[Official TC Thread] Celtic 25/26 Summer transfer window: Stage: Nicholson firing up the Fax Machine

No chance of 6 unless we bring in that young CDM.

I think we'll sign Balikwisha and a RW at minimum, and i think there will be one more signing on top of that.

If we end with two wingers and a CB, then we finish the window at the bare minimum.

We ideally need two wingers, a CB and a CDM, probably a LB too if we loan out Inamura, and another attacker, preferably a versatile option that can play up top anywhere.

I know we still have over a month left in the window, but these guys need to settle in as well.

 

For the Celtic manager, the defeat also served as a reminder that his squad needs to be strengthened in the transfer market.

"I think that's the nature of a pre-season," Rodgers conceded. "It's designed to grow, and by the end of it, you've had really good tests. We saw that tonight.

"I was seeing players on the next level and how they cope, and it's a reminder really of the work that we have to do on the pitch and off the pitch.

"It depends on what your ambition is. If your ambition is to really progress and push forward, then we need to improve the squad. But I can't fault the players.

"The players that are here, they've been working so well, so hard, and you see some of the play and how they work has been very, very good. However, if you're going to progress, then, as I said, you need to bring in quality, and that's something that we hope to do."

Asked further about recruitment and the identification of talent, Rodgers gave some insight into the process.

The Celtic boss explained, "How it mostly works at most clubs, is that you have a recruitment and analytical team that scour your markets to find the players that are suitable within your price range and really importantly, have quality.

"They then get presented to you and then it's whether that list, whether the players I think are right for us. If they're not, then we've got to keep looking. If they are, then we've got to try and see if we can get the deal to get them in. And that's obviously the club who will then do that.

"But listen, Celtic, there are no secrets in it. There are no secrets. They will look to get the best deal for the club and get the best players in possible.

"My job is to coach and demand we get the highest level player we can, if we want to keep developing."

 

The lack of quality in our squad when we have close to £100m in the bank is something I’ll never get my head around.

We would rather pay tax on profits than reinvest it into the squad, it’s a * joke.

Kyogo gone. No replacement.
Kuhn gone. No replacement.

Scales, Ralston, Yang, Forrest, McCowan, far too many players who will never be anything other than squad players.

Every year we think they’ll somehow start behaving like an ambitious club but it honestly gets worse.

 

Rodgers has literally said that every year he’s managed us

 

Aye

 

Every signing we've made so far has been leaked or discovered a week or more before it was actually official so the tumbleweeds blowing around atm suggest nobody will be in before the league begins. If it wasn't such an extreme scenario I would be wondering about sabotage. It's hard to believe a club in such a strong starting position as ourselves can make such a mess of things.

 

Reckon it will Yang, Maeda and Idah for St Mirren alright

 

Brendan Rodgers insists Celtic need to show ambition in the transfer market after suffering a pre-season reality check against Ajax.

The Hoops were punished for a second half collapse in Como and went down 5-1 to the Dutch big guns.

Rodgers won’t go overboard after a solid first 45 minutes on the back of impressive friendly wins against Sporting Lisbon and Newcastle United.

But the Parkhead gaffer admitted the club can’t afford to stand still as they push for reinforcements ahead of the new season.

Rodgers said: “Yes, it depends what your ambition is. If your ambition is to really progress and push forward, then we need to improve the squad.

“But I can't fault the players. The players that are here, they've been working so well, so hard and you see some of the play and how they work has been very, very good.

"However, if you want to progress, then, as I said, you need to bring in quality and that's something that we hopefully can do.”

Rodgers was disappointed with the late stumble in Italy but won’t hit the panic button.

He said: “I think the scoreline didn’t quite reflect the game. I think that the first 60 minutes we played a lot of really good football with physicality, we broke through their pressure, scored one, could have had more.

“I just thought the last 30 minutes, we've pushed the players really hard in the pre-season, so it looked a wee bit leggy.

“But that aside, we should keep the ball better and can be better in duels, so there's no doubt we lost out on that.

“Then the two final goals are probably a consequence of that.

“There were enough really good moments in the game, but certainly the last 30 minutes, we would want to be better.

“I think that's the nature of a pre-season. It's designed to grow and by the end of it, you've had really good tests.”

Rodgers revealed new recruit Shin Yamada was denied a Celtic debut after getting caught up in red tape.

The Japanese frontman was original listed as a sub – only for Celts to discover his international clearance had yet to go through but he might be involved in the Como Cup third place shoot out against Al Ahli.

Rodgers said: “We were told late on he wasn't registered. He couldn't play in the game. It was a UEFA game.

“I think we thought it would be through. So, he obviously came with us and travelled.

“But then, later on, an hour before the game, we were told he wasn't.

“We hope he'll be okay for Saturday. Hopefully for the player. So, let's see where that goes tomorrow.”

Yang Hyun-jun grabbed Celtic’s leveller on the night against Ajax and Rodgers admitted there’s no way the winger can be allowed to leave with the side short on wide men.

The Korean has been linked with a loan more to Norwich but Rodgers said: “I see Yang as an important member of our squad. He's a player that showed that domestically he can play well for us, and really well. He scored goals. He created goals. You see tonight that the goal he scored is very, very good.

“It's always a challenge, I think, at a club like Celtic, whenever players have maybe been for a couple of seasons and they're not quite established. “Because then they want to go and play more. But certainly at this stage, where we're at within the squad, it's not something I can even entertain. You see he's starting the games.

“And I see him as an important player for us in our squad. And once we can get the quality around him, then he'll be a good player for us.

“It's hard to say. At this moment in time, he's a starting winger for us. So we're not in a position to be moving him on. At this moment in time, it's not even in our thinking really."

 

The thing is now see any new signing we get likely isn’t ready to play against St Mirren, there literally gets a couple of games with the team before a CL qualifier.

The other thing is all our usual excuses about higher quality need to wait, etc has all been blown out the water by other teams getting on with it who are in comparable positions to us financially and need to qualify for the CL League phase.

Higher quality you need to wait isn’t because they want to come here it’s either, they don’t want to come or they do but we won’t pay what the selling club is looking for.

 

100% it will.

 

All the talk is of forward players, yes we need them but did you see how easy we are cut open!!!!

 

Yet again, managers saying what we all know and telling the board.

These guys will play as best they can, but they aren't up to scratch.
Get better in, or we won't progress.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

 

Yep, he's deffo getting twitchy. Can tell by these quotes that he's no happy with how things are progressing..

Can't blame him..

 

After the pre season Idah has had (and by comparison Kenny), then there is no way Idah should start!

But we all know he will.

Sent from my Pixel 9 Pro XL using Tapatalk

 

Yup

 

I agree. But in the boards “defence” they were notoriously like this prior to Rangers’ demise as well.

It’s just another convenient facet to the bullshit argument that we’re in danger of going bust if we try and improve our starting eleven like any other normal functioning football club.

Sadly for us, thousands buy in to this drivel and actually endorse it.

I’ve seen several years of wasted potential now and I promised myself I’d not even bother this time as I can’t control it, but here I am, gutted again.