MONEY TALKS
Lift wage cap to let Rodgers rebuild Celtic, says MacLeod
MURDO MacLEOD is adamant Celtic must break their wage structure to give new boss Brendan Rodgers the quality players he craves.
The former Parkhead midfielder and assistant manager insists the club have made a statement of intent by appointing Rodgers but now wants the board to take one step further by loosening the purse strings.
‘I think they have to do that,’ MacLeod said. ‘You can talk about spending three, four, five million pounds on a player but Celtic don’t have the money to bring in three or four players of that ilk.
‘So you have to look at loan players or those who are out of contract and pay them a lot of money. They also know Rangers are back in the top flight and are still building to make themselves better. Celtic know they can’t be caught cold by not doing anything about it, so they’ve done something by bringing in a top-class manager.
‘Now how much money will he be given and what type of player will he bring in? If he brings in the level of player he is used to working with, he is going to make Celtic a much better team.’
TIME to spend, and spend big. Not on transfer fees — but on the kind of wages that will land players in-keeping with the new manager’s working history. Wages above and beyond anything covered by Celtic’s prudent business model.
And when Brendan Rodgers begins recruiting footballers a cut above those in situ? No one, not even the captain or the runaway top scorer, may be certain of a starting place.
Murdo MacLeod, who served Celtic as a player and then assistant manager, believes the board made a statement of intent in appointing former Liverpool boss Rodgers. Now he wants them to add an exclamation mark by breaking their wage structure.
‘I think they have to do that,’ he said. ‘You can talk about spending three, four, five million pounds on a player — but Celtic don’t have the money to bring in three or four players of that ilk.
‘So you have to look at loan players or those who are out of contract and pay them a lot of money. They’ve just got to bite the bullet and make sure they qualify for the Champions League.
‘If Brendan does that, it’s a success because they’ll not only get the Champions League money, but they’ll fill the stadium again.
‘Celtic know the challenge is on, not only domestically, but at European level. Most of the Celtic fans have been disappointed with the recent European campaigns and those have always been the highlights for the club.
‘Right now, the board have got to make sure it is going to be pleasing to watch Celtic play in Europe.
‘They also know Rangers are back in the top flight and are still building to make themselves better. Celtic know they can’t be caught cold by not doing anything about it, so they’ve done something by bringing in a top-class manager.
‘Now, how much money will he be given and what type of player will he bring in? If he brings in the level of player he is used to working with, he is going to make Celtic a much better team.’
MacLeod, whose one season on the coaching staff at Celtic Park saw him help Wim Jansen to a desperately-needed title triumph, stopping Rangers’ bid to win a 10th straight league flag, was interested to note that Rodgers had made a point of dining with Scott Brown and reassuring the midfielder about his future at the club.
But the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder added: ‘It’s a difficult one. You have to assess the squad and, if he can bring in players of a better standard, you’ve just got to go with that. Whether it’s Scott Brown or Leigh Griffiths, if you bring in a better player, you change him. It depends who he brings in.
‘The size of the Celtic squad has to be trimmed down — you can’t have 18 players sitting doing nothing week in, week out. They have to make some money by getting rid of some of the players and being able to finance better quality.
‘The manager has just got to make a decision on whether Scott Brown is going to play in the team. It’s all about his opinion.
‘I’ve always said that, when Ronny Deila arrived at Celtic, he had worked with a certain level of player in Norway.
‘He thought, when he came to Celtic, that the players he had here were great. Everyone was better than those he’d had in Norway.
‘But they haven’t been good enough for European campaigns. Now they’ve brought in a manager who has operated at the highest level in the English Premiership so, if Brendan is bringing in players at that level, that will make Celtic a better team.
‘You’ve got to bring in three or four starting players in the first XI. You’ve got to have three or four of that kind of quality and you’ve got to get the best out of the players you are going to keep from last season. If you can do that, you’ve got a chance.
‘Celtic were never too far away from it last season. But, ultimately, they were not good enough and, when you then go into a Europa League campaign and you don’t win a game, there is something wrong with the squad.
‘Whether he brings in three, four or five, he has to make sure he brings in players from the level he has been working at and not from the level they’ve got just now.
‘You start at the back. They have to make sure they have a consistent back four. In the middle of the park, there are far too many players and you can’t keep them all satisfied all year. You trim that down then bring in a couple of midfielders who are better than what they’ve got.’
While adamant that his old club certainly shouldn’t be running scared of a Rangers team still rebuilding after Mark Warburton’s first season at the helm, MacLeod did admit: ‘Celtic have to look across the city and see they are going to have a challenge.
‘Rangers will be up there — whether they are first, second, third or fourth. Celtic have got to make sure that they are going to win the Old Firm games and be a better team than Rangers.’
That hasn’t changed, then. Even if a lot of the personnel — and the size of their pay packets — are likely to alter in the weeks ahead.