The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[charlieTully]

A pittance.

He plays in the SPL!

Your point is?

[under the bar]

£25m bid from Arsenal now for Tierney

Take it and run

They'll take it but Arsenal are getting a steal.

[MoChara]

Reports now the bid wasn't what it seemed as is turned down again

[screenexile]

A pittance.

He plays in the SPL!

Your point is?

I think his point is the SPL is a very minor league in Europe and thus being a decent player in the SPL doesn't mean you can cut it at Premier League level and that £20m odd is around Tierney's level...

Just a guess but I'm sure michaelg will clarify!

[Main Street]

A pittance.

He plays in the SPL!

Your point is?

I think his point is the SPL is a very minor league in Europe and thus being a decent player in the SPL doesn't mean you can cut it at Premier League level and that £20m odd is around Tierney's level...

Just a guess but I'm sure michaelg will clarify!

Birds of a feather ,,,,

I'm sure Arsenal would not be offering personal terms of £20m,  £5m p/a for 4 years if they thought Tierney couldn't hack it in the EPL. Im also sure they have seen him hack it at CL, EL and international  levels.
Translate salary into transfer fee worth, then £25m is a pittance.

[ned]

A pittance.

He plays in the SPL!

Your point is?

I think his point is the SPL is a very minor league in Europe and thus being a decent player in the SPL doesn't mean you can cut it at Premier League level and that £20m odd is around Tierney's level...

Just a guess but I'm sure michaelg will clarify!

Birds of a feather ,,,,

I'm sure Arsenal would not be offering personal terms of £20m,  £5m p/a for 4 years if they thought Tierney couldn't hack it in the EPL. Im also sure they have seen him hack it at CL, EL and international  levels.
Translate salary into transfer fee worth, then £25m is a pittance.

Exactly, Tierney has played in and cut it in the CL. Obviously, Arsenal are looking at the bigger picture i.e. the actual player and his capabilities. Anyone with an ounce of sense could see VanDijk was a cut above and destined for the top "despite" only playing in Scotland. I would have preferred he went to 
one of the better leagues like Spain or Italy.

[illdecide]

KT is worth every penny and some in todays silly EPL valuations, I would take the money tbh as it's mega to Celtic and if i'm being honest here i think with his injury problems recently i'd break their arm off for it. He's been fantastic for Celtic but no-one could begrudge him the move which will quadruple his wages and let him have the next chapter in his adventure...

Good luck KT whatever happens next...

[illdecide]

Celtic will play Israeli side Maccabi Tel-Aviv or Cluj of Romania in the Champions League third qualifying round should they overcome Nomme Kalju.

The Scottish champions host the Estonians in the first leg on Wednesday while Cluj host Maccabi.

Cluj won Liga 1 for the fifth time last season - and second season in a row - and have Dan Petrescu as head coach.

Maccabi topped the Israeli Premier League for a 22nd time, but it was their first title since 2015.

[tyroneman]

I'd be very worried about 9iar, never mind 10iar at this stage.

Bar Julilen, there has been no-one of any proven quality bought who will make others look over thier shoulder - and he is near nailed on to start anyway.

Mbombo has zero competition for LB, whoever comes in (eventually) at RB will have no real competition either.

The MF has had no additions bar a decent youth project and up front we are same as before.

All in all there is nothing to create a sense of urgency or competition for places.

[illdecide]

I'd be very worried about 9iar, never mind 10iar at this stage.

Bar Julilen, there has been no-one of any proven quality bought who will make others look over thier shoulder - and he is near nailed on to start anyway.

Mbombo has zero competition for LB, whoever comes in (eventually) at RB will have no real competition either.

The MF has had no additions bar a decent youth project and up front we are same as before.

All in all there is nothing to create a sense of urgency or competition for places.

If things end they way there right now then yes we'll be disappointed...I disagree with your upfront options...Griff is back and Bayo is an option too (i know he untried but i've a good feeling about this lad).
I do agree with you regarding LB & RB though and we def need reinforcement as it's not if tierney goes but when and RB has been a problem for a few seasons now and is worse now

[bogball88]

Celtic will play Israeli side Maccabi Tel-Aviv or Cluj of Romania in the Champions League third qualifying round should they overcome Nomme Kalju.

The Scottish champions host the Estonians in the first leg on Wednesday while Cluj host Maccabi.

Cluj won Liga 1 for the fifth time last season - and second season in a row - and have Dan Petrescu as head coach.

Maccabi topped the Israeli Premier League for a 22nd time, but it was their first title since 2015.

May as well hand out the fine now if its going to be Maccabi Tel-Aviv

[marty34]

I'd be very worried about 9iar, never mind 10iar at this stage.

Bar Julilen, there has been no-one of any proven quality bought who will make others look over thier shoulder - and he is near nailed on to start anyway.

Mbombo has zero competition for LB, whoever comes in (eventually) at RB will have no real competition either.

The MF has had no additions bar a decent youth project and up front we are same as before.

All in all there is nothing to create a sense of urgency or competition for places.

I agree. So far another summer of stagnation, seeing if we can qualify after 4 rounds before spending the cash.

As I said before, too many average players on the wage bill.  Clear 5 or 6 out and get a bit of quality in and supplement panel with youth players.

[Imposerous]

I would have high hopes for the young lad Henderson.  Seems to have a great eye for a creative pass.

[Main Street]

Celtic starlet Barry Coffey who scored Ireland's winner last night v Czech Rep had good words to say about Neil Lennon in a post match interview,
"The gaffer [Neil Lennon], he's unreal. He's tough, he's passionate, he's hard-working. He's a top-quality manager and that's a credit to him. He's been great to work under and hopefully I can keep getting better and keep improving my game."

https://tinyurl.com/y5sdum3k

[illdecide]

Twelve months ago I was moved to write the following article on this very website.

http://celticunderground.net/complacency-is-the-fear/

As the title suggests I was concerned over Celtic's lack of activity in the transfer market and the frustrating thing is that, one year on, the exact same concerns are still relevant now.

It's not that Celtic haven't made signings. Christopher Jullien, Boli Mbombo and the impending arrival Hatem Abd Elhamed, mean that the club have been active in the market. However these guys are effectively the respective replacements for Dedryck Boyata, Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney (should Arsenal come up with the required £25m fee). So we are not really any better off than we were last season. Arguably, we will be worse off, especially if Tierney departs the scene.

There is growing disenchantment amongst the supporters regarding the ambition of the Celtic board. Each year when we take part in the CL qualifiers we are totally unprepared for these games. For the first two years of Brendan Rodgers' reign we qualified narrowly. In 2016 we relied on Eoghan O'Connell and Mikael Lustig in centre defence. In 2017, in Astana, we relied on the raw centre back partnership of Kris Ajer and Nir Biton and in 2018 we finally ran out of luck with the untried pairing of Ajer and Jack Hendry, who floundered against AEK Athens.

Rather than learn the required lessons from previous experiences, Celtic have not invested in improving the defence. We are now faced with the prospect of playing Biton at centre half yet again, a position he isn't remotely suited for. This is the fourth year in a row that a Celtic manager has gone into the CL qualifiers with the backside hanging out of his pants. It doesn't have to be like this. The unseeded sides should be fearing playing us in the qualifiers but you can just imagine them before the draws saying 'give us Celtic' as they realise they have a better chance against us. A reasonable amount of investment would almost guarantee qualification and access to the financial riches that await. One would have thought the board would have speculated a little to accumulate a lot. But this Celtic board is highly conservative and will never do that. I see from the draw today that Rumania or Israel awaits us. There can be no great confidence going into these games and there is still another round after that tie, yet to come.

Investment in the team is also desirable for the domestic campaign. There will come a time when Rangers will provide a stern challenge and we must be ready for it. There is a tendency amongst Celtic supporters to believe that Rangers have not improved much and that there is not a great deal to worry about. That is to miss the point. They don't have to come up to our level, we could easily descend to their level, particularly, if like last season with Dembele, we sell players and don't replace them with those of a similar quality. Anyone who overlooks Rangers after the two defeats at Ibrox last season clearly hasn't been paying attention.

As usual the board seem keen to spend the bare minimum to stay ahead of the rest. They would rather risk a bad season than spend a considerable amount (money that we have already banked) in order to win the magical 9th and 10th championships. We can all laugh at newco Rangers current financial predicament and the fact that the old Rangers are currently in the process of liquidation. However, one thing should be borne in mind and that is the difference in psyche between the Celtic board and their Ibrox counterparts. They would do anything in order to better us. If the shoe were on the other foot they would spend millions to get 9 and 10. I am certainly not advocating breaking the bank and going into debt but I do expect the Celtic board to spend every penny available to us and that is something which has not happened for some time now. Boasting of a great balance sheet and a big bank balance will ring hollow if Celtic don't win the next two league titles.

It was good to see Lennon trim the squad during the summer as it was excessively high in quantity and not so great on quality. But it would have been good to see him go further. One lesson has to be learned – no more mediocre signings from Scottish clubs. Jonny Hayes, Jack Hendry and Lewis Morgan are not of the calibre that we require. Moving them on and bringing in better quality should be a priority. It seems crazy to criticise Celtic given the fact that we have won a treble treble. However, if you compare the squad of 2017 to the current squad of 2019, then there has been a considerable drop in class. This has to be acknowledged and the aim should be to get back to that 2017 levels.

I hate to end on a negative note but I have no faith in the Celtic board to spend the required sums to bring in a better class of player. I also appreciate that it's highly difficult to persuade quality players to come to this country to a league which is not regarded as one of Europe's major competitions. Bit as the old adage goes you get what you pay for and it is possible to attract good players if you pay the market rate.

Let me finish with the following quote from last year's article.

I hope that complacency will not be allowed to creep in at Parkhead. The only thing we have to fear is ourselves by not doing things right. I know from talking to fellow Celts that there is an attitude out there amongst the fans that no matter who leaves, we will still be good enough to beat Rangers. That's a dangerous mindset to have. Nothing should ever be taken for granted.

The exact same thing still applies at this moment in time.