Transfer Talk

Hickey will be good eventually, but Taylor is way better a player. Your other comment about the formation changes describes the weird issue perfectly about Boli and Taylor playing the opposite formations they naturally suit. Taylor’s issue is he doesn’t have that extra burst of pace to beat a man. He never had to do this at Killie really so last season was totally new to him. A full year in the first team and he’ll be fine. Tierney worked in the gym and managed to get that extra bit of pace to his game, I would imagine gregs getting the same treatment to try mould him into that position. I also think boli is more a winger than defender so reckon we should keep both. We can not replace Tierney however much we want haha

 

The thing holding Boli back from being a winger is he barely takes on a man or does much with the ball when he has it up the field and is faced up with a defender, he often just plays the ball square or back.

He was at his best when making a run off the ball and someone threading it through to him on the run and for him to cut it across the box or cross first time with not too much time to think about it.

I do think he came on to a bit of a game but always gave me the fear when defending and some of his basic passing was very poor. I think he is a good athlete but not a particular good footballer (other than his first touch is often good).

Ultimately it will come down to whether or not he is even going to get back in the squad as post the winter break he was nowhere to be seen.

If Greg Taylor could find an extra yard or two of pace, improved his stamina and a little trick he would be a decent left wing back. He has looked solid defensively most of the time, but I felt he struggled to play the three games in a week (something Killie would have rarely done) as his performance notably dropped off as the fixtures continued.

 

Theres going to be alot of wages freed up

Gordon
Foster
Bauer
Jozo
Hayes
Azani
Elyounoussi
Eboue

I think you could add Hendry, Shved and Boli to that list.

While thats a big chunk of the wage bill its not much in coming as reguards transfer fees.

Thing is we would be lucky to get 5m for all them players above combined.

So we need at least a GK , CB and LB/LWB

Them three players will cost 10m. So i can see us selling a big player too

Ajer
Ntcham
Rogic
Eddie

They would be the group most likely to bring in good money that can potentially see sold in the summer.

I really hope its not Eddie. An argument could be made that due to lack of options in centre back, especially if we play 3-5-2 that selling Rogic or Ntcham to fund Foster and co could be the best move

 

Totally agree with all that mate, think I mentioned in another comment about Tierney not having that pace to start with. Working hard in the gym physically and then getting it. I’m sure Taylor is trying to be moulded by the back room staff in this way, and like you said last season was a totally new way for him to play. Both technically and physically. With that in mind I think he had a good season. For the level we play against we don’t need 2 top level LB’s, 1 who can cope in Europe (hopefully Taylor next season) and a rotation who’s adaptable for possible other positions (boli) for the prem. then whatever youngster coming up can slot in whenever needed. Good money spent on a left mid/winger should be the main priority I reckon.

 

Think Ajer will definitely be the one sold. I’d imagine Lennon has tried to say eddy is a priority for 1 more year. And with how vocal everyone’s been publicly about him; hopefully! I’d like us to keep everyone. But logically, I think we could lose both rogic and ntcham and cope well without. Good money for both too

 

Do we really need to sell to fund FF?

 

Going for a historic 10iar and we are genuinely debating about who we need to sell.

We are gonna * about until last minute again. Actually sick of it all

 

Most clubs are in the same boat.

Have you not noticed we haven't played a game in 3 month due to a Global pandemic?
Probably won't be any fans in our stadium for the rest of the year.
Use some common sense.

 

Sorry Mr Lawell

 

Is the window even open yet?

 

You're at it? Surely you canny be that daft.

 

Not idea whats happening with the window this summer. The bigger leagues want it open August to October

 

Aye mate, my point is there's no point flapping about transfers in June, I get the importance of the window, as will everyone at the club. It's always nice to get business done early but not sure what @themouth1888 is actually sick of?

 

The reality is since Lennon first came in as manager in 2010/11 we have never really had a transfer budget from the club, it has always come from selling a big first team player. Yes some individual years we have, the invincible year for example but on aggregate across the decade we are £42.5m in profit from transfer dealings (not including wages etc) and over £50m if you include the money we got from Rodgers and staff going to Leicester.

Last season was the most we spent on transfers for a long time but it was all covered by the sale of KT. We had a big surplus the season before if you include Dembele sale, Armstrong sale, and Rodgers compensation. The season before Ntcham purchase was more than offset in January by the VVD sell on clause. In past seasons sales of McGeady, Ki, Hooper, Wanyama, Forster and VVD all covered or exceeded our outlay for those seasons. With the exception of 2011/12; 2016/17 and 2017/18 a big player sale has covered or surpassed our transfer activity over the decade, even then 2017/18 we got our VVD sell on as mentioned above which covered most of our dealings.

I agree but when you look at the numbers mentioned above and the COVID-19 pandemic I can't say I expected anything different. It is the same with all the chat from Ntcham and Eddy about wanting to stay for the 10, if neither sign an extension (and this goes for Ajer too) Pistol Pete will be looking to sell as their resale value next year will drop due to having a year left on their deal. I am just hoping something can be worked out to sign a one year extension for Eddy especially. This almost lies separate to the world crisis scenario as would be the case anyway with our highest value players.

If a good offer of >£20m comes for Ajer he will be off and likewise if something in 8 figures comes in for Ntcham. Rogic won't likely command a big fee as he hasn't been playing so unless a bid comes in unexpectedly, I think he will still be here as he is on a long term deal. I expect us to try tie Christie down as well as he only has two years left and if he starts the season like he started last we will have people sniffing around him.

Don't get me wrong, I like everyone else would love us to push the boat out for the 10 but reality and history says if we do, it will be funded by player sales. Even in a world excluding COVID and behind closed doors football, the idea the Board would use the surplus cash we had built up is fantasy. We will only spend reasonable cash this summer if for example Ajer and Ntcham are both sold and Dembele moves on from Lyon for a big fee giving us a decent sell on. This would give an income of approx £33-35m. However, I still wouldn't expect Pete and co will let Lenny spend anywhere near that sadly.

 

You say not including wages but if you sell 1 player for £20m and then spend £20m on players your wages sky rocket. I wouldn't be surprised if Jullien is on more than KT was on and Ajer will likely be on less than any replacement that costs £5m or more. Also as a club we have no idea how Europe will be played out next season, at the moment you can't even do it as the travelling element is too difficult. Will there be a 2nd wave of the virus? What state will that leave us? The reality is that being a bit tight arsed has left us in a good condition going into the current situation. I wished Celtic had pushed the boat out a bit over the years, we all do, but in the end we are OK.

 

Would be nice to hopefully get one or two in over the next couple week's..

 

The window isn’t open yet is it?

 

Completely agree that Board level prudence has left us in a position where we should be better able to cope with the doomsday scenario we are now in of a global pandemic. However I will only continue to hold this view once it is clear how big a financial hit we have taken as a club and how we then manage the transfer window ahead, both in terms of sales and purchases. Say if COVID-19 has wiped out around half the cash at bank to around £14m - £19m, I don't want us as a club selling key players and not replacing them or spending the funds on other player investments in order to get some more cash at the bank back closer to the previous figure for business purposes.

Also I am not implying we should spend all the money from a sale on a single player nor spend it all on a series of players as I understand our wage structure does not allow this. In terms of wage increases this will be the case some of the time like you say Julien will be on as least as much as Tierney if not slightly more, however this is not always the case I suspect Eddy is on less than Dembele was so there would be a saving there. However, Taylor for example will not be on the money KT was on nor will Boli. There is a good chance you will find the wages for Tierney and Izzy were higher than those of Taylor and Boli.

The point on Eddy also shows it can go either way because you pay a high fee for a young prospect doesn't mean you necessarily pay an overly large salary. Sinclair is another who I doubt we will pay a replacement for him the salary he was on and the replacement we used last season, MJ will have been a lot less. Elhamed and Frimpong's wages combined are probably less than Lustig was on. Similar if Ntcham moved on I doubt anyone we sign will be on the money he is on. If Gordon goes and we do get FF it will be the opposite so it somewhat balances out.

One dimension where wages probably play the biggest part is home grown or young players getting new deals the likes of McGregor, Christie, Frimpong, Ajer, (if he stays) will all now have better terms or be looking for better terms than when they arrived. This is to be expected and has intangible value around coherency so no time of bedding in, loss of form is a smaller risk than failure to adapt, no transfer fee vs increased wage cost). This obviously all needs to be accounted for. One area that is a challenge which we have started to address is those picking up a decent wage and not contributing for example last season Sinclair, Gordon, Morgan, Kouassi, Biton (speculating his new deal is on reduced terms as he got his previous deal when he was our main man in midfield with Brown rather than a utility player), Hayes and Jozo with the last two contributing but Jozo spent a lot of time out injured as well and missing games.

However, taking all the above there is no doubt that the profit made from player trading is the single biggest factor plays in the reported cash at bank the club has and how this has compiled from a modest amount in 2010 to a tenfold figure as of 30 June 2019, Player trading profit of £30.8m to profit before tax of £45.7m, especially when another £8.8m of that profit is the compensation for Rodgers and staff,(excludes 2019/20 as results not out yet and source is our annual reports).

 

"Welcome to Celtic Scott Mckenna"

 

CQM made for grim reading about our finances

Hopefully its alot of pish