The summer transfer window was a busy one for Celtic. Whilst the club spent a lot of money, the net spend has not been anywhere near enough to claim that the squad has been improved overall by any manner of means.
On Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Alex Rae was trying to make a point that the Celtic team should be doing better as they have a £20m investment. But there is one crucial and clearly obvious flaw to Rae’s argument, which presenter Gordon Duncan explained to him in quite simple terms:
Rae: “There was serious change in the summer. Everybody knew it was there.
“But I would go as far as to say £20 million pound in transfer fees he [Postecoglou] has been supported by the board.
“Now it might not be quick enough, but £20 million? I don’t think there’s many managers in Scottish Football that’s spent £20 million.”
Duncan: “What have they brought in tho? It’s not a £20 million pound upgrade on your team.
“That is pretty selective. Because you’re right, that’s a lot of money, but he’s not been able to upgrade his team by £20 million.
“Far from it in fact, some people would argue the team’s weaker.”
Rae: “So are we saying he [Furuhashi] the only one has been an upgrade then?
“We keep talking about time but the finances he’s had, he’s still been allowed to bring these players in.”
Duncan: “Listen, that’s what I’m saying though. But when you just offer a figure like that, it’s important I think to acknowledge that £20 million, of course is a lot of money, but it’s not a £20 million upgrade.
“The team is not £20 million pounds better off than it was.”
Realising his tea’s oot, Rae then tried to change tact which again was taken apart by the articulate host:
Rae: “Well I know one thing. You can say Kyogo’s valuation has gone up in value right away so you know the valuation of the squad has gone up right away.”
Duncan: “They lost Edouard, Christie and Ajer tho.
Rae: “But that was always going to happen tho.”
Duncan: “I know, so we’re agreeing then that the squad is not £20 million better than it was.”
Quite a simple concept that was strangely lost on the former Rangers midfielder. Hopefully, in future, he will research his theories before trying to articulate his point on live radio so he doesn’t get embarrassed again.