Celtic’s recruitment under Ange Postecoglou is universally agreed to have been excellent.
Players like Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi and Matt O’Riley are just three of a plethora of players the Aussie gaffer brought to the club that were hugely successful.
Daizen Maeda is another who has been excellent for Celtic alongside Alistair Johnston. The long and short is that under Postecoglou, the recruitment department looked like they knew what they were doing.
This season, however, is another story. But we can get that another time. Postecoglou did have a couple of recruits who didn’t quite make it at the club.
Yuki Kobayashi and Yosuke Ideguchi just didn’t do enough to impress but it was the purchase of Alexandro Bernabei that really let Ange down.
A £3.75m buy, Bernabei became the first ever Argentinian to sign for Celtic so there was a degree of excitement about his arrival.
But it didn’t work out and after just 28 appearances in almost three seasons (Transfermarkt), he has been shipped out on loan.
Celtic’s botched scouting of Alexandro Bernabei
Paul John Dykes of A Celtic State of Mind was casting his eye over the club’s recruitment and the disdain Celtic have over the fan media site’s criticism of their transfer business when he said that there is ‘now way’ the club scouted the Argentinian properly.
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Dykes said (A Celtic State of Mind), “There’s a culture within the club. A culture, for me, it’s almost as if there’s an inner sanctum that you can’t really can’t break into.
“And when you get new ideas coming into that, i.e. Dom McKay, then you don’t last long.
“And I’ve seen it as a fan this season, without going into the specifics. But there’s a contentious nature where the club look at you as a fan where you have an opinion, or if you’re on a platform and how dare you voice an opinion that isn’t toeing the party line.
“What do you know about recruitment? What do you know about running a football club? I’m a fan and I’ve got opinions about it.
“But what I do know is that Alexandro Bernabei wasn’t worth £3.75m and there’s no way we scouted him properly.”
Questions have been asked about Celtic’s transfer business and the vast sums of money wasted by the club.
A number of players bought for relatively small fees have been shipped out over the years and if you total those fees up, it really is eyewatering.
Celtic really needs to get its act together because the poor recruitment this season has already cost us the League Cup.
If it also costs us the title and the Scottish Cup it won’t just be the fan media asking questions of the Celtic board.
Sorry but very misleading in that assessment imo?
Already 8 and could make that 9 with OH that have been changed from the squad a year ago?
One thing has become clearer is that Rodgers wasn’t overly happy with squad depth that Ange worked under, with 4 no longer in the picture and might as well call it 5 with OH now imo?
So with 9 no longer involved from the squad of last season currently, that is a huge number missing, and could call it another season when we have been in transition mode with a new manager involved?
Biggest gripe I’ve had is with Rodgers struggling to get the form we expected from the more established players within the squad, that has been missing for way too long this season, but starting to see that hopefully returning, and we need that on a consistent level for the remainder of the season?
Yet this current squad isn’t the finished article by any means either, with possibly another 6 available spaces available within for next season imo?
There is always going to be mistakes made within the transfer market, especially within the value of players we are trying to operate within?
Players value do increase hugely if they are successful with ourselves, that isn’t going to change anytime soon either?
Downside is we still possibly pay more on contracts than they are worth if the player doesn’t fit in, so becomes harder to offload?
So getting that balance correct still remains key as no football club ever gets that perfect?
For the board, as long as the policy in place isn’t harbouring money to great degrees within the transfer market then they aren’t or wont change a policy that keeps the club sustainable imo?
Even during this season where the majority claim its been a failure, is that really the case with the one’s who have increased in value against the one’s who haven’t?
There is still a fortune in assets within the current squad, that we would rather keep that looking to keep the balance sheets in order, but we are also a club where that isn’t possible within todays game?
Agreeded that we haven’t gained the value we expected during the transfer windows this season?
But with signs of development showing eventually this season, are we starting to look at players we would rather keep hold of for squad depth, or offload so many that we are starting with trying to find so many yet again during the summer?
If anything has been shown this season, is squad depth still remains crucial for ourselves, especially when I don’t believe an historical treble would have been achieved last season, if the same injuries had occurred imo?
Simply because the squad depth wasn’t in place last season either, as the wimper to the end of the season occurred when the injuries started to impact ourselves in performance levels?
We have operated for many a long year with decent enough teams, but a lack within squad depth and an over reliability upon certain key players?
That has to change, within the demands upon player’s these days, and still believe that we are trying to tackle the issues which increase with the 8 homegrown rule in play also?
Fairly mixed bag for any Celtic manager to be trying to deal with, and not simple straight forward solutions to the issues faced either?
Overall I don’t believe that we are in as bad as a place regarding squad depth as many are trying to make out currently either?
Not completed by any means and a few places have become available now?
Yet we are in a position now where a number of players will have to fight for their place within our squad for next season, which in turn should make them better for the remainder of this season in turn, if they do intend to have and want a Celtic future?
This end of the season has all the potential of seeing what these newer players are all about, personally don’t believe that they are as poor as way to many are trying to make out either?