Matt O'Riley

Then we shouldn't be looking to sell him till we know we have someone who can come in and take his place.

We don't need the money. We need the player.

 

That’s not how we’ve ever worked, how do we replace O’Reilly to that level when he’s worth £25M?

You need to develop them to that level and Bernardo has the potential. We can definitely go for higher quality just now but that’s going to cost £10M which breaks the model the club loves.

 

Agreed. And until that model is broken, or even tweaked, we will never progress in Europe.

 

It'd make perfect sense if they're "buying, and not shopping"... If they want it done quickly, with him in for the start of the season running...

 

The lineup on Sunday will be telling.

 

Yeah, a player of O'Riley's quality isn't looking to come to our level of league, they're already well on their way to bigger things, our model is never going to change much unless Scottish football overall improves dramatically, that's the harsh reality of being a big fish in a puddle. We're always going to be the stepping stone for this type of player, not the final destination.

 

The value of a player should always be what he brings to the team first and what he is worth financially second. This board have never operated that way.

If we had Larsson in the side now he would 100% be sold and many fans would be accepting it as it's the boards policy.

A successfully policy would be one that improves the team year on year, and by that I mean doing better in European, rather than just trying to stay ahead of a lame 3 legged donkey in a 2 horse race domestically.

We don't need a fortune in the bank. Selling Matt is another example of the board putting the £ before the team.

Bernardo may develop further, though he is older than O'Reilly, but Benfica are one of the best clubs in Europe at putting out a good team on the pitch and selling players on. Unlikely they would have given Paulo away on the cheap if they felt he was going to progress. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

Our model has to change or we will fade away into European obscurity. Even more so than we are currently.

 

Come on matt it makes sense to stay

 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Rodgers stated when asked about O’Riley’s future and if there have been any recent developments: “No, nothing. I think there are obviously bids that will come in for Matt, but like I said, I repeat, there’s no need for us to sell; we don’t want to sell.

“If there’s an offer that comes in that fits the valuation of the player, that’s a different matter. We all know Celtic and the position that we’re in as a club.

But until that moment, I’m fairly relaxed because, as I said, he’s training really well, he’s working really hard, and until that changes, we just continue focused on performing

 

It’s not just about the board though, majority of players we bring in and even youth now are tempted so easily to the bigger leagues quite simply for money.

We cannot compete with wages and maintain our squad, we will always go through peaks and valleys with our player trading. Just now we are high because we have developed a lot of good purchases in the last 3 years and now it’s time to start that cycle again.

Every player has their price and not many are going to turn down a 5-10x wage rise.

 

Is that the case with the Matt O’Riley situation, as the season has already started and you don’t know what the end result will be?

Yeah, but it’s just framing it for the players. I’ve spoken with the players on that, that this can be a difficult period. There is a lot of emotion and emotional leverage being used by agents and all sorts of things going on to try and get players. You have to just manage it as best you can and keep the team focused on what you want to achieve over the course of the season. This period is a difficult period naturally for players and for everyone. We can only keep our focus on the next game and the next training session. Thankfully, the players have been absolutely brilliant, I have to say. The behaviour and the respect shown to everything we’re trying to do has been brilliant, even though there has been speculation. For the likes of Matt, he’s been fantastic. People might say ‘Do you have to be not nice to get a move’ and that’s not the case. He’s a good guy, his training is exemplary and if a club meets the valuation that the club thinks he is worth and can go then that will happen. I repeat, the value of the players will have to be matched before the club can consider it.

Is there a contingency plan in place in case it drags on and then he does leave at the end of the window?

Part of improving our squad is getting all the players of quality in. We always have to be ready and braced for that. It can’t be a surprise, but we don’t want Matt to go, first and foremost. We know the club’s model and how it works, but there’s no rush to move Matt. We would love him to stay here and be here. I can see it in himself - he’s really happy. If you have the chance to change the conditions in your life and a club makes an offer that is of great value, then you have to look at it. There always needs to be that contingency in place, for sure

 

We can compete though. It's the board that is hoarding obscene amounts that say we can't. The board would rather waste £ms on on second rate gems and projects that never gets discussed. And yes, O'Reilly could have been a "project" but this was a rare occasion when there was plenty of chatter about his potential but we luckily got in quick

Also if a player wants to move then fine. The only people suggesting a sale for Matt is the club. The player has respectfully got on with his job. If O'Reilly is worth a large fee now, then he is going to be worth even more next year. Sadly our board just loves to drop it's knickers to the first club that comes in for a player.

Our cycle should be around building a team to do well in Europe, not one that is going to simply generate money through fees.

 

Good signs from Rodgers, and he's 100% right, we don't need to sell and O'Riley himself clearly isn't pushing for a move.

He might want to play in the new CL format, he's only 23 so another year with us would only be beneficial.

He 100% plays on Sunday, the bigger question is does he play against Hibs at home the following week.

 

Glad to see we're holding firm on a valuation. Matt doesn't seemed worried either which is great. Top professional.

 

If it was me, I'd stay and take the champions league crack because it might be my last one in awhile and then go in Jan, no brainer really

 

Get the vibe from Rodgers that a club, most likely Brighton, are lot closer to hitting that figure than last week.. come 7/8 tonight a bid will be be accepted

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