The Squad

[Gary67]

Looking at what we have from now until the winter break and next transfer window we certainly have the numbers, the potential/quality is there, the manager has already show he has a plan and how we should play, and is obviously a very good coach (see A. Ralston), the big unknown is how quickly can the players knit together and go on the long unbeaten run in the league that is required. Remain within 3-4 points going into the New Year game and we have a very good chance of winning the title back.
Biggest concern is McGregor, lose him to injury we have no one else who can play the deep lying playmaker role like him, and we have no other No.8 box to box midfielder.

GK - Hart, Bain, Barkas, Hazard
RB - Juranovic, Ralston
LB - Taylor, Scales, Montgomery, Bolingoli
CH - Jullien, Starfelt, Welsh, Carter-Vickers, Bitton, Murray
CM - McGregor, McCarthy, Soro
AM - Turnbull, Rogic
RW - Forrest, Abada
LW - Jota, Johnston
ST - Furuhashi, Giakoumakis, Ajeti

With the Russian and Turkish transfer windows still open I wouldn't be surprised if we see the back of Bolingoli, Barkas or even Ajeti in the next week or so.

 

[LondonBhoy]

I've got a sneaky feeling that big Ange knows of a few hidden gems in the overseas market,wouldn't be surprised in the least if he finds us another Larson. The full back that came in at the Rangers game looked more than useful &this centre forward whose come in was top scorer in Holland in a bad team??Imagine how many he would score in a good attacking team?Wot a difference in the positivity of the support going forward,plenty of good football to look forward to HH

 

[Niall J]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

 

[Winter]

With the Russian and Turkish transfer windows still open I wouldn't be surprised if we see the back of Bolingoli, Barkas or even Ajeti in the next week or so.

You and the rest of us Gary though I dont want to see the back of ajetti yet I think he has shaped up and looks a lot leaner i predict better from him to come ( hopefully)

 

[Imatim]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

..................

You make an interesting point re resistance from the Board Niall.....If past reports are to be believed.....perhaps some research is in order.....and an article to follow on past and present business relationships between certain Board members, their family members, and their business links to the SFA, SPFL and the deid club.....

 

[Winter]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

Great post nial and I agree with pretty much all of that. What impressed me the most with this window is how we have signed no loanees unless theres the option to buy and that's a huge sea change in direction for us. Also only 1 or 2 of the 12 signings are in the project mould , I'm referring to shaw and the big O. I may be wrong and they may turn out to be starters or rotation players. I hope weve seen the back of the loanees era unless an absolute no brainer of one came up say mctominey for 18 months or messi for 6 . Also McKay has done really really well for the fees hes got on Ajer and Eddie given how little time was left on their contracts. Disappointed the same couldnt be done for Christie but we still made a profit of 5to1 on the 500k we spent on him with the fee reportedly at £2.5 million . Hes better than Bournemouth but thats what he wanted and that's what he got. All in all weve recieved or will receive north of £50 million for the wantaways in total and that's fantastic business and kudos to McKay for that , that's champions league money right there for players who had given up the ghost in the hoops. I'm especially excited to see what Vickers and Giakoumakis bring to the team. The defenders weve brought in should relieve the pressure on Hart hopefully and give Starfelt a little more quality around him though he may find himself benched when julien returns unless he improves but I cannot for one complain about this window and I'd go as far as saying that McKay has delivered some of the way to his promise to surprise and delight us. HH

 

[Mike2Mike2li]

You and the rest of us Gary though I dont want to see the back of ajetti yet I think he has shaped up and looks a lot leaner i predict better from him to come ( hopefully)

 

[Niall J]

Great post nial and I agree with pretty much all of that. What impressed me the most with this window is how we have signed no loanees unless theres the option to buy and that's a huge sea change in direction for us. Also only 1 or 2 of the 12 signings are in the project mould , I'm referring to shaw and the big O. I may be wrong and they may turn out to be starters or rotation players. I hope weve seen the back of the loanees era unless an absolute no brainer of one came up say mctominey for 18 months or messi for 6 . Also McKay has done really really well for the fees hes got on Ajer and Eddie given how little time was left on their contracts. Disappointed the same couldnt be done for Christie but we still made a profit of 5to1 on the 500k we spent on him with the fee reportedly at £2.5 million . Hes better than Bournemouth but thats what he wanted and that's what he got. All in all weve recieved or will receive north of £50 million for the wantaways in total and that's fantastic business and kudos to McKay for that , that's champions league money right there for players who had given up the ghost in the hoops. I'm especially excited to see what Vickers and Giakoumakis bring to the team. The defenders weve brought in should relieve the pressure on Hart hopefully and give Starfelt a little more quality around him though he may find himself benched when julien returns unless he improves but I cannot for one complain about this window and I'd go as far as saying that McKay has delivered some of the way to his promise to surprise and delight us. HH

Agreed with all of that winter. Vickers at the last minute was the icing on the cake. With Juranavic we have two who on paper can pass a bit in defence now, without having to always offload to Calmac. I actually think Starfelt can too but he could do with a winning headed goal to get his confidence back up

 

[Niall J]

..................

You make an interesting point re resistance from the Board Niall.....If past reports are to be believed.....perhaps some research is in order.....and an article to follow on past and present business relationships between certain Board members, their family members, and their business links to the SFA, SPFL and the deid club.....

I rang Keith Jackson for you mate, says he's getting his hair done

 

[Niall J]

You and the rest of us Gary though I dont want to see the back of ajetti yet I think he has shaped up and looks a lot leaner i predict better from him to come ( hopefully)

Looks like he's third choice striker now but there must be a player in there, he showed he can finish at least, he looks trim now. I'd love him to succeed, theres a lot to like in his profile

 

[Lubos left peg]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

I think what dom has done with the fan media was a great move in terms of combating that resistance from the boardroom dinosaurs Niall. He has opened the windows that Lawwell kept closed and locked. The board can't hide anymore. Our bloggers are in the room asking the questions the fans want answered. No more secret meeting and closed door decisions. Dom has brought the lot of them front and centre. God help them if they think they will be allowed to stop the revolution

 

[Niall J]

I think what dom has done with the fan media was a great move in terms of combating that resistance from the boardroom dinosaurs Niall. He has opened the windows that Lawwell kept closed and locked. The board can't hide anymore. Our bloggers are in the room asking the questions the fans want answered. No more secret meeting and closed door decisions. Dom has brought the lot of them front and centre. God help them if they think they will be allowed to stop the revolution

Good points well made Lubo. Viva la revolution!

 

[Cairnsybhoy79]

Looking at what we have from now until the winter break and next transfer window we certainly have the numbers, the potential/quality is there, the manager has already show he has a plan and how we should play, and is obviously a very good coach (see A. Ralston), the big unknown is how quickly can the players knit together and go on the long unbeaten run in the league that is required. Remain within 3-4 points going into the New Year game and we have a very good chance of winning the title back.
Biggest concern is McGregor, lose him to injury we have no one else who can play the deep lying playmaker role like him, and we have no other No.8 box to box midfielder.

GK - Hart, Bain, Barkas, Hazard
RB - Juranovic, Ralston
LB - Taylor, Scales, Montgomery, Bolingoli
CH - Jullien, Starfelt, Welsh, Carter-Vickers, Bitton, Murray
CM - McGregor, McCarthy, Soro
AM - Turnbull, Rogic
RW - Forrest, Abada
LW - Jota, Johnston
ST - Furuhashi, Giakoumakis, Ajeti

With the Russian and Turkish transfer windows still open I wouldn't be surprised if we see the back of Bolingoli, Barkas or even Ajeti in the next week or so.

Thing is aswell the new players need time to become the new Eddie or christie av seen some shite from twitter saying we've downgraded the team just because we've not spent fortunes on each player Eddie aside we are sticking to our model I'm more than happy with this window along with the good youth we have as back up for the squad its been a good first window imo onwards and upwards HH

 

[John nó]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

Fair play to you Niall.
The thing that really stands out for me within the squad that has been assembled so far is the level of versatility within the squad.
I believe this is the best way forward in the modern game as being very static with formation and players used can ultimately make the team very predictable and far easier to play against.
Also with the far higher quality within Europe compared to what we can face in the SPFL gives us a far more stainable chance to be able to compete on all fronts still.
The flexibility of the squad should also allow for player rotation which will be more to our advantage at the back end of the season by able to keep players far fresher with not having to rely upon them having to play while carrying a niggling injury that can become far worse.
I think we have covered most bases to having a great squad to provide a very successful season this year and for many more to come still.

 

[Docco]

Looking at what we have from now until the winter break and next transfer window we certainly have the numbers, the potential/quality is there, the manager has already show he has a plan and how we should play, and is obviously a very good coach (see A. Ralston), the big unknown is how quickly can the players knit together and go on the long unbeaten run in the league that is required. Remain within 3-4 points going into the New Year game and we have a very good chance of winning the title back.
Biggest concern is McGregor, lose him to injury we have no one else who can play the deep lying playmaker role like him, and we have no other No.8 box to box midfielder.

GK - Hart, Bain, Barkas, Hazard
RB - Juranovic, Ralston
LB - Taylor, Scales, Montgomery, Bolingoli
CH - Jullien, Starfelt, Welsh, Carter-Vickers, Bitton, Murray
CM - McGregor, McCarthy, Soro
AM - Turnbull, Rogic
RW - Forrest, Abada
LW - Jota, Johnston
ST - Furuhashi, Giakoumakis, Ajeti

With the Russian and Turkish transfer windows still open I wouldn't be surprised if we see the back of Bolingoli, Barkas or even Ajeti in the next week or so.

You missed out the two lads from Sheffield...are they in the b squad?

 

[John nó]

You missed out the two lads from Sheffield...are they in the b squad?

Still think there is a lot of improvement needed first with them Docco before they can be regarded as 1st team squad players yet imo.
Next season at earliest I would say whether they will be able to make the step up for us still, and wouldn't be to confident yet that they can but still very early days still to comment on there futures with us and wish the pair of them good luck in there future with us.

 

[CarlisleReiver]

I'm very pleased with the window. Nothing is a certainty in football so we need to see how they will gel long term. In the first few games however, I can see a unity from the squad, throwing themselves at shots, congratulating each other at goal. Ange basically has his own team now, and most players that wanted away have now gone.

Another thing that I've liked is our actually spend, I think that we have money still in the bank. I know that many fans are saying, " we have sold 30m of players and only brought in 20m worth of players". I think this is good thing. For too long the club has over spent and under achieved (under achieved in Europe). This has gone on for season after season. It had to change!

We need to cherry pick players from clubs that we compete against who beat us with smaller budgets. Getting players such as Kyogo and Giakoumakis who are doing very well in their respective leagues and have good experience for their age. Buying or loaning players from down south who was paid to sit on the bench is not a good tactic in my eyes.

Come January transfer window, we will have the money to go out and spend again. Ange will have a better view of the squad and it should again another step forward. The Rangers game was a dose of reality, they are seasoned team, but they're not getting better, we are. And I'm liking what I'm seeing.

I'm not sure we will win the league, but I feel we have a chance. I feel we can push them all the way. And if we can build momentum anything can happen. Looking forward to the challenge.

 

[Docco]

Still think there is a lot of improvement needed first with them Docco before they can be regarded as 1st team squad players yet imo.
Next season at earliest I would say whether they will be able to make the step up for us still, and wouldn't be to confident yet that the

They are listed in the first team squad though...along with a few others

Celtic FC First Team Squad and Player Profiles

Full list of players in the Celtic FC First Team Squad with profiles, biographies and stats for the Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards. Read more.

www.celticfc.com

 

[CelticRose]

It's an International week so with no games bar the women's game I'm going to go through all the signings and give their pros and cons for The Celtic star over next few days and I'll post them here for some added debate.
For me I hope we've now got foundations laid. The squad isn't rebuilt yet but what I hope we have is the groundwork to get started and over January(J-League close season?) and next summer we add quality over the quantity,
I'm with Gary on this the Eight position remains a problem and I have concerns as to whether our defensive mid options in Soro and McCarthy will suit starting the play rather than their strengths are breaking up attacks. Time will tell.
We also have issues over a few players moving on and I'd think Boli and Barkas will surely move on soon - good call on Russia and Turkey, that could be a quick route.
For me it's now about Dom McKay with Ange input convincing the board on the structural change, hopefully appointing someone to oversee football operations long term and let Dom get back to his job. From there we can get a plan in place to negate the need for an overhaul like this again, get pathways for kids, link the B team into first team and enhance the level of opposition they pay against and expand our scouting system. We can't afford the best players, the finished articles but we could compete for staff, guys and girls who can find the talent early and mitigate the risks we're having to take at the moment. There is a lot of trust for Ange out there and he's earned it, I think Dom deserves immense credit so far too already and I think there is a genuine appetite from him to modernise our ways. I do worry about boardroom resistance though.

Thanks Niall J for your post and it’s extensive reach. Just want to say im looking forward to your pros and cons of our new players especially as I can get carried away and just think oh well here’s a new player and everything is hunkie dorie. All our problems solved and so for me it will be good to see that balance.

I agree with the need to modernise Celtic FC but if there is resistance to this from the Board then we need to ask why that is the case. Why would the Board do that and stop Celtic from moving forward it’s just deplorable imo and that should never ever be the state of play.

 

[John nó]

They are listed in the first team squad though...along with a few others

Celtic FC First Team Squad and Player Profiles

Full list of players in the Celtic FC First Team Squad with profiles, biographies and stats for the Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards. Read more.

www.celticfc.com

Didn't explain myself very well Docco, should have said pushing for a starting role within the team, a few cameo roles from the bench could still be on the cards still.