Over the last few months, there’s been one constant in the media when talking about the Ibrox crisis, and it’s this: that club has to be more like Celtic. The media is pushing this line relentlessly, hammering home the idea that their way out is to copy us. And yet, every single thing they say beyond that completely contradicts it.
For one thing, Celtic lives within its means—they have no interest in doing that at all. The only talk in recent weeks has been about the Americans coming in and throwing money at every problem, including the team.
That’s everything to them. Their team isn’t as good as ours. You would think that was the only issue they have, but it’s a mischaracterization. The real issue is the financial gap between their club and ours, and they are never going to bridge that as long as they believe overspending is the answer.
The truth is, they are incapable of behaving like Celtic. So, I have a little suggestion for them: stop trying to copy us. Or at least, stop pretending to copy us and start facing some hard facts. And the first of those facts—one they will struggle to accept—is that they are not in our league financially, professionally, or in terms of the infrastructure required to do things properly.
The worst thing they could do is continue pretending to follow some kind of blueprint we set. It’s time they came up with some original ideas and focused on being the best version of themselves, rather than some third rate version of us. Because—just in case no one has pointed this out to them—there are fundamental differences between our clubs, and the pieces just don’t fit into the slots they have in mind.
It makes me laugh when we’re accused of being obsessed with them because the reality is the exact opposite.
Their club is obsessed with ours. Everything they do reinforces that. Every time a media outlet suggests copying an element of Celtic’s operation, and their fan sites echo it, it just proves how little imagination they have. They don’t have a vision of their own, so their best idea is simply to try and replicate ours.
But to copy us, they’d first have to understand what it is we actually do, and as I’ve written many times, they just don’t.
To follow our lead, they’d have to live within their means. That is fundamental. Yet their entire purpose for bringing in the Americans revolves around having them overspend, pouring money into the financial black hole that is their squad. They might fantasize about adopting a similar transfer trading model, but they don’t understand how ours works—or why they can’t get similar prices for the rubbish they have.
They keep talking about a “buy low, sell high” transfer strategy, but that’s nonsense, as this blog has pointed out time and time again.
Look at the players we’ve sold for big money—most of them weren’t bought on the cheap. For every Matt O’Riley, there’s a Jota. A £1 million player and a £6 million player. They forget we spent £4.5 million on Virgil van Dijk. They forget Kyogo cost £4.5 million. Even Nicolas Kuhn set us back nearly £3 million.
They think they can throw £10 million at a squad and suddenly compete with us. But look at our team right now. You’ve got Bernardo at £4.5 million, Idah at £9 million, Jota at almost £8 million, Engels at £11 million and a central defence that cost a combined £12 million. A right-back at £2.5 million.
Do the math. That’s far more than they’ll be able to spend anytime soon.
One of the great myths about our transfer strategy is that it’s all about picking up players for peanuts and flipping them for massive profits. The truth is, we spend real money on these guys—most of them, anyway. The Hatate’s, Maedas, and O’Riley’s are the exceptions rather than the rule. If you look at the history, most of our big-money sales started with significant investments.
Trying to compete with us on the pitch is one thing—trying to compete off it is absolute madness. If they had any sense at all, they’d stop trying to be Celtic. They aren’t. They never will be. They’d be far better off figuring out how to be themselves—if they even know what that means.
But the truth is, so much of that club’s identity is tied up in us. That might sound odd, but it’s a fact. They cling to the “Old Firm” like a comfort blanket—except it’s also a rubber ring amidst their stormy seas, the only thing stopping them from sinking. If the Americans do take over, the smartest thing they could do is break free of that and stand on their own two feet instead of constantly using us as a crutch.
They certainly won’t get far trying to follow our playbook.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
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To be like Celtic, for a start they would need go back to school and get a proper education. They would need to stop stalking groups of peepul wearing orange regalia’ led by the P. They would need to stop kicking the Pope, the man’s no awfy well just now. They would need to stop
Submitted by mistake before I finished it, the P was going to be the Pied Drummer. I can’t be bothered continuing now. 🙂
If only we had an edit button?
but then I guess you would be able to edit a posted comment to look totally different which would makes a debate seem something it was not
They need a good manager and a few players just to be sure of 2nd but things can change quickly, we need to make sure we don’t go backwards, when is it time to start moaning about Rodgers new contract? After the season? Next season I hope we have the same team plus Tierney and a couple more, the following season is a dangerous one if Rodgers doesn’t commit.
Agree with all you say James.
The scottish media have a big part to play in this.You see it in every transfer window where no matter who we target they claim Sevco are also chasing them even though the prices are way beyond their skinto budgets.
The press are forever trying to flog our genuine stars at rock bottom prices whereas they build their dross into mega million stars for having a cpl of good games.
If by chance they did get a budget to buy half decent players you can only imagine how much tge scottish media will add to their values overnight.
Wonder if we will hear the press drone on about how Sevco’s sugar daddy billions will be bad for Scottish fitba like they do with us.
The rationale for this transfer is allegedly founded on a successful player trading model and massive progress in Europe. You have regularly exposed their amazing European Record with factual evidence along with regularky disproving they any never mind a successful player trading model sp good luck to the consortium on those issues.
If they are clever enough the consortium, if it exists, will look at all the things they are trying to do and see that they are nowhere near us in any of them.
Better still they just read your blog and put away their cheque book
I agree that the peepul, including their media, trod this weary and unrealistic idea of throwing money at Sevco. However from what I’m reading the 49’ers consortium don’t conduct their business that way. I think Celtic have spent more on players than Leeds since they took over the club. They apparently try to build a club over time in a sustainable way, which Patrick Stewart also seems to align with. I’m unsure why the media tend to ignore this but they seem to be off at a tangent or two from what the 49’ers are proposing.
Hi James
It would be somewhat churlish to pretend this is not a potential opportunity for our rivals to reinvent themselves. Dave King’s expression, “investor fatigue”, does seem particularly apposite at this time as an ageing, punch-drunk board see a chance to cash in their chips. This could be their Fergus moment, their Brucie bonus if you like, but only (buyer beware) if they play their cards right. Fergus did not retain too many previous practices but he was certainly a man with a plan. These potential investors, once they have conducted their under the bonnet due diligence and, if they decide to go ahead, will need to break cover and lay out a road map to engage / interact / fleece / re-invent or otherwise bring their plan to life. To turn a continually loss making basket case of a club into a solid profitable enterprise in under five years will need access to Champions League monies and a bit of a Midas touch. It could also be a Trojan Horse for a slow continuous bleed of the blue pound. Entertainment for the green half of the city, but only while it’s funny.
i have no idea how the past 13 years of debt that has been straddled to the new Rangers FC since 2012 is ever going to be repaid, they had the chance to bet the house on getting UCL money and that has failed so this US takeover seems to be another huge gamble, surely things are worse than when Bill Miller checked under the hood which makes this all seem like a way to sell season tickets to keep the lights on next season.
All the more perplexing why The 49ers allegedly chose Sevco then for sure…
If they try to run them sustainably there is a helluva, helluva tirade of abuse comin their way from ‘the baby out the bath water’s for sure !
I think the biggest issue is even if a sensible board were appointed they would be left with 2 options either kneel to the expectation & demands of the staunch or deal with absolute hysteria from the fans at every opportunity for not throwing everything at stopping us regadless of what the long term implications would be. That’s the crux that is killing them, they know as long as they aren’t succedding only we are so they are desperate to stop that by any means instead of as James says standing on their own 2 feet & being an individual club as we are.
It does raise a question in my head though. As someone with my earliest memories of Celtic being the late 90s & not being someone who paid much attention beyond watching the football (I’m not from Glasgow so very much was able to watch Celtic in a pure football bubble)
Anyway the question, were our fans (or a portion of them) as mad as their fans are currenlty. Wishing for the club to do anything to stop them but then realised in 94 that wasn’t a practical view.
I was 5 when Fergus bought us & from reading once older, my understanding is he wasn’t a unanimously popular figure at the time but it seems generally he was accepted by the masses. Is that correct?
As much as they need their own Fergus I just don’t see them supporting that scenario as (as far as I can tell) our fans supported him.
By all means hit me with pelters for not being educated on my club but I’m genuinely just looking for something honest reflection on how our fan base was prior to the revolution that laid the foundations for the club we are now.
I don’t think it’ll come anytime soon but I can see a lot of outrage should we ever be in a situation where winning isn’t the standard.
Covid season & the riots outside of Celtic park for not being good enough is what I see coming back if we were to start slipping up. Obviously that is based on our position within Scottish football & the financial dominance we have over every other club in the country.
For Fucks Sake – A Celtic supporter on Clyde Superscoreboard asking them…
What does Financial Sustainability Regulations mean for ‘Rangers’ – His description not mine by the way…
Do they no fuckin read The Celtic Blog !!!
Not all Celtic fans were 100% behind Fergus particularly when the league was lost season after season. That’s regardless of the fact that we had the better players, played the better football, and were more entertaining. We were unfortunately halted by their defences but in particular by the goalie as he was known by their supporters. Andy Gorum was Tommy’s (RIP) nemesis not Walter as is often said. Fergus took some flak for that, whether unfairly or not, but we know in hindsight what a job he done for us all when he saved and put the club on the path to the success from which we have not retreated. Respect