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They Could Have Been Contenders

El Cormaco remembers a few who we may have forgotten, and wonders what might have been had they gotten the breaks. Except for Kennedy, who got a different kind of break.
Over the years following Celtic I have seen some icons come and go (hiya Henrik and Lubo) some heroes built up then torn down (wave to Burley and Walker) and many run of the mill types its hard to get too agitated about either way – pretty much anyone Strachan signed apart from Naka.
  But reading Tony Watt’s recent brain farts on paper it got me thinking of another class of Celtic player – the nearly men, the coulda been somebody’s, the guys who we either saw too briefly or not at all but left us with a sense there could have been an all time great there if things had worked out differently.
So here is a wee list of some of the guys who passed though Parkhead’s gates without becoming one of football’s greats, fell free to add any others I may have missed below…
Shay Given  
Image result for shay given celtic
We are all familiar with Shay no doubt, an Irish football legend, son of Donegal, Celtic fan, played in the Premier league in England for years and years ( this article will be vague, I don’t do research. I m like Trump; what I say is not fake news, because I said it. If you don’t like it, I’ll send in the Feds. I’m currently pulling a face like an overweight tangerine trying to pass gallstones for the full Trumpian air of authority)
He came as a young player, never played a first team game and went down the road to Blackburn after Macari decided he had no need for a short goalkeeper, having secured legend Carl Muggleton to play in nets. Had Luigi not had a thing against shorties, being no Colossus himself, who knows how things might have turned out.
Shay went on to more than prove Luigi wrong, we went on to have a series of mediocre keepers until Boruc and Forster.
Sigh
David Marshall
Image result for david marshall celtic
   Unlike Shay, we actually saw David Marshall in goal for Celtic. Thrown in after Rab Douglas – one of the many mediocre keepers we’ve had – was suspended, he played a game for the ages in the Camp Nou, saving everything a great Barcelona team could throw at him, before picking up his wee goalie bag and putting it down a few days later at Ibrox where again he saved everything in another man of the match display.
  And then?
 To be honest I m not too sure, go to Celtic Wiki for more, from memory he lost his place to Rab again, got annoyed at being sent back to the
stiffs and was punted down to Cardiff City.
  Not to be forgotten though, his performances down there kept him in our thoughts and he went as far as being Number 1 for Scotland, ahead of stellar competition like Allan McGregor. Cough.
  Since gone onto take McGregor’s place at Hull City, his career down south has been impressive and left me at least wondering why on earth he was allowed to leave when he did.
John Kennedy
Image result for john kennedy celtic
  Watching John with his wee file book standing near Ronnie last year as things fell apart on the pitch it’s difficult to remember at times just what a prospect he was. Finding this photo of him I saw underneath he played 45 times for Celtic.
In that time he started well, got better, and by the time he saw his career ultimately ended by a Romanian players’ dirty tackle on his Scotland debut he was being talked about as the new Billy McNeill. And this time for real, not like Stephen McManus, Brian O’Neil etc etc etc, this was a time when Celtic’s defence was excellent generally and he more than held his own.
He seemed to have it all; strong, aggressive, composed on the ball, a great reader of the game, quick, a proper defend first defender with the added bonus of being a very good footballer, a leader and organiser at a young age.
And then that tackle on his Scotland debut, a long period of rehabilitation for him, with occasional notices he was making progress, to be followed by notices that he had a setback, until finally the announcement that he was having to retire due to injury.
45 games, it could easily have been ten times that.
Craig Bellamy   
Image result for Craig Bellamy celtic
A bit of a cheat here, as he wasn’t ever actually a Celtic player as such, having come on loan from Newcastle after falling out with Souness.
He could easily have come up and coasted for a few months, but played like the fan in a jersey he claimed he was; always committed, fantastic movement and skill and lit up what was O’Neill’s last season
There was talk he was going to sign permanently, sadly the financial gap between Scotland and England was too much to surmount and we couldn’t make his loan permanent. He went on to a somewhat nomadic career after that, including a brief but successful spell at my English team West Ham who had to sell him again after the Icelandic banking collapse.
Known for being “abrasive” off the pitch, if he had stayed at Celtic who knows what he could have achieved in the hoops, a class act
Tony Watt
Image result for tony watt celtic
   Writing about Tony Watt the challenge is always how much you can say before referring to “that” goal. As I’ve made reference to it in my first sentence it’s clearly difficult, but it shouldn’t be forgotten that when he came on in that  game he wasn’t an unknown to the Celtic fans.
   He had already shown flashes of real potential in games in Scotland, scoring some important league goals and was in and around the squad pretty regularly at the time.
   Signed from Ayr for £50,000 I think he was clearly raw but had bags of potential, powerful, fast, direct, a good finisher, it seemed we might have a genuine home grown (ish) superstar of the future.
   But even as the words “I’m not going to let this goal affect me” were coming out of his lips his head and his arse began to expand at an alarming rate. Rumours of attitude problems began to surface, his appearances became more and more fleeting and it was one of Ronnie’s first moves to sell him on.
    That no one raised much of a complaint about that shows how far his star had fallen, and while still technically a professional footballer he is more of a freak show now than a credible player. His recent comments about having no interest in Scottish football if English football is on offer is very short-sighted for a guy who will soon have no options in English football, but the boy’s brains are clearly in his boots, and even from there seem to have been misplaced.
  A shame, I’ll always have the memory of walking out of Celtic park after the Barca game (there I said it) singing the Tony Watt song like a man possessed , along with thousands of others.
Stephane Bonnes 
Image result for stephane bonnes celtic
To be honest I’m actually pretty disappointed in the photo above. I never actually knew he played in a game wearing the hoops; my memory of him was him in his posed photo with the Barnes era shirt on, having just signed for us, but I can’t get a version of it to attach to this article.
On paper he was perfect: exotic, mysterious, an unknown from overseas that Barnes and Dalglish had found and signed after blowing everyone away at a trail, and who was going to be the player of the future. This boy had it all we hears; the silky skills, the eye for a goal, two great feet, the ability to beat a man any way you want.
He just needed a little more time to get up to the level. Then a little more. But soon we were gonna see this guy play and he was going to blow your mind with his technical brilliance. Then it sort of went quiet, and in the end he never played a first team game as far as I know.
And I m always right so don’t worry about checking.
Who knows where he is now, there is a very real chance he is still at Celtic, just on the edge of the first team squad as they train, saying to himself;
“This is my season. This year I m gonna make it, and gonna show everyone. Allez”. 
 But somewhere, someone has had a very successful Football Manger career with Celtic with Stephanne Bonnes pulling the strings, and that makes me happy.
 Right, any players you wish you had seen more of in the Hoops, let us know below, thanks for reading my ramblings,
Hail Hail
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Charlie
7 years ago

Nearly correct with tony watt, we actually signed him from airdrie

Gerry
7 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

I was a big fan of Crosas as well, Lenny didn’t like him and that was that.

Monti
7 years ago

Brian McLaughlin
Stuart Slater
Paul McGugan
Tony Shepherd

henkesdreadlocks
7 years ago
Reply to  Monti

The Brian McLaughlin or wee Brian McLaughlin?

Monti
7 years ago

Wee

the real anton rogan
7 years ago

Marshall lost his place to Boruc.

He was our goalie when we shipped 5 in Bratislava and then he lost another 4 in a draw against Motherwell. His confidence was shot.

In came THG and the rest is history.

Martio67
7 years ago

Big Marc Rieper

Tim Buffy
7 years ago

I’ve always maintained we never actually lost the league at Motherwell on Helicopter Sunday, it was actually lost at Ibrox on the day Craig Bellamy scored the second goal on a 2-1 win. Not long afterwards he limped off with a hamstring injury, was out for the next few games and our form went to hell in a handcart. If Bellamy had been fit during that spell the league would have been won long before we got near Fir Park.

Tim Buffy
7 years ago

Vic Davidson. Always looked the cream of the Quality Street side but never really fulfilled his promise.
Pat McMahon, youngster who was billed as Celtic’s future version of Jim Baxter but sunk without trace.
Paddy Turner, came from Morton on a tidal wave of promise only to prove a washout.
Och, I could go on about many more from the Sixties but life’s too short

Cortes
7 years ago
Reply to  Tim Buffy

Pat McMahon went to Aston Villa and had a decent career.

On goalies, I think Brad Friedel was let go…

Geo
7 years ago

Wee Brian Mcluaghlin remember him when a was wean and my da first starting taking me to games, was he not tipped to be the next jinky ?

Monti
7 years ago

Steve Murray

Macca
7 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Remember Murray well. Class act, great passer who didnt play for us for too long. Similar but one up from Ronnie Glavin I would say. Retired with a toe injury if I remember correctly

Yoker Bhoy
7 years ago

Good article. From fairly recent times I remember Majic Zurowski having a great debut season only to wilt away pretty fast after that and, playing alongside John Kennedy in that memorable 0-0 draw in the Nou Camp to go through to the quarters in the UEFA, was a veteran Slovakian defender that I liked – Stan Vargas. He wasn’t around too long either though.

Tommy R
7 years ago

Derk Boerrigter was a guy from recent times who seemed like he could have been really good. He had all the pedigree, a product of the renowned Ajax youth system and had become a first team regular, was on the cusp of being a Netherlands International, and seemed to have a lot of skill on paper but it all went to crap and his last appearance was getting St. Johnstone’s Dave Mackay sent off

Monti
7 years ago

Ulrik Laursen

Bartfast of Napoli
7 years ago

Mark Burchill
Liam Miller
Enrico Annoni

Monti
7 years ago

Bart,
Disappointed the way Miller left the club, Celtic looked after him contractually and medically, yet as soon as he got injury free, scored a few goals, fucked off on a free?
Poor stuff!
I don’t even know where he plays now!
Fuck him

Tex
7 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Monti,

Saw Miller playing for Perth in the “A” League down here in “OZ” a couple of seasons ago ,but dont know if he is still here.

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  Tex

Tex,
Thanks m8

Jocsoc
7 years ago

Another who disappeared too quickly was George Connelly who was an immense talent but couldn’t live life in the spotlight.For us older guys, there was John Higgins who could have been one of the greatest but was let down by his poor health problems.

Monti
7 years ago

Paul Elliot

Monti
7 years ago

Olivier Tebily 🙂

Iantm
7 years ago

George Connelly and Andy Ritchie were talented players who had Jock Stein pulling his hair out.

Both should have been Big players for Celtic but disappeared up their ain erchies. Connelly had mental problems and Ritchie was a fat lazy bastard. 😉

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  Iantm

Iantm,
Some of my old team mates would label all of that against me at times 🙂

FredCDobbs
7 years ago

Hillary Clinton

mike
7 years ago

wee Gordon Strachan signed Broony, he used up his whole player purchase budget to bring him from Hibs.

FredCDobbs
7 years ago
Reply to  mike

I thought we offered also for thompson who said no because he is a hun cunt

mike
7 years ago
Reply to  mike

The Rankers got Thompson and the left back, ffs canny mind his name, he walked away when they got liquidated, doon sooth, to play for Norwich.
Both were purchased for about the same price as Broony.

7 years ago

John Hartson – knocked back by the huns with a dodgy knee – signed for MON and the rest is history, disappeared into the history books with 100 goals plus, get it right up you Murray or whatever you are now…..

Iain inAlberta
7 years ago

I was a huge George Connelly fan. I think he gave up at 26 years old. A great loss to Celtic as he was pure class, the ball seemed at times like a magnet to him (according to my memory). Vic Davidson always seemed on the outskirts of the team, maybe Jock Stein didn’t quite trust him. As a footnote to Connelly I think one of the reasons we lost the 70 euro final was that Connelly did not start. We lost the midfield.

mike
7 years ago
Reply to  Iain inAlberta

Iain, Connolly was a huge loss, your right Big Jock did everything that he could to keep him, there was a lot of rumours about him, but in the past so no commenting on them.
A hugely gifted player, seen him years later, driving cabs, strangely playing fitba. for Sauchie Juniors.
What a waste,
Paul Elliot, apart from Connolly and Big Billy imo the best centre back to grace the hoops.

Monti
7 years ago

Steve Baggio Fulton

Iain inAlberta
7 years ago

Rab C.Maldini Douglas

mike
7 years ago

awenawannonicominoaninawe.

Tex
7 years ago
Reply to  mike

mike,
gonnienodaethat.

mike
7 years ago
Reply to  Tex

ayeoktexgetoanyerponyandridehehaw.

Monti
7 years ago

Steve McCahill

Rob O'Keeffe
7 years ago

Champagne Charlie,should’ve stayed at Paradise for 3 more years and become a legend.Lured by the bright lights,went to wrong team and remains a guy with chip on both shoulders,never slow to slag the Bhoys.Shame on him.KTF

Monti
7 years ago

Stephane Mahe…..or mayhem, same thing really.
Loved the guy 🙂

Monti
7 years ago

Vidar Riseth!
Get’s a mention for buckling that hun on the wing 🙂

Well in Vidar…keep that kind of tacling up and Inverness will look to sign you.

7 years ago

Jorge Cadette

7 years ago

Bobo Balde,s Hit on De Boer still remember that Dutch Minge sitting shaking his head after the impact of getting Baldeed.HH

Bartfast of Napoli
7 years ago
Reply to  JinkyJhoy

I remember that! To think Balde got booked for that as well. It was worth the yellow card to be honest.
I have searched YouTube for it but there isn’t anything online. Would love to see it again

Sweeper67
7 years ago

Gerry Crainie, Simon Donnelly…the list goes one. Agree on the Charlie Nicholas post – a couple of more seasons with us, leave as a Legend and off to Liverpool to play with King Kenny to be taken to the next level.

alan
7 years ago

Paddy McCourt. unnaturally gifted.

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  alan

As is Dion Dublin apparently….

7 years ago

Is there any chance the Celtic Family can have a whip round for the less fortunate,RFC.Just a thought,All donations to ClubInCrisis.Co the SFA Hampden.

Elcormaco
7 years ago

Great replies, thanks for reading and responding. I’m ruling out some, like Laursen or Rico, there long enough to show his level, but some great shouts, George Connelly (before my time though pretty sure he proved he was good enough just couldn’t keep it together) Charlie Nic (first spell before my time) Miller for sure, wee fanny chased a pay packet, and of course the Derry Pele. Think we all got to see how good he was, he just couldn’t get fit enough. Like wise Derk, an amazing debut then 2 year sick note. Cadete was great but his Mrs wouldn’t stay in Glasgow, but yes, he could have been a legend. Some finisher. Creaney, Burchill I just don’t think we’re good enough, but hey it’s all about opinions.. Christ I sound like Gerry McCullach, I’m stopping now! HH

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  Elcormaco

I was only 12 when the cannnball kid left, loved him when i was a boy tho!

Monti
7 years ago

Dariusz Dziekanowski

jrw
7 years ago

In this pantheon of forgotten men, nearly men or just wasted talents then George Conelly was the main man.It was an absolute shame he chucked it when he did.I agree with the comment above that had in played in Milan in 1970 things might have been different. He was one of the reasons we beat Leeds in both games in the semi final.

mike
7 years ago
Reply to  jrw

Absolutely right jrw Was thinking about George Connolly in our last game against ICT, Biton passed the ball diagonally across the pitch to James Forrest some 40 yards.
Not saying that Biton has Conollys talent, just saying that it reminded me of him.

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  jrw

Driving Taxi’s in the Alloa area a few years back, don’t know if he still is!

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