The proposal to admit Celtic to the EPL, put forward by Bolton chairman Phil Gartside at a meeting of the EPL bosses, was reportedly rejected by a vote of 14-6. This, in itself, was a massive step forward from the 20-0 voted last time out but having that potential avenue to massive revenue closed off for the foreseeable future means that the club will have to look at alternate means of producing and recruiting the quality players that the fans desire and demand.
Lubo Moravcik spent most of his playing days in France but the then 33 year-old was seeing out his career at lowly Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg before Josef Venglos brought him to Celtic for just £300,000 and the Slovakian genius himself insists that there are other stars in the making plying their trade with unfashionable teams in lesser known leagues and he'd be more than happy to help find these diamonds in the rough for Celtic. He would also love to see more investment into youth development.
"It was a nice dream." said Lubo on the EPL speculation. "Now it must be put to one side and other ways found to advance the club. The £20m or £30m in television payments are not going to happen. Other ways must be found to help bring success to the club. It will be a difficult job but it must happen."
"Less than 10 years ago Celtic were paying out £6million for players." he said. "But the days are over of buying in quality like Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and John Hartson. So there has to be investment in developing top players of your own. Celtic do put a fair amount of their budget into their youth academy but there is more they can do."
"There is no perfect solution." he continued. "Nothing can be 100 per cent. But maybe the strategic planning has to be looked at. It's not what the first-team manager would want but I would take money out of the top-team salary budget to use as an investment for scouting in Europe. In my opinion it would be better to spend an extra £500,000 or £1m a year to bring through your own kids rather than give it to a player to come to Celtic who is only a squad player in the Premiership. Is there not more satisfaction in producing your own? Finding entertainers, stars who excite the supporters?"
"Recruiting players doesn't necessarily mean signing a 16-year-old kid out of school." said the much-loved former Celt who recently quit as boss of the Slovakian Under-17's side. "There are guys playing at a lower league level in countries all over Europe - in France, Slovakia, Czech Republic and other countries. To get these players you need a proper structure abroad. You need one guy to oversee Europe, delegating the work and with scouts and contacts working for him. The players are out there, you just need to find them or be told about them. Would I be interested in something like that for Celtic? Of course I would."
"Another thing that Celtic would have in their favour is that kids may well prefer to go to them rather than the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool." said Lubo. "Kids and their parents would know they would get a better chance to play first-team football at Celtic than in the Premiership because those clubs can spend £50m every year on transfers. I don't have all the answers, I only have some ideas. Maybe my ideas are good, maybe some people will think not. But I believe in them."
He looks back on his time at Celtic with great affection and being back in Glasgow this week for a charity function has brought it all back to him. "It was a pleasure to play for Celtic and to have had the career in football I enjoyed." said the magical Slovakian. "But I'm old now. Unfortunately my time in the dressing-room has gone. I hope the players of tomorrow at Celtic can taste the pleasure I had in Glasgow. However, they must work hard and be able to cope mentally with the pressure. It's not all about being good with the ball at your feet. You have to be a strong character to be successful at Celtic. That is so important."
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