03 Jan 2021 19:43:13
Unites Ireland made a good point earlier with regard to not understanding the statements made on the forum that they should never have been allowed to get this close and highlighting that there is nothing Celtic could have done to stop them spending and improving. Even if we all might wonder where the levels of funding they've had has come from. I think that's a good point.

I've thought for a while that there is a point in Scotland where better finances or stability are of limited value particularly with the knowledge that the competition would happily go bust and take all that pain of working their way back up the divisions again just to stop the 10.

Let's say we have £20m to spend on players and they have £5. But the level of player that can be attracted to play in Scotland is in the £5m bracket. They can only buy one but we can only by four. Revenue generated by both clubs will be similar so ability to meet wage demands are similar. So we're fishing in the same pond for 7 out of the 11 players on the park. Thus there is no great significant advantage and United Ireland makes a good point that with the money they have spent why would they not be closer to us?

The question for me is why were we not further away from them.? That's a factor of recruitment and the manager in the dug out amongst other things including youth development etc.

Therein maybe lies the answer. A colleague of mine who works in London and an Arsenal fan but with a bias towards Celtic told me at the time we were signing Dembelle for £500k and that we'd sell him for £20m one day. When I saw Dembelle for the first time I told him we'd be lucky to get our £500k back shows you what I know. But he was proven not to be far away with his prediction. Before he arrived he told me Gerard was going to Govan and that while he was thicker than the proverbial in the neck of a bottle and could hardly write his name he was an excellent football coach tactically on the park and was highly regarded. Potentially part of the reason for yesterday and why we are where we are?

A few posters have mentioned the professionalism BR brought when he arrived which he did even before any new players were bought. I remember saying to my laddie the difference was in the dugout. Furthermore if we remember Stevie G had the Indian sign over the suntanned one before he left. Maybe he knew it although I'd doubt with his ego he'd have worried about it. But maybe my London buddie was right again with regard to Stevie Gs ability as a coach. This season the gap between the quality of players in both teams is narrower than any season previously. But maybe regardless of finances the difference is again in the dugout albeit now not in our favour. Just my thoughts.


1.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:20:48
If our club fought for FFP rules to be in place, they wouldn’t have half their team. But that would be irrelevant if our club had shown the ambition to improve existentially over the last decade.


2.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:24:54
Our club has always only done just enough to keep in front of them. Hence the reason some shareholders want answers from our club in relation to questions the club refuse to answer.


3.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:25:06
JFP If you think about it SG is a champions league winning player so the levels he will be demanding and implementing with his players is way above the levels NL will ever demand and implement from his.


4.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:42:59
Royjac his results in Europe speak for themselves as you say he will know how to set the standards. He had BRs number before he left and that’s the last three times against us with Neil Lennon at the helm.


5.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:44:46
JFP, we should of been working on the basis of x2 £7 million signings for players from teams such as ferencvaros, molde, rosenborg, midtylland, olympiacos and PAOK. £7million plus add ons and we should of been looking to develop these players into £15+ whilst taking us further in Europe and at the same time the odd 1 or 2 £3 million gamble on players like turnbull, sorro, kilmala and hoping at least 1 or 2 them might break in, alongside our youth.

That's how we should of been developing for the last 5 years. But instead we've constantly gambled on the £3 million players and sold our best players Foster, van djyk, Tierney, ki, Johansen, wanyama, hooper, Armstrong, moussa for a fortune, we've not regularly replaced these players with quality. We seem to take on frequent projects. This is where we have went wrong its okay doing that and buying the likes as above for buttons, but our luck is running out with these constant gambles, why did we not invest in a squad regularly? That's as I said lawell and the recruitment teams fault.


6.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 20:55:35
4 leaf - good points - smaller number of higher quality player and projects plus make our own. I can’t remember where Park recruitment stopped and Hammond started or if their was a break? But I think Park found VVD and Dembelle? How can Hammond watch and bring in the number of duffers he’s bought?


7.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 21:21:01
The board needs to have the bottle to sack and replace them. We need to go out and find the right men for the job. Lawell has done well ensuring the club becomes wealthy but he has taken more than his fair share and jeopardised the football on the field. I understand he hasn't wanted to gamble to much, but he really needed to be willing to invest more in the quality of players.


8.) 03 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 22:06:52
Why are people saying gerrard had Rodgers number when brendan left? They played twice and had 1 win each and Celtic were 8 points clear when Rodgers left and Celtic had won the league cup whilst they lost in semi, Celtic also were in last 32 of Europa that season whilst they didn't qualify for last 32.How did Gerrard have Rodgers number exactly?


9.) 04 Jan 2021
03 Jan 2021 23:45:34
I think most clubs had sussed BR out before he left. His rigid 4-2-3-1 with no plan B had everyone park the bus and we struggled to break stubborn teams down in the end as BR didn't like to play it long. I live not too far away from Leicester so have a lot of Leicester supporting mates and they all say the same that he's stubborn and doesn't have a plan B and we're welcome to have him back. Considering they're sitting a point behind Liverpool you'd think that's madness. Last season teams sussed him out and their form after the lockdown was honking.