Some people refuse to see what’s right in front of them, choosing to ignore anything that challenges the narrative they’ve constructed about a situation. Today, I came across a claim suggesting that our manager is somehow responsible for developing a specific player at our club—Odin Thiago Holm.
I find this notion utterly absurd.
There’s no such responsibility. None at all. The idea that Brendan Rodgers has somehow failed because Holm hasn’t progressed and was left out of our European squad is ridiculous.
Rodgers has a proven record of improving players.
Just take a look at our current first-team squad. The players are miles ahead of where they were last season, thanks to Rodgers. Matt O’Reilly, for instance, earned his £25 million move to England due to the improvements made under Rodgers’ guidance.
The simple truth is that Holm is a product of a failed transfer “strategy.” The big sales we’ve made over the past 18 months—which have brought in substantial profits—came from signings made before Mark Lawwell’s tenure. His recruitment windows have not resulted in a single significant sale, and most of the players he signed haven’t been deemed good enough for the first team.
If we evaluate Holm through the lens of last summer’s disastrous window, perhaps the reality is simpler: he’s just not good enough.
He’s more evidence that the recruitment during that period was flawed at every level—a complete failure. The blame for this lies squarely with certain individuals at Celtic Park, especially whoever approved the hiring of Lawwell as head of recruitment.
I understand that this is hard for some people to accept. They can’t fathom how those they consider brilliant could have made such a colossal mistake. But the recent clear-out of players was largely due to the accumulation of poor signings during Lawwell Jr.’s tenure. His hiring was one of the most questionable and unprofessional decisions our club has ever made.
Holm was left out of the European squad because he’s simply not good enough to replace the players currently in the team.
No one wants to hear that we should play inferior players just to increase their market value, especially in a “weaker league.” That’s a ridiculous argument, made by people more concerned with the balance sheet than the team’s performance, and no manager should agree with it—nor will they.
This is the flaw some refuse to see in any transfer policy that doesn’t align with the manager’s needs. These people can sign all the “projects” they want, but the manager isn’t obligated to play them until he believes they’re ready.
We’ve hired a top-tier professional to lead the football department, and these important decisions are his to make.
His only job is to put a winning team on the field. Failures above him aren’t his responsibility, and they shouldn’t be made his problem—or ours as fans who want the best players on the pitch.
Rodgers won’t get credit for fielding subpar players and losing points. If those above him had done their jobs better and not filled the squad with so many mediocre players, we wouldn’t be in this situation.
Holm’s transfer cost the club a lot, but that’s on the decision-makers who signed him without considering how he’d fit into the team.
Let’s not forget: this is a player signed *before* we even had a manager.
When a club makes such a foolish move, it deserves to bear the consequences. I have no sympathy for those who thought they could play Football Manager with our actual squad and funds and are now upset they don’t see Holm on the pitch.
One thing I know about the recent transfer window, despite some concerns I have, is that Rodgers personally approved every signing and has a clear plan for each player.
He’s not randomly swinging at every opportunity.
The sooner the club establishes a proper structure for him to work within—keeping amateurs and armchair critics out—the better off we’ll be.
Until then, people should avoid making judgments about things they don’t understand.
The manager decides when a player is ready. Until then, it’s up to the player to work hard like everyone else.
And if Rodgers ultimately decides the player won’t make the grade, that’s not his failure.
However, it does suggest that whoever signed the player was out of their depth, and that raises serious questions about the decision-makers who allowed that person to make such a call.
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