[Football] Celtic in the EPL, how would they do with their current team?

[BrianSwan]

The EPL

Realistically first season with no change 10-13th I think. I don’t think we would flirt with relegation simply because the expectation level from the...

www.talkceltic.net

If you look at this thread, they all think they would fair comparably to Brighton with their current squad. Do you agree/disagree?

 

[Triggaaar]

They'd finish last

 

[Triggaaar]

"Realistically first season with no change 10-13th I think. I don’t think we would flirt with relegation simply because the expectation level from the fans compared to Southampton, Bournemouth etc… is just completely different and that mentality would set us apart especially at home from the bottom 3-5 teams."

If that crap logic held any weight, Leeds would win the league, but they're 2nd from bottom.

 

[BN41Albion]

I like how much chat there was about the arrogance of English clubs/fans whilst simultaneously being very arrogant about themselves and their club...

'We're a club that demands success so we'd have an edge over most PL clubs' I kept reading along the lines of... what a load of bollocks

 

[SUIYHP]

I’m convinced 2016/17 Brighton could have comfortably beaten Celtic, let alone 2022/23 Brighton

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Rock bottom.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I think their current team would do very badly. Physically I think they would need to bulk up, while their natural attacking game would leave them open to conceding on the counter-attack. I think the outcome would be similar to watching promoted Leeds under Bielsa.

The players they have with Prem experience are Joe Hart, Aaron Mooy and Carter- Vickers, and I can't see any of them starting in any of the Prem sides today.

However, if they survived the first season I could see them get incrementally better, in time maybe picking up a Matt Doherty, McTominay, Tierney, Gilmour, McGinn Scottish / Irish base of Prem experience, then kicking on.

 

[GT49er]

If they could hang on long enough to benefit from PL TV money - a bloody great big 'if' - they could be big......eventually. They do have a huge fan base, but not in the last 20 or 30 years have they had any football ability to back it up.

The 1967-1970 Celtic team is still to my mind the best (in its time) I've ever seen, but that was a long time ago. The fact that the SPL is now a place for us to send our youngsters out to to get a bit of experience says it all.

Anyway, t'ain't gonna happen. I'd quite like to see the League Cups merged though, with home and away ties between the lower league Scottish and English teams in the early rounds. Scotland v. England ties - always a bit spicy - between, say, Walsall and Raith Rovers, or Cowdenbeath and Leyton Orient might be quite like a European adventure for lower league teams.

 

[The Grockle]

Season 1-3 they'd probably battle relegation IMO but if they managed to establish I think both Glasgow clubs would compete at the higher reaches of the Premier league.

There's no doubting the poor quality of the SPL but by most metrics they are huge clubs. With the benefit of the increased revenue I think they'd thrive long term.

Hope it never happens though, the key to the future of the SPL is the likes of hibs, hearts and Aberdeen bridging the huge gap. It's a much better league than people give credit. Scotland is 10 times smaller than England but I'm not sure the league is 10 times worse than the EPL.

 

[BrianSwan]

I think they'd be bottom 2 myself personally but go down playing very attractive, fun football.

Player for player, they would be one of the worst, if not the worst, squad wise. Manager (and playing style) is very good, stadium, fans and atmosphere very good.

38 games of hell as opposed to playing in 1st gear vs League One and League Two standard teams week in week out.

 

[BadFish]

I think they'd be bottom 2 myself personally but go down playing very attractive, fun football.

Player for player, they would be one of the worst, if not the worst, squad wise. Manager (and playing style) is very good, stadium, fans and atmosphere very good.

38 games of hell as opposed to playing in 1st gear vs League One and League Two standard teams week in week out.

The shock to the system of how relentless the Premier League is would take, at the very least, half a season to come to terms with. Then they would still struggle, especially once it dawns on the fans what a huge gulf there is between what they are used to and their new reality. Going from the Celtic of your legaue and winning it at a canter to the Hearts (yeah i am being generous) of another would be a hard transition I think.

After a few years they may end up competitive (they'd probably need a multi-billionare to get back to the champions league though). As they are a massive club (nearly as big as Leeds) with a huge following.

I would welcome a British League Structure but for the Celtic and Rangers fans I say careful what you wish for.

 

[BadFish]

WTAF?

Bournemouth would be mid table Scottish championship

This bloke thinks that Greenock Morton, Ayr United and Partick Thistle are better than Bournemouth!!

My son and I turned the question around and wondered how far down the Premier League you would have to go to find a team that wouldn't walk the SPL?

Probably Palace? Who would at the very least finish 3rd.

The delusion is strong with these chaps. I can't help but wonder how well-suited Leeds would be to the SPL. They could probably add to their made-up European titles up there

 

[BadFish]

We’re a club that demands success and is accustomed to it. That alone would give us an edge over the majority of mid-table clubs who we would be competing with.

Another one with the we demand success so will get it because . . . er . . . we demand it argument.

When the success demanded is not met by teams then boards get jumpy and decisions get worse. United since Fergie has been a good example of this. Leeds over a similar period have been the same. I am struggling to think of a single example of a team being improved by their club and fan base demanding and expecting a level of success that their team cannot produce.

 

[Swansman]

Bottom of the league with maybe 20 points

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

The question posed in the original post was how would the current Celtic squad and manager do in the premier league, no additions to it, this exact celtic squad.

The honest answer to that is definitely in a relegation battle. The rabid nature of their home fans might be enough to keep them up. Or the sense of expectation and demand for success could act as a millstone round their necks.

Give them a few seasons, though, with all the money that brings and they'd be right up at the top of the table unless they were run incredibly poorly. They have something that a lot of the teams in the premier league don't have and that's a truly global fan base.

What would be interesting is how that fan base would cope with failure. The longest they've gone without a trophy is five years and that was 30 years ago and in a league where they only have competition from one club. They could go a long time with no trophy, certainly in terms of league titles. How would their ego and entitlement cope with that?

 

[Hamilton]

Season 1-3 they'd probably battle relegation IMO but if they managed to establish I think both Glasgow clubs would compete at the higher reaches of the Premier league.

There's no doubting the poor quality of the SPL but by most metrics they are huge clubs. With the benefit of the increased revenue I think they'd thrive long term.

Hope it never happens though, the key to the future of the SPL is the likes of hibs, hearts and Aberdeen bridging the huge gap. It's a much better league than people give credit. Scotland is 10 times smaller than England but I'm not sure the league is 10 times worse than the EPL.

I agree with everything except your last sentence. It is definitely ten times worst. I should know. Hamilton were in it.

 

[BadFish]

We’re a club that demands success and is accustomed to it. That alone would give us an edge over the majority of mid-table clubs who we would be competing with.

Another one with the we demand success so will get it because . . . er . . . we demand it argument.

When the success demanded is not met by teams then boards get jumpy and decisions get worse. United since Fergie has been a good example of this. Leeds over a similar period have been the same. I am struggling to think of a single example of a team being improved by their club and fan base demanding and expecting a level of success that their team cannot produce.

 

[PWA]

They are Middlebrough / Blackburn / Sheffield Utd region.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Celtic (and Rangers) are huge football clubs with massive, world-wide fan bases.

Current squad - pretty low down in the table.

With PL money, given a couple of years, they'd do very well.

However, with the bigotry (both clubs) of vast swathes of their fan bases, personally I don't want them anywhere near the PL

Not that it will ever happen anyway.

 

[Badger Boy]

If they could divorce outdated religious beliefs from the football club, them and Rangers would be great additions. As it is, they can stay where they are.

The team is very good but I agree with the consensus, I think they'd find themselves in the bottom third of the table but I really don't think they'd be bottom. Bournemouth and Southampton are rubbish, there are two teams worse straight away.