Even as the dust was settling on the Ibrox takeover, with them and their media allies congratulating themselves on how wonderful they are, how wonderful the club is, and how wonderful their situation looks—despite all the warning signs—there was a little-commented-on moment that delivered Celtic Park a nice little lift.
Whilst the media was wetting its pants over the possibility of £20 million in investment at the Ibrox club, Celtic were receiving a nice cheque from Bayer Leverkusen to the tune of £6.7 million—for a player we already made a tidy sum on.
It’s a fine profit on Jeremie Frimpong, especially considering the money we’ve already banked for him. And it comes at a perfect time.
Everything we do well in the transfer market is summed up in that deal. Everything the club across the city is trying to do is summed up in their shambolic attempt at steadying the ship. In this single transaction, we’ve made a huge return on a single footballer and received a handy financial boost at a time when they’re getting giddy over what is, at the end of the day, not very much money at all.
That’s a sign of what they’re up against.
Over there, they’ve got a board of directors talking about a sustainable operation. If they’re serious, it’ll be the first time in a long time that their setup has been run on that basis.
And that’s not great news for the fans who were celebrating yesterday like all their Christmases had come at once.
I’ve already written about what it might mean for the club and for them, and the picture I painted is pretty bleak. I will pain a bleaker one tomorrow. But even if things turn out better than I expect, that still doesn’t mean they’ll be good enough.
We’ve all talked this out. We’ve all essentially said the same things. If we do our job right, we’ve got nothing to fear. We are good enough, professional enough, and big enough that we can counter just about anything they manage to put together. This is further proof of that.
As I’ve said before, for them to overtake us, two things need to happen: they have to move forward and we have to go backwards at the same time.
Even if our board isn’t taking this quite as seriously as it should, it would take something truly dramatic for us to fall behind at this stage. If we keep averaging 90-point seasons, there really isn’t much they can do—short of being perfect. And I don’t think they have it in them to be perfect.
On the podcast the other night, we talked about the myth that Brendan Rodgers has been backed. And I have no problem calling it a myth, because that’s exactly what it is. Whatever Rodgers’ transfer budgets have looked like over the last two seasons, he hasn’t spent a penny of money the club didn’t already bring in. Every bit of it came from player sales—from trading.
To talk of Rodgers’ “net spend” is farcical, because there has been no net spend. If ever there was a time for this club to reward the loyalty of a manager, it’s now.
That £6.7 million alone should be enough that we don’t need to sell a key player to give him more money than Ibrox’s fabled £20 million windfall. But if we do sell players like Lagerbielke and Palma, then that’s his budget right there—and that will comfortably match whatever they can muster.
If they decide to run their club on a break-even basis, then this is over before it even starts. If they try to do what we’ve been doing—buy cheap, sell high—I don’t fancy their chances. And I really don’t fancy the next manager’s chances of even getting through his first campaign.
Because, this is as I’ve said about consistently winning trophies; it is not easy. We just make it look easy. We do the same with this player trading stuff.
For the media to talk about some magic formula that only the 49ers know … it is just laughable—if we’re being generous.
Rodgers shouldn’t need an extra £6.7 million to blow these people out the water. But that money is now there. It’s in the bank. And it should be made available to him immediately. We should be looking to spend it immediately.
This is a moment that demands a big show of force—not just because the new owners at Ibrox are watching, but because it’s the right thing to do.
It’s the right thing to do for the manager. For the club. For the fans, who’ve once again shown tremendous loyalty by selling out season tickets. This is the moment to progress. This is the moment to show our full strength.
And we’d be mad not to seize it.
This additional money is proof of our strength.
But if we don’t use it, we might as well not have it at all. It’s high time this club stopped settling for just enough. If we push forward now, we can land a heavy blow on the Americans before their feet are even under the desks.
I worry that Rodgers has no plan B. The manager who brought on a striker at Ibrox when we were down to 10 men is gone. If we buy well it should still be ok. But will we? A fit KT will make a huge difference. We need new striker to hit the ground running and the midfield needs overhauled. There’s a lot to be done.
He definitely doesn’t seem to have a Plan B for sure…
But his main Plan A worked a treat –
League Champions by SEVENTEEN points !
The biggest threat to Celtic, without doubt, is complacency.
bassey and aribo best they have punted but both now found their level at fulham and southampton respectfully which shows the gulf in class between the glasgow clubs
I see Ancelotti Junior has reportedly swerved them to join the mighty Deportivo of Portugal, that’s’ a nice start for the new regime?
I hate transfer windows, we live in hope every year that we’ll really improve, but we let one of our best players go and make mostly underwhelming signings who don’t usually hit the ground running, they need a fair bedding in period, Kyogo was an exception. So we start the new season sometimes weaker
I’m not sure the Frimpong money is in the bank, Liverpool are paying Leverkusen in 3 instalments over 3 years, does that mean we’ll get 3 instalments? I don’t know. There’s money there anyway, let’s just hope we use it properly.
How Liverpool pay Leverkusen is of no consequence to us, the sell on clause is a full payment regardless 🙂
I don’t think Brendan will be spending any money, I think we will be looking for a new manager, hope I’m wrong but something isn’t right with him and board.
Agree with everything you said in this article James, However it’s a conversation we’ve all been having every pre season for a decade at least. The huns takeover might change the boards strategy but I’ll not hold my breath. We can all see the holes in this takeover regardless if what the scum MSM are making it out to be and of course the Celtic board will too. Nothing will change I think. More of the same, just enough, behaviour from the board. Prepare for another highly frustrating and disappointing transfer window spun as a great success.
The last time Brendan left it was following a blatant arm wrestle with PL with PL refusing to support Brendan with signings. “Another winger…..”
The next few weeks will be instructive. Either new, prompt, early hallmark signings or the usual limbo waiting for an exit of Hatate, Maeda or anyone else to enhance cash flow or release capital. Same situation with Brendan, either sign him up for another 3 years ( and not the penny pinching lack of commitment 12 month roller) or ignore it, obfuscate and both parties go with the “No Rush” quotes.
Given the past history and MO of PLs Celtic I know which one my money will be on. ??
This time next year, a starved and frustrated Brendan Rodgers will be looking for another job having generated a substantial CL increment but having deluded himself that a Leopard can really change its spots but at least having the self satisfaction of having kept his word to the supporters of his boyhood club.
That’s exactly the way I think it’ll pan out as well Eddie !
Totally agree Eddie. Every Summer window we think it’s going to be different, then half way through it with no major signings we sell a key player then force a few panic buys over the line in the final hours of the window! Will the news across the city light a fire under our boards arses, I sincerely hope so, but I won’t hold my breath!!
Everything you have said here is spot on James, but please keep in mind Lawwell. With him still here anything could happen. He is the one who runs everything, not the invisible man.
We should all just be very careful here that’s all I’m saying.
I log and and read the blog everyday James. That’s a few times now you’ve referred to the Celtic fans as loyal. Please dont describe us as “loyal” were faithful.
We are celtic supporters faithful through and through.