Neil Lennon says he is going to have to spend money in January to get players bedded in for next years champions League, in what will be a refreshing change from frantically running around Europe in the summer trying to convince other clubs to sell their assets for less than what they are worth.<\/p>\n
There have been allegations that the manager has been secretly brainwashed into accepting the clubs “buy low ” policy, perhaps even without his knowledge.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u2019re looking in January with the qualifiers in mind in July. If we bring players in I\u2019d like to bed them in before the qualifiers start again in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary is harder than the summer, and you have to be careful not to overspend. We will be careful with that as we have in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did go for \u00a34million players. We were in for players in the summer, three or four strikers, and we got down the line with quite a few but the deals didn\u2019t materialise which was very frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary might not be any different but that\u2019s what we\u2019re hoping to do. The Scottish league is a hard sell, there are many more glamorous leagues out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to look at bringing in better players for specific positions. Virgil Van Dijk, Nir Biton and Derk Boerrigter will be good here. The two strikers Teemu Pukki and Amido Balde are suffering a little lack of confidence, but they will get better.<\/p>\n
( He could try playing the two strikers together )<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will revisit some of the deals we didn\u2019t get done and see if we can reignite them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good luck with that. you’ll be lucky if the other club picks the phone up when they see your number.<\/p>\n
The bit about \u00a34m players says it all. The one we all wanted was \u00a35m, Finnbogasson, and the board wouldn’t sanction it. If you pay peanuts , you get monkeys.<\/p>\n
Thats an old saying in business, and another saying is along the lines of \u00a0” If I do today, what I did yesterday, I will get the same result tomorrow. ”<\/p>\n
As you can imagine, my training meetings are laugh a minute.<\/p>\n
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But both sayings have a basis in truth. If Lennon is not allowed to pay the going rate for quality, then Celtic will continue on a downward spiral, and the product will become more difficult to sell.<\/p>\n
Thats in words that the board can understand.<\/p>\n
In fact, there are correlations between the way this board is behaving, and the way the old dysfunctional White\/ Kelly dynasty behaved in the seventies and \u00a0early eighties, which saw Celtic go from being a major European force to a near bankrupt entity \u00a0when those in charge decided to cash in on assets without significant re-investment.<\/p>\n
Lennon needs to prise the money needed to allow the club to compete at the highest level from the suits, or at the very least find out the PIN number for the cashcard.<\/p>\n
Theres no need to go into debt, and no need to be silly about it, but there is another maxim ( last one, \u00a0I promise that looks set to come back and haunt \u00a0the club.<\/p>\n
” Buy cheaply, buy twice. ”<\/p>\n
Lennon \u00a0doesn’t sound very confident of getting his way, does he ?<\/p>\n
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In fact, he doesn’t sound his usual self at all. Probably regretting putting the league trophy in front of the Green Brigade a couple of years ago, Lennon more or less confirmed his love affair with the group of fans was over;<\/p>\n
\u201cI quite like going out before the game and soaking up the atmosphere because you never know when you will have that opportunity again, it\u00b4s not guaranteed you will play in the UEFA Champions League every year,\u201d he said, speaking at today\u2019s pre-match press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my heart sank a little bit I have to say. I think there were other areas in the stadium where the supporters were scratching their heads trying to understand their reasoning behind it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then we know the reasons behind it but it certainly wasn\u2019t the time or the place for a display like that. There was no place for it on Tuesday. It should have been a celebration rather than people having a grumble about something.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came in here I tried to bring the club together again and I think I\u00b4ve done that, certainly with the performances over the last three or four years. So it\u00b4s disappointing to see people want to bring cracks in amongst the club. It\u00b4s not welcome within the stadium.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand you maybe have legitimate complaints over some of the laws brought in, but Celtic Park is not the place to bring banners in and display that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00b4re a football club at the end of the day, and multicultural as well I might add, so I think we need to put a stop to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He speaks as a manager of a football club who has seen the serious repercussions of sectarianism, and in that sense alone, his words carry a little more poignancy than most.<\/p>\n
The Green Brigade have become like the girlfriend who won’t stop seeing other guys. Sure, you want her around, she’s fun, she’s lively and has that little bit of impishness that is endearingly exciting. But deep down you know its time to let her go. Especially if she keeps bringing a drum on dates.<\/p>\n
Well, if that ain’t a country and western song already, then it should be. Hot Dang. ( which isn’t a country and western song, but might well be one of those rappy chappies. )<\/p>\n
Right, with the diary already looking like an Eastenders episode with all these cliches, its time to look forward, and not back.<\/p>\n
Its Scottish Cup weekend, and the action started last night when Dundee Utd beat Kilmarnock with the sort of free flowing football that gets fans back into grounds, and should continue today with a couple of potentially exciting ties on the cards.<\/p>\n
The big teams are all in action, and Hearts v Celtic is the stand out tie, although a couple of others catch the eye as well.<\/p>\n
Partick host Aberdeen, Ross County will play Hibernian and the Dundee -Raith tie looks interesting as well. Clubs who will want to show they can compete at a higher level also get a chance to show they can when Livingston go to St. Johnstone, Morton travel up to Inverness, and Rangers visit Falkirk.<\/p>\n
Celtic are at Tynecastle tomorrow, and the Police have warned that they will be searching supporters entering the ground, and anyone with fireworks or flares will be arrested and dealt with “robustly ” , though presumably not as robustly as the way they treated the visiting Ajax fans who caused havoc in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
The games at Tynecastle are always an event, and with Hearts just guaranteeing a future for themselves-at least into the New Year, they will be on a high, and this is the biggest game of their season.<\/p>\n
Celtic should be too strong for Hearts, with captain Scott Brown back to help keep the team calm and focussed, and the keeper already telling the club he really, really wants to stay….<\/p>\n
The players are showing signs of nerves, and even lacking a bit of confidence.<\/p>\n
When all these journalists spoke of the season being over, and Celtic sweeping towards a double, they really , really, didn’t know what they were on about.<\/p>\n
Absolutely nothing has been won yet, and Celtic have already exited one cup this season at the first hurdle…<\/p>\n
Heres something to think about. What happened next ?<\/p>\n
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