Celtic told deal concluded under Ange Postecoglou is an ‘issue’ for football in Scotland


Celtic have had a clear way of working in the transfer market.

Yes, at times, it has caused a debate and even probably resulted in Mark Lawwell leaving Celtic, but you know what you are getting. 

Everyone knows Celtic can’t compete with the big European teams, especially those sides in the English Premier League, because of the gulf in finances.

A team dropping into England’s second tier would earn more money than Celtic, even if the champions are 50x bigger than them.

That’s why the powers that be at Parkhead have to work differently when dealing with both incomings and outgoings. 

And despite being handcuffed, you can’t blame the club for the majority of what they have done because it has worked. 

In Brendan Rodgers’ first spell, when he returned and previously under Ange Postecoglou.

But there was one deal Celtic couldn’t do much about and that was Ben Doak joining Liverpool in 2022.

From Doak’s perspective, kudos to the kid, as a teenager, he left his boyhood club, where he was comfortable and joined one of English football’s biggest clubs. 

It was a huge risk and one that is now paying off, with Doak thriving for Scotland and also fairing well out on loan with Championship side Middlesbrough. 

But Tam McManus feels it’s a worrying sight when so much strong Scottish talent is leaving their shores and moving to England.

He feels it’s an ‘issue’ for the Scottish game, especially when it’s happening to the big boys, as he told PLZ Soccer.  

Ben Doak of Scotland poses for a photograph with the Player of the Match award after the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A1 match betwee...
Photo by Ian MacNicol – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

“That’s another one coming through in Scotland,” said McManus. “There is a young player that come through at Celtic and straight away, Liverpool snaps him up.

“That’s an issue for us. When we are producing younger players, even Celtic and Rangers are doing it, your Liverpool, Man Citys and all of that are buying them. They will play £1m for them and them down the road. If the player wants to go.

“Celtic lost the boy, Rudi Vata’s son as well, Rocco Vata. There are clubs in England, due to the Brexit situation, they are looking up here now. They are going to games and there are loads of scouts at youth games. And at first-team games. A Ben Doak. He would have been in Celtic’s first team. I think he would be, aye.”

Why did Doak leave Celtic?

Some will argue that Doak would be in Celtic’s first team right now, and in truth, that argument is valid.

Yes, Nicolas Kuhn is flying for Celtic right now, but he struggled when he first joined the club in January.

And one of the reasons why he moved to Glasgow was because the wide players weren’t doing their job when Rodgers initially came back.

You feel if Doak was still here, rather than playing in England’s second-tier, he would have been handed a chance in Celtic’s first team last season because the opportunities would have been there. 

Either way, the player himself explained that he left Celtic for Liverpool because he wanted a taste of the ‘elite’ level, referring to Premier League football. 

“To be honest, I felt like that was the right move at the time to go down south and go and play and train at an elite level,” said Doak, as quoted by OneFootball. “I wasn’t really thinking about playing with Scotland at that point (when Doak was at Celtic).

“Everyone knows how good the Liverpool squad has been and how they are doing currently. They’re top of the league, so I didn’t see any cons to going there.”

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