Celtic Banter Archive January 20 2020

20 Jan 2020 20:40:00
As someone said earlier Lennon is getting dead wood out the door fast and it only January. Gd on him and gd in these lads as its not the first time players have sat and done nothing and get a wage.
And as ed007 said we have freed up Sinclair's wages and a few others which covers new lads wages.

20 Jan 2020 22:38:57
Since he was confirmed as permanent, he has got rid of many of the duds brought in during the previous managers tenure in both windows, but still needs to bring in some more quality needed to improve us.
El Hamed, Frimpong, Ellyanoussi and to a certain extent Jullien have been very good additions, but we are still thin on the ground in key areas, that I'm sure are being addressed in this window.
The Board had plenty cash before January and with the recent wages freed-up by players leaving, there is no excuse not to back him.

20 Jan 2020 20:13:40
I think the buying projects all the time is our downfall because they aren't good enough at the moment and some will never be good enough. I think as a result of buying projects we have guys like McGregor brown Forrest Edouard who are going a bit stale at the moment cause they know it doesn't matter if they have a bad game cause they will be playing next match any way cause no one is there to push them and as a result standards are dropping. We need players to go straight into the starting 11 and as a result force these guys to up there game or they won't be in the team at the moment these guys are just coasting it . Sorry if am ranting guys just wanted to know if am the only one that thinks this way .

{Ed007's Note - We don't buy projects "all the time" though do we? We buy young players for the future that are allowed to develop and we buy players that go straight into the first team squad.
Were the likes of Craig Gordon, Carlton Cole, Kazim-Richards, Scepovic, Kolo Toure, Dembele, Compper, Gamboa, Sinclair, Jullien, Elhamed, Ntcham all prospects?}

20 Jan 2020 20:52:48
I get what your saying Ed but what am really getting at is that we don’t need anymore projects we need players to go straight into that 11 and of a better quality than what we have and of most of the players on that list we haven’t half wasted some money on players that shouldn’t have been anywhere near the club . Over the last few years how many players that have come in have been a success would you say?

{Ed007's Note - Ah right, got you now, Mick but as I said on another thread forget the projects and look at them for what they are - players we can develop - and we do OK out of it imo. The underlying problem is when Lawwell makes footballing decisions, that's why I have persistently said for years we need a director of football that is willing to argue against him and put the footballing side of things first, if we could get a DOF that could work with Lawwell - and you'll always get clashes with opposites, football/finance - we would be at the level we deserve to be.
We could argue all night about X signings and Y signings but we've won 8 leagues in a row, 3 trebles and 10 trophies in a row so ignoring the finances you have to admit the that the majority of our signings have been a success.}

20 Jan 2020 21:42:07
Who would we bring in to do it tho? I don’t think you could leave it up to Lawell to pick him either he would only pick a yes man in my opinion. The guy that was at Chelsea and I think he went to Monaco would be great I can’t remember his name tho but I don’t think he is at Monaco anymore either . But what kind of wages are these guys on?

{Ed007's Note - Michael Emenalo, yeah he left Monaco last summer I think. Picking a DOF should be a group decision with DD, Lawwell and Lennon having an input as they all have to dovetail and work together. Why not give Hammond the DOF responsibility?}

20 Jan 2020 22:02:08
I really don’t know who I would give it to be honest . What is hammonds job at the moment is chief scout or head of recruitment and what is the difference? That is the guy I was on about emenalo I read something about him being one of the best dof about but not to sure if he is as Monaco are a bit of a shambles at the moment.

{Ed007's Note - Hammond is Head of Football Operations which means he's in charge of scouting and recruitment across the whole footballing department. He'll oversee all the academy staff, the sports science, medical & performance analysis teams etc and even the first team coaches including Lennon to a certain extent will follow his plans behind the scenes.
A DOF is an executive role - on a par with the CEO - and they oversee medium and long-term strategy. He will work with the owners/CEO and the manager to identify the Club's philosophy and ensure it is implemented across the board. A DOF would implement a 'Celtic Way', which would set out what the club expects, what behaviours it looks for from players and what values best represent the, Club. and he would likely have some influence over style of football, from the academy to the first team.
The aim is to ensure that the Club remains on the right path and is not forced into short-term measures, Man Utd's recent problems are a prime example of a club needing a DOF with a long term plan - when Rodgers left the DOF would have implemented a plan to keep the Club moving along with as little turmoil as possible over the short and long term, the DOF is the constant to ensure the footballing department evolves and progresses even when managers and their coaching staff etc come and go.}

20 Jan 2020 23:34:24
Some of those names give me the fear Ed. Though Carlton Cole was worth it for the song alone 😂.

{Ed007's Note - It was an expensive song that, a two-year contract on £12k a week that needed to be paid in full when he was released.}

21 Jan 2020 13:07:55
Yeah we have signed some donkeys over the years.

20 Jan 2020 15:00:12
After recent disappointments in signing SPFL players like Ciftci, Allen, Hendry and Morgan and with the jury still out on Taylor, there is apprehension with myself and others in the Scottish market.
There has been interest in the past for the likes of Scott McKenna and I have read posts on here suggesting Cosgrove and Boyle?
Today there are very strong rumours and speculation about us going for Hickey and/ or Shankland, so if - and obviously a big if - we pursue either or both, where would that leave guys like Griff/ Bayo or Boli and Taylor?

20 Jan 2020 17:03:14
Hickey is a young lad with a lot of potential he was at us before but didn’t see a clear path to first team with KT being there Bayo hasn’t had enough games consistently for me to form an opinion but Boli gets caught out of position to much for my likening ad like Griff to get back to where he was but we can’t wait forever we should be coming out every transfer window stronger.

20 Jan 2020 17:34:38
The left back position with Boli and Taylor is still suspect. I've not seen much of Taylor so maybe early days.