Brendan underlying message – ‘Value without quality isn’t value at all’

When asked directly whether the delay in concluding signings was down to talent identification, or delays in concluding deals, Rodgers initially seemed to be seen to be swerving the question somewhat. But as his point developed it was made just as clear as last week, but with a bit more of a scalpel than a sword in comparison to seven days ago.

“No, I don’t really want to go into that, it’s not the forum for that. It’s one where our scouts and recruitment are working ever so hard identifying players, really good players.

“So yeah, we just hope by the endgame that we can get the right level of player in that can help us and improve us. And we all know what supporters want to see. They want to see that freshness in the team, they want to see the team being exciting.

“I’m hopeful that we can do that over these remaining weeks, and then go off into the season in a really good place.”

By singling out the recruitment team — Paul Tisdale and his staff — Rodgers effectively removed them from the firing line and that was certainly no accident. It was his way of saying that the scouting is getting done, the lists are drawn up, the work is happening.

The bottleneck however, well, that’s elsewhere.

Earlier, when asked if he expected to be backed by the board to get the tools he needs before the window closes, he delivered another well-judged response.

“I think the board have shown over many years and numbers of years that the work will get done. And, obviously, as a group that runs the club and has run it so well for so many years, they’ll look to get what they will feel is the best value for the players.

“Of course, as coaches and managers and supporters, you want the best players. But ultimately, the club will be run in a way that makes sure that both the best players and the best value are there to be made. So, that sits above me. That’s something that clearly does.”

Two things stand out with that response. First, the repeated nod to the board’s long-standing ‘way of doing things.’ Second — and arguably more importantly — the deliberate use of value. In Celtic boardroom language, value has become shorthand for cautious, painfully slow even, deal-making.

Rodgers knows he can’t roll into Lennoxtown every Friday and take another direct swipe at the board — that quickly becomes a circus, plus it simply loses its impact. After all he might need to return there over the next three and a bit weeks. But he also knows the supporters aren’t blind. By dropping ‘value’ into his answer, he underlined exactly where the holdup is without having to spell it out.

And that’s why the idea some are floating — that this was perhaps a backtrack from last week’s press conference — misses the point. This was Brendan being smarter about it. Same message, just a wee bit of a cuter delivery. The recruitment team are doing their job. The manager wants the freshness and quality we all crave for this squad. The delay isn’t in spotting players – it’s in getting them over the line.

The frustration for supporters, and surely for Rodgers, is that value has already been bought. We’ve got the floor-lifters in the door, the good profiles for developing, the ones who might become players down the line a bit. But bar Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren, this squad is lighter in pure quality than the one that took Bayern Munich all the way in the Champions League, lighter than the one who lost the Cup Final on penalties.

Now Rodgers needs the next level — the three or four wide and central attackers who replace the sale of Kyogo, the sale of Kuhn, and cover the injury to Jota. The players who let Tilio and Yang move on if they want to, rather than being kept simply because we need bodies.

These aren’t just squad-fillers, they’re the players Rodgers can trust on a European night when the margins are cigarette paper thin.

Because at this stage of the transfer window, at this point in the squad development, value without quality isn’t value at all.

Yesterday Conor Spence attended the Celtic fan media conference at Celtic Park to represent The Celtic Star and to speak to Celtic legend James Forrest alongside supporters from four other fan media outlets. Here’s the video…