid’ Lyle Cameron ain’t playing –

    Now to Brendan…

    Great pic of him and it encapsulates his current emotions towards the fuckin board and that of a lot of the fans as well…

    He (rightly) ain’t missing the bastards with his subtle digs either…

    We simply should have signed a midfield enforcer and a striker even on loan would be done…

    PS – I’m probably a Paragraph 10 describee – Loving That we are lording it over Sevco as I’ve suffered being behind their late Bastard Daddy’s that were known back then as ‘Rangers’ !

  • paulion77@googlemail.com says:

    You talk as if the bulk of the support are not as in tune as you are to the bigger picture. I think you’re wrong. I’ve watched the podcast and it is my opinion that you have made far too much about this window being an ” abject failure ” when it is has not been. I completely agree that celtics scouting and transfer business is a disgrace but when you start to rant about things that are just not true, it takes away from the things we should be worried about. This window hasn’t been a disaster, it could have been better. And let’s not kid ourselves on, Brendan has enough power to change what he feels needs it, so some of the blame with scouting and transfers lies at his feet too.

  • shoobs says:

    Phil Mac Giolla Bháin posted an article this evening which might show the transfer window in a different light. It’s worth a read

  • wotakuhn says:

    2 points out of so many that could be made on the opinions that are made in this article
    We are not failing to make strides in Europe. Fact.
    BR knows it would be foolish to move Maeda off the left as it weakens the team so much.So what does he do tonight? He moves Maeda off the left and plays Jota. How disrespectful to Jota do you want to be. Maeda finishes so well tonight just like a striker and with the others chipping in well we’re really fecked since we sold Kyogo for £10m, no shit amount of money. My view aren’t we lucky. Seriously couldn’t make it up

  • wotakuhn says:

    Maeda is a jewel in the crown that I hope Celtic put maximum effort to keep at the club. No doubt others will will be viewing him with greedy grabby eyes. Just wish he’d cut out those petulant tackles that lead to red cards and that denied us his talents for 2 CL games. Well done again to big Adam

  • Brattbakk says:

    The team have done a great job in lifting the spirits of those like myself who were left a bit deflated by the window. A few injuries could expose us so it’ll be interesting to see who plays at the weekend, I wouldn’t want to risk anyone. The board might not care about the Bayern game but the manager, players and fans do so let’s go for it.
    I also read Phil’s article about the deals that never panned out and although I think it could be true, hard luck stories don’t cut it.
    I don’t mind us keeping, say, £50m rainy day money but to have around £100m in the bank with gaps in the squad is criminal.

  • Gerry says:

    Great performance and result from the Bhoys tonight. Made the trip to Paradise, very worthwhile.
    There wasn’t a failure tonight and it was wonderful to see Jota, displaying the verve and confidence that he has in abundance. Can’t wait till he’s 100% match fit! Well done to big Adam for yet another goal !!! We’ll soon be calling him prolific lol!

    The icing on the cake ( again) was Dazzling Daizen. Get his contract extended now, as the wee man is just fantastic!

    It was good to see this tremendous on field performance after our board’s abysmal off field inertia!

    Again, it might be good if our absentee landlord (DD) interjected here, and publicly backed BR, whilst looking to do a bit of spring cleaning in the boardroom.
    Although he might need more than a bit of Mr Sheen to get rid of the dust that continues to accumulate there.

    There are rumours that the search for Lord Lucan showed up more positive leads than our January striker mission!
    Surely not ? HH

  • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

    Well now – What an AWESOME fuckin performance that was tonight for sure…

    Everyone was brilliant – Well Done Brendan and The Bhoys…

    I’m in such good mood I don’t even wanna slag the board to stifle ma joy at that treat tonight –

    So hope they enjoyed it as well…

    Whisper it – But do we need any more if we play like that –

    Bayern won’t fancy a Parkhead performance like that…

    Just gutted that Daizen is suspended though !

    Great night and let’s all enjoy enjoy it !!!

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