Overreactions are on steroids; In my opinion Celtic did not need another striker to see out this season…
Not replacing Kyogo a risk worth taking
The Celtic hierarchy not replacing Kyogo during the January transfer window just gone by seems to have generated complete outrage on every platform, website and Celtic-minded outlet going. Apart maybe from this one where it’s a mixed bag of opinions.
Contrary to the narrative, I’m not overly concerned that Celtic did not rush out and buy a striker.
Does Brendan actually need another striker now?
However, does Brendan Rodgers require one at this very minute? I had written a piece in the middle of January for The Celtic Star about how this scenario may play out when Kyogo inevitably left for new environs in France.
For me, it was obvious Kyogo would leave this January transfer window. The changing of agents in August, the murmurings of his disappointment at not securing a summer move – it was just a matter of who he would leave Celtic for. The question then became, is it essential that he is replaced – whether that be a short-term loan or a permanent striker?
Likely to be no more than 20 matches to go this season
With 14 league games to go whilst attaining a healthy 13-point gap at the top of the Scottish Premiership table if Celtic beat Dundee tomorrow night, a maximum four Scottish Cup matches to go and barring mission impossible, two Champions League outings versus German giants Bayern Munich to play, the Hoops will feature in 20 encounters across all competitions from now until May.
Do Celtic supporters not trust Idah and Maeda
Do Celtic supporters not trust Adam Idah and Daizen Maeda to act as the two frontmen for three months?
Rodgers has spoken often at great lengths of Maeda’s attributes playing in that central striking role. After all, it was Celtic who turned the 27 year-old into a winger!
Maeda was top goalscorer in the J-League
When Ange Postecoglou signed Kyogo from Vissel Kobe in July 2021, Maeda was top goalscorer in the J-League. Indeed, Hajime Moriyasu sees the Japanese forward as a striker – that is why the Japan national team coach played the Celtic star in that position two years ago at the Qatar World Cup.
Allowing Maeda to play centrally as a second striker option also allows Jota to notch up more minutes on the wing and return to those peak physical levels, he acquired prior to his £25m move to Al-Ittihad. Jeffery Schlupp’s utility strengthens Rodgers depth at both left back and on the left hand side of attack.
A huge confidence booster for Idah
It could also be a huge confidence booster for Idah who is now safe in the knowledge that he will be Rodgers’ main man for the remainder of the season. More minutes, and hopefully more goals for the Irishman who up until Villa Park last Wednesday had been devoid of any real conviction since signing for Celtic permanently in the summer.
I’ve seen people online mention Celtic have Champions League qualifiers to play next season and not securing the services of a striker will disrupt any preparation for that money-spinning tie at the beginning of next season. The Hoops won’t play their two-legged affair until the latter stages of August so will have plenty of time to make a no.9 their priority as soon as the summer transfer window opens.
Pressure now falls on Celtic’s ‘football doctor’
Pressure now falls on ‘football doctor’ Paul Tisdale, and the recruitment department to identify what striker they want in the summer and thus, Tisdale and co must deliver. I’d imagine had the Champions League knockout stages draw been a tad kinder [such as a Brest/Feyenoord]and there was a real prospect of last 16 football which would add €11m to the coffers, Celtic may have pushed the boat out and bought a Mathias Kvistgaarden or David Strelec.
Realistically, who were the Scottish champions going to sign in the final few days of the window that would make our chances of beating Bayern any greater than what they already are?
Undoubtedly, there will be much analysis and contempt of Celtic’s hierarchy for not sealing a striker in January. However, it won’t be from me. Rationally, I understand why they opted against signing one and leaving it until the summer.
Conor Spence
Jeesis wept, happy clapper piece. We need a striker in just now for the rest of the season in case of injuries but more importantly to give him more time to bed in for the small matter of the CL qualifier. A wee bit of money at stake there. Honestly, I despair sometimes
Only problem is that we still have losers and creeps like Pleat on the payroll.
Well done the Board for paying for dodgy cronies to soak up supporters’ excess funds.
Have they no shame?
Conor are you sure you’re not Lawwell in disguise. Your piece was absolute garbage. With fans like you the board will never have the team’s interests at heart. Now away back to the boardroom to total up your bonus.
Sorry, I can’t buy this ag all. The board and Nicholson are guilty of penny pinching. Are they actually aware tgag Kuogo has left the club?
More seriously, if Strelec was available gor 8M then would have WM spare from the Luogo transfer and a player on a 4 year contract. If he would have been good enough at, say, 6M why not just go the extra mile. Don’t kid yourself that our inactive Board will address this in a timely manner in the summer. They will prevaricate until the last minute and then pay over the odds as they did for Idah. By not acting before Kyogo’s departure they showed their hand to the market. Penny wise and pound foolish.
I have a great idea for you James!
Since you have so much negativity and anger towards what is the best board in Britain, why don’t you just quit following them? Why not for the sake of your health, don’t you just start following a smaller club who aren’t as well run? I can give you a pointer in the right direction if you’d like! There’s one across the city in fact who has a whole load of whiners just like you! I think you’d be a perfect fit!
Or of course you could do something new and shut up and think for a few minutes!
Why would any club throw away money to sign players they don’t want, or need for three months when the player they do want will become available?
🤔
If my memory serves me correctly there is a story about a now extinct club from Glagow who once did this while they had their eyes on chasing Lions!
As the story goes, this now extinct club who threw away all their money, then started to steal additional funds from HMRC, 😱 as they chased and chased these Lions since 1967! But the years rolled on and on! Their debts got bigger and bigger, the SFA even helped them to hide the fact! But the debts grew more! They even “bought” players from other clubs without paying the full amount! Their debts eventually caught up with them when that old lady they used to sing praises to from the terraces, QE2, decided she wanted to have an audit done and lo and behold, she discover that these so-called “adoring” Glasgow fans had been giving her one! So she decided while it may have felt good, she hadn’t been paid for it!
So she handed them a bill!
So did everyone else this club owed money to!
This even included their own employees!
First team players even saw this as an opportunity to get the heck out of town! After all, why were some players getting large illegal taxfree “under the table” EBT payments while they were receiving the same treatment as the lady from London!
So they tore up their contracts and ran!
They eventually had to declare bankruptcy and disappear into oblivion!
Since then, in 2012 the sad fans of the now dead club started a new club, which they originally called Sevco, later officially changed to “the Rangers”. This is the official name today.
The moral of this we tale?
Put your brain into gear before you speak! Our board are tge best in the business! Do the make everyone happy with every decision? Of course not!
Do they make us happy at the end of every season?
They play the long game!
Absolutely!
I am not sure who is on steroids here. Didn’t Brendan say he wanted another striker as well as Idah and Kyogo? I want three but make do with one. He also wanted to come out of this window stronger than we went in. Nope let’s test his mettle by giving him a weaker hand. It smacks of complacency and contempt. This chronic lack of support would make any lesser man think about walking. I don’t think he will but I would understand the sentiment. At some point we will have a board that matches a managers ambition but that’s not what we have here and now. Let’s keep supporting at games and buying merchandise despite the fact the we feel a little more dead inside with each passing window.
Agree with you 100% , do we really think spending between 10/14m on a striker would make us better than we are assuming he is the real deal , some people blame the board , but they are not always to blame , we are not going to be held to ransom by clubs demanding over inflated transfer demands, there’s every possibility we may get the same striker who ever he may be 5m cheaper. HH
It should never have been left this late, a striker should have been in place before the sale of Kyogo, amateur hour again from the Celtic board, they had 6 months ffs. Every few years they throw the dog a bone to keep the punters happy. Time for change at the top this club belongs to us not the board HH
Agree 50% .. the reason why? BR is quoted as saying that they have identified the man they want (Kvistgaarden) & they couldn’t get the deal done, so BR doesn’t want just antone else instead. Liverpool did this with VVD & Man Utd did this with van Nistelrooy. They knew who they wanted specifically and were willing to wait for him. Turned out well in both cases.
But .. we could have got Kvustgaarden last season if we offered the £10 mill back then, but we didn’t .. we offered £5 mill.
From what Danish fans are saying this guy is the real deal & will double in value within a year (as John McGinn did).
So, the board are at fault. Completely.
But, if we do get the guy eventually & he is that good then it could end well.
Also though, Liewell really should just feck right off imho
And I hope Cummings gets a chance
yes a total joke of an article, this board treats every penny as a prisoner and try and low ball every offer they make.
We don’t replace Kyogo, we don’t buy a left back but take a guy ( who’s best position isn’t even left back) on a short term loan, if Taylor goes then when Tierney arrives we’re back at square one with one left back who’s injury prone to booot.
If our long term target Kvustgaarden keeps scoring his price is only going to go up by summer (when most Clubs do their transfers) by then we’ll be priced out of any deal.
The problem with this board is there is no long term planning and everything they do has to be risk free.
Lou Macari had a better transfer window. The boards a joke. The guy that wrote this has to be related to the Lawells. Who sells their star striker less than a month after getting humbled 3-0 by their rivals. So we should only have brought in a striker if we had a chance of progressing in the CL, this guys having a laugh. we needed a lb, winger and striker and 1 man fits the bill for all 3 Schlupp im sure he can play keeper aswel. Lawell like a Mounty always gets his man. hh
Brendan Rodgers just said he wanted a striker in an article today. Maybe when Brenden leaves Conor can become our manager, he seems to know what we need better than Rodgers.
joe who was it that pummelled us 3-0 last month then!
who was our main striker when they pummelled us 3-0 last month? 10m for a striker who left his boots in the changing room for a couple of seasons is astute business acumen. Not to mention the 50m duo we’re going to to have running the left wing for the next 3 seasons! How much did they cost? Oh yeah – 6(ish)m. Incredible piece of business!
Given that we have no real ambition in Euro now until next season, do we really need this overreaction against a board who just did all this? Ive seen Kvistgarden, and frankly, I’m not overly impressed – 90% of his goals have been headers – not exactly a like-for-like Kyogo replacement. We’ll all be howling sweet bloody murder if this kid shows up and can’t handle the Scottish game – 14.5m down the drain – and we all look like mugs. Def better to wait for summer and do the Celtic haggle xD
P.S. We should get behind Idah – this might just be the opportunity he needs to become the star we all hoped he would be.
Well said Conor and others – the so called penny pinching board reinvested the O’Reilly money into three signings last summer and pushed ahead with getting Jota and Tierney back. A combination of Kuhn, Maeda, Idah and Jota should be well capable of winning everything domestically – and we have improved our standing in Europe – we’re officially the 21st best team in the whole continent !
I don’t think anyone thinks we’ll beat Bayern over two legs even if Salah or Haarland had joined in January. So that journey is almost done – lets enjoy that and back the people who want to be playing for our club give the Germans a run for their money. We are always moaning that youth needs a chance so Kenny & Cummings have that opportunity now. The guy from Crystal Palace looks like a unit and has great experience in a better league – even won it once. This is one very well run club interested in continuity and best business practice.
It was Kyogo’s fault was it. I think their were 10 other players that started that match, aye it was Kyogo, he never scores against them.