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(IMO) Our Obsession With 10IAR is Halting Our Progress

Discussion in 'Celtic Chat' started by Cupid Stunt, May 30, 2019.

Discuss (IMO) Our Obsession With 10IAR is Halting Our Progress in the Celtic Chat area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Cupid Stunt

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    I'm not saying this relates to every Celtic fan out there, but this obsession with ten in a row and being content with just being better than the rest of Scottish football (and in particular the Huns), in my opinion, is why we've regressed the past two seasons and why the board are happy to spend the bare minimum as they know we will likely win the league regardless and fans will be content.

    Essentially the board are getting away with it because each disastrous transfer window that goes by is followed by domestic success.

    Currently, our yard stick seems to be being better than a Hun team made up of English League 1 standard players and bosman signings from SPFL clubs.

    For me, being better than the Huns and winning 10IAR is deflecting from what we should be obsessing over and that's trying to become at least competitive over two legs with teams like Valencia and Zenit on a consistent basis, as well as ensuring that the people running the club are doing their jobs properly pushing us in that direction.

    If we had a management team and playing squad capable of at least not being turned over by fairly decent Europa League teams, we'd walk to 10IAR anyway and I honestly don't think with our infrastructure and resources that is beyond us if it became our primary focus.

    Why are we so content with just being better than the rest of Scottish football? They shouldn't even be entering our thinking at this point in our history given the sheer difference in resources.

    By the way this isn't a Lenny bashing thread at all, I'm still not sold that offering him the job without at least seeing what was out there beforehand was anything less than negligent on the boards behalf, this is purely my concerns (rightly or wrongly) about how we're measuring success and what our end goal seems to be.

    I know 10IAR would be an incredible achievement and I'll lap up every second of it at the time, but not at the expense of seeing Celtic regress as badly as the trend suggests we might because 10IAR is all that matters.

    Watching the Huns go in to meltdown and implode over 10IAR isn't anywhere near as big a motivator for me as forgetting about the rest of Scottish football (because by and large it's awful) and looking to get to the final stages of the Europa League semi-regularly.
     
  2. rickyroma25

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    You'll probably get a bit of pushback on this, but you've summed up my thoughts perfectly.
     
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  3. john2061

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    The present board know ten in a row is achievable without spending alot of money and they have no interest in getting to the latter stages of a European competition as would take big money to do so .
     
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  4. Cupid Stunt

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    I expect to tbf.
     
  5. Cupid Stunt

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    It really wouldn't though.

    Look at the quality we have in our squad, Tierney, Forrest, McGregor, Ajer, Rogic, Edouard etc. and Edouard aside these are all more or less products of our academy or bought for peanuts and developed.

    All those players need is to be complimented by a mixture of 3 quality players and a couple of those 3 having experience at a decent level. I really don't think with the finance and resources we have available to us just now, that it is unreasonable to expect a better and more consistent showing at Europa League level.
     
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  6. Officer Doofy Come to me, human man Gold Member

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    Couldn't agree more.
     
  7. packybhoy Administrator Administrator Gold Member

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    It could be perceived as an obsession right enough but I believe it’s the Promised land, the marker for any players in hoops to use as a goal to achieve. We constantly sing about it for that reason and love to rub it into the huns who know deep down that we will do it making their 9 in a row nil and void. Here we go 10 in a row.
     
  8. john2061

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    If you look at each passing year and now we struggle to get to the next stage of the Europa cup and yes we know we did it last season but for Rosenberg scoring a late goal .
    But teams are spending a bit of money even at Europa league level and we could get left behind in the coming years and would hope the board would show a bit more ambition.
     
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  9. ddub11

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    Think the board are in a difficult position.

    If they splash out on players in order for us to progress in europe and we dont then they are left paying for players we brought in without the required income, which makes bad business sense.

    Where as in other leagues around the world the tv money is there as back up if they have a bad run in europe.
    Winning our league can be achieved on a smaller budget.

    Im sure we would all love a good run in europe but realise we can only go so far giving our financial restraints.
     
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  10. The Prof Administrator Administrator

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    A very good OP mate. :50:


    Yes i think we are fixated with it tbh, it was almost inevitable as we head towards the 9, could we possibly go one better and deliver the 10 ?

    It may hamper us in other respects along the way, but there's no gettin away from it now, there will be massive pressure next season, but also for the huns who are shittin themselves at the mere prospect of us doing the 9 again and then hittin number 10.

    It probably wont mean much in other countries, but in this part of the world it's everything, one things for sure it's gonna be mental next season, not sure it will be the best thing for Lenny's health lol.
     
  11. King of Kings

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    I don’t really agree that chasing the 10 is hindering us. You could argue that a focus on simply being marginally better than our domestic rivals is, but I don’t believe that to be the case, and I don’t equate that to chasing the 10.

    We’re in a difficult position where we’re by far the biggest/richest team in Scotland but still miles away from the European elite in terms of financial muscle.

    We could do more in some regards - I think that’s clear. The summer transfer window was a calamitous cluster * of short-term planning that can’t be repeated. In fact it could be argued we’ve had a few windows like that. Could a director of football be the answer? Someone not judged on a week to week basis, but to ensure the club is adhering to a philosophy even as managers come and go.

    Chasing the 10 itself now simply means winning two more league titles. League titles that provide is with that vital chance at CL football and the revenue that comes with it.

    Is there really a trend of regression? I’m not so convinced. For as long as I’ve followed Celtic we’ve been a team that goes in 3-5 year cycles of success. We peaked with rodgers in his first season and it’s clear to see the current side could do with being strengthened considerably, despite this seasons success. I actually think that the board are well aware that they ducked up last summer with the McGinn fiasco and others, and that they’ll strengthen early these summer. Lawwell alluded to an internal investigation covering last summers transfer situation, which is the first time I’ve heard him deliver a message which isn’t the usual ‘we tried to strengthen/always come out of the window stronger than we went in’ line.
     
  12. packybhoy Administrator Administrator Gold Member

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    The lack of preparation for CL was a * frustrating time for all us fans. We were waiting and watching and getting nothing. Was Rodgers sitting on his hands or was Lawell * about with timing and budgets. I believed our most suitable time to sign big names was January and that gave us time to bed the players in to see us through and bank the CL riches. Very simple strategy but was totally neglected and the biggest embarrassment was going through 3 transfer windows without strengthening defence. And plugging the hole with big Nir and to his credit done a job but one he should not have done. I would say a lot of mischief making by Brendan looking back.
     
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  13. bhoy81

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    Great post, with the right investment and strengthening from a position of strength we should be light years ahead everyone in Scotland and the 10 and more would be won with ease.

    But like you have said our board in effect don’t give a flying * and will do it on the cheap and roll the dice with gambling on our position by downgrading the playing staff at every turn.
     
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  14. Forestbhoy66 Gold Member Gold Member

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    Remember not that long ago had a screen saver with fortress Celtic on it. Think it was one game out of 20 or so we lost at home in Europe. What would we take for that now on the next 20 or so home games in Europe ....?
     
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  15. bhoy81

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    Thing is, with our route to the champions league we should be getting there each season with ease with the correct and proper investment.

    But the board always gamble, they have dropped the ball for a good few seasons and luck has got us there and last season their penny pinching cost us around 40 million.

    If we recruited properly we would have beat AEK with ease and I’m sure win the 4th game as well.

    We may have got beat in the groups but another 40 million in the bank for the following season to add that extra bit of quality again.

    That’s the model we should be looking at instead of the wait and see one.
     
    Last edited: May 31, 2019
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  16. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    We’ll see in the winter window how much it’s hindering us if there’s even a sniff of a mank challenge.

    For the next 2 seasons it’s our Holy Grail and rightly so.
     
  17. oh bhoy

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    I don't think having a desired minimum requirement of winning the league every year is a bad thing.it ain't the fans fault lawwell sells all our good players then won't buy suitable replacements
     
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  18. Lewis Kerr

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    Excellent * post mate. I’ve been thinking this for years.

    We should have been out of sight since the invincible season but we’ve regressed badly. Like, how the * have that shower of * scored more goals than us in the past 2 seasons? That’s just unacceptable.

    I love winning but winning convincingly and playing beautiful football (domestically and in Europe) is something that should be the bare minimum for us. The treble this year was very underwhelming if we’re just talking about the level of performance on the field.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
  19. Valhalla Thus spoke Batistuta.

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    Unfortunately a number of our fans, and the board, only care about beating the Huns.

    The fact that so few fans actually wanted Lennon at least shows the fans still have proper ambitions.
     
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  20. ddub11

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    As a fan i agree with what you say,but sadly for us the board will always play it safe regarding buying players.

    Its very frustrating to see the lack of serious investment but as i said with the lack of tv money/money from the league being * i cant see things changing anytime soon.
     
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