21 Comments
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Mark Nugent's avatar

I love when spicy Alan visits. <chef's kiss> HH

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Frank Mellon's avatar

Really enjoyed reading this, Alan. I did read on one of the other Celtic sites a couple of months ago (maybe the Celtic Star) that the club placed an ad somewhere for recruiting someone into a data analytics role. Does anyone know if this has progressed at all?

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James Dailey's avatar

Hello Frank - I recall there being an advertisement but no idea on specifics at the club.

Ultimately, having quality data, models, and analyts can all be for naught if club decision makers do not value and incorporate.

Barcelona built a leading analytics arm years back and the senior decision makers did not use it.

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Frank Mellon's avatar

Hi James. You would hope, now that analytics are being successfully employed in the game, that the decision makers at our club would have the presence of mind to gain some competitive advantage by adopting it.

Perhaps you and Alan missed a trick by not throwing your hats in the ring for the gig 😁.

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John Henderson's avatar

Excellent synopsis of the threats posed to Celtic going forward. Hopefully Celtic will update their corporate risk register for these threats and realise smart player recruitment as advocated by the Huddlebreakdown is the correct response.

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Bryson Mcginlay's avatar

Enjoyable and interesting Sunday morning read. I’ve never understood Celtic fans complaining about covering The rangers, they are our main competition and relevant for discussions. Their ownership, management and recruitment all have an impact on Celtic and deserve discussion.

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Paul Devins's avatar

Great article, Alan. interesting times ahead.

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tricia fossett's avatar

As usual Alan, a well constructed article that offers a more honest view than our substandard media.

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Alan Morrison's avatar

A sad indictment Tricia

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Thomas Hanlon's avatar

I am new subscriber, long term listener, excellent article Alan. My concern is that the Celtic board will not respond appropriately and believe in the myth of "Celtic Board Exceptionalism"

A topic for another day but we need to get rid of Desmond and God willing some sort of Fenway lite group gets involved with us.

Enjoy your break

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Michael Martin  Shields's avatar

Really interesting point regarding the Celtic boardroom belief in its exceptional skill and acuity. I have worked for organisations that felt their preeminent position was all down to merit rather than a mixture of that and circumstance, good fortune, and initial advantage. It is very destructive to any genuine innovation and even slightly disruptive development. I do wonder if football is especially vulnerable because at its heart it's based on a belief that your team is inherently exceptional. Otherwise why would you follow them?

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James Dailey's avatar

You have expressed exactly my concerns...just far better than I ever have/do.

The complete avoidance on benchmarking the club's performance levels vs anything other than a relatively non-competitve domestic environment for the past decade+ speaks to your characterization.

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James Dailey's avatar

Welcome Thomas!

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Alan Morrison's avatar

Hi Thomas and welcome - and thank you.

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Jonny Mitchell's avatar

Usual illumination and clarity, thanks!

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Jonny Mitchell's avatar

..also kudos for picking the least fashionable Stevens as Rangers 80s player reference

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Alan Morrison's avatar

I have history for being least fashionable...............

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Wull Gee's avatar

Given the 49ers ownership of Leeds United, it's possible that Rangers could benefit from the loan of players on the fringes of that team that would be at a quality level above that which Rangers could recruit directly. Integrating these players would be less onerous although still with the risk of mismatch to tactics whatever they might turn out to be.

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Alan Morrison's avatar

Hi Wull

Yes i think that is a possibility. Exactly as Ashley hoped to try our aspiring Newcastle players back in 2015 i think. Remember 6 of them? Only Vukic was up to much. I'd wage if they are not good enough for Leeds Utd 1st team squad they are probably going to struggle at TRFC. But you don't know what you are going to get.

Then you need to add in the complication of orders from above. Who has to play and where and how disruptive is that to team shape, morale etc

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John Gow's avatar

Interesting times, indeed, Alan. Have a good break, you should be back in the groove long before anything substantive occurs.🤑

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Alan Morrison's avatar

Indeed and thanks John

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