It looks like someone has remembered it’s January, and that’s an ideal opportunity to buy and sell players.
It’s been a quiet window so far, with players moving out and only our loannees being brought back in. The latest to move on is Alexandre Bernabai, who most of us had forgotten about anyway. He’s gone to Internacional of Brazil for around £5m.
We sure know how to sell players and get money in. That’s so we can pursue our current policy of overspending on players who can’t get a game for their current club.
Louie Barry, a lad of 21 years, has been on loan from Aston Villa, Celtic’s Champions League opponents, at Stockport, whose last chance of having anything to do with Europe disappeared with Brexit.
In 23 games for the division three outfit, he’s been quite prolific, so much so Villa have recalled him. And they want to sell him ?
Celtic have apparently offered a deal that could be worth up to £10m, and have even thrown in a buy back clause. Villa, realising how much Celtic paid for Idah, have turned it down.
He might be a great player, but if Villa are ready to sell, then they don;t think he’s UCL level, and if we’re spending that sort of money, then that’s what we need. Or at least to have some experience at a high level.
There’s a whole bundle of wingers on the radar, if you believe the papers, and one wonders if we’re going to lose one or two. apart from Palma, who nearly went until Real Valladolid had a three window ban slapped on the by UEFA for an £85,000 debt, something which surely rang alarm bells at Ibrox…
Palma will still leave, Forrest is still injured, which leaves only Yang as cover for the foreseeable future. But it will be hard to persude any top class layer to come in as cover for Maeda and Kuhn, and even harder to persuade the board to release the funds.
Unless, of course, we sell big again…
Alex Valle seems to have had enough of Celtic and will have his loan terminated so he can go on loan to Italian side Como, which leaves us with Greg Taylor, who has yet to sign a deal, and Keiran Tierney, who has yet to tell anyone he has.
Taylor is at the age where his next contract will be his biggest, and if Celtic are paying someone else around thirty thousand a week, then he’ll not get what he wants.
On a different note, we hear from the ranch that ideas are being sought as to how to raise a bit more money from the fans. The disaster that was the own a virtual piece of Celtic Park has left a hole in the incomings column, and the board are looking for new ideas…which do not include selling more tickets, so a stadium expansion is clearly off the radar.
No doubt there will be more sponsors logos on shirts and other merchandise, but the obvious one is some sort of ticket sharing scheme, where those who cannot make games can sell their season books on a game by game basis to those who can.
Utilising the current waiting list would remove security concerns, as the club already has their details, and season book holders could split the money with the club. So, everyone, in theory, would be happy.
Which is probably why they won’t do it. Our board are notoriously conservative, and lack the vision and courage that Fergus McCann showed when he rebuilt the ground, so instead of developing a fresh income stream that would produce increased year on year revenue, we’ll probably introduce a new range of mugs or something.
So they can continue to fleece those of us who already think we are being taken for mugs.
Over at Ibrox, austerity continues to bite as just days after telling Phillipe Clement they want to see more home grown talent developed and sold, they’re going to scrap the B team, which had been reduced to playing friendlies anyway.
There is talk the ladies team is next, and they have written to the SFA asking if that rule about eleven players being allowed on the field at any time could be reduced to nine.
There are also some more shares available at the knockdown price of fourpence each, which might mean that the directors the fans want out of the club may well want their money back , having had enough of the abuse from what they will see as a set of ungrateful bastards.
This weekend, Celtic face Kilamrnock in the fourth round of the Cup. Since you can;t have a treble without the cups, this is probably the most impoortant game of the season so far, as it is a one off.
Daezen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn should start, which means Kyogo in between them, though as for the midfield and defence it’s anyone’s guess. Kilmarnock will kick and thump their way through the game, and Celtic will have to raise the tempo to avoid being caught out again at the back…we’ve started conceding too many goals and almost all were avoidable.
Fortunately, it’s a home tie, but it’s still worrying that that is even a consideration. If the mood among fans is a wee bit flat, one wonders how that can be kept away from the players. It’s down to them to lift themselves, and us. At least to start with.
Last time out we had this…
Caption-17th Century Facebook users want to Lynch the foreign guy, as hes over here living in 5 star hotels and getting all the good jobs, and claiming benefits, and raping all the white women.
thats wee Nige Fuherage on the big cuddy BTW
Today
Comment…. The ghosts of Americans past holding Trumpndown to stop him spouting more shite.
Worst Dr Who episode ever.
Latest episode of Traitors.
Caption: JFK silently recites the prayer to St Finnegan, patron saint of snipers. Dear St Finnegan please don’t fucking miss again. Amen.
Caption: JFK silently recites the prayer to St Finnegan, patron saint of snipers. Dear St Finnegan please don’t feckin miss again. Amen.
Caption. Sorry Donald we don’t want world war 3 yet. Tell you what, when the ‘rangers’ finally get here you can start your war
Caption : “If you can’t find a pen, just use your finger”.
Obviously the new club’s fans are a little slow on the up take . The B team is the team that is been kept as their wage bill is a lot less than the first team
Alexandre? Keiran? Kilamrnock? Daezen? Did a pet crawl over the keyboard Ralph? 🙂
Caption
‘Come on, Donald. Make Raynjurz great again’
A country renowned for its equality hopes that big Donny does the right thing as they did !!!!!!!
Party games in the White House, pin the tail on the donkey.
Caption: “ok, now we’ve got him on the ejection seat will someone please press the button”
Caption: Miracle claimed as man’s hands double in size.
Caption: Healing session at Christ the Constipated Prayer Group. OK I’ll stop.
Colon (sic) Powell of WMD infamy and a million Iraqi dead, who would question his leadership?
That’s always been the case, Sutton, Larsson, Dembele, Eddy etc. Heck, even wee Leigh Griffiths was a Wolves reject.
The flogging of not required young players for reasonable money has become more prevalent in the EPL to comply with financial regs. Villa was heavily involved when players were being sold for £10-40m on financial deadline day to avoid sanction.
Having said that, Villa is sitting near the top of the UCL League and that’s the standard of player they want.
Our ambitions are more modest, just making the KO round this season and a play-off next.
Palma’s move to Rayo Vallecano (sic) could be back on, as their ban has been overturned. If he’s not in the Bren’s plan, then this should be done sooner rather than later.
Fleecing the fans, it was ever thus. I doubt that a Seat Exchange system would net much, hence why it’s not pursued, no matter how much its desired by the fans.
The redevelopment of the Main Stand is the biggie. Replacing the antiquated facilities, including the team, official etc facilities, which are getting stricter and more expanded, will become more and more pressing.
Yes, there are big logistically issues, where are facilities rehoused during redevelopment etc, but this isn’t a situation unique to us and others have overcome them to act as learning experiences.
As usual, the stumbling block is our visionless ‘leaders’ with their lazy ‘can’t do’ attitude. Unless it’s a quick fix with an immediate return on investment, they can’t deal with it.
Caption “Greenland’s looking too hard, how about Ibrox?”
Well, if we’re looking for advice on stadium redevelopment, we need look no further than our friends at Ibrox – and then do the opposite.
If KT is signed, it must be pay per match as the only contract option!
JFK: “ Guys when the cameras go get your hands round his throat and throttle the bastard.”
Ralph I do not think you are a mug, oh wait, actually I need to think a bit more about that..
Killie will be tricky and physical, up to us to raise our game. Squad needs additions. I am disappointed in Idah but his preseason was a nightmare so I will give him a year..
Bugger me, it doesn’t say much for the rest of us if they gave you the gig
caption Trump hopes that he gets JFKs key and not Reagans for next man on
‘You tear up that Constitution, Donald.
It’s given those bastards way too much freedoms already.’
Meanwhile JFK squeezes out a hot log.
Who let all these black folks in?
Caption: WTF
Looking forward to some cup action tonight that’ll take our mind off the league and the CL, at least for a wee while. Kilmarnock will set out to make life hard for us with a strong physical presence in midfield utilising the likes of Lyons, Polworth and Donnelly and probably seeing Dundee’s second half performance against us on Tuesday as a blueprint to follow. With star player Danny Armstrong way off form and big frontman captain Kyle Vassel (one who has caused us problems in the past) likely to miss this through injury, the Ayrshire wrecking crew are finding goals hard to come by and depend too much on Bruce Anderson to find the net. Also out injured is CB Stuart Findlay although there is a chance that striker Marley Watkins (who can be pretty dangerous on his day) could make a comeback after a period on the sidelines.
Regardless of whether it’s Scales or Trusty who gets the nod, the whole defensive unit really needs to tighten up and give us a smooth and solid performance to boost confidence again with next Wednesday in mind. Our midfield needs to cover more ground and stand up to the physical demands of this game with much more desire to win loose balls and the passing has to be a lot slicker. I’d like to see Luke McCowan start this one. Hopefully with wee Daezen back to fitness, we’ll see a much more dynamic strikeforce who need to be clinical and ruthless in front of goal. If Kuhn and Kyogo are both on song, we should romp this but if the failings we’ve withnessed in recent games (slack passing, slow tempo, poor defending and finishing etc) show up again, we’ll be in serious trouble. Home adavantage, however, should be massive and I’d expect a fairly routine win against this mob.
Would be worried if the tie was away hoping for a reassuring spanking, clean sheet also a priority.
I would be tempted to take Idah out of the firing line today, not even on the bench. He’s obviously very low in confidence and I can’t see him doing anything in this match to improve on that.
Although he can’t play against Young Boys, I’d utilise Kenny from the bench to further his development for the future.
I still think Idah will have an important role to play on Wednesday, whether we’re chasing the game or trying to see it out.
Although, he’s struggling with the former, he’s good defensively in the air and Young Boys are a big unit, so this may be vital.
A rest will hopefully give him a bit of respite from the pressure and allow him to be refreshed and revitalised for Wednesday.
Well, that’s the theory. 😉
Reply attached.
Pretty much agree with all of that Cha as the more I’ve seen of Idah lately, the less hope I hold out for him to come good. Among his shortcomings there’s a seriously wrong attitude that needs to be seen to urgently. By that I don’t mean he’s lazy, he’s just far too nice. Less of the gentle giant kak and more of the meanness that Giakomakis showed in his time with us and we’ll start to see defenders backing off a bit more and spaces beginning to open up in that box. He needs to watch a few Giako videos. 😉
Less kak, more Giak?
Yep, I miss the big Greek chap. Idah’s not the only one who’s not sticking away clear-cut chances though.
Day has set up and holding the ball qualities that complement the team. I think he will come good. The Greek was a better poacher and lighter on his feet. A better athlete. The fact that everyone else is misfiring highlights idahs lack of goals. He’s not useless. He will win us games. Kyogo is becoming more set up than scoring goals, it doesn’t help. Maeda and Kuhn look the more likely to score. Killie made it tough but that was a 5-1 game. We won. Wednesday is a big one, need to bag goals early doors.
Idah *
I never, EVER, thought I could feel like this watching my beloved Celtic, but this is NOT my beloved Celtic.If I could I’d organise a walk-out in the 67th minute in memory of how much we miss FOOTBALL, beautiful, inventive, winning football!
Hope our boys get plenty of shooty in on the training ground over the next couple days cos the sitters we missed tonight were unbelievable. Can’t get away with that in Europe.
We were certainly misfiring, even Kyogo is caught up in it. I know he can’t play in Europe but I’d have liked to see Kenny get a cameo from the sub’s bench today instead of persevering with Idah. What encouragement is there for young guys like him if they’re brought back for 20 minutes in Dingwall only to disappear into the B team again.
Fair point but I can see Johnny getting loaned out again, but this time to a bigger club than Shamrock and I’ve also got a feeling we’re about to shell out serious money on another striker.
But do we need to shell out on another striker when we haven’t given Kenny a run in the team? I thought we were trying to bring through our own talent.
And, if we do bring in a third striker in this window, does that mean we’ve given up on Idah? Personally, I thought his signing was a mistake to begin with but, if we’re bringing in a third man already, that makes it an even bigger blunder.
It’s certainly a bit of a conundrum Owen and who knows what these last two weeks of the window will bring. My last post was based on the sensation I got on listening to BR’s pre-match press conference on Friday.
Johnny Kenny has been back in the camp for a couple of weeks now and I’m sure his daily training performance levels will be under very close scrutiny and I’d expect him to get some minutes against Dundee on Saturday before a definitive decision is made. Like you I’d love to see him do well in the Hoops but if he’s deemed to not be quite ready for the demands ahead, a loan move to a decent club would definitely make sense, giving him the chance to come back a better and stronger player.
As regards the other question (Idah or a new striker), I think we should have at least 3 recognised strikers competing for places, especially if we are to progress further in the CL (touch wood). Due to this insane playing schedule, fatigue is already kicking in and affecting players’ performances so fresh additions (to team rather than squad) would help to remedy that. In addition, we don’t know how much longer Kyogo is going to be at Celtic or how potential long-term injuries could affect the team. I reckon if the right player at the right price can be found, we’ll make a move. Of course there’s never a guarantee of getting a signing right but if we do end up going for another forward, the profile would likely be a young player in his early 20s with a proven goal-scoring track record, possibly from England or maybe someone from the Dutch league or a Scandinavian team with a price tag of around 5 or 6 million. It may not happen of course but we’ll surely see at least a couple of new additions coming in to strengthen key areas of the team..
My concern with three strikers is that we already had an excellent back up in Giakomakus and he left because he wasn’t prepared to play second fiddle to Kyogo. Can we persuade a quality striker to sign on as a third fiddle? I’m not so sure we can unless BR is planning on playing with two up front which he doesn’t seem to like.
Let’s see how Kenny does for at least the remainder of this season and reassess things in the summer. Kenny is young and has a good scoring record. Okay it’s in Ireland but he’s also performed well in Europe and I feel would be worth a trial at least.
Giakomakis has a very strong character and was at an age where he felt he needed to be playing week in week out while a younger player would normally be a bit more patient. Hopefully the intention would not be to sign someone as a third option but rather someone who has the ability to break into the first team and excel. Competition for places is a must at any ambitious football club in my opinion and yes, there could be downsides but I think the positives outweigh them.
That was my feeling too but I wonder if there was some bizarre Ghost of Jim Farry ruling that he wasn’t registered for the Scottish Cup.
Having said that, at the end of last week Goodwin was looking to sign and play them in the Dundee derby on Monday.
Overall, a bit of a Groundhog Day, of scoring early, being all over the oppo, conceding a sucker punch and then completely being overrun in midfield.
All the while, the manager stands impassively on the touchline and doesn’t change anything until the pre-planned 65-70m and makes like for like changes.
Deeply unimpressive.
The ‘Jim Farry’ thing never occurred to me. I wouldn’t put anything past that shower at the SFA though. I do agree that BR’s habit of like for like substitutions on the hour mark doesn’t say much for his tactical nous.
Our strikers need to score the chances that are getting period. We are beginning to miss loads of chances and then have very close games as a result. Putting the ball in the net wins games. Need to get back to taking a higher percentage of chances created.
I agree with that, but I also think we’re losing control of the midfield as well at crucial times.
Yes, not taking chances doesn’t help but we should be good enough to retain control to see us through the sticky period.
Whether it’s because we don’t have any ball winners or we’re ease to counteract as everything has to go through McGregor, I don’t know.
He’s nearly 32 and approaching his declining years, which we should be addressing now rather than waiting years like in the case of Scott Brown when his dwindling influence was obvious.
Reply
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Too many incongruous words again, Cha?
Seems like every second post you send now you have to send by photo.
‘We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N.’s founders.’ – George H.W. Bush, 11th September 1991.
Fascist tyranny, in other words.
There’s something wrong at Celtic.
Idah’s a dumpling, Hatate looks lost and Kyogo doesn’t even look like the same guy since his face operation or his replacement by a clone, or whatever the feck it is he’s had done.
As for Rodgers’ inability to react to the game playing out in front of him rather than the one he has in his head, I feel like putting a boot through the telly at times.
And I bet we still won’t have a proper defensive midfielder at the end of the window.
As for using GT to cover for KT til he got back, well they can GTFvck.
Det. Inspector Jack Regan (2nd Left) “Trump! You’re nicked!”
I thought we had booked the Village People?
YEEEEESSSSS!!! Gaun yersel big Adam! Munich here we go!