Is it time for the Celtic board to financially back Neil Lennon and give the manager the squad that he wishes?
The Celtic boss has made no secret of his wish to bring in a new goalkeeper but almost three months after the Scottish Cup success over Motherwell he is still answering questions on the subject. Another striker would be welcome as well as Lennon has admitted to with his monitoring of Craig Bellamy.
In the past, we have heard that success at Celtic is based on being ahead of Rangers, which for the main part is true but we want to stand on our own two feet and stretch ahead making the team recognised outwith Scotland as it was in the recent past.
Just being slightly ahead of Rangers isn’t good enough and it’s about time that the club hierarchy realised this.
I fully believe that it is time for the board to start being more efficient when it comes to the buying of new players. We have had plenty of new signings since Lennon took over but just not enough in the areas of the pitch where we need them – especially after not winning the league last season which was the priority.
Most folk seemed to be in agreement that we did need some defensive cover, we brought in Kelvin Wilson and Adam Matthews, both of whom look like they will be able to perform well for Celtic which is great.
My problem is that we still seem to be no closer to a new goalkeeper or striker. I’ve been reading on various Celtic fans website that we have been bidding to get big Fraser Forster back up and also trying to get the Polish lad, Gregor Sandomierski.
The last I heard is that the Polish keeper’s club has agreed a fee with Genk of Belgium s it looks like Sandomierskio is another one that got away.
We have also known that, if we assume Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes to be our two first choice strikers that the back ups have not been scoring enough goals. The two back ups being Georgios Samaras and Daryl Murphy who failed to hit double figures between them.
For a team that want to win the league, is four strikers and two goalkeepers enough? I don’t think it is.
For reasons that I cannot decipher, Neil Lennon seems to be a fan of big Sami but the bottom line is that a striker who doesn’t score goals is as much use as the Glasgow coat of arms fish that doesn’t swim.
If Sami could create more chances for other players then I think it would be worth keeping him as a backup striker but the fact that he seems to naturally drift out wide makes it seem pointless playing him as a striker – maybe he would be more productive playing in a different position?
Daryl Murphy is in a similar boat really, not enough goals. Perhaps he deserves another chance because it’s not easy for a player coming to Celtic in his first year so we can maybe reserve judgement on him until later on in the season.
Having written a small amount on Sami and Murphy, I am not going to keep harping on about them but I am merely highlighting the fact that for a squad who has league title aspirations, we need more fire power.
What happens if either Stokes or Hooper were to get injured? Stokes, in the past, has been the type of guy who seems to pick up his share of yellow cards so the chances are we are going to lose him to suspension at some point in the season so what do we do then ? Just expect Hooper to do the job on his own up front?
The same applies to Hooper, what if he gets injured or suspended? I would suggest it’s unfair on either of the two to have to work on their own.
I’ve used injuries and suspensions there but how about a loss of form? Have the board taken this into consideration when looking for a new forward?
Given the points total of last season and the style of football that Neil Lennon had the team playing, I am pretty sure that he knows that we need more firepower up front so my question is why has a suitable striker not been identified and bought?
At the end of the day, Lennon identifies the players and it’s then up to people above him to put an offer in and to come to an agreement with the player.
I feel that our board seem to look over to Ibrox and then act based on what is going on over there. Given that not much is happening over there they seem to be quite happy just to keep the balance sheets steady and hope that Rangers don’t win the league.
As a season ticket holder, I think the board are short changing us. Since 2003, the wages of new players has been decreasing, the transfer fees spent has also decreased so what exactly is happening with the money that comes in?
I know there is an argument that not being in the Champions League has ensured that the downsizing had to start, but we started downsizing even when we were still playing in the Champions League. Look at the transfer budgets and wages offered that Gordon Strachan had to work with in comparison to what Martin O’Neill had.
From the responces to previous pieces that I’ve written, there has been some criticism of Dermot Desmond but given that I don’t know enough about him, it would be unfair for me to agree or disagree.
He is the majority shareholder at the club so it has to be assumed that he has as much, if not more of a say than any other individual at the club so maybe it’s time for him to give the fans a bit more information on what his plans are for the club.
I don’t expect to be told what the transfer budget as that will just increase the asking price of a player from any selling clubs but I feel that the club is moving backwards and it’s time for the guys on massive salaries to start doing something about it.
Please let me know your thoughts.
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It seems we could be falling into the trap again of thinking we are better than what we really are, far to much mediocrity for me in the team, this thinking has cost us terribly over the last 3 years, sort it out now,
I think we Need an Experienced Striker..something like Michael Owen, Robbie Keane, Kuyt or another Champion’s League Veteran. and concerning the Goalie…i just Hope that we won’t Regret Missing on the Polish number 1..and with Izzi, Loovens, Kayal out, add to all of it Brown and Commons Injuries..we’re in Deeep Shit, it’s Time to Make Bold Decisions and put the Money on the Table i Say !!
The board have benefitted from the feelgood factor at the end of last season. Amazing scenes considering the league wasn’t won. There was no dissent among the fans and as such little real pressure on the board to spend money.
That said, the size of our squad is a big problem. McGinn, Juarez and O’Dea (again, what’s that 3 seasons in a row?) have gone on loan but pretty much everyone else is still there. We need to cut players before we can bring quality it.
The goalkeeping situation is ridiculous though. As you say, it’s been 3 months and we haven’t got it sorted but instead spent most of the time undermining the confidence of the current No. 1.
Even though there’s not much money in it, the Europa League qualifier may decide how much, or how little, is spent.
Well acording to my calculations we have added 3 good quality players this window, 2 played last Sunday with the 3rd on the bench.
Neil will get a goalkeeper. I would rather he takes until the 31st to get the RIGHT goalkeeper rather than take the first that comes along just to appease the masses.
As for the rest of the squad, this is currently good enough to win the SPL comfortably and put up a good show in the Europa League. We cannot buy top quality strikers on high wages just to let them sit on the bench, we have back up in Maloney, Sammi, Murph with a few good boys from last years the U-19’s (Keatings, Spence, Watt).
Stop panicking.
The Celtic Board have always been tight-fisted gets and will probably remain so. As for this season would not be surprised if we miss out on the league again.
We desperately need a goalkeeper, and a big center forward would be a match winning asset. This issue is vital to us. Without these players, we could easily loose the league again this season.
But there is an even more important issue here: Why do our board keep following the same failed financial policy that they’ve been following for the last four or five years ?
In the last four years, their ridiculous penny-pinching has cost us the league, four times-in-a-row. And, in addition, it has caused two out and out financial disasters.
They let WGS squad fall apart through lack of investment, and, because of this, they had to panic buy Tony Mowbray and a whole new squad of players. God only knows how much this cost the club ?
After the TM disaster, they were lucky enough to have NL to take over. But that meant buying another whole new squad of players.
Now one year later, the morons are failing to invest in NL’s squad properly. Talk about not learning from your mistakes.
All throughout these disasters the board have given the excuse that they are financial experts are they’re just doing what’s best for the club.
However, this agument doesn’t wash for two reasons:
Number one: their policies have cost the club millions and millions of pounds over the last five years.
And number two: The accountant firm PriceWaterhouseCooper reported on Celtic’s finances this weeek. They said that the clubs wage to turnover ratio is well within limits. That is we can afford to pay better players.
But, more importantly, they also said that CL football is crucial to our club if it wants to make decent profits in the future.
The board knew about this report before they let the Belgians have Gregor-S. So I think Celtic fans are entitled to ask the board a few questions:
Why do you only buy players to cover up your own mistakes ? And why do you keep making these same mistakes over and over again ?
Do you really want success on the pitch ? Or are you happy just to squeeze every penny of profit you can out of the club while it withers and dies.
You may think that that last question is a bit extreme, but that’s how venture capitalists make their money.
It is indeed frustrating to watch the same failed policies again this summer. And a team about to go to the wall still outspending Celtic in the transfer market.
Failing to land the young Polish goalkeeper is a mistake. Even if we land Forster (who is not the answer) chances are the price will be nearer 2.5 million. Newcastle will raise the price as they know how desperate we are and as the 31st nears Celtic will pay. How can that be prudent when they could have had an international for under 2 million.
Same thing with a striker. The board will have to pay 3-4 million for a decent player (like Rangers did with Jelavic) the alternative is another squad player and we already have more than enough of them. What is the point in paying 1 million for a guy no better than Murphy or Samaras.
Action must be taken sooner rather than later. And signing Bellamy will be a mistake. Investing well in a young promising striker and paying him 25,000 a week is surely preferable to paying a 32 year old, who obviously will only sign if there is no alternative, maybe 60,000 a week. Surely Neil knows this.
if genk have not managed to get sandomierski to sign on the dotted line then it’s not too late. chase it up celtic and ffs forget about ff. aye he did ok last season but just that, ok. not many of us had any real confidence in him tbh. i also doubt very much that bellamy is the answer, so stop conning us all with constant rumours of him coming, we simply do not want him.
The Celtic Board-Rangers greatest Asset ! I think the board consistently take advantage of the loyalty of the support and have presided over steady deterioration in recent seasons.
They had a chance to push Rangers into serious crisis and backed off.Despite the supposed 10 million world-wide Celtic support this has NOT been developed into increased revenue.To hear Mr Desmond saying things like “throwing money at the problem is not the answer” is like saying we accept 2nd best or worse.
The Kellys and Grants should be banned from Celtic Park in perpetuity as on their watch they presided over an orgy of self-destruction.What did Mowbray know about winning ?
I FEAR FOR THE FUTURE ! CELTIC-THE BIGGEST SMALL CLUB IN THE WORLD.Sad.Get out Desmond-you are a Rangers 5th column inside the club.
MON always had it right big solid defence one or two hard men in midfield and big striker up front now know diff managers prefer different systems but because of these other managers we’re now paying for their mistakes lets get rid of the deadwood come on Lenny ppl like Sami ain’t cutting it anymore and forget about Bellamy pleeeeease
HAIL HAIL LET THE THUNDER ROAR FOREVER MORE!!!1111
Really? Are we getting short changed? This article states that the board have been on the decline since 2003. In 2003 we signed two players for a total of 2.5 million, Ulrik Laursen and Magnus Hedman. Last year we spent 9 million and the year before 10 million. There is one year were MoN got to go mad and sign Sutton, Lennon, Thompson and Valgaren for close to 20 million, this was offset by the fact that Viduka was sold for 6 million. If you average MoN’s transfers he got no more than any other recent manager. I agree wages have dropped, but back then we got compete with the EPL and offer good players, Sutton, Lennon, Hartson etc 30 – 50k a week. Now we would not get the same caliber of player for 30k. Would Bellemy or Robbie Keane got into the Seville team? They are earning between 60-90k a week, Jimmy Bullard turned us down because he was earning 70k at Hull. So we have to look aboard or to the championship for diamonds in the rough. These lads are cheaper, but as witnessed last year if we get great players we have room to increase their wages to keep them.
As for the board not backing the manager this year, we improved our defence, we don’t need midfielders and we have two 20+ goals a season strikers. Our average goalkeeper last year let in 22 goals. Are you suggesting we need squad players? We have that in abundance. Does Stokes or Hooper deserve to be dropped? Would signing Given improve on letting in 22 league goals? Is that money well spent?
I believe Lennon likes his team and there he has told the board a few players he would like, but it is not that urgent. If we get a good deal, sign them, if not he is happy with what we have.
yeah but the point is we need back up for players we’ve got Izzy and Kayal out already no first choice experienced keeper and we need big solid striker up front
We have back up. Mulgrew stepped in for Iza and Ledley and Ki played center mid today. Do you really think quality players are going to be happy sitting on our bench? Were not Man Utd. A good target man would be a nice option, but to sign a good target man we need to give him game time. Who do you drop?
Mojie you are right. Hooper and Stokes are rightfully first choice but neither will go through the whole season without injury (I thought the worst today!). That is why a promising striker should be recruited (if available). Someone who will be ready and able to take his chance and push the other two as I don’t believe Sami is consistent enough to threaten the place of the first choice strikers. What about Rasmussen? Is he still about and is he remotely interested in playing for Celtic or just taking the cash? But not a Bellamy of Keane on fantastic wages.
Another centre back is necessary because injuries will take their toll and Loovens and Dan are not good enough. I think Charlie Mulgrew is better in the middle than either of them. But who is available? Cuellar for 2 million?
Good points but lets not forget the youngsters coming through you’ve got Keatings and Watt could cover up top n the young left back Twardzik could cover izzy/mulgrew who i agree has been by far our best player at centre back over the past 6months or so!
I personally like to see some sort of youth policy, if they’re not good enough then there’s always January but a keeper (not fragile) is deffo reqd n am sure will be delivered!! mon the hoops