22 Aug 2014 17:44:41
Hi ED

When I was watching the match on Wednesday evening I couldn't help but think ow far back we have moved. A quick glance at the starting line-up and there can be no denying the "material" asset stripping that has occurred. Backing the Bhoys through ticket sales and merchandise purchase(s) has to be a two way street and I am now less than convinced that PL and the PLC Board see it as a two way street. If you look at just some of the higher profile sales Hooper (£5m) Ki (£5m) Forster (£10m), Wilson (£2m) Wanyama (£12m) McGeady (£9m) and then add on the successive champions league qualifications to the Group (say, for arguments sake £35m), it is quite extraordinary that we have settled for a goalkeeper (no harm to him but he hadn't kicked a ball in 2 years), a left back that has been posted AWOL for about 2 years after injury setbacks and a promising 1st season (whose form was so bad even Honduras booted him out their first team in game 3 of the world cup), a rookie 19 year old centre half (who hadn't previously played a 1st team competitive match), two strikers (Stokes and Griffiths), who just aren't in the same mould as others who have graced the Celtic jersey. Now, in the interests of fairness, Stokes can (and is) improving and there are occasions where also-rans or those on the football scrapheap get 2nd and 3rd chances and come good BUT the basic point is that there is a clear and evident lack of quality or if you prefer "quality potential". The lad McGregor seems to be composed and intelligent so there is something there and Brown has slowly but surely grown in to a half decent central midfielder of reasonable calibre, but there are very few reasons to be cheerful.

Perhaps RD is going to develop the existing crop in to better players and better citizens with "football intelligence" a key focus. Perhaps we will succeed in buying troubled players (with talent) and giving them a home and a platform to rejuvenate their career. Perhaps a different approach involving better fitness, pressing, higher tempo and passing can be the catalyst to getting the very best out of an indifferent bunch short on quality.

The point is that the Club (at the highest level) need to be delivering more. They can afford the risk to deliver even 1 (perhaps 2) marquee signings that would excite the fans; players who have rattled in 40 goals in holland or landed domestic plaudits in the croatian, slovenian, danish and dutch leagues.

The first eleven wasn't terribly surprising on wednesday but look at it. Analyse it. Really think about it. Do we deserve better? Gordon, Lustic, Izzy, VVD, Damayer, Johanssen, Kayal, Mulgrew, Stokes, McGregor, + Berget. Or put another way Gordon (free and no footy for 2 years), Lustig (free), Izzy (free), VVD (£2.5m), Demayer (loan), Johanssen (£1.5m), Kayal (£750,000), Mulgrew (free), Stokes (undisclosed/low fee), McGregor (youth). It's not al;l about money and fees doesn't guarantee pedigree BUT it gives you a step for a hint.

With our turnover, I think we should be doing more. Critically, I think we can do more and we need to find a constructive way of letting the powers that be know that we are not sheep who will turn up simply through blind loyalty.

I hope Rangers do come back and do spend and do challenge us and then perhaps we can aim a little higher and wake up a board that seems to be sleepwalking in to mediocrity.

I back RD and I back the players, but the Board are not getting my seal of approval as they haven't delivered whatever the me sure one uses to ascertain their performance and the billionaire majority shareholder DD hasn't had to dig deep at all to keep the show on the road. DD can afford to make a difference. Why doesn't he? The only way to fill CP with 59,000 is to give us players worthy of the jersey. The attendances tell their own story. The atmosphere tells its own story. And the story could get a whole lot worse unless we wake up and demand a better product.

1.) 22 Aug 2014
Long winded and I agree with most of it but we ARE going in the right direction with RD just hope the board back him to as far as the team for Wednesday they were all hero's and I can't honestly say anything bad about any of them on Wednesday for once in a long while I was proud

2.) 22 Aug 2014
Sorry but you are falling into the trap of we must buy a player at x amount or a marquee signing, I have said before and will say it again we have to stop judging a player on his price.Take Gordon for eg, if he stays fit this is an absolute master stroke sell the wall for 10m get just as good if not better for nothing.Everyone seems to talk about Strachans team when we got to last 16 of CL.But remember this team included duds like Caldwell McManus Telfer Gravesen etc.I will happily put the current crop up against that team with the exception of missing a striker.

3.) 22 Aug 2014
Just because a player is free doesn't reflect on his ability . A player can decide to run down his contract to get a bigger signing on fee than normal.
A low fee can sometimes come about by a player nearing the end of his contract so neither a free or low fee proves anything about a players worth or value .

4.) 22 Aug 2014
I am not meaning to be critical of the team; they don't negotiate their own transfers to CP and they don't pick themselves and there were a few stand out performers…my précis was about the depth of quality and heroes in the squad; on both counts …still scratching my head and searching for a player whose name I would put on the back of my replica jerseys

5.) 22 Aug 2014
To rayman and yourman

i am not saying we should being players in at any price; what I am alluding to is that there is money there

if we want a full CP then either we need to spend or the celtic PR machine has to go in to overdrive and make us believe that loan signings, frees, and 19 year old rookies are wrath the effort and commitment

you both seem to think that it is good policy to scrape around in the bargain basement and spent next to nothing; that is all well and good but I am proposing that THIS WILL NOT MAKE US A COMPETITIVE TEAM at a level where we see ourselves at. If it is domestic dominance you are after then "yeah" you are quite correct, a maximum wage of £25k per week will get us there when others are paying two bob.

BUT if we want to compete at home in the CL Group stages and nick 1 or 2 draws away, then this crop will not cut the mustard, no chance, no way, no how…

it depends on what you are after …

what are football club profit's for…are they for shareholders or are they for "investment" in a better pool of players….

let us be clear here, once VVD goes, what other big ticket player do we have that we can sell for a small fortune to keep churning out the profits, NONE

why is that …oh…arm…lets see …ah that's right, because we are setting ourselves lower and lower and lower and lower standards

if rayman and yourman are happy with that then fair enough but you are encouraging a race to the bottom and you should expect and demand more as customers

6.) 22 Aug 2014
I can't for the life of me understand this desire of many fans to spend £5/6m on players.imo those players valued at the above won't come to scotland and if by any chance they did they would want top dollar.so if we buy the three or four at those prices suggested and include their wages your profit is gone and no guarantee they would be successful.if we are honest with ourselves the last sixteen is the best we can expect in the cl.too many superior teams with the best players the world will be far too good for us (fact).as I have said in previous posts, if certain fans only want to watch celtic when they are doing well don't criticise the fans that go all the time, because for a lot of fans celtic are their life.sorry for the rant but is only my opinion.killy.

7.) 24 Aug 2014
I also cannot understand the demand there is to pay £5/6 million for a player
I am not sure Shane long would set the SPL alight and put fear in Champions League defences and he went to Southampton for £12 m .
What I want is players that will make us a better team . I don't care if they cost us £500k or how much we pay for them
The bigger the price doesn't always mean they are a better player .

8.) 24 Aug 2014
All this talk about how much a player is worth does not him a good signing.celtic signed a player a few years ago for peanuts his first few games where to put mildly were not so good even his first year or so his name everybody know's is name hen lar