Klimala transfer sums up ludicrous structure of Celtic’s recruitment

Patryk Klimala has been in the news recently speaking of his lack of opportunities at Celtic, even when the club had no fit strikers under Neil Lennon. Klimala looked in glimpses a player that could become something with the appropriate coaching, but he was another who suffered at the hands of a dysfunctional structure behind the scenes at Celtic Park.

It was quite apparent to everyone that Klimala was the kind of player who thrived on the counter-attack; however, the player himself has admitted that Lennon was on to him over playing better with his back to goal. The signing of Klimala made no sense for Celtic – we play in a league where near enough everyone sits in against us, the game versus Livingston being a case in point.

 Patryk Klimala scores during the Scottish Premiership match between St. Johnstone and Celtic at McDiarmid Park on 4 October, 2020. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

As a football club, Celtic is a behemoth in terms of history and culture in the game. Sadly, our current custodians are like a compass stuck in the mud when it comes to innovation and modernity. In fact, it’s not even innovation, it’s merely the requirement for a modern football operation. Although the PLC are excoriated a lot of the time for not spending money (which can be true, especially with domestic talent), more often than not it is HOW the money is spent as opposed to being frugal.

Between Klimala, Bolingoli and Ajeti its the best part of £11 million. Now, whilst I think that Ajeti is a good player, it is patently obvious that the guy needs to play in a front two. Bolingoli has had his card marked since the beginning, and the idiotic flight to Spain was the coup de grace. But how was he scouted and who recommended him?

Patryk Klimala of Celtic is replaced during the Scottish Premiership match between St. Mirren and Celtic at The Simple Digital Arena on 16 September, 2020. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We can all agree that Celtic have lost a lot of money on acquisitions that just don’t fit from the outset. You’d think this would be enough for the people at the top of the pyramid to enact meaningful change in terms of recruitment and structure. Yet here we are – a compass stuck in the mud without any direction, lost in a sea of silence that is suffocating the Club’s ability to grow. The current structure at Celtic maybe worked 10 or 15 years ago, today though it is the equivalent of a typewriter trying to keep pace with a laptop.

John Park served Celtic extremely well during his time as Head of Recruitment a decade or so ago. He managed to find gems like Victor Wanyama and Virgil Van Djik. But, this encouraged those within the PLC to adopt the attitude that if enough excriment is thrown at a wall, it will stick. A policy that has severely affected the recruitment at Celtic Park for several years now. The unofficial Director of Football oversaw all of this during his reign, and it’s safe to say the board don’t really have a plan of how to move forward in this regard.

Patryk Klimala and Andrew Considine battle for the ball during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park on 27 February, 2021. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

When the dust had settled after the heartbreak of last season, I thought Celtic would take a massive step in the right direction with the appointment of Dom McKay. How wrong was I? After just 72 days he departed and we are all once again left with more questions than answers. And still, silence is the preferred tactic employed by the Celtic board. It’s killing the soul of out beloved Club. The malignant cancer that we all thought was slowly being eradicated, is back with a vengeance. Ange and the team are the only hope that we as fans can view with any hope or optimism.

Patryk Klimala’s signing is just one in a perpetual list of wasted money and failings of stategy and structure. If the PLC continue down this route of silence and non-engagement with fans, I’m afraid that more Patryk Klimala stories will be a feature of Celtic FC for some time to come.

Paul Gillespie

About Author

I'm a Garngad Bhoy through and through. My first ever Celtic game was a friendly against Italian side Parma at Celtic Park, in 2002. Currently a student of English Literature and Education at the University of Strathclyde for my sins. Favourite game would be a toss up between beating Manchester United with that Naka freekick, or the game against the Oldco when Hesselink scored in the dying seconds. I'm still convinced Cal Mac is wasted playing that far back.

1 Comment

  1. You forgot Barkas & Starfelt. Both terrible signings & the money paid absolutely scandalous.
    As you said, no structure in place for signings & loan signings like Duffy made by people who have never played the game & don’t understand the differences being playing in defence for the likes of Brighton in a back 3 & playing for Celtic in a back 4. Where it’s not just a formation difference, but a style of play & type of game played against you that should be taken into account.
    We should be following the models of Bayern Munich, Ajax, etc in having actual ex-players/ legends on the board, but we are toiling away in the dark ages of the pre-Jock Stein era where the board have way too much say into football matters at the club. Their collective arrogance/ ignorance heightened by no real challenge during the Sevco wilderness years. A disgrace.