The Next Step…..

Ross Hall looks ahead to next season's UCL qualification

While I cannot help but look and laugh at the goings on over in Govan. Wondering exactly how a club and fanbase that claims to pride itself on being one of the finest institutions in the land have ended up being managed by Clan Dunderheid whose motto appears to be “Get in aboot them”. The focus is always us. I don’t want any part of our club to get lost in the Govan comedy show, become complacent and forget that we are in the midst of a really promising period that has great scope to get better and better, especially in Europe. No one purposefully steps in shit on the way to a hot date, so let’s leave them to keep stepping in it, they seem to really enjoy it. We can stay on the right track and go to dance with the hotties like Bayern Munich.

Next season the Scottish Champions will face a qualification game to get a ticket to the Champions League party and as things stand the likely opponents are:

FC Basel (Switzerland)

Qarabag (Azerbaijan)

Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)

Ludogorets Razgard (Bulgaria)

Sturm Graz (Austria)


Now, I don’t know anyone who didn’t enjoy being part of it this season, nor do I know anyone who doesn’t want to see us have another right good go. The telltale sign of our improvement this season was no one was really angry or upset at our efforts on the pitch in the Champions League, but many were sat wondering what if….

What if we had planned a little better for the January window?

What if we get our signings done earlier in the summer and give Rodgers as much time as we can to work with his team in a period where he can focus on the finer details and test out his ideas in pre-season friendlies?

What if we get Rodgers on a new deal and focus on his plan to make us a real Champions League team who every team wants to avoid in their fixture list?

The correct answer to all 3 of those questions for me have a higher chance of a positive outcome when compared to what we haven’t done since Brendan Rodgers came back to the club, and that for me should be the real lesson from this season for the board when they sit to discuss priorities for the summer and next season and beyond. I really want to see us back Rodgers, I really want us to back him fast and early to allow him to work with players over the whole summer and I really want us to ensure we have a dynamic plan in place that means that if a player like Kyogo is sold and the manager wants to replace him, having a clear plan on how to make that happen. We will only fail in these situations because of things completely outside of our control.

My time studying Talent Identification taught me the club should in theory have a 2, maybe even 3 year plan for the first team that should be based around the priorities as outlined by the manager, but before we worry about that one key thing needs to happen…

Top priority for Michael Nicholson right now. Make a call on Rodgers situation quickly. If Rodgers wants to stay and he is the man the club believe in to keep us progressing, then make the commitment to that over the coming weeks. Get a contract on the table, discuss a clear plan for the term of that contract and build on this momentum. Then when that’s done look at the succession plan for the first team and find out exactly how Rodgers sees the following:

· Who he sees as being here each year over the next 2 or 3 years

· Who would he be willing to move on

· Which players have contract renewals that need to be considered and are we aware of anyone looking to retire in that period

· Who is likely to attract attention from other clubs that may result in a transfer bid and what price do we put on that player

· Who is in the pipeline from the Academy

· Last but not least, what areas need instant attention from our recruitment team to ensure we are set for this summer. Which players do they have in their pipeline that they are willing to recommend to the manager for what he needs now, and for what he needs for the next 2 or 3 years

Now the fun part as a supporter, or certainly for someone like me is trying to see who the players in the Academy pipeline are and what areas do we want to look at in terms of recruitment. Obviously, I’m not privy to what is spinning round in Rodgers mind when he has 2 minutes to think about the summer and beyond but we can look at what has been said previously and we can try to predict who might be on the radar of other clubs and look at the scenarios that might play out.

He openly said a striker was a priority in the last window and that didn’t happen. Has Daizen maybe changed his mind on that, possibly. It comes as no shock to me that Daizen can do that job, especially domestically where many of the central defenders will have very rarely faced someone who is as quick, agile and aggressive with his movement. That being said I think we would all still expect a striker to be high on the list this summer.

When Brendan first arrived he openly said he felt the team lacked physicality, that is something that we have added in terms of players like Idah, Engels and with the short term loan deal for Schlupp but we still lack a midfielder who has that power and speed along with a skillset that is strong in defensive areas, without ignoring the need for all of our players to be able to play on the front foot, so that might be a consideration.

Left back will see Kieran Tierney come home, but we all know his injury history and the volume of games we face means that even if KT goes injury free, he will still need a strong backup and it’s an issue we’ve been trying to resolve for years. Greg Taylor has his detractors but no one can doubt the levels of endurance he’s shown to keep going over the past 4 years without any real significant time where he was unavailable for selection.

Central defence is another area where it appears that 2 of our more recent signings will depart. Gustaf Lagerbielke now loving life on loan at FC Twente over in the Eredivisie and Maik Nawrocki has fallen down the pecking order and seems to be in a situation where he either needs to find something that Rodgers and staff think is missing from his game, sit in the background doing nothing or he moves on and find game time elsewhere to reignite his career.

In terms of players at risk of bids from clubs that would likely see the player want to consider his options:

• Nicolas Kuhn – He had suitors from bigger leagues who didn’t pull the trigger at the time we did. Those suitors and others will be looking at his performances this season and will have been impressed.

• Reo Hatate – One who seems to drive some insane, but Reo has a skillset that many clubs will admire and while I don’t think Real Madrid will be bashing down our door. I do think some teams will have him under consideration, especially after a good Champions League campaign.

The downside to the Champions League campaign being strong there will also be teams looking at guys like Alastair Johnston who also had a great Copa America. Daizen Maeda, who has really been a monster of a player for us this season and Arne Engels. Engels is far from the finished product, but what we are seeing is his strengths have really started to shine as the season has gone on. That drift to the right, lift of the head and ability to whip passes over distance into danger zones has really proved to be valuable along with his set plays. Teams may want to test us with bids early, as opposed to risking him continuing to improve and have another strong European campaign that results in them being priced out or out gunned financially by bigger clubs a year later.

Now I don’t for one second expect us to lose all these players, but I will always bang on about a plan. The joys of good Champions League performances can also have a bitter after taste that comes a few months later, that is big clubs coming to see if they can pinch a player at a value below his ability because we play in the SPFL, and we need to plan for that. That’s on top of us planning to improve even if we keep all these players for another year. It’s a lot of work and that’s why I will also forever rattle on about us having the best internal setups we can have from Academy to Sports Science, Analysts and Recruitment. If all that is in order and you have a good manager that knows how to make the most of what is available to him, and I think we do. Then chances of success improve. We will always be up against it in the Champions League in terms of finances, but if we have the best structures we can have, then we’ll always have a fighting chance of bloodying a few big noses and putting the fear into teams like Bayern Munich in their own backyard.

So, this is where I want to ask all you CU subscribers and readers to join in.

I first want you to like this if you have enjoyed (shameless so I am) and then ideally comment below or post in the CU Substack chat, and tell me the positions you want to see Celtic look to improve in the summer. Please throw in some suggestions if you have them and let’s have a good old chat about it.

I will then toddle off to my data programs, and scour the online world for information and footage based on what we want to look at as a community. Once I’ve got all that I will look to produce 2 or 3 realistic suggestions for each of the most requested positions / roles and either write about them, or discuss them on a podcast with the guys. We can look at the facts in terms of where each player is looking at their data, and thoughts derived from the good old eye test. I will also look inside at the Academy options. It’s a topic I always want to keep in scope as I believe it should be a vital element of the long-term future. So, I will look at some of the players within and do my best to inform about those players and their abilities.

Hopefully you all enjoyed and I really look forward to engaging with you all to discuss recruitment, academy or anything else Celtic or football for that matter.