Celtic Diary Monday August 24: Thoughts for The Day

According to the papers..yeah, I know…David Turnbull will sign for Celtic this week from Motherwell, over a year later than was originally planned.

He’s all better now after his original medical showed up a problem, and it’s kind of nice that he still wants to come and we still want him here.

With anywhere between two and three million pounds going to Fir Park, it’s clear that he won;t be warming the bench when he gets here.

We spoke to the guy who has been asked to install a revolving door in the dressing room and he said he’s been asked to do a couple more at Lennoxtown.

Thankfully, they are all standard size, which means that Celtic will not be making a move for the tubby troublemaker over at Ibrox, who has alienated pretty much everyone over there now, and will probably end up at one of those teams who are get more points when you use their name in Scrabble than when they partake in a league campaign.

Thats if even they think he’s worth the risk.

With the arrival of Turnbull, as with the entrance of Aljeti, it’s clear one or two will either be allowed to move or told to.

We hear Ajer, Christie and Dembele are still the only ones who want to go, but a number of others won;t have any choice in the matter. And yes, we’d all be delighted to hear that Oddsone Edouard has signed a new contract, but there’s no sign of that happening.

It’s certain that he won’t be allowed to run his contract down and leave for nothing, but it’s also clear he wants to stay in Glasgow awhile yet.

The ones to watch for bids from the south that will be too tempting for player and club to refuse are Callum MacGregor and James Forrest.

They are the only two club trained players who are first picks at the moment, and the success of another…Keiran Teirney… down there may well remove any doubts that the bigger English clubs have about shopping in Glasgow.

When you throw Brexit into the mix, and probable restrictions on foreign players, then it becomes even more worrying.

Celtic face Ferencvaros on Wednesday, and there will be more than a few clubs watching, and if the unthinkable happens and Celtic exit the UCL, we just might have a problem.

We’ll look closer at that game later in the week.

There is something the recent transfer activity that has made me think, and I’m not entirely surely it makes for comfortable easy to sleep thoughts.

Turnbull is a fine player, of that there’s no doubt, but fine players don;t join Celtic not to play football, as with a number of others in the squad, such as Ismael Soro, who looks the part, and the plethora of young prospects in the U20 side.

Has Karamoke Dembele realised , as with Keiran Tierney, that the big contracts won’t always be there, and he now wants the millions of pounds on offer down south ?

More importantly, although we know Celtic are a selling club, are we now actively chasing players who we will make a profit on rather than players who can make a difference to the team ?

It’s clear to anyone who has seen the games so far this term that a playmaker and a centre half are needed.

At the very least, and we don;t need a project, we need someone who can come in straight away and make a difference.

They cost money, and because they are likely to be that wee bit older, there is little chance of making money on them when they are sold on.

There is , in reality, little competition domestically, if you don’t count the referees, and there is little chance that will change in the next few years, so has the balance of power shifted from the pitch to the boardroom ?

Of course, Celtic are still spending money, but if the board are authorising the spending of ..so far…thirteen million pounds, you can be certain they are expecting thirty million back.

And they’re not done yet….

There’s a cheery thought for a Monday morning, so as ever, when we feel a bit down, it’s time to mock those less fortunate than ourselves.

Over on the other side of the river, if we look at the bigger picture, we can see an example of what happens when the wrong kind of businessmen take over a club. Or company.

It appears that the two brothers who had a firm called Castore no longer have control of that place, and companies house lists a Jersey based firm ..the Monti group …as a major shareholder, and the address for correspondence is in Kent, a nigerian fellow, would you believe ?

At the moment, there is an issue with the quality of the replica kits, and indeed, the actual kits, which seem to be cheap material dressed up as luxury sportswear.

You can buy them online for about a fiver, which means someone , somewhere, again, is fleecing the supporters of “rangers “…and they still won’t tell them it’s actually not Rangers.

Although we laugh, and it;s important here to remember that…

and by all means feel free to do that as often as you want , there is an underlying tone thats not good for the game at all.

Clubs in England have also been affected by dodgy owners , here to wash their money and hang the fans out to dry.

They also get quite a few quid down there , especially in the EPL, just for taking part. Even Manchester united were bought using their own supporters money, and even the English media, mostly owned by the same guy who ploughs money into the game through his tv network largely ignored this.

In Scotland, the media are positively encouraging it, and theres no protection whatsoever for the loyal fan who just wants to help his club.

Bear in mind that if it were not for the grace of Fergus McCann we could have ended up in the very same situation that they are in now, and whilst i’m not in the least bit sorry for the more extreme section of their support, and their “Rangers Men ” involved with both entities, there are one or two decent guys out there who just want to watch their team play football, and if this is not dealt with, we will see more clubs and more fans viewed as easy targets for those who want to make a quick buck.

Hang on, I need to remember that their club is still dead.

Thats better.

All of this was down to David Murray, and those who clung to his coat tails.

No one in the media seems to give a toss that the game is dying due to lack of investment and proper, and by proper I mean efficient and transparent, leadership.

Scotland has the highest per capits attendance at the football in Europe. Along with Irish interest in one of the clubs, there is a massive worldwide diaspora to be served, a market that needs to be developed, and would turn the game here back to the prime position it once held.

Scotland refined the game for the rest of the world, and it could do it again.

But not until everyone involved pulls in the same direction.

Yesterday, we had this….