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The Herald Scotland
19 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Celtic board dicing with death over Champions League
"Of course, as a manager, I always want the club to be the very best it can be for the supporters, but I have to maybe understand where the limits are sometimes." No prizes I'm afraid if you correctly identified that this is a quote from Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. After all, it was only last week, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Well, actually, no. In fact, Rodgers spoke these words almost exactly seven years ago, way back in 2018, as Celtic prepared to play the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie against AEK Athens. Which, incidentally, they lost. (Image: SNS Group Craig Williamson) I was on that trip, and well remember the mood music that accompanied Celtic to the Greek capital. And now, as the Scottish champions gear up for another crunch tie against Kairat Almaty, it seems to be a case of play it again, Brendan. Read more: Not that you can really blame Rodgers for spinning the old hits. After all, he is the one who is forced to face up to the concerns of supporters and repeated questions from me and my media chums about why a club with such relatively staggering resource in Scottish terms seems determined to hoard the majority of it under the mattress. If you've ever attended a Celtic AGM, one of the last impressions you may have of the grey suits seated at the top table is that they may have a penchant for thrill-seeking, but the club's board seem determined to play Russian Roulette with their chances of reaching the promised land of the Champions League proper. Which, given their liking for having money in reserve and lots of it, makes their reluctance to speculate a little to accumulate a lot more curious still. Ah, the board may retort, but we did spend last summer, breaking the club's transfer record twice to bring in Adam Idah and Arne Engels, neither of whom are even guaranteed starters in the manager's strongest XI. And that would be fair enough, to a point. Except, for all the criticism that those players have received, both did play pivotal roles in Celtic reaching the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition last season. Idah's two goals at Villa Park were a glimpse of the player he could be, and admittedly that he doesn't show enough. But it shouldn't be forgotten that he also was the one who forced the issue late on in the previous game against Young Boys, racing through and eventually seeing his shot ricochet into the net off Loris Benito to secure Celtic's passage with a game to spare. Engels is still young and is a work in progress, but his athleticism was a key component in Celtic holding their own at such a level. In fact, it could be argued that his display in the away leg of the first knockout round against Bayern Munich was his most impressive in a Celtic jersey to date, where he was key to Rodgers' side coming within a whisker of pulling off an almighty shock. If there was a lesson at all from that night in the Allianz Arena, it was that Celtic didn't quite yet have the strength in depth to get over the line against Europe's best, a point Rodgers alluded to in the immediate aftermath of the game. Bayern made four subs that night, bringing Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller and injury-time heartbreaker Alphonso Davies off the bench. Celtic, by stark contrast, made only two, bringing on – with the greatest of respect - Idah and Yang Hyunjun. After such an impressive campaign, Rodgers is right to feel that he had earned a little more help from the club as he attempts to push them to that next level. Instead, having lost the goalscorer from that night in Munich, Nicolas Kuhn (with another £17m flowing into the club's coffers, incidentally), they go into this qualifier against far less glamorous opposition weaker than they were on that evening, and inexplicably, with a hint of jeopardy around their progression. (Image: Paul Devlin - SNS Group) In the year 2025, Rodgers will likely again turn to the now 34-year-old James Forrest to fill that void on the right wing, and he is unlikely to let the side down. Over the piece, Celtic should still be able to overcome the Kazakhs. But why take the risk? Rodgers, and more importantly, the fans, deserve better. Particularly when those supporters are being asked to fork out £36 a head to attend the first leg of the tie this evening. It all just feeds into the narrative that the board is out of touch with supporters, and that they are more concerned with a healthy bottom line than putting out the best possible line-up. Whatever the truth of that matter, by dilly-dallying with their business in every window, they anger the fans, do a disservice to their manager, and take the chance of disillusioning both to the point where they might lose them. There are still tickets available for the Almaty game at the time of writing, while Rodgers is now in the final year of his contract, with no hint of an extension on the horizon. For a collection of men who seem so risk averse, they seem happy enough to dice with death when it comes to Celtic reaching the Champions League. If the nightmare scenario for the club comes to pass, there will be no prizes for guessing who will be taking the blame.
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Tony Bloom reveals Hearts have two transfer plans and as Jambos prepare to box clever against Celtic and Rangers
The Brighton owner knows the capital club will never outspend the big two but is adamant they can compete anyway Tony Bloom knows Hearts will never be able to compete with the financial clout of the Old Firm. But he says that by having the BEST recruitment in Scotland the Jambos can bridge the gap to Glasgow's big two. With Dermot Desmond's millions at Celtic and Rangers now backed by the San Francisco 49ers, Bloom accepts they'll always have more cash than Hearts, especially with their worldwide fanbases. But the Brighton owner - who has pumped £10 million into the Tynecastle club - has still tipped Hearts to disrupt their dominance at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Bloom is confident Hearts will be champions in the next 10 years and wants to see Derek McInnes' side compete at the highest level in Europe. With access to Jamestown Analytics, which Bloom believes is unrivalled data, he's convinced they can develop a player trading model that allows them to get closer to Celtic and Rangers. Just like he's done at Brighton and at Belgian outfit Union St-Gilloise, where he also has a stake. Bloom said: 'We understand that financially, Hearts is dwarfed by Celtic and Rangers in terms of turnover and their fan base. 'So the only way we can compete is to recruit better (than them). "The way we can really compete with clubs like that is to recruit the right head coach, really good players - then continue to do it. 'The bottom line is, lots of things go into making a successful club. 'But the main thing is players, the recruitment of players, and players coming through the academy. 'The recruitment Graeme Jones (sporting director) and Derek have done this summer has been exceptionally good and you'll see that over the coming months. 'And it's not the end of it. There are two plans for windows this season then the main one in the summer. 'I have high hopes that we will continue to bring in good players. 'The model is pretty much for every club now. The best players get sold - that's just the ecosystem, not only in Scotland but everywhere outside of Real Madrid and PSG who have unlimited money. 'It's not a problem, that's how we'll continue to improve. It's what happened at Brighton and at USG. 'It has to be about recruitment for us. You need good people, fans, facilities and stuff like that. 'But if you haven't got the players, I can talk to the cows come home but there's no chance of success.' Through Bloom, Hearts now have access to Jamestown Analytics and have used the recruitment data tool to find the likes of Claudio Braga, Alex Kyziridis, Tomas Bent Magnusson and Pierre Landry Kabore in this transfer window. At Brighton, the club has become renowned for finding gems, polishing them, before selling them on for a huge profit. The same idea is being deployed at Union St-Gilloise, who are now Belgian champions. And Bloom is confident that Jamestown can help Hearts create a similarly successful model. He said: 'I don't want to talk about other clubs (Old Firm) but all I'm saying is that Hearts' recruitment going forward - with the board following Jamestown Analytics' recommendations - will be very strong. 'I'd be very disappointed if there wasn't a lot of demand over time for Hearts players. 'That's the point of the ecosystem. You need to sell at the right time. 'Then you bring other players through, younger players. That's the way it is at many clubs. 'But Hearts need to do it better and I'm confident we'll do that. 'What we've done at USG has proved it works. Brighton have also come on leaps and bounds as well. 'We're improving the analytics every year. We've seen it at Brighton and at Union in a different country. 'That gives me confidence that the model can work well at Hearts and we'll see success in the future. "Other clubs are trying to do things and most of the data is commonly available. 'The big advantage Jamestown has is that it's unique data - and the best out there. 'They are exceptionally good at knowing how to use it the right way."
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Celtic board dicing with death over Champions League
"I've got a huge respect for the people that work at this club - the board and the directors. They've created a very stable foundation, and I have to respect that. "Of course, as a manager, I always want the club to be the very best it can be for the supporters, but I have to maybe understand where the limits are sometimes." No prizes I'm afraid if you correctly identified that this is a quote from Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. After all, it was only last week, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Well, actually, no. In fact, Rodgers spoke these words almost exactly seven years ago, way back in 2018, as Celtic prepared to play the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie against AEK Athens. Which, incidentally, they lost. (Image: SNS Group Craig Williamson) I was on that trip, and well remember the mood music that accompanied Celtic to the Greek capital. And now, as the Scottish champions gear up for another crunch tie against Kairat Almaty, it seems to be a case of play it again, Brendan. Read more: Not that you can really blame Rodgers for spinning the old hits. After all, he is the one who is forced to face up to the concerns of supporters and repeated questions from me and my media chums about why a club with such relatively staggering resource in Scottish terms seems determined to hoard the majority of it under the mattress. If you've ever attended a Celtic AGM, one of the last impressions you may have of the grey suits seated at the top table is that they may have a penchant for thrill-seeking, but the club's board seem determined to play Russian Roulette with their chances of reaching the promised land of the Champions League proper. Which, given their liking for having money in reserve and lots of it, makes their reluctance to speculate a little to accumulate a lot more curious still. Ah, the board may retort, but we did spend last summer, breaking the club's transfer record twice to bring in Adam Idah and Arne Engels, neither of whom are even guaranteed starters in the manager's strongest XI. And that would be fair enough, to a point. Except, for all the criticism that those players have received, both did play pivotal roles in Celtic reaching the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition last season. Idah's two goals at Villa Park were a glimpse of the player he could be, and admittedly that he doesn't show enough. But it shouldn't be forgotten that he also was the one who forced the issue late on in the previous game against Young Boys, racing through and eventually seeing his shot ricochet into the net off Loris Benito to secure Celtic's passage with a game to spare. Engels is still young and is a work in progress, but his athleticism was a key component in Celtic holding their own at such a level. In fact, it could be argued that his display in the away leg of the first knockout round against Bayern Munich was his most impressive in a Celtic jersey to date, where he was key to Rodgers' side coming within a whisker of pulling off an almighty shock. If there was a lesson at all from that night in the Allianz Arena, it was that Celtic didn't quite yet have the strength in depth to get over the line against Europe's best, a point Rodgers alluded to in the immediate aftermath of the game. Bayern made four subs that night, bringing Leroy Sane, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller and injury-time heartbreaker Alphonso Davies off the bench. Celtic, by stark contrast, made only two, bringing on – with the greatest of respect - Idah and Yang Hyunjun. After such an impressive campaign, Rodgers is right to feel that he had earned a little more help from the club as he attempts to push them to that next level. Instead, having lost the goalscorer from that night in Munich, Nicolas Kuhn (with another £17m flowing into the club's coffers, incidentally), they go into this qualifier against far less glamorous opposition weaker than they were on that evening, and inexplicably, with a hint of jeopardy around their progression. (Image: Paul Devlin - SNS Group) In the year 2025, Rodgers will likely again turn to the now 34-year-old James Forrest to fill that void on the right wing, and he is unlikely to let the side down. Over the piece, Celtic should still be able to overcome the Kazakhs. But why take the risk? Rodgers, and more importantly, the fans, deserve better. Particularly when those supporters are being asked to fork out £36 a head to attend the first leg of the tie this evening. It all just feeds into the narrative that the board is out of touch with supporters, and that they are more concerned with a healthy bottom line than putting out the best possible line-up. Whatever the truth of that matter, by dilly-dallying with their business in every window, they anger the fans, do a disservice to their manager, and take the chance of disillusioning both to the point where they might lose them. There are still tickets available for the Almaty game at the time of writing, while Rodgers is now in the final year of his contract, with no hint of an extension on the horizon. For a collection of men who seem so risk averse, they seem happy enough to dice with death when it comes to Celtic reaching the Champions League. If the nightmare scenario for the club comes to pass, there will be no prizes for guessing who will be taking the blame.
