The once-famous biscuit tin at Celtic Park has now surely been buried with full military honours and a 21-gun salute to send it on its way.
The derogatory term was originally coined to illustrate the parsimony of bygone board members at the club. It was used by Celtic supporters whenever they believed their ambitions regarding the team were not being matched by the directors for whom, it was alleged, every penny was a prisoner. Rangers supporters would also gleefully use the “biscuit tin mentality” as an insult to belittle their rivals whenever the jibe was met by an occasion to have it serve the purpose of causing maximum embarrassment.
But you can’t look at the multi-million pound signing of Alexandro Bernabei and the re-signing of Jota on a permanent deal, along with rest of Celtic’s dealings so far in this transfer window and fail to concede the biscuit tin is no more. The biggest indication of that being the case might be the story of Christopher Jullien’s loan move to Schalke having collapsed because the defender couldn’t agree personal terms. Just how much are Celtic shelling out on wages every week if Jullien can’t afford to drop money to play in the Bundesliga?
Celtic’s status in Europe has definitely diminished in recent years on the back of undeniably poor results in a variety of competitions. But they must be punching well above their weight on the continent in terms of salaries if Jullien had second thoughts about leaving a place where he’s become surplus to requirements so far as Ange Postecoglou is concerned. It could yet turn out to be one of those twists of fate that ultimately works in Celtic’s favour. We could all be sitting here in January with Jullien in the first team on a regular basis and marvelling at how he could have been away in Germany.
The French defender is, in my opinion, as good a player as Carl Starfelt – and Anthony Ralston is living proof that careers clinging to life at Celtic can be resuscitated. Jullien himself was a £7million signing from Toulouse, yet another example of Celtic’s tight-fistedness being a thing of the past. Spending big is no guarantee of anything, of course, other than refuting the accusation the club splashing out lacks ambition. Celtic’s charge to the title last season was born out of chaos and proved that sometimes there is profit in confusion.
But Postecoglou recently said the turning point of the season had been the “leap of faith” his employers had taken on his behalf during the January window. It was a leap which ultimately diverted the course of the season Celtic’s way. The directorial gymnastics now being performed at Celtic Park are both a statement of intent and a ringing vote of confidence for the man being backed to the hilt in financial terms.
The board now have to trust their hire-and-fire department to jettison the dead wood still cluttering up the place. We’ll say Albian Ajeti, Boli Bolingoli and Vasilis Barkas and leave it at that. It must have been galling for the Celtic recruitment department to read Barkas’ comments about recommending other keepers not to sign for the club because he didn’t feel the love when he was occupying a dressing room not used by first-team players.
The lack of self-awareness is staggering, is it not? Going to Celtic did nothing but good for Joe Hart, Craig Gordon and Fraser Forster. The only reason Barkas found himself changing elsewhere was the fact he couldn’t be trusted to play for the first team.
He was a grotesque waste of money because of the one thing his game lacked – ability. The Greek was a tragic reminder that investments fall as well as rise. But the kind of money Celtic are putting out can only vouch for a determination to continue their revival under Postecoglou and, presumably, their intention to see what they can do to restore a battered reputation in Europe as well as stay at the top of the domestic pile.
You can’t do that by using the contents of a biscuit tin.
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