Transfer frustrations at Celtic have reached the stage that ITK (In The Know) social media accounts are no longer showing interest in the crumbs being sent their way.
From time to time on Kerrydale Street a few posters are able to reveal transfer details, in and out over that are in the pipeline.
Over time certain names gain a reputation for getting far more right than wrong, as fans know not every tip or steer comes to fruition with the trademark social media announcement that ‘Celtic are delighted to announce the signing of X/Y/Z’.
Mitchy05 on Kerrydale Street knows his stuff, he doesn’t hear every detail but what he posts tends to have some substance, being watched, showing interested, made an offer, that sort of stuff.
In a post this morning Mitchy is clearly fed up, there are Celtic ready wingers all over Scandinavia, Holland and Belgium, players similar to Nicolas Kuhn but for a variety of reasons Celtic seem incapable of buying the £5m winger with a profile that suggests he is ready to flourish playing for a club that tends to enjoy 70% possession in most domestic matches.
Concluding that deal seems impossible to achieve leaving fans guessing about what roles are being played between Michael Nicholson, Paul Tisdale and whoever else is being involved in failing the needs of the first team.
Rodgers knows what his Celtic team requires, he has watched the standards decline since the January sale of Kyogo Furuhashi, possibly earlier.
He had won two titles with a core squad of around 14 players, Kyogo, Matt O’Riley and Nicolas Kuhn have been sold.
The manager was let down in January, this summer is heading in the same direction with all this going on as his contract ticks down with zero signing of backing or support from the club decision makers.
After losing 5-1 to Ajax on July 24 Rodgers discussed Celtic’s position in the transfer market with The Sun:
It depends what your ambition is. If your ambition is to really progress and push forward, then we need to improve the squad but I can’t fault the players.
The players that are here, they’ve been working so well, so hard and you see some of the play and how they work has been very, very good.
However, if you want to progress, then, as I said, you need to bring in quality and that’s something that we hopefully can do.
Almost two weeks later only Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, a teenage defender from Manchester City, has been signed on loan.
There are two matches to be played before the home leg of the Champions League qualifier on August 20, the deadline for signing players for that match is August 14 although two players can be added by 11pm on August 19.
Ahead of the SPFL opener against St Mirren Rodgers made his own position even clearer as he tied his contract discussions in with transfer plans.
There’s no further update, no. And for the sake of honesty and clarity, I can tell you exactly where we’re at. So, I said when I came here first that I’d do a minimum of three years. People had me out the door at the end of last season. I was going to various places. I said then, like I’ll say now, there’s nowhere to go. I love being here. I’ve done two years, I’ve got one more year to go.
Dermot, Michael, and I had a conversation over the summer on where we were at and where it sits with me and everything else. And I said I’m very happy here. There are conditions we want to be able to improve and be better, because I’m not the type of manager who’s for maintaining anything. If it’s just something to maintain, I’m not the manager for Celtic. It’ll be someone else.
But to build and grow and develop and push, then of course, I love being at Celtic. So, when that time comes, when the club offers me a deal or not, then it doesn’t make a difference to me because I will every single day of my life give everything here to the very last day. And when the club feels there’s a time to make an offer, then they will do so.
Weeks are passing by with nothing happening, Rodgers occasionally references how hard people are working behind the scenes to bring players in but clearly whatever the process is it isn’t working.
There are actually more players signed up than a year ago, playing in the team and benefiting from pre-season training but that isn’t cutting any ice with the manager or with many supporters.
Last year the complacency was heightened by a guaranteed place in the Champions League group phase, four guaranteed sell-out matches rather than three.
With the benefit of three successive Champions League appearances there are no signs that Celtic have developed and improved as a team, squad or as a club.
Barrowfield remains unopened and is delayed by at least nine months, the team is still dependent on the core of players that won the 21/22 SPFL Premiership title plus Alastair Johnston. Kasper Schmeichel and Kieran Tierney have replaced Joe Hart and Greg Taylor, striking and wing options are badly depleted without Kyogo, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Liel Abada and the injured Jota.
Meanwhile turnover is up around £150m, the bank balance is stable around £100m while everything meaningful about a football club is in decline.
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3 Comments
by John Collins
The window is bad enough without listening to shite from those jokers ffs.
Mitchy is one of the biggest bluffers on Celtic social media and the next scoop he gets correct will be his first.
There’s enough to moan about without making stuff up
by Pan
Last evening, Sevco and their coach/manager looked a seriously good team to me, playing nice football with a cutting edge.
Russel Martin’s outburst seems to have had the desired effect and he benched both Tavernier and Raskin. New signing Gassano was excellent, as were others newly signed. I know they are usually good in Europe, but last night they were impressive. It remains to be seen what they do against Scottish opposition, but I think Martin is here to stay for a while.
We have a big challenge coming and meanwhile we have prevarication and lack of proper back-up from what is beginning to look like a board which has no clue what is best for our own club.
Danger awaits!
by Che
The board have went cash crazy , and they want it all , we can all see what’s coming and lets not be under any illusions this could end disastrously, corporate greed stop buying anything then they might take notice