There was no big announcement yesterday.
Thousands of disappointed Celtic fans looked heavenward and screamed “Why us ? Why can’t we have a Jermaine Defoe ? Or a Steven Davis?
Tall tales of tall stages and major signings sort of fell apart when it was realised that Ivorian striker Bayo wanted a bit more time to say cheerio to supporters in Slovakia, and Ya Ya Toure had already agreed to be a studio guest at Sky.
Lawwell texted Brendan to tell him that the extra days rent on the scaffolding was ” coming out of your fucking wages ”
Its all bollocks, of course.
Toure, who isn’t old enough to be a major player in Scotland-he’s two years younger than Defoe-was asked directly on sky if he was coming to Celtic. He said he’d have to talk to Brendan…
The player reckons he’s got a year left at a high level. He’s getting on a bit, but could probably still do a turn over the course of a season.
Though to be honest a midfield two of Brown and Toure would scare the living daylights out of most of us.
What would be interesting would be the reaction of the media should Toure decide to spend his twilight years with his brother. We’ve seen how the mainstream media have lauded the arrival of Old Man Defoe, which is nothing short of embarrassing, so how would appraise a second Toure, bearing in mind they hardly mentioned the first one ?
Derek Woodrow, of This Is Futbol, nailed his colours to the mast when he petulantly announced the arrival of US defender Andrew Gutman.. he’s the guy who had the choice of going to Ibrox but stopped laughing long enough to join Celtic. Note the tone of the announcement, and then his “comment ” after…which usurps even our SMSM for complete bollocks.
Celtic are poised to announce the signing of American defender Andrew Gutman within hours, according to the Daily Record.
In their live transfer blog (9.27am), they claim that he will become Celtic’s fourth signing of the January window imminently.
The 22-year-old spent time on trial at Rangers earlier this month but Celtic are said to have “won the race” for his signature.
OPINION
Gutman will become Celtic’s fourth January signing, joining Oliver Burke, Vakoun Issouf Bayo and fellow American Timothy Weah at Parkhead this month. However, it’s not going to be a deal that’s going to get Celtic fans excited. Celtic are well covered in his position and he’s being brought in for squad depth rather than to make an impact in the first-team. What’s worse is that rivals Rangers have done significant business early and considerably strengthened their side, with Jerman Defo and Steven Davis the standout new recruits. The arrival of Defoe in particular has sent shockwaves through the Scottish game. Celtic might have brought four players in but they’re going to need to do more business if they want to keep their rivals at bay in the Premiership. Celtic fans will be pleased that players are being brought in but will still be hoping for a marquee signing of their own before the window slams shut at the end of January.
Even the gullibillies must realise that the signing , on loan, of a striker who has scored four goals in two seasons , is not significantly strengthening their team, or sending shockwaves through Scottish football.
For them to desperately laud his acquisition as a triumph simply means thats it.
He’s all they are getting.
Celtic, however, are by no means finshed yet.
Word is there will be all sorts of changes over the next couple of weeks. Olivier Ntcham could still end up at Porto, and Celtic could still end up with an eight figure sum in the bank.
Or perhaps Brendan will take them up on the option of bringing centre half Chancel Mbemba to Celtic. Mbemba started out at Anderlecht, went to Newcastle and then Porto, and could be said to have failed to live up to expectations.
Reading up on him, one can only conclude he’d fall apart at Celtic, and we’re already well covered in the defenders who fall apart bracket.
One who doesn’t fall apart is Filip Benkovic, who might not want to go back to Leicester at all..
“The last information I had from Leicester was that I am staying at Celtic until the end of the season. I enjoy it here so that’s what I’m focusing on. After that, we will speak and see what’s for the best. I’m having fun here and want more of it.”
Leigh Griffiths could end up at Hibernian for the rest of the season, along with Lewis Morgan. That would probably do him good, and Hibernian a favour. Reading between the lines, its unlikely we’ll see him in a Celtic shirt again, which is a pity, as he is an undoubted talent.
In years to come, we may well look back on Griffiths and wonder whether or not he really got a fair crack of the whip under Rodgers, in much the same was as Erik Sviatchenko didn’t.
Incoming…there’s no further news on McKenna, another Ivorian, Wilfrid Kanon has been mentioned, and of course there’s all sorts of tittle tattle flying around, most of it with little or no substance.
However, something is going on behind the scenes.
There’s a complete lockdown on information from Celtic Park, even our pish stained drunks are being denied the usual titbits thrown to them from behind the walls …and that, as always means there’s something big going on.
In the meantime, the club confirmed the arrival of Damien Duff as a coach, which we revealed months ago. Well, it seems like months ago.
Damien Duff and Stephen McManus have joined @CelticFCAcademy as Reserve Team Coach and under-18s’ Coach, respectively. Great to have you, Bhoys
We hear that the appointment of McManus is conditional on him learning to head the ball, before he attempts to teach anyone else how to do it.
Hang on… we should have given them playing contracts, then we could be said to have “sent shockwaves around Scottish football ”
On a much more serious note, its Scottish Cup day on Saturday, and Celtic face Airdrie.
The club are still trying to shift tickets, and bearing in mind we’ve had no football for a couple of weeks, is this a sign that the masses are starting to make their feelings toward the SFA known ?
Not an organised boycott as such, simply supporters who, like me, have no interest in attending any game played under the SFA banner.
Or are supporters now genuinely worried about safety ?
There has been no publication of the report into the crush at the Janefield underpass….months after the event.
The importance of safety cannot be understated, and yet Celtic, having commissioned an inquiry into events that day, have given the impression that thats all they had to do.
Yet there seems to be little urgency to produce the findings, and that has to be a concern where the safety of supporters is an issue.
Or is it just that they don’t give a toss ?
Lets face it, the board are never going to win awards for looking after the supporters interests/
Or that of the smaller shareholders, as Resolution 12 proved.
Which, incidentally, is about to move up a gear.
Theres a lot of things the board should be doing, and a lot of things they can do. All of which would encourage other clubs to improve the game up here, to an extent where bringing a thirty seven year old who can’t get a game for his own club north isn’t seen as a major fucking triumph.
In fact, its embarrassing that our own media trumpets it as such, in an attempt to protect a brand which has long since been damaged beyond repair.
But our own board stands by and does nothing, completely unaware of the phrase “guilt by association “.
Have they actually ever done anything that involves standing up for the club, or the shareholders or even the supporter in general ?
Nope. Not a single thing. Though they will pat themselves on the back, bank their bonuses and invite their pals into the lounge on match days.
While we wonder if its probably a good idea to wait until the crowds die down before we enter the underpass.
Caption competition from yesterday..
Caption: Look for the bear, Ness is teased as former Ranger is asked if he is returning to Ibrox too.
Today..
