There’s a lot of talk surrounding the return of Victor Wanyama to Celtic in January, and the manager has certainly put in some groundwork over the last few months with a view to securing a loan deal. It would have happened already , but Scott Sinclair had already been told he was a big part of Neil Lennon’s plans, and when it came down to it, Lawwell wasn’t going to have both on the payroll.
However, Noel Whelan, (google him, I had to ) thinks it will happen.
“It looks like Wanyama’s Tottenham career is coming to an end,”
“He’s had a lot of injury problems in the last few years and he can’t get in the team.
No player can be happy not playing. He’ll want to get his career back on track and a move to Celtic on loan makes total sense.
“He knows the club really well, he knows Neil Lennon thinks the world of him and he would be playing regularly. I can see him joining in January, definitely.”
Playing regularly ? Instead of who ?
If there’s a possibility of a try before you buy loan, as Wanyama has been unlucky with injuries, then fine, as astonishingly, he’s still only 28 and would possibly be a long term replacement for Brown, but there is no way Lawwell will sanction the sort of wage he would be looking for.
Lennon wants him, but he’ll probably have to look elsewhere.
More likely, however, is someone has already tried that particular shirt before the deal is done..
Meanwhile, of it’s not bad enough that Oddsone Edoaurd is attracting attention with his international exploits, Karamoke Dembele is at it as well…
He scored for England U-17s against Spain in a 1-1 draw which was no doubt watched by a crowd solely there to watch him.
Apart from one fellow weeping on the touchline as he thought of what might have been…
Another fellow who found himself on the touchline was Ireland under 21 keeper Conor Hazard, the Celtic development keeper. Well, on the touchline on his way for an early bath after he ran out of his box and nutted a Romanian forward.
Unconventional, and perhaps the next time he’s about to be lobbed by a carthorse of a forward, perhaps Fraser Forster might consider manufacturing a similar innocuous collision.
With the world perhaps a more dangerous place than it has been since , well, last week, it’s wonderful to see certain football clubs taking a stand over certain issues.
St. Pauli, a German side popular with many hoops fans, have made a statement concerning an instagram post by one of their players offering his thoughts on the American encouraged invasion of Kurdish territory in Syria…
The internal review of Cenk Sahin’s Instagram post on the deployment of the Turkish army in Syria has been completed. After further talks between club officials and the player, Cenk Sahin has been released from his training and playing duties with immediate effect. The prime factors in reaching the decisions were his repeated disregard for the club’s values and the need to protect the player.
After numerous discussions with fans, members and friends whose roots lie in Turkey, it has become clear to us that we cannot and should not attempt to gauge nuances in perceptions and attitudes from other cultural backgrounds in detail. That we reject acts of war is not open to doubt or discussion, however. These acts, and the expression of solidarity with them, run counter to the values of the club.
Then there’s Barcelona, the Catalonian club , who announced their position on the recent jail sentence handed down to those who wanted to break free from Spain…
Celtic, however, don’t go in for all that sort of stuff any more, although we are expecting news about Resolution 12 any time now, which might just allow our club the sort of dignity and respect that can be afforded to St. Pauli and Barcelona.
We could, for instance, make a stand over the next fixture against Lazio, who seem to have a problem with people who don’t have “normal skin “, to quote their chairman,
We should refuse the tickets, at the very least, but as usual, our board, not noted for it’s left wing leanings, will happily accept the hospitality on offer in Rome.
With the media all in a tizz about the racism on show at the Bulgaria England game, now would be the time to make a stand against this kind of abhorrent behaviour.
Oh, sorry, wrong picture.
But you get my point.
The media are not expected to deal with the wider issue of racism at football grounds, especially in Scotland, where it’s all part of the Sky TV deal…
Dignity and respect are two words forever linked to the new club/company at Ibrox, and it’s no different today with the news that they have a new director of football in Ross Wilson, who left Southampton to join the Gerrard revolution.
Aaron Hickey ‘a Rangers transfer target’ as Ross Wilson gets to work at Ibrox
He’s certainly learning the ropes quickly, getting in just in time to try to unsettle the former Celtic Academy player who has been outstanding at Hearts, who host “rangers ” this weekend…
Thats not the only feelgood story the fat controller has forced on the media to draw attention away from the Takeover Panel Cold Shoulder handed out to Dave King, which will have much more effect on the club than most will have you believe..for instance, if Hearts deal with “rangers” over Hickey, they could land themselves in trouble, so perhaps it’s better for them to err on the side of caution…there are moves to branch out into the USA…though not the Dallas Cowboys this time.
Apparently the word cowboys is not a popular one in the Ibrox boardroom.
James Bisgrove’s international Rangers mission revealed as commercial boss bids to expand US brand
Actually, as Michael on twitter pointed out…
They got the ‘international’ and ‘rangers’ the wrong way round.
Well, it is the Record…
The former UEFA executive will meet with sports teams across the pond as the club attempts to branch out around the globe
It’s by Gary Ralston, so maybe a pinch of salt is needed…
Rangers commercial boss James Bisgrove has jetted to the United States as the Ibrox club bid to expand its business brand.
Former UEFA executive Bisgrove will spend this week meeting with leading sports teams as he aims to forge commercial partnerships and boost the Ibrox fan experience.
Disgraced ex-director Imran Ahmad and chief executive Charles Green were ridiculed seven years ago when they claimed the club were in talks with the Dallas Cowboys over a tie-up.
The Texans denied ever holding discussions, but this time a visit to an NFL franchise is part of the itinerary.
Bisgrove will also meet with organisations from the MLS and its feeder league, the USL
Rangers are bidding to expand their business reach in North America after recently concluding a two-year-deal with leading Indian club Bengaluru FC.
Bisgrove also wants to study best in practice stadium designs and function as part of the ongoing modernisation of Ibrox as Rangers prepare to mark their 150th anniversary in 2022.
He said: “The plan is to build our international strategy around North America and India moving forward
“The objective of the visit is to draw upon learnings and inspiration that can enhance and modernise the Ibrox stadium fan experience and discuss commercial partnership opportunities.“We’re meeting a few clubs and with a few potential commercial partners to gauge the opportunities to build an audience there.
“We have a fantastic fanbase in Scotland and it must continue to be the focus, but there are opportunities internationally and that has been the nature of my experience before.
“I don’t want to pre-empt anything until we’ve had those conversations, but it’s a signal of the club’s intentions to build our international network and fan base.
“We can look at the Bengaluru FC partnership as a model. It’s predicated on football, with soccer schools and academies, but it also has a commercial element that allows us to engage with audiences there.
“One of the great assets is the strength of the Rangers brand and when you align that with the strength of manager Steven Gerrard’s brand, you have some fantastic ingredients to resonate the club in international markets.“The potential is in unlocking those opportunities. We see a real opportunity in India, with 1.3 billion people and the popularity of football growing all the time.
“I don’t think any other European club has really moved into India and cracked it, whereas China is saturated.
The Rangers board have spent £5 million on Ibrox in recent seasons after years of under-investment and new look electronic sponsorship boards will be introduced early in the new year.
Bisgrove added: “We’re putting in a new LED system around the first tier, similar to those in operation at venues such as Tottenham and Twickenham. It will look great from a sponsorship platform perspective and something top tier sponsors will want to engage with.”
Bisgrove joined Rangers four months ago as commercial and marketing director from Team, the marketing arm of UEFA that oversees the commercial aspects of the Champions League and Europa League. He has previously worked with Emirates, Betfair and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Rangers are also planning further upgrades of their stadium and are currently in discussions about increasing the capacity of Ibrox, as exclusively revealed by Record Sport.
There are also plans to transform Edmiston House into a retail centre, ticket office, events space and museum ahead of 2022, while the current Rangers megastore could become a sports bar.
Bisgrove added: “We want to draw on the best of class when we are looking at the type of investment that may come to life here in terms of the Ibrox infrastructure.
“The visit to the US will also give us the opportunity to look at brand new stadia and how they use modern technology – everything from hospitality and beer pourage to interactive museums.
“We really see an opportunity to elevate the fan experience and increase the dwell time of people when they come to the stadium.”
They either don’t get it, or don’t want to get it, or don’t want the support to get it.
They talk of investment, of structural rebuild, of new partnerships.
They can’t even get a bank account, and no one will lend them any money.
Oh, and if the cold shouldered King is involved at any level they are in trouble.
If they are trading while insolvent, as is suspected, then it gets worse.
I’m awaiting further detail on exactly how it all will work….
Having said that, if you think the Record needs surgery to retrieve it’s anally wedged tongue, how about this rewriting of history, from the Express, spotted by chic.dunbar , who wishes to stress he is not a reader of the rag.
Yesterday, the image to study was this one…
Caption.
That will have to do until I get the reversing camera fixed.
Today, it’s this one…