12 Apr 2024 07:55:43
Morning All,
I hope everyone is doing well!
I just wanted to give a shout-out to my team from Bergamo, Atalanta! What a result last night against a team we supposedly had NO chance of coming close to. In the end, the supposed English giants were embarrassed at their ground!
Big shout out to my mates from Italy Lorenzo and Fab for offering me a ticket but I couldn't make due to family commitments.
Why is most of the atmosphere in these stadiums pumped out by speakers around the ground? It's ok you can leave it up to the fanatical away support to show you how to create a proper atmosphere!
Have a great weekend everyone!
12 Apr 2024 09:12:49
That will be an expensive Final in Dublin with flights and accommodation.
I hope the Italian’s make it.
12 Apr 2024 09:26:41
I follow Atalanta as well. I have a friend at work who supports Liverpool and he was very confident going into this. I tried to tell him how good Atalanta are and the way they play football but he just gave me a blank look. He’ll be thinking I’m an Italian football guru after that last night.
12 Apr 2024 09:41:10
It was a great result for Atalanta.
Atalanta are a great example of what you can achieve with limited funds if you have a good blueprint, a good team to implement it, a good succession plan and great scouting and coaching.
Celtic could learn from their model.
12 Apr 2024 11:34:05
They're a proper team with pace and physique. definitely a cl team in the making. Great defending as well.
{Ed007's Note - Just in response to Wee Joe, their model included a certain Lee Congerton as Head of Senior Recruitment & International Development before the lure of Saudi money took him over there last month.}
12 Apr 2024 12:15:39
@ed I was not aware that Lee congrrton was there.
This would suggest that he was either not a good fit for Celtic or he was not given free reign to work his magic or he has a better team helping him.
{Ed007's Note - Maybe a bit of all 3, Joe.}
12 Apr 2024 13:03:44
Abd buying inferior players on the cheap.
{Ed007's Note - It wasn't Congerton that decided who we bought.}
12 Apr 2024 13:07:56
Yeah it could be a combination of them all.
Knowing what I know about Lawwell ego, my guess is that he was not given free reign and had to work under constraints, which can be a good and bad thing.
If memory serves me right he identified Daniel castagne but Celtic would not meet the valuation.
{Ed007's Note - There's probably more than Castagne that slipped through the net on Daddy Lawwell's watch as unofficial DOF.}
12 Apr 2024 17:49:19
I reckon you are right. Hopefully he will get removed in the summer.
{Ed007's Note - I'm expecting, well more hoping I suppose lol, there will be big changes behind the scenes in the footballing department but - and I know there are some rumours he will be leaving or even retiring as he turns 65 next month - I don't think PL will be going anywhere.
If we keep him away from the footballing side of things he is still a big asset to the Club because of the clout he has in the wider footballing world.}
12 Apr 2024 19:11:48
We would need to be getting our recruitment / scouting team and their responsibilities sorted out very quickly . Not many weeks until the close season and if we don’t get everyone in position very soon, we will be playing catch up again.
13 Apr 2024 02:03:00
I take your point ed but I have had enough of him.
He has messed up too many transfer windows over the years and that has cost us several titles.
His succession planning for managers has been extremely poor and sometimes we have had to wait months for a new manager.
However, his main crime in my eyes, was signing off on the resurrection of Rangers and then pretending he does not know anything about the secret 5 way agreement. Then to top that off he refused to pursue Rangers and the SFA after they swindled us out of a champions league spot.
While he is still at the club, there won't be harmony between the fans and the board, which is not healthy for our club.
{Ed007's Note - I can't disagree with any of that, Joe but it's good for Celtic - and Scottish football - to have someone in the upper echelons of UEFA with the respect, clout & power PL has, that's why I can't see him leaving unless it's his own decision.}
13 Apr 2024 13:47:07
We are pretty certain PL has messed up transfer deals . However I would be surprised if he was responsible for as many as most of us blame him for . Celtic dealings on transfer market are mostly carried in private and we have no idea what is happening . It is relatively easy for us to put 2 and 2 together and blame PL. He could well be to blame, but if he was he had to be carrying out instructions from our largest minority share holder who wouldn’t keep him in position as long if he wasn’t doing what was required. Was there any point of removing PL to replace him by someone else doing job exactly the same.
The five way agreement, I would think had to be agreed at Board level, not by single employee. Surely something as important would need Board approval or Disapproval. I am glad he is no longer C EO, as anyone too long in a post of that signifIcance isn’t good for any club.