Rodgers, The Board, Our Transfer Policy & Europe.

We were terrible last night but it is not a new experience to us in fact the feeling of déjà vu in Europe under Rodgers is overwhelming. With our current transfer model do you think we will ever truly be able to compete at any decent level in Europe??


I would say no and certainly not under Rodgers, which leaves huge questions to be asked of the board, here is why.


With Rodgers talking of gaining valuable experience then it is somewhat disconcerting to note that those that need that experience Dembele, Ntcham, Eboue, Ajer etc are all subsequently touted as the next money spinning transfer and moved on after 2/3 seasons, to be replaced by the next up and coming inexperienced hope. This severely hampers our ability to mould a seasoned team able to compete at that level.


But we have had semi-recent successes in Europe. O’Neill built a team of strong, hardworking players that could bully and grind away at the opposition, and under his organisational nous we of course made it to Seville albeit this was under different financial circumstances. Strachan had his successes as well, operating under greater financial restraints he mounted some significant European campaigns with a side displaying much of the same characteristics as O’Neill’s; hardworking, organised with the odd sprinkling of magic.


Fast forward to the tenures of Lennon, Deila and Rodgers. Our new transfer policy of buy them young and cheap and sell them high is now firmly in place. We have the footballing purists in Deila and Rodgers who want to promote a possession based, build from the back approach, hired by the board for amongst other traits their track record of working with young players. In a team littered with young inexperienced players purchased in line with our new transfer policy and cherry picked by the manager to fit their more technical outlook we have struggled badly in our attempts to go toe to toe with some of Europe’s best and even those that are not so good. Often taking beating after beating. The team not surprisingly in my eyes considering their make-ups are slated for lacking fight, lacking passion and lacking any credible defensive organisational structure.


The stand out in this period has been Lennon. A manager moulded under O’Neill and Strachan he instilled much of the same characteristics in his side. Hardworking, organised, gritty. We might never have outplayed the opposition, but we almost always outfought them (there is a theme developing here). Under great financial restraints and faced with the constant threat of having his best players sold on he lead us to some of our most enthralling European nights in recent memory. In my view if Lennon was able to hang on to some of his key players for that bit longer and was handed some genuine funds to add quality then I think he really could have taken us onto something special on the European stage. With those two things not forthcoming I think he felt he had taken us as far as he could go.


There is no doubt our current transfer model and transfer budget severely hinder us in Europe and always will, but this unfortunately is a problem that is deeply rooted within the club at boardroom level and shows no signs of changing. They seem content to sit on their reservoirs of cash, happy in the knowledge they are top of the pile domestically but European also rans. Not only is this devoid of ambition but for me is a dangerous game to play. YET there is still the potential for much better than what we have recently seen but I fear, sadly this will not happen under Rodgers. It will require a fundamental change in philosophy from him, a man who has built his whole career around an attacking based, possession game and I believe he would struggle to ever be truly persuaded away from this. It will involve not only a change in playing style but a complete shake up of his transfer policy regarding his preferred player profile. An overhaul I think he will be dead against and will in my view eventually lead to his departure in the short rather than long term. The quality of player he requires to play his way is not available to us and if he can find one of genuine quality we have seen that he will be quickly sold on. His frustration and/or the fans frustration at our lack of European progress will ultimately be decisive and furthermore if we persist with this current transfer policy then a manager with the pragmatic approach of a Lennon is our greatest chance of progress.