29 Jan 2024 10:31:51
I've seen a few posts of recent noting how badly run the club seems to be, a few questions that continually go through my head are as follows:
Why do we never strengthen from a position of strength?
There seems to be a consistent effort from our board not to get "too far ahead" of that other mob across the city. I have heard many theories that there is a "gentleman's agreement" in Scottish Football to retain competition between the two just so the branding of the "old firm rivalry" is retained as it's the only thing Scottish Football has to offer to the masses. Tinfoil hat stuff.
Why is our recruitment so poor?
Again the above seems to cover this if true. Surely the club are seeing the same problems that thousands of supporters see, we don't actually have any qualifications in recruitment either! The lack of clarity from that stand point and the usual political answers to any genuine queries from the fans/ media is baffling.
The board have slowly decimated the relationship between themselves and the various fan groups, why is that?
Political reasons again. A huge part of Celtics identity is within politics and human rights in general. Removing the GB took the main attraction of Celtic away who coordinate and create the atmosphere that every player wants to expeirience!
Youth system.
The youth system we have in place is utter crap and pointless. There is genuinely no point in having it unless we can begin profiting from player sales and improve the quality of players coming into our squad.
All of the above is clear to see and NOTHING has changed in the best part of 20 years. It's honestly baffling.
29 Jan 2024 11:46:09
A brilliant and accurate post ?.
29 Jan 2024 11:59:04
Well Said, KenLikeEh.
29 Jan 2024 12:09:23
Hi all hope you are well.
I totally agree about the youth set up, but I think the blame for that lays square with Chris McCart, he's been in place since 2008 I think, and have heard multiple accounts of how good players have been cut loose or treated badly. I know that can be bitter parents etc but I know one case where it is true.
I think the club should be setting out exactly what our recruitment and youth set up is, who does what and what the goals are.
29 Jan 2024 12:10:17
The concerns of supporters are very real, but almost always ignored. The infamous 2012 agreement not only ensured the emergence of the new entity we call Sevco with a ready made stadium and training complex, it also began the downsizing and self inflicted weakening of Celtic from able European competitors to 'pot 4' whipping bhoys with the standards and quality of player reduced very considerably and ensuring we not only stayed still, but steadily slipped backwards.
In fairness, there have been some highlights including the Invincible season and cause for optimism with the arrival of AP after the disastrous season of the lock-down league. However, this season has raised more questions than answers and the gap that should have been as wide as the Clyde is now a suspiciously shallow stream. There is a case that they have improved - but let's face it - they are still not a patch on EBT- Oldco. We have regressed to a level that should never have been allowed if ther club was run properly with foresight and ambition. Why has that happened? Maybe it's true:- Underneath every Celtic 'Tammy[ is a tinfoil hat.
29 Jan 2024 14:19:10
Ken, I believe there is something in the. Idea of us not getting too far ahead of the opposition. U remember as well as I do, after 2012 when tribute was enjoying the journey around Scotland our fans dwindled away and we were partially closing stands . The Board could well see that with little competition our turnover was dropping year after yr and may have decided to try to maintain more competition.
I think that a major problem with our Board is that there is too much secrecy. Us fans haven’t a notion of why things are allowed to happen . For example, we all agree this window hasn’t met fan’s expectations. We need to be told why, and does B R accept expectations and what will be done differently to improve next window . This should be done without giving away secrets of our business methods
Board and fans don’t ever seem to enjoy good relations, , if we knew what effort was made to achieve joint targets and maybe where we fell down, maybe we could understand why our transfers in haven’t taken place . Without becoming yes men to the Board I think there must be an area we’re with improved dialogue we should have better understanding and relations which will improve our club performance on& off the pitch.
29 Jan 2024 14:40:57
Fantastic post Ken ?.
29 Jan 2024 16:02:50
You have sort of conradicted yourself, one point you raise is why is our recruitment so poor then you ask what is the point in our youth system. Our fans won't give youth a chance as they demand oven ready CL players. We should have our first choice in each position then youth players should be covering! This prevents wasting money on dead wood like Bernabei, Yang, Kwon etc etc etc. This is the best way to blood our own talent and prevent young talent leaving because they know they have no chance of playing!
29 Jan 2024 17:01:16
The club has concentrated too much on quick success at any cost, and has brought in too many players to "quarantee" that success, instead of concentrating more on developing the youth set up, it appears the youth system set up needs a complete shake up, maybe being too loyal to whoever is in charge of the youth system, instead of bringing in someone who can see the problems and work to fix them.
30 Jan 2024 09:56:24
Bhoy88 I haven’t contradicted myself. The point you make makes sense but it’s clearly not what’s happening.
The fact is we let our youth players join a B team and play teams like Buckie Thistle n Gala Fairydean. These boys get £50 a week if they’re lucky in the lowland league. Absolute shambles.
We are our own worst enemy and a badly run club.