Brendan Rodgers is wise to maintain the problem of a new contract hanging in the air for now. In the great game of trying to convince the Celtic board to spend everything they can in the new players, he has all the Aces.
And all that business about a new treatment to keep it beyond the end of the next season has the potential to become an important form of leverage, because if the week had been shown one thing, it is that the champions cannot make the mistake Again your laurels rest.
Or, rather, sitting in the cash of £ 65.4 million confirmed by the provisional results published at the beginning of the month.
Rodgers' main concern, of course, is Europe. The reports of his media conference on Friday led the headlines that he was open to discuss new terms and conditions when the moment is correct, although the real appointments did not seem to go so far.
However, what they did is crystalline is that the manager does not want as some type of high point of your second spell in charge. He wants it to be a springboard.
“We can certainly reach the next stage,” he said. “There is no reason why, if you can describe these group stages and perform as we did, it cannot happen to a last 16 or a quarter of the end.”
Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side impressed in its 3-2 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich
Rodgers ran out of replacement for striker Kyogo Furuhashi, who went to Rennes
There were some additional comments that he was happy in the club, but he has always said that. In terms of writing a new contract, it was not beyond saying that everything will be what is best for Celtic.
However, when he conducted an interview with former Parkhead manager, Martin O'Neill for Amazon Prime . And it could be, unless you are sure that those who are above him in PowerBase want to go where he does.
“I drive here (to the Lennoxtown training complex) every morning and remains an incredible feeling,” he said. 'At the end of my contract next year, I will be here for almost six years, which is a long time. But I feel fresh and the players allow you to feel that.
However, executive president Michael Nicholson and his fellow directors will also have to contribute to maintaining that general sense of vigor and well -being. And if Rodgers wants to put the Nicholson squeeze and company before the reopening of the transfers market in the summer, he would be advised to leave the entire contract problem to the wind for a good time.
As financially strong as the Celtic is, there was a deep unhappiness about the way in which the January window spread. It was known during the best part of a year that Kyogo Furuhashi wanted to leave, with the £ 10 million rate offered by Rennes demonstrating an exceptional business for a 30 -year -old boy with a recurrent problem in the shoulder.
The problem was that Nicholson and the recruitment team could not bring a replacement before the largest European game in years. It felt as if the upper levels of the club had just canceled the Bayern Munich meeting as a lost cause.
And yet, who knows what could have happened if there had been another clinical striker in the bank with the side a goal in the Allianz Arena and pressing for a second crucial in the final stages?
Celtic became great last summer to spend approximately 25 million on rates for Arne Engels, Adam Idah and Auston Trusty, even if that was largely compensated by the transfer of Matt O'Riley to Brighton.
Rodgers will be interested in CEO Celtic Michael Nicholson being ambitious in the transfers market
And it is easy to see why the Board could question the value of eliminating even more when there are no guarantees in the elite sand of the Champions League. At the level at which Celtic operate, seven -digit transfers have To exercise. Even if he doubled his salary bill, he could still draw one side in the play-offs that it is difficult to put a glove.
Directors could make a convincing argument to maintain budgets, and expectations, very low control. Playing the percentages.
However, hard after Rodgers Maine, who performs a performance in Munich that has surely earned him the right to receive an adequate crack when building a team to go further in the competition and properly restore the reputation of the club at that level, even once. The biggest surprise has come from the stage to the left to strengthen his hand.
Where it seemed that the future domestic domination was an consummated fact against a configuration of the rangers with a base of tired investors that had lost all the direction and impulse, there is now the possibility of revitalized rivals under the control of an impressive appearance consortium that contains Information and investment of the financial arm of the 49ers of San Francisco.
Even if the purchase passes before the end of the season, it remains to be seen how much money there will be in the Ibrox coffers for the summer market. The reconstruction work in the city of Glasgow is large and is likely to take time.
However, the image that existed until last week, by Celtic to have the race without obstacles to the place in Scottish football, has changed considerably. People who get involved in the Rangers give the impression of knowing what they are doing. The change is likely to be fast and ruthless. Nothing personal. Strictly business.
And that should make sure that everyone in Celtic remains alert. Questioning the value of spending and reinvesting to a large extent when you still cannot get beyond in the Champions League is one thing.
However, there is no discussion about the importance of continuing to ensure winning the title of the Premier League and giving it the best possible opportunity to reach the stage of the Liga de la Competition of the Premier Club of European Soccer.
President Celta, Peter Lawwell, should seek to invest the necessary money in the club
This time last year, President Celta Peter Lawwell, reacting to another disappointing window of January, declared that Parkhead Board recognizes' the inherent inefficiencies of having excess effective and, in conjunction with other cash commitments, the importance of investing in strengthening the team to deliver the success of football.
With those dollar bills in Ibrox throwing everything in the air and the base of Celtic fans now 100 percent behind the vision of a manager who has shown that Europe can be more than a method to maintain the bank balance topped, those comments those comments They are possibly more relevant now than they were then.
Rodgers will wait for him not to put a weapon on the head of Nicholson and the costumes to guarantee the type of expense necessary to ensure that Celtic does not stay still in the midst of new challenges at home and abroad, but he knows, but From the old man, what the attitude towards speculation to accumulate can be within Parkhead.
He already has the ear of the main shareholder Dermot Desmond, of course, but stops passing the conversations of the contract until he knows that the lie of the earth could increase the power it exercises.
Moking at the end of a contract would be more 'Toodle -o' than 'finished', sure, but the threat of that remains a powerful weapon to have the sleeve while trying how serious are the Celts about bringing things to the next level .
Conference alignment is a monstrosity for Hearts and co
Check out the last 16 of the UEFA Conference League and you will see that it is a real 'Who is that?' of European football.
Book Banja de Luke, Paphuos, Celge, Shoulder, Mold, Vitoria, Bialystok Jagyllonia, Djust. There are others there.
Look back in some of the outfits that were in the Knockout Play-off round and find Tsca Topola, Viking, Omonia, Olympija Ljubljana and Shamrock Rovers. On this basis, I could get 11 people from the bar in the dog and the calculator at lunch time on Saturday and house realistic hopes of running in the competition.
The Hearts' Home with Petrocub de Moldavia led his meek of the UEFA Conference
That is why it is even more shameful that we are another year in this matter and that there are still no signs of any team of Scotland, even close to these last stages.
Let's be honest, there is no way to make Hearts not exceed Petrocub, from that rich football culture of Moldova, in case you have forgotten, in their last group game at the beginning of this season they look or feel worse than what It was at that time.
It was an absolute scandal then and is still a scandal now.
The Tynecastle Club, in addition to others such as Aberdeen and Hibs, in particular, really needs to start gathering their actions on this front.
The points of coefficients that would help the national cause would be a useful spin-off, of course. But, above all, there is serious money that can be won in the league of the conference and Europe.
And the three clubs are executing general salary invoices that would suggest that, if the Flotsam and the Jetsam mentioned above can still be coined and competing for the covers with Spring on the horizon, they should also be there.
TNT subscribers were perplexed when seeing Celtic V Bayern appearing on Amazon Prime
Caros subs of television lead fans to piracy
Surely my home was not the only one that was stolen on Tuesday night when TNT Sports turned on and discovering that the Celtic party of Bayern Munich V had not seen anywhere at the schedules.
We pay more than 30 Bangers for a month to see the Champions League there, right? When they bought the rights and appeared on the scene, they sold as the only store for all games.
There is still a page on its website, published on April 18 of last year, stating that “you can see all the games of the UEFA Champions League, from the group stage to the final, in TNT Sports.”
Only you can't. Not anymore. The Amazon Prime video has appeared and can show any old game that you like on a Tuesday, so, if that presents your team, you better be ready to pay your nose again.
With Sky Sports and Premier Sports that also show Scottish football, it is at the stage where you need the GDP of a small country with income available to monitor all live action.
Football, in general, throws its arms with horror in piracy. It is a big problem for sport. But when you are looking at the entrails of £ 125 a month to see all the games related to legally Scottish clubs, is it surprising more and more people are returning to Fireck Dave on WhatsApp for your subscription telly?