19 Sep 2023 16:46:02
All the best to Celtic tonight against what has been described as one of the best Feyenoord teams in years under Arne Slot having scored 17 goals in their last 3 games.

I haven't posted since the window closed as I haven't got over the disappointment but I'll reiterate my sentiments. We failed to strengthen from a position of strength. Rodgers told the board he needed quality. What happened to going to the next level and competing in Europe? Season tickets sold out in that hope. Revenue up by a third and record profits and bank balance reported. Yet for me arguably our worst champions league team in years. We could very well reap the rewards tonight.

Squad management is amateurish. Once again we sign the eight £3 million pound players that will hopefully turn a profit and no issue with that but we failed yet again to put the next aspect of good squad management in place which would have been to sign three or four first team experienced oven ready quality starters with the profits made that would have allowed us to progress in Europe. Big club. Small mentality.

Year 1 of the former managers tenure was excellent from a recruitment perspective. Year 2 was dismal and we're paying the price for that in year 3. The current squad will be raided before the chance to buy the next level quality required comes around again if the current board ever go there and the cycle will continue. Rinse and repeat with no chance of progress in Europe. Absolutely pathetic.

We all know what we needed as a minimum. A ball winner. A goalkeeper. A replacement for Bernebei to challenge Taylor. A target man. Once again just happy to stay one step ahead of the rebuilt tribute act. Papering over the cracks. As I said asleep at the wheel again and learned nothing from the season we sold the 10. The board have shown a total lack of ambition for me to the extent it's embarrassing. Negligence.

If Brendan Rodgers is happy with that back five tonight and what he has up front by way of options for Kyogo then I'm a monkey's uncle.

I'll be watching from behind the couch through my fingers. There will be nobody more delighted than me if I'm eating my words after the game. My hope is that our elite manager who somehow engineered a result at Ibrox with an injury list the length of Leith Walk can do so again tactically tonight. I'm praying that his time at Leicester taught him to be more pragmatic than he was during his first tenure in office or indeed than the last manager was in Europe.

Here's hoping. C'mon the Hoops!

1.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 17:09:22
Evening All

I'm staying confident about our team and don't think we will get beaten tonight.

Others maybe less confident than I am, however Celtic should never ever be written off.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind Celtic tried to sign a few better quality 1st team ready players during this transfer window but were unsuccessful this time round or player / players were not available during this window.

?.

2.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 17:10:21
Good post, the only issue is the type of players you are talking about have options that don’t include the SPFL. Oven ready for the CL? No one in that level would come.

3.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 17:13:53
Agree JFP, we are slipping back into the quantity rather than quality signings, I thought when we signed CCV, Jota and the Japanese players (through Anges knowledge of that market) we had finally loosened the purse strings, but I can see this isn't the case and we're back in the 2m market from Europes mediocre leagues.

4.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 17:45:23
Near 20 million in a window fur us an spl club is not bad . the problem I see is not the money spent but the spending of it in the right way. we have bought 9 bhoys who we have to hope will be good enough rather than possibly are actually good enough.

5.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 18:44:46
Aye JFP, as if “oven ready” Champions League players would come to Scotland. Let’s just get behind the Bhoys that are here with our full support. HH.

6.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 18:49:07
Totally agree with JFP. The window was absolutely dire with not one first team definet starter signed. 8 squad players which will hopefully be enough to secure the league but nowhere near enough to stop us getting a few hidings in the CL again.

7.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 18:51:50
Jesus guys, most of these players were big prospects in their own countries. We are doing what so called big clubs do, buying top prospects. It then comes down to coaching.

Iv reiterate a previous comment about the moaning that occurred when Amge came in, cheap option, not good enough and same when he bought Maeda, Kyogo and the others. Why are the current new recruits any worse than what Ange bought. The simple answer is they aren't. Holm, Yang and Luca are real prospects, highly rated outside Scottish media and Celtic rumours pages. Get a grip and give them a chance.

8.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 18:55:45
Chin up lads hatate and palma starting I think we can score need the make shift defence to have the game of there life. Looks like I'll be hiding behind the sofa this evening.

9.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 18:59:22
They’ll get their chance at 8 o’clock tonight.

10.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 19:53:41
I'm with JFP. We are without question weaker than last year, regardless of result tonight. Injuries clearly have an impact on starting 11 but not really in forward areas. Like JFP hope I'm wrong but the whole defence other than AJ gives me the fear. Pace is a major concern, we don't have any at the back.

11.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 19:55:37
JFP we signed 9 players during the window if I've counted correctly, tell me how is that not backing the manager? If the squad keeps getting raided for £25m+ then we are obv doing well!

Who are the calibre of player then that are oven ready to take us to the next level that we can afford and would be willing to come to the might SPFL?

Some folk just talk utter nonsense! Suppose it's all Lawwell's fault?.

12.) 19 Sep 2023
19 Sep 2023 22:50:35
Cracking post JFP and some valid sentiments made there. I thought after Ange's rebuild the board had sussed it with the recruitment but it seems we've gone back to the untried and untested youth in the hope to make a bit of profit, rather than push the boat out a little when we have plenty of money sat in the bank. Someone else made a good point about quality over quantity and streamlining the squad and having a higher calibre of player on higher wages.

Although we're top of the league we haven't really got going yet and the results seem a bit laboured it's only a matter of time before you get a result like St Johnstone where we can't grind out the win. More questions than answers as of yet but hopefully with a free week off CL the boys can get clicking and find top gear before we face Lazio.