The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[delgany]

It looked Killie made the pitch smaller yesterday, sidelines moved inwards , pitch shorter. Ten behind the ball. Difficult to break that down!

[Angelo]

This Scottish league thing and the standard is wearing thin too BTW, some people need to wise up. All the English supporters keep coming up with this crap every year yet 90% of players that are moved on from Celtic to other clubs seem to do rightly in the so called top English league...the same league that would put you to sleep watching a live game (majority of matches), the "Match of the day" does a wonderful job of cramming in 90 sec of action from a 90 min games to show us how wonderful it is.

There's probably double the amount of money spent in England than any other league but the Champions league winner in more likely to come from a different Country than England...funny that as it's the best league in the world.

Who exactly are all these players Celtic moved on in recent seasons to the Premier League?

Tierney is fair enough as he's a quality player who has been unlucky with injuries. Dembele went to France. After that who else is there? Van Dijk was years ago when that Celtic team was far superior to the current one

VVD left Celtic in 2015. Five years ago!
Fraser Forster, Victor Wanyama. Not a lot of players but not a bad hit rate.
You obviously don't watch much of Celtic if you think VVD's Celtic team was "far superior" to this years.

Celtic used to be competitive in the CL.  These days they struggle to even get through the qualification rounds and the
the Europa League just getting out of their group is an achievement.

The problem for Celtic is attracting quality players. The lack of quality and money in the league means players wont move there for lower wages compared to even decent championship level clubs in England. They can sweep up the best of SPL, but beyond that their only option is signing you unproven talent and hoping they turn into quality players and sell them on for a profit when a bigger club comes in for them

They topped their group in the Europa League last year.

The problem isn't attracting top players, the problem is the board's reluctance to invest in the first team.

Between Rodger's compensation package, Van Dijk's sell on fee, deals for Dembele, Tierney and Armstrong etc, Celtic have recouped upward of £70m in the past 2 and a half seasons. They have barely spent about half of that while posting consistent profits and Lawwell's salary consistently rising.

As I say, Lawell's objective is to win the league, and win the cups etc. with spending as little money as possible.  Lawell knows he can do this - win a few trophies and keep the majority of fans happy.

As an added bonus, a run in Europe keeps the fans happy also  and brings 8n a few pounds!

That is Celtic's level now. What else can their owners be expected to do?They can't compete in Europe so just dominate domestically and try to find a few hidden gems around Europe they can sell on for a nice profit in a few years time.

You only have to look at what happened to Rangers to see what happens if they started spending beyond their means

Invest in the first team. A club like Ajax or Sevilla operate under similar financial restrictions as Celtic do, you look at their turnover levels, wage bill etc - it's not that different.

The issue is Celtic are a very cash rich club but the directive from the board is to sell their top players at the earliest opportunity and not reinvest what they get into the first team.

I've asked earlier, what other club in Europe has their chief executive as the top or one of the top earners at the football club? Celtic have a golden path to the CL every year but have been knocked out by teams like AEK Athens and Cluj in recent years. Lawwell's unwillingness to loosen the purse strings in those early stages of the season has certainly damaged Celtic's opportunites.

The John McGinn fiasco summed it up that season, it was the straw that broke the back for Rodgers, he was furious after the board dragged their heels on getting the deal done and lost out on him. He went public about it shortly after. Lawwell was trying to lowball Hibs to save a few 000k, the same man then goes and pockets a salary of £3.5m that season, it's simply indefensible.

Who exactly do you expect your club to target? They target the best in Scotland and after that it's pot luck based on unproven talent. I don't know McGinn's wages, but whatever Villa are paying in the EPL you can be sure it is more than Celtic could offer.

Celtic are big fish in Scotland, but a minnow in the European pond.

Despite dominating the Scottish league their profits are minuscule due to the lack of money in Scottish football for tv rights and prize winning. Their transfer sales are subsidising a wage bill that dwarfs the rest of Scottish football.

The directors in charge aren't stupid. They in fact are showing fiscal responsibility and not spending money the club doesn't have.

Villa were in the Championship when McGinn signed, he is a boyhood Celtic fan and the move was his priority but Lawwell dicked about and wouldn't pay the £2.5m Villa offered, think he had offered £1.2m. Villa came in and met Hibs asking price and McGinn signed for them. Rodgers had made McGinn a priority and was livid that the deal had failed.

I don't see why you think the EPL is the only market out there for players, there are plenty of players in European Leagues out there, you look at Jullien and Edouard who have done very well, Jullien had a nightmare yesterday but has done very well overall. We've signed players from France, Poland, Greece, Austria, Norway who took part yesterday so I don't see why you're obsessed with us needing to sign EPL players. No other league in Europe can compete with the finances of the EPL but Celtic have financial resources that should allow them to compete with teams like Ajax, Porto, Benfica and Sevilla for instance. Teams who have been in the latter stages of Europe year on year over the past decade.

You simply cannot see outside of your EPL obsession, Celtic's profits and turnover are not miniscule in terms of the rest of Europe. There's only about 5/6 clubs in Italy that boast a higher turnover than Celtic, the same in Spain, the same in Germany. The world of football does not revolve around the EPL like it does in your head.

There are resources there for Celtic to go out and spend money and improve the first team, the board just choose not to. They choose to appoint a cheap option of a manager who is not up to the job. They choose to hawk their best players at the earliest opportunity and invest half of that money into the playing side. They choose to top up the bank reserves with the profits they make and reward the suits at the top with higher salaries.

As I've said, what other club in Europe has a suit as the highest earning/one of the highest earning salaried employees? The whole thing stinks.

Celtic are going nowhere this season with the likes of Forrest and Elyonoussi as regular starters. The team badly needs a £20m or so net investment in the first team this season.

Top European players won't sign for Celtic. That's just a fact of life. The like of Ajax & Benfica are champions league regulars and are far superior to Celtic who can't even get through CL qualifiers. The board at Celtic thankfully are realistic and financially sensible as they target players who fit a certain profile and budget.

Celtic don't need to spend anything close to £20m to win the Scottish league. They have the biggest squad, biggest playing budget and they only have one challenger in Rangers.

Plenty of incorrect assertions there.

Ajax are no more Champions League regulars than Celtic, they also have to go through the qualifying path. Celtic have made 4 appearances in the CL in the past decade, Ajax 6 I think.

Top European players sign for EPL clubs (due to money) and the top 3/4 clubs in Spain, Germany, Italy and France. After that it really comes down to what  the buying club can offer - Celtic can offer CL football, the allure of one of the most passionate group of fans in Europe, the chance to win trophies and there are plenty of players who in the past decade have shown they can move develop and progress at Celtic and move onto a higher stage if needs be.

Nobody is talking about Celtic going out and buying a Lewandoswki or that but Celtic easily have the financial muscle to be competing with any club outside of the EPL and the top 4/5 clubs in Spain, Germany and Italy.

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so. Selling your best players and not reinvesting in the first team squad is going to ensure you only go backwards which is what they have done.

Lawwell is the main figure behind this regression and he is the one who benefits from this regression personally. It's not financially sensible, it's a case of him running down the playing side of things while his salary continues to go up. The money is there to spend but it's been a point blank refusal by Lawwell to put proper investment into the playing squad and management team.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so.

The primary reason they have not done so is that the competition in Scotland is so weak the players are not being punished for making mistakes. Indeed, they are making mistakes that are punished in Europe and aren't even realising they are making them in Scotland as the competition is so weak.


Take the weekend - yeah - a draw - but how does playing against 10 men behind the ball prepare any of the Celtic back 4 for a team that press them in Europe? When a bad first touch can easily mean a goal conceded?

You could probably put literally the best players in the world in that Celtic team and they'd likely still exit at the CL group stages - simply because they'll have picked up bad habits from playing against dross week-in week-out.

[Angelo]

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so.

The primary reason they have not done so is that the competition in Scotland is so weak the players are not being punished for making mistakes. Indeed, they are making mistakes that are punished in Europe and aren't even realising they are making them in Scotland as the competition is so weak.


Take the weekend - yeah - a draw - but how does playing against 10 men behind the ball prepare any of the Celtic back 4 for a team that press them in Europe? When a bad first touch can easily mean a goal conceded?

You could probably put literally the best players in the world in that Celtic team and they'd likely still exit at the CL group stages - simply because they'll have picked up bad habits from playing against dross week-in week-out.

I wouldn't agree with that.

Celtic should be beating the likes of Cluj and AEK Athens. A lot is said about the Scottish league but it's not any (or much) worse than the Swedish/Danish/Romanian/Bulgarian/Croatian/Serbia/Norwegian/Swiss league who all provide the potential opponents for Celtic in the Champions route.

It's a weak excuse. The bottom line is that on Celtic's side of the CL qualification route, there are few if any clubs who Celtic face off against who have the financial muscle that Celtic have, the problem is Lawwell and his biscuit tin mentality will always hold back Celtic, while he makes a mint off of them.

[marty34]

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so.

The primary reason they have not done so is that the competition in Scotland is so weak the players are not being punished for making mistakes. Indeed, they are making mistakes that are punished in Europe and aren't even realising they are making them in Scotland as the competition is so weak.


Take the weekend - yeah - a draw - but how does playing against 10 men behind the ball prepare any of the Celtic back 4 for a team that press them in Europe? When a bad first touch can easily mean a goal conceded?

You could probably put literally the best players in the world in that Celtic team and they'd likely still exit at the CL group stages - simply because they'll have picked up bad habits from playing against dross week-in week-out.

I wouldn't agree with that.

Celtic should be beating the likes of Cluj and AEK Athens. A lot is said about the Scottish league but it's not any (or much) worse than the Swedish/Danish/Romanian/Bulgarian/Croatian/Serbia/Norwegian/Swiss league who all provide the potential opponents for Celtic in the Champions route.

It's a weak excuse. The bottom line is that on Celtic's side of the CL qualification route, there are few if any clubs who Celtic face off against who have the financial muscle that Celtic have, the problem is Lawwell and his biscuit tin mentality will always hold back Celtic, while he makes a mint off of them.

I see that, according to Levein at Hearts, Celtic have tried to buy their young left back Hickey 5 or 6 times but have got knocked back.

Seems that Angelo is on the money, if you pardon the pun.  Celtic are in need of a left back clearly and this lad seems to be a long term successor to Tierney.  Young but with good potential.
Bolonga in Italy had him over recently and he's been in and around Bayern Munich othis past few days checking out their facilities.

Another John Mc Ginn anyone??

[Angelo]

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so.

The primary reason they have not done so is that the competition in Scotland is so weak the players are not being punished for making mistakes. Indeed, they are making mistakes that are punished in Europe and aren't even realising they are making them in Scotland as the competition is so weak.


Take the weekend - yeah - a draw - but how does playing against 10 men behind the ball prepare any of the Celtic back 4 for a team that press them in Europe? When a bad first touch can easily mean a goal conceded?

You could probably put literally the best players in the world in that Celtic team and they'd likely still exit at the CL group stages - simply because they'll have picked up bad habits from playing against dross week-in week-out.

I wouldn't agree with that.

Celtic should be beating the likes of Cluj and AEK Athens. A lot is said about the Scottish league but it's not any (or much) worse than the Swedish/Danish/Romanian/Bulgarian/Croatian/Serbia/Norwegian/Swiss league who all provide the potential opponents for Celtic in the Champions route.

It's a weak excuse. The bottom line is that on Celtic's side of the CL qualification route, there are few if any clubs who Celtic face off against who have the financial muscle that Celtic have, the problem is Lawwell and his biscuit tin mentality will always hold back Celtic, while he makes a mint off of them.

I see that, according to Levein at Hearts, Celtic have tried to buy their young left back Hickey 5 or 6 times but have got knocked back.

Seems that Angelo is on the money, if you pardon the pun.  Celtic are in need of a left back clearly and this lad seems to be a long term successor to Tierney.  Young but with good potential.
Bolonga in Italy had him over recently and he's been in and around Bayern Munich othis past few days checking out their facilities.

Another John Mc Ginn anyone??

Celtic also have a 30% sell on clause for Hickey too I believe so they could conceivably get him for less than the other clubs but it's the usual penny pinching from the board.

[dublin7]

Celtic have a handy route to the CL group stage every year. They really should have qualified 4 years straight now but a lack of investment from the board in the playing squad has been the primary reason why they have not done so.

The primary reason they have not done so is that the competition in Scotland is so weak the players are not being punished for making mistakes. Indeed, they are making mistakes that are punished in Europe and aren't even realising they are making them in Scotland as the competition is so weak.


Take the weekend - yeah - a draw - but how does playing against 10 men behind the ball prepare any of the Celtic back 4 for a team that press them in Europe? When a bad first touch can easily mean a goal conceded?

You could probably put literally the best players in the world in that Celtic team and they'd likely still exit at the CL group stages - simply because they'll have picked up bad habits from playing against dross week-in week-out.

I wouldn't agree with that.

Celtic should be beating the likes of Cluj and AEK Athens. A lot is said about the Scottish league but it's not any (or much) worse than the Swedish/Danish/Romanian/Bulgarian/Croatian/Serbia/Norwegian/Swiss league who all provide the potential opponents for Celtic in the Champions route.

It's a weak excuse. The bottom line is that on Celtic's side of the CL qualification route, there are few if any clubs who Celtic face off against who have the financial muscle that Celtic have, the problem is Lawwell and his biscuit tin mentality will always hold back Celtic, while he makes a mint off of them.

I think you need to rethink the potential Celtic have in Europe and their ability to bring in new signings of the standard you want for Celtic to become CL group stage regulars.

Celtic's only chance to attract foreign players is to plug themselves as a feeder club to other top European leagues/clubs. Do well for us and we'll let you move on to a bigger club in a few years time. The struggles of the Scotland national team shows the standard of scottish players in the SPL isn't good enough and another reason these same players struggle in Europe playing for Celtic

The scottish league has only 2 decent side and the wages aren't attractive either. As several have pointed out earlier Celtic can stroll through league games with ease against far inferior teams, but the step up to European football sees them struggle as they're not used to playing decent standard of opposition. That's human nature and not something any Celtic manager or director can do anything about.

[Main Street]

That was one poor game, why not wait a few days and see what the response is before lining everybody up against the wall.

[paddyjohn]

Bolingoli should be sacked!

[From the Bunker]

Bolingoli should be sacked!

That, or a huge fine followed by strict quarantine! 

[illdecide]

That was one poor game, why not wait a few days and see what the response is before lining everybody up against the wall.

Correct...sack the board, sack the manager and sack the players🤔. It was a bad result on Sunday and the players were poor but it goes to show how much of a catastrophe it is for drawing a match. Imagine if we'd have lost🙈.
First thing Scottish football needs is to get rid of those poxy plastic pitches and how these teams are allowed to reduce the pitch dims is another big factor. I know we still should be good enough to break them down and if Killie didn't break any rules then chapeau to them.
Celtic are linked today with Shane Duffy who will not be bullied by crapy centre forwards who just throw their weight about and looks like we're going to sign West Ham's Ajeti which is something I suppose. Lennon needs a few more signings and Lawell needs to fund them, maybe with his big salary he'll buy us a player with his own money😂

[clarshack]

rumours that the season could be paused for 2 weeks? what an idiot Bolingoli is.
god only knows how this season is going to pan out.

[Main Street]

rumours that the season could be paused for 2 weeks? what an idiot Bolingoli is.
god only knows how this season is going to pan out.

The Bolingoli  incident may well be discussed at official level. However the player has tested negative, everybody else has tested negative and if that remains the case after a retest in 4 days, there is no cause to put both teams into quarantine for 2 weeks or even take the drastic punitive action of closing down the league. The appropriate punishment is a fine for Boligoli and to face a club discipline procedure of a serious nature.

It's the incident with the Aberdeeen players which  requires more caution as there are supposedly 2 postive test results.

[clarshack]

game against St. Mirren tomorrow postponed. Kilmarnock's game should be off too but isn't?
the whole thing is a disaster and Celtic now going to be playing catchup to Rangers.

[bennydorano]

There can be no ifs or buts, Bolingoli's actions are an utter disgrace and he's brought shame on the club, out to f**k.