Duran at the double
Given the epic midweek collapse I really didn’t want to see the same team huff and puff their way through another 90 mintues so in a way I was happy changes had been forced upon us. Callum and Kasper were forced out through sickness/injury which saw Duran move central with Hassan getting his first start for his new employers, and the OX stepped in alongside Mika Baur in the middle of the park.
We knew what we were going to get from Falkirk, full energy and hunting in packs, and the Bairns started the game brightly but events quickly took a twist when with only five minutes on the clock Scott Bain had an absolute brainfart and slapped the ball to the feet of Camilo who gladly passed the ball into the empty net.
I wanted this dream start to be the catalyst for a high scoring romp, and it wasn’t just the goal giving me encouragement. John McGlynn had made what looked like a fatal tactical flaw,,,his fullbacks were standing off our wingers instead of coming out to the flank to meet them. This meant Yang and Hassan being constantly open to receive the pass and take on their direct opponent. I thought it was a crazy tactic and it later lead to our second goal when the inspace Yang fed the overlapping Tierney to lay off Camilo for his second of the day.
Two goals up at home should signal heavy pressure for the visitors as the relaxed starters and fresh subs take the game to them, instead our sieve gave up its usual prize. The leftback was non existent, the Keeper might have done better, and it wasnt the centrebacks but rather the right back who was forced all the way across to help, but ended up deflecting the ball into his own net.
Thats how the game finished, we take the win and move on but the Juggernaut feeling that was almost touchable just a few weeks has completely evaporated. This wasnt a good performance, it was a just enough display which is concerning because we need to find our rhythm sooner rather than later. In saying that we do have some positives to take home.
Duran once again proved we have signed a proper striker and to be honest I wouldn’t drop him for Hogh at the minute. Kasper would not have scored that second goal, it took a real burst of pace to get away from the last defender that the Dane just does not have.
The Ox was handy in Callums role but I personally thought Baur was the best midfielder on the park. His game intelligence shines through everytime I watch him,,always well positioned to quickly be at the heart of things, creating space to receive, not wasteful with his passing,,,he’s just a good footballer who has seamlessly slotted into life as a Celtic player. Hassan reminded me of Jota, very agile and a danger to defenders with the pace and confidence to go past a defender. He was effective in that respect but now needs to turn those attributes into assists and hopefully goals.
I believe Yang is improving under our current setup but if anything our defense is getting worse. We give up too many chances, at least a goal a game, and I can’t see Dane Murray fixing that when one of Trusty/CCV gets injured. It gets worse, KT got injured and Scales at leftback doesn’t cut the mustard so the defense will continue to be a bombscare for at least a while unless our new incoming leftback is fit enough and good enough to slot straight in.
There was no Reo in the squad with a supposed exit scuppering his involvement so this Van Der Berg deal will happen and the fee for the Japanese player should cover his much younger replacement.
Callum Osmond left the stadium in a moon boot and I’m starting to wonder if he’s an injury prone player that cannot be counted on. Colby might have left in a moonboot, instead his actual football took the brunt of a bad tackle and literally snapped in half which is a first for me.
We could really do with some positivity around the club and the obvious way to do that would entail a strong end to the transfer window.
For Martins sake this better happen as he has taken a proverbial kicking over the LASK outcome and as he admitted we are a million miles away from where he wants us to be.
If only there was a way to change that.
By Mahe
sentinelcelts@gmail.com
Ernie,
because Fergus Mc Cann (main instigator of the mass ST sales ) reneged on his promise to sell back to the fanbase.
Do you agree ?
P.s better to start around that time DD was nowhere to be seen previously
Awe Naw
August 31, 2026 1:38 pm
Ernie,
because Fergus Mc Cann (main instigator of the mass ST sales ) reneged on his promise to sell back to the fanbase.
————–
he offered them, the fans didnt take them all up.
dd underwrit the offers.
a switcheroo in plain sight.
didnt here anyone complaining at the time
I get that a large number of transfers (I would guess even the majority, but i havent actually checked) happen within the last few days of the window …but not all. Some clubs dont want to sell until they think they have gotten the best offer, or have sourced a replacement …(although it didnt stop Celtic selling Engels right before the most important game of the season)
so, i get that Celtic still need midfield reinforcements…
but needed them before last season and didnt act … sign AOC who cant play in the CL qualifier, (what Celtic knew or didnt know about his suspension needs explained), and sell Engels and waited until after to fireplace him (Baur is more of a Reo replacement)
but if they – again – do it at the last minute – having again been knocked out of the CL because they didnt have a midfield … i cant help but feel like it is a fuck you to the fans …
i know that doesnt make sense from a business perspective …
but then again not much about Celtic makes sense…
Saint Stivs,
Nobody complained.
Thing was that by that time Fergus knew exactly what he was up against; a bent Scottish establishment that had already tried to bury Celtic. He knew he was up against the Scottish/UK establishment. Bank of Scotland bankrolled Murray for decades. I bet they now wish they had bankrolled the Whites and The Kelly´s instead. Also the SFA and by extension UEFA, HMRC and the Scottish judiciary who all turned a convenient blind eye to the illegal shenanigans that was happening at our main competitors. That includes the Houses of Parliament and the entire Scottish media and the public broadcasters BBC and STV, Fergus the wee businessman from Canada knew he and us alone would get chewed up.
I believe Fergus to be an honorable man and that he certainly knew that we needed a big hitter (a billionaire to get on board) and that he outlined to Dermot Desmond exactly what was going on and what we were up against and that´s why we have Dermot Desmond today and possibly some hang ups from the Desmond’s side with regards our stability.
That background has not gone away and if anything it is worse and more overt than it ever was. We still operate within it. Now don’t get me wrong I don’t see DD as a Philanthropist. The opposite in fact but not to consider that environment and what we are up against and assume that is all on even footing and is just a money war is absolute folly.
Awe Naw
August 31, 2026 1:38 pm
I’m not privvy to what, if any, pre existing relationship or connection might have existed between the two parties, so can’t comment on what exactly took place.
And I’m not convinced that any of that is relevant to the current situation.
What I do know is that the value of the Club is solely and entirely dependant, directly or indirectly, on the financial and other contributions of the fans.
Ultimately they have the power to effect change if they use their strength.
EL,
yes I absolutely agree that’s what a PLC does -. it generates revenue from it´s customers. It´s not going to happen that the punters will turn their back on Celtic while they are winning domestically. See Religion
I think when one club in any league is given preferential treatment to the extent that it is given preferential treatment with regards; banking conditions, taxation, policing, judiciary, sporting governance, press and media treatment, government policies etc. then all other clubs that don’t receive such benefits has to take that into account.
Somebody has to foot the establishment club’s bills until that somebody can´t be found.
In my lifetime fans have only revolted ( boycotted), when fortunes on the park mirrors the shitshow off it.
Folk that walked away when rangers died have been replaced.
As such, there is no way fans are going to desert a winning Celtic, but if we went a couple seasons without a trophy , then they certainly would.
James Forrest on highly paid executives being led by the nose by a non executive shareholder.
https://thecelticblog.com/2026/08/articles-and-features/blaming-desmond-for-paralysis-untenable/
Awe Naw – Agree with what you say.
Still remember the ‘Coolmore Mafia’ that collectively owned around 29% of Manchester Utd. sold out to Glazer and like always made a big profit (2005). Magnier – McManus – Desmond.
All three invested in Celtic FC though the other two sold their shares, at the time I thought it was good for the club to gain full stability and to look down on the Huns from on high. That’s still the case at present although they would never admit and neither would the Deliverance Sect. that backs them like everywhere including as you say in print broadcasting banking etc. etc.
Still got the full list of Celtic shareholders names and addresses, no of shares etc. but will not be passing them on to no-one, wouldn’t Trust them to IMO take the club forward.
A football club with stability, couldn’t name another one in Scotland as ALL the other ones are scraping along the bottom of the barrel despite their colourful cousins assistance at the SFA.
Awe Naw.
Fergus as you’ll know walked into the bank with 5m or so,from hazy memory DD contributed 1m,john 1m and 2 others 1m for immediate working capital.So he has been about.
DD played big part of plc being chosen as a way to finance total rebuild then in 94.
I thought those shares dd hoovered up were offered after being offered.
HH
St.Stivs put it right,DD underwrote.
It is interesting to look back
Fergus done what he said on the tin.
Our theatre rebuilt.
Recall to the ambition of the time,the certainty and uncertainty of how we were financed(at time of underwite-(then the question of where we playin,epl?? Atlantic lols).our national game(stopping10-opponent 92.01% players unregistered)
We were in this new market 5 years old,I remember at the time it was one of our own stepping forward again as he did in 1994.all I am saying is recall the chat of that time
The share issue ,where he asks basically to step outside market rules otherwise he makes a bid for all shares i feel has more impact in his puppeteering currently imo.
HH
Nabbla,
yes if I remember correctly he was offered and took up what the support couldn´t afford to buy. I don’t believe getting him on board was a coincidence.
Bawheid,
Yeah Celtic PLC work in a unique hostile environment.
When the Panama papers came out. The complete data set was given to a German newspaper The Süddeutsche Zeitung. I met and got to know a journalist who worked for them. He told me that there was so much data that they shared it with any “respectable” media outlet who wanted to do their own research with one proviso. The data set was not leaving their offices. BBC Scotland sent a team to investigate Dermot Desmond. No interest in anyone or anything else within the massive dataset my journalist friend told me, much to their aghast. The Germans saw it as frivolous compared to other stuff that could have been revealed. That was when Mark Daly doorstepped DD at a European game. The same guy who revealed Murray´s EBT’s. It was seen as Old Firm equivalence from BBC Scotland.
So although the banks will no longer touch them and HMRC might be less trusting of thems the rest of the cabal, SNP government, Scottish judiciary, Scottish police, SFA (UEFA) are still giving them plenty eh haunders. FSR does not apply in Scotland.
No other club in Europe has to contend with what we have to contend with. I contend that environment still influences our financial policies and even worse that is DD´s main interest. The fight to make us more palatable to the establishment and the establishment more palatable to us.
Then he will have complete control and that´s what he wants not UEFA coefficient points. It might even be personal
ernie lynch
August 31, 2026 8:53 am
INIQUITOUS IV
August 31, 2026 1:44 am
Interesting.
Where does the ‘manager’ fit in, and what is his role?
Also, how many staff do they have in total, how much does it all cost, and how long do they tend to stay in post for?
Wenger reckons top footballers have now reached the limits of their physical capabilities and that what will differentiate them from here on is their level of football intelligence. I’d like to know how they go about developing that. Do they eg limit screen time for the younger players?
——————————-
Hi Ernie:
I didn’t have the answer to your questions to hand, including Ajax’s ‘digital rules’ for youth players, but here they are, with a little help from Perplexity.😊. The deeper I dug, the more fascinating it became!
CAUTION: Long post.😱
At AFC Ajax, the first-team manager (officially designated as the Head Coach, currently Míchel) reports directly to the Technical Director (Jordi Cruijff) and the executive board, sitting below upper management and above the day-to-day playing staff.
The Hierarchy Breakdown (Top to Bottom)
Supervisory Board (Raad van Commissarissen): The non-executive board that oversees long-term club strategy and governance.
Board of Directors / Management Board (Statutory Board): Led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Menno Geelen, alongside financial, commercial, and technical directors.
Technical Director (T.D.): Jordi Cruijff oversees overall club football philosophy, scouting, youth development structure, and squad roster construction. He hires and evaluates the head coach.
Head Coach / Manager: Responsible exclusively for the senior squad’s training, match tactics, selection, and performance on the pitch.
INTERACTION with the Youth Academy:
At Ajax, the academy is not a separate entity; it is the foundation of the club’s business and sporting model. The Technical Director acts as the executive bridge between the youth pipelines and the senior squad:
Philosophy Enforcer: The T.D. ensures that every youth layer—from the U-8s up to Jong Ajax (the reserve team)—strictly teaches the traditional Ajax 4-3-3 “Total Football” formation and tactical curriculum.
The “Plan van Aanpak” (The Player Pathway): The Technical Director meets regularly with the Academy Director and youth scouts to map out individual developmental trajectories. They decide when a teenager is ready to bypass age groups or transition directly into senior first-team training.
Squad Roster Calibration: Because the club relies on promoting from within, the T.D. coordinates academy development with the transfer market. If De Toekomst has a generational talent emerging at left-back, the T.D. will purposefully avoid buying an expensive player in that position to keep the pathway clear.
When Marc Overmars served as Director of Football, he established a highly effective partnership with manager Erik ten Hag. This era struck a modern compromise: Overmars controlled the checkbook and youth synchronization, but worked in tandem with Ten Hag to sign players that fit the manager’s specific tactical pressing system.
Following a highly tumultuous period of management turnover and boardroomn instability, Ajax has re-established this structured hierarchy. Under CEO Menno Geelen, the role of the Technical Director remains firmly above the coach. The Technical Director retains ultimate control over the overarching sporting model, ensuring that whoever sits in the dugout molds their tactics around the core identity of Ajax, rather than transforming the club in their own individual image.
AFC Ajax NV employs between 800 and 1,250 total staff members across its entire corporate, athletic, and stadium infrastructure.
Because Ajax is a publicly traded corporation (AFC Ajax N.V.), its total headcount encompasses far more than just the first-team squad. Staff tracking data reveals the operational scale of the club:
Total Corporate & Club Headcount: Workforce analytics track approximately 811 core employees, while broader networking registries list upwards of 1,245 professionals associated with the club.
The Sporting Breakdown: Out of the total headcount, only about 100–120 make up the sporting staff at any given time. This includes the 25–30 senior roster players, Jong Ajax (the U21 reserve squad), the multi-layered coaching staff, medical teams, analysts, and youth coaches working out of the De Toekomst academy.
Operational & Commercial Staff: The vast majority of Ajax employees operate behind the scenes. This includes stadium operations, global scouting networks, merchandising, media/marketing divisions, and administrative executives managed by CEO Menno Geelen.
As a publicly traded company on the Euronext Amsterdam the club publishes its precise employee and operational numbers. The total staff cost for AFC Ajax stands at €109 million ($120.5 million USD) per year.
This figure represents the entire club’s wage bill, capturing everyone from elite first-team players and executives to administrative assistants and stadium operational workers.
HOW TOTAL STAFF COSTS BREAK DOWN:
The total expenditure is split into two vastly different payroll structures:
Staff CategoryEstimated Annual CostDescriptionFirst-Team Playing Squad~€30.1M – €35.6MCovers the base fixed salaries of the 25–32 active senior roster players (excluding performance-based bonuses).Technical & Youth Staff~€15.0M – €20.0MConsists of the senior coaching staff, medical teams, data analysts, scouts, and the entire youth coaching system at De Toekomst.Corporate, Executive & Operations~€54.0M+Encompasses executive compensation (e.g., CEO Menno Geelen at €737k base), marketing, stadium personnel at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, commercial staff, media, and legal divisions.
Key Financial Context Behind the Budget
The Champions League Dependency: Ajax structures its staff contracts with highly flexible bonus structures. When the club qualifies for the UEFA Champions League, the total wage bill routinely climbs toward €109 million due to heavy playing and coaching bonuses. If they miss out on top-tier European football, clauses automatically adjust to contract the total operational wage footprint.
The Domestic Reality: Despite recent cost-cutting measures, Ajax still boasts the highest staffing cost in the Dutch Eredivisie. Their €109 million total expense nearly doubles that of rivals like PSV (~€84 million) and Feyenoord (~€81 million).
Staff Retention Breakdown by Department:
DepartmentTypical Stay / Average TenureRetention DynamicsFirst-Team Managers & Coaches6 to 18 monthsHighly volatile. Global football data tracks the average European coach’s tenure at around 500 days. Following recent cycles of restructuring, Ajax has experienced rapid managerial turnover.
Executive Management & Board1 to 3 yearsFinancial leadership indexes track the average tenure of the current executive management team at roughly 1.3 years. This reflects a highly volatile structural transition at the club following recent board shakeups.
Academy Coaches & Scouting4 to 8+ yearsLong-term and highly stable. At the De Toekomst youth academy, maintaining consistency in teaching the traditional Ajax methodology means youth directors and scouts stay for generations to maintain continuity.
Corporate, Retail & Operations4.5+ yearsExtremely stable. Employees working in marketing, IT, stadium event operations at the Johan Cruijff ArenA, and finance mirror traditional Dutch corporate trends, keeping pace with the standard global employee retention benchmarks.
AFC Ajax‘s youth academy, De Toekomst (The Future), developing football intelligence—or “game insight”—is prioritized above physical size, strength, or raw speed. Under Director of Football Marijn Beuker, the club operates on the belief that while athleticism is largely innate, a player’s cognitive speed, decision-making, and spatial awareness can be explicitly trained and expanded.
The club utilizes several highly deliberate methodologies to build what they call “thinking footballers”:
1. The T.I.P.S. Framework (Insight > Technique)
Ajax evaluates and develops every prospect through the T.I.P.S. model:
Technique
Insight (Game Intelligence)
Personality
Speed (Both physical and cognitive)
In the Dutch development philosophy, INSIGHT ranks as the most critical pillar. An incredibly technical player who cannot read the game or anticipate a play will eventually be dropped from the academy, whereas a player with high cognitive processing speeds is heavily nurtured.
2. Multi-Position Rotation & “Total Football” Orientation
To understand the game globally, young players cannot stay in one comfort zone.
Every Position Mastery: Up until the U-15 level, players are systematically rotated across different positions on the pitch. A natural striker will spend weeks playing as a central defender, and a winger will be played in the midfield engine room.
Universal Game View: This positional fluidity forces the young player to understand the spatial constraints, passing angles, and psychological pressures of their teammates. When they finally settle into their permanent adult position, they possess the innate ability to anticipate exactly what the opponent or teammate across from them is going to do.
3. Small-Sided Games in Restricted, Chaos-Driven Spaces
Ajax rarely uses predictable, linear training cones or unopposed long-distance passing routines. Instead, intelligence is forged through environmental constraints:
High-Density Overloads: Sessions rely heavily on small-sided rondo variations (such as 3v3 or 4v4 games) packed into extremely tight boundary lines.
Imperfect Surfaces: The academy purposefully incorporates training on varied and imperfect turf surfaces. This unpredictability forces the brain to quickly calculate irregular ball bounces while simultaneously scanning for open passing lanes.
Perceptual Scanning: Players are conditioned to never look down at the ball. Drills are structured so that a player must “scan” the field (head checks) multiple times before receiving a pass, ensuring they already have a cognitive map of their next two choices before the ball hits their foot.
4. Advanced Cognitive Science and Eye-Tracking Technology
Ajax relies heavily on its dedicated sports science and performance research divisions.
Eye-Tracking Glasses: Academy players are regularly equipped with specialized eye-tracking glasses during free kicks, penalties, and open-play simulations. Analysts track exactly where the player’s pupils are looking, when they look down at the ball, and whether they are correctly identifying open spaces or checking blind spots.
Cognitive Speed Optimization: Data dashboards track visual reaction times, teaching players to absorb visual information in milliseconds to combat the intense pressing systems of modern senior football.
5. Self-Analysis and the “Questioning” Coaching Style
Instead of dictating commands, Ajax youth coaches act as facilitators of problem-solving.
If a player makes a poor pass, the coach will rarely yell the solution. Instead, they pause the play and ask open-ended questions: “What did you see there?” or “Where was the open space?”
From the age of 12 onward, players spend time in classroom video analysis suites learning to analyze their own performance film. This builds accountability and deepens their conceptual football IQ, shifting them from passive executors of instructions into independent tactical problem-solvers on the pitch.
AFC Ajax enforces highly specific “digital rules” and physical boundaries that strictly limit phone and screen time for their young players at De Toekomst.
While other clubs have recently chosen to implement extreme “digital detox” bans (such as Paris Saint-Germain confiscating phones entirely until the evening), Ajax approaches screen time as an extension of their cognitive training curriculum. Their limits focus heavily on social-spatial awareness and cognitive fatigue management.
1. The Mobile-Free “Social Zones”
At the academy campus, certain zones are legally mandated as zero-device territories.
The Dressing Rooms: Phones are banned entirely in the dressing rooms. Ajax believes that the locker room is where team cohesion, verbal leadership, and accountability are born. Players are expected to talk to one another, read the room, and engage in face-to-face banter rather than escaping into social media algorithms.
The Dining Hall: During communal meals, screens are prohibited. Eating together is treated as an exercise in interpersonal communication and presence—sub-skills Ajax views as crucial for real-time on-pitch chemistry.
2. Guarding the “Attention Span” (Cognitive Speed)
Director of Football Marijn Beuker and the sports science staff focus on the relationship between high screen use and a decline in working memory, focus, and scanning habits.
The Scanning Threat: When teenagers look at phones, their vision is fixed in a narrow, downward tunnel. Ajax’s style of play depends on players maintaining constant, 360-degree environmental scanning (head-checks). Excessive screen time reinforces poor visual posture and a slow focal reaction time.
Pre-Match Satiation: Players are restricted from heavy screen and video game usage immediately before training sessions or matches to avoid “cognitive fatigue.” A brain overstimulated by fast-paced short-form video algorithms is less equipped to process complex, multi-layered tactical overloads on the pitch.
3. Integrated Study and Balance
For players aged 15 and up, Ajax operates a highly structured daily schedule. The club runs its own fleet of buses to pick players up from local schools early in the afternoon. Once at De Toekomst, their time is micro-managed: exactly 1 hour and 15 minutes of structured, supervised homework study with club-provided tutors, followed directly by tactical analysis and pitch training.
By completely filling a young player’s afternoon with rotating cycles of studying, eating, and playing, Ajax naturally squeezes out the idle hours that usually lead to excessive personal screen time.
Hope this was of interest.
HH
INIQUITOUS IV😊
Awe Naw
Some excellent posts today amigo.
Awe Naw- any info there?
Bada,
Great going forward. Cuts the ball back well, Poor crosser. Forgets he´s a full back but a good quick player. will cost about 7m quid
All this last minute transfer talk/ rumours/genuine targets , 5 in total today – sums up the completely dysfunction nature of Celtic and recruitment.
All ( most) of this could and should have been done three weeks ago.
You get the feeling our old duffers get quite excited about Jim White and his yellow tie on deadline day. I can think of no other reason .
San Luis,
Thank you kind sir
Celtic just texted to say the EL package is available, £35 per game and no booking fee
Why dont celtic sign longelo and will ferry to cover the two positions,instead of half baked punts.cost cheaper than that french boy.they look outstanding players for motherwell and united ?
https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/malicious-prosecution-scandal-cover-up-claims-as-probe-yet-to-begin-after-10-years?utm_source=copilot.com
When you read this article you can only come to the conclusion that the huns are
1) The Scottish Government
2) The Scottish judiciary
3) The Scottish Polis
4) The Scottish media (I mean how many of you read the Scottish legal every day)
5) The SFA (if any of you have read my AI Links)
6) UEFA by extension to 5
7) SF49ers (51%)
8) (49% stupid conflicted fuckers)
The above judicial review is never going to happen. The whole house would come tumbling down.
I´m open to anyone on here disputing that these organizations are not hun centric ?
During DD´s tenure the banks have backed off and HMRC has eventually (we should hope stepped forward). I still doubt that they are super efficient when it comes to the huns considering their past record as its fundamentally the same crooked gang. But I live in hope
Celtic PLC has next to no influence here ( That’s why we championed FSR) . The SFA have taken their middle finger stuck it right up their rectum wiggled it about a bit took it out and told Celtic smell this. The establishment team has posted a 10m quid loss ever since it returned into the SPFL. That´s 110m quid so far that someone has paid for. I reckon next season it will be a 20m quid loss. These race supremacist bigoted bastards cannot be brought to honest governance heel. No matter how much it is attempted and legislated for. There is a couple of DNA strands yet to be isolated and discovered that makes their cheating bastard inclination come to the fore at any sign a Fenian bassa is going to trump them. We all know that but …. somebody has to pay the money to keep them relevant. The banks are not doing it anymore. HMRC is not doing it anymore. The Scottish government and the Polis and SMSM can only do so much to help but luckily they have the SFA the only association in Europe without an accepted financial control policy turning a blind eye to UEFA´s FSR to keep them just in the red.
So when it comes to keeping “one step ahead of the huns” or “what are the huns doing” then it´s all of the fucking above (1 -8) off course this needs kept a close eye on. It would be negligent not to do so.
Now I am, not saying DD and the PLC are anything but tories who only give a fuck about the money. They are exactly that. Keeping one step ahead of thems (our plc’s devised and chosen policy) keeps the establishment playing that game. They still think they are in with a chance. It´s a disgrace that we have to live in this environment. It´s more of a worry not recognizing it and not agitating against this status quo.
That should start here instead of the boring brainless sloganeering. It inhibits civilized informed debate and the blog suffers for it in my honest opinion. It will probably die down after the transfer window closes. Fingers crossed
Awe naw- ta ,at that price he will be a loan
Iniquitous IV
Eye-Tracking Glasses: Academy players are regularly equipped with specialized eye-tracking glasses during free kicks, penalties, and open-play simulations. Analysts track exactly where the player’s pupils are looking, when they look down at the ball, and whether they are correctly identifying open spaces or checking blind spots.
This is one technology we could do with!
Sometimes it seems we only focused on sideways or backwards.
With our clubs frugality players will probably get a cardboard box with a pin hole in it like early box cameras.
Hatate to the EFL, according to a Japanese source.
Scroll to 2:00 to hear what Brendan Rodgers said post Almaty about the timing of incoming transfers and lessons to be learned.
And of course, the Board learned diddly squat.
https://www.youtube.com/live/jxkU9_gRfHc?is=H5CPxyPWaQvO0mnj
INIQUITOUS IV
I posted that BR interview on a couple of WhatsApp sites this morning. Tried to do it on here too, but it wouldn’t copy across. Thanks for that post.
McInnes gets his ban reduced from 4 to 2 with 2 suspended.
That’s the SFA for ye.
CALTONTONGUES
I would say unbelievable, but that’s one thing it isn’t. Back in time for the games against us, what a surprise.
Awe naw 6..04
Fine essay and it is funny imo that all these Scottish civc bodies are all involved.
All under the knuckle :-))
I would have 2 additions
1.The UK govt.because they set law
a)it is UK company law b) UK tax law.
2.Tax law set by UK govt.
Murray discovered DOS was closing opted for EBT,what was he using before DOS?
HH
BMCUWP,
The SFA Statement read: Appeal Partially Upheld.
WTAF, They’re announcing it like it’s a win.
Eintracht Frankfurt — summer 2026, as of 31 August
7 incoming players
The current Bundesliga transfer register lists:
Noah Atubolu — Freiburg, loan
Raphael Onyedika — Club Brugge
Otávio — Estrela Amadora
Noel Aseko Nkili — Bayern Munich
Malik Pimpong — Midtjylland
Jessic Ngankam — loan return from Wolfsberger
Niels Nkounkou — loan return from Torino
So 7 first-team arrivals under the normal transfer-market definition.
15 departures
The Bundesliga’s latest list has 15
Rasmus Kristensen
Nathaniel Brown
Hrvoje Smolčić
Mahmoud Dahoud
Ellyes Skhiri
Arnaud Kalimuendo
Junior Dina Ebimbe
Noel Futkeu
Michy Batshuayi
Michael Zetterer
Arthur Theate
Elye Wahi
Simon Simoni
Aurèle Amenda
Nathaniel Brown
And Ritsu Doan and Hugo Larsson have NOT been sold yet. Both are still Frankfurt players as of today
So 7 in 2 loan returns. So 5 in. One of them a loan. One of the 2 loan returns to Celtic.
And looks like 17 out
Celtic’s transfer business is wet dream territory in comparison
Time for a reality check.
Dermot Desmond, Defender of The Faith, in his own words
“Rangers is a great football club, it has a great history and it’s unfortunate that they have been relegated,”
Nabbla,
When Amoruso and Goram couldn’t afford their drunk driving fines and WERE ALLOWED to pay in installments. I don’t know what the scheme was but there was a tax evasion scheme going on.
Ernie Lynch
In your own written words
“Dermot Desmond, Defender of The Faith.”
You couldn’t be more wrong Ernie. He’s only interested in the money.
And ingratiating himself with the establishment
McInnes gets his ban reduced from 4 to 2 with 2 suspended.
That’s the SFA for ye.
——-
Looks like a punishment to me.
Having to watch them 2 more times.
PSV lad and the Parma lad have both arrived in Glasgow.
INIQUITOUS IV
August 31, 2026 3:48 pm
As you say, fascinating. The stuff about screen time and how it hinders 3d intelligence confirms my own hunches. The human brain evolved to deal with a 3d world but how much time do we spend nowadays in a 2d world? That’s bound to have a negative effect on spatial awareness and depth perception.
San Luis,
PSV lad and the Parma lad have both arrived in Glasgow.
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I hope Chic Young isn’t there telling them to go back home like he did during the ref’s strike 😁
‘It’s all Celtic’s fault’
Prick
Both the PSV and the Parma players sound like all round mids who should help defensively and with quicker transitions.
But where do they fit in existing 433?
Awe Naw
August 31, 2026 7:42 pm
Ernie Lynch
In your own written words.
###
Here’s some more words for you.
Sarcasm, irony, parody, satire.
Ernie Lynch
You forgot sloganeering 😄
Calton
Chic Young , is that wee scroat still on the go?
Three players on my list above whose contract wasn’t renewed. So that’s 18. If Larrson and Doan go and Celtic get Nkounkou then we would know by now ?? as that’s the transfer window closed in Germany so 18 out and 5 in. One of them coming back from loan. Hopefully I’m not back on here later saying 21 out 5 in
Nobody has actually signed yet.
Tempered my excitement by remembering DD , Nicholson and McKay often fail to complete.
The sun comes out tomorrow.
You’re only a day away!
Villa trailing Arsenal at home. Almost 2 games and not a shot on target. 3 months after winning the EL in some style. Mind you, of the 11 that started the EL final, 6 have left the club since! Crazy.
Europa Cup Winners finding out what happens when you sell 6 of your best players.
ernie lynch
August 31, 2026 8:45 pm
INIQUITOUS IV
August 31, 2026 3:48 pm
As you say, fascinating. The stuff about screen time and how it hinders 3d intelligence confirms my own hunches. The human brain evolved to deal with a 3d world but how much time do we spend nowadays in a 2d world? That’s bound to have a negative effect on spatial awareness and depth perception.
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Ernie,
Kids these days live in a 3D goggleworld.
In contrast to the self destructed and gutted Villa squad, EBT Arteta has World Cup winners on his bench!
Villa have to get themselves onto a new financial footing.
UEFA: Congratulations, you’re Europa League champions — here’s tens of millions of euros.
UEFA, six weeks later: You’ve breached our financial rules — here’s a €22.5m fine and restrictions on your Champions League squad. Who do you think you are Rangers?
And without even a hint of any irony
Aston Villa have a specific UEFA restriction on their 2026/27 Champions League squad, stemming from their breach of UEFA’s financial rules.
The important restriction
UEFA fined Villa €22.5m for a significant breach of the Squad Cost Ratio rules for 2025. As part of the settlement, Villa are subject to a List A registration restriction for the 2026/27 UEFA competitions.
The key wording is:
Villa cannot register a new player on their UEFA List A unless the List A balance is positive.
In practical terms, this is not simply a ban on signing players. It operates more like a UEFA squad-accounting restriction:
Villa can buy players.
But for Champions League registration, they need to create sufficient positive balance through players leaving the UEFA squad.
The relevant calculation is essentially based on the transfer value/registration value of players leaving versus those coming in, rather than simply the number of players.
Therefore, selling a high-value player can create room to register new signings.
A player being sold for a large fee can consequently be much more important to Villa’s Champions League registration position than the number of players they sell.
There is also the normal UEFA 25-man restriction
Regardless of the financial sanction, UEFA’s standard List A rules apply:
Maximum 25 players.
At least 8 locally trained players.
No more than four of those eight can be association-trained rather than club-trained.
If a club cannot provide eight qualifying locally trained players, the 25-man limit is reduced accordingly.
The unusual bit for Villa is the additional financial restriction.
And this explains a lot of Villa’s extraordinary transfer activity this summer. They have lost players including Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martínez, while bringing in players such as Nicolas Jackson and Alejandro Garnacho
https://x.com/retroceltic/status/2094503547761049987?s=46
transfer guru Anthony Joseph on the Celtic transfer shitshow