04 Jun 2017 11:08:38
With Dembele possibly moving and this being Celtic's formula buy, develop, sell for profit, will we ever build a team capable of challenging in Europe.

Over the past 4/ 5 seasons we have had very good to top players, Forster, Matthews (when fit) , VVD, Wanyama, Ledley, Hooper probably missed a couple but the question is if we kept these players for 3-5 seasons and they played together with the improved Tierney, Armstrong, Brown, Forrest etc making an impact on Europe would be possible?

Is the strategy get into Champs league get 3rd or nick second then re-build every transfer window selling best 2-3 players?

{Ed007's Note - Celtic never forced any of those players to leave though, all of them asked to leave so how can the Club stop players who want out? I've gave guys like Lawwell pelters when it's due but you can't accuse him or the board of cashing in on players.
We sell the Club to potential signings as a stepping stone to bigger leagues citing players like Wanyama and VVD as examples and that the Club won't stand in the way of their development, you can't do that then break promises you've made or your reputation goes down the pan with agents and potential signings.}

1.) 04 Jun 2017
04 Jun 2017 12:25:47
I think that we need to be realistic, Celtic cannot compete at Champions league level, all we can hope for is to qualify for it take the money and run.
If we do get players of high quality, we are unable to keep them for any length of time that would give us a chance of progression. Until our league is drastically reorganised or we somehow could play in a different competition, we are just not attractive to top players.
My worry, is about trying to replace these players. It's easy to say that because we get big fees for these players then replacing them will be easy, I don't think it is, signing young players can be hit and miss, for every Dembele there is a Cifti, for every Armstrong there is an Allan.
Ideally it would be good if we could get 2 or 3 years out of the top talents, but we are at such a disadvantage that we couldn't even hold off clubs like Brighton and Huddersfield if they decided they wanted our best players.
That's what really sickens me.

2.) 04 Jun 2017
04 Jun 2017 12:51:47
Such is the madness of the EPL, the player fees and wages are way above average. If you actually look at the whole of the EPL you would struggle to name more than a couple of dozen 'superstars'. The rest are made up of expensive foreigners and journeymen looking for a last big wage. If one of our players wished to move from a club with fantastic infrastructure (stadium, training, management etc) who are winning trophies and should, going by form, reach the group stages of the Champions League to a mid to bottom table EPL team purely because of the league they are in, then that to me lacks any ambition. Unfortunately though, money talks and a player like Armstrong could triple his salary overnight so it all comes down to what the player himself needs to fulfill his career. Is it money as it can be a very short career or is it honours? We don't pay peanuts to our players but we simply cannot compete with other leagues.

3.) 04 Jun 2017
04 Jun 2017 11:57:05
True Ed Celtic were ultimately forced to sell, as the players wanted away. How much of this was due to the realisation Celtic were not going to invest more, increase the wage cap for few etc. push in to better things?

The money Celtic has missed out on via Champs League could have covered a large portion if not all the wages the players wanted.

I know its not always about money and VVD wanted to play against better quality but at some point we need to push the boat out and keep players.

On the road to Seville the key players had been at Celtic for 3 years or more. Can you see any of the current crop staying for a further 2-3 seasons in order to mount a decent Euro challenge?

4.) 04 Jun 2017
04 Jun 2017 18:23:52
Realistically At any time getting to the champions league group stages is good for our club any more than that would be great but let's be real we as a club playing in Scotland its the best we can hope for We will never win the champions league as it stands now. And if we can achieve Champion league group stage each year that would be a great achievement.

5.) 06 Jun 2017
06 Jun 2017 16:31:17
The madness of the Epl is that English clubs fail to trouble the later stages of the Champions league.