Celtic Diary Thursday June 12: Behind The Headlines

There seems to be a race between social and mainstream media to get some sort of verified news about whether or not Celtic will sign Motherwell and recently Scotland midfielder Lennon Miller.

Miller said:

“You never know. I’ve got a year left on my contract so my focus is to go back into pre-season, work as hard as I can and get ready for the season. You get these big clubs mentioned, but it is only speculation. You just need to try and focus on what you’re doing and that will all take care of itself.”   

With just a year on his contract, the price will be driven down. Mind you, having said that, where Celtic are involved, the buying price will always be driven down. Or , Rodgers could wait, sign him on a pre contract, and get him for nothing, which would boost the players bank account. Maybe up to what he’d be paid in England.

Sunderland have just sold Jobe Bellingham, and will no doubt want to spend some of that money on a replacement, so lazy hacks everywhere have linked the young Scot with a move to the petro chemical paradise that is the north east of England.

Who knows ? Maybe if “rangers ” get £25m for Nicolas Raskin, on the basis of him breaking into the Belgium squad, they could move for him.

Celtic have been watching miller for a while, and there have been accusations that the hoops are stalling on making a move. As ever, the price seems to be the stumbling block in many supporters eyes, and inevitably, comparisons have been made with the failed move for John McGinn, who was also Celtic bound, until Celtic stalled, and Aston Villa swept him down to Birmingham.

Celtic took the blame for that, and if Miller doesn;t end up in the hoops, they will take the blame for that as well.

Is it fair to draw comparisons ?

Yes, but not in the way one would think.

McGinn didn’t join Celtic because, at that point, he was not,  and could not be , guaranteed first team football. The Villa manager at the time gave him that guarantee. It really was that simple.

Miller is at the age where he needs forst team football, in order to continue his upwards trajectory.

Celtic cannot guarantee him that. Like everyone else he will have to fight for his place from the start. One solution could be to loan him back to Motherwell, but the player may not fancy that, he may be seeking a new challenge, and indeed, may rise to it when he gets it.

But with a plethora of midfielders already at Celtic, the club faces the dilemma of spending big on someone who won;t be an immediate starter, and although Arne Engels was in the same boat, he has earned his starting spot. Despite what some fans think.

With Calum McGregor occupying another slot, Miller would compete with Rodgers favourite Hatate for the third berth. With NacCowan having impressed, Bernardo perhaps a bit more settled now that could mean a four way fight every week for one spot…not the guarantee Miller would want.

Sunderland, or any other side in a similar postion, would offer him that, at least at first. And pay him an awful lot more money than Celtic.

Of course, Celtic could sell one or more of those midfielders, and that may be the reason for the perceived delay, one or more could be leaving, which would increase Miller’s chances of a starting berth, so , as with everything else, it’s a little more complex than mainstream or social media would have you believe.

There’s also talk that Kris Ajer may return to Celtic, which again appears to be lazy reportage, based around the recent returns of Jota and Keiran Tierney.

Those were both entirely different scenarios. Jota went for the money, which any of us would, and when he struggled, as any youngster could do in the unique culture of the middle east, he moved to France, where his lack of fitness especially, and his confidence in his ability were put to the test. He wasn;t given enough time to re-adjust, so he came back to somewhere where he would be given that time and space.

Tierney was only on loan anyway.

Ajer, and others like O’Riley and the French forward Oddsone Edouard have been touted for a similar return, but frankly there is little interest from the club or the players to make that happen.

The club wants to move forward, not backwards, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

One way that could be done is to allow Cameron Carter Vickers his wish to leave….we could then try to find a defender who could form a partnership with someone already at the club.

Although the word is our first choice pairing will be Tierney and whoever.

There are quite a few names flying around above and below the radar, but one that may be worth noting is that of a possible return to Scotland for Bojan Miovski, who did well at Aberdeen before moving to Girona, in Spain.

He hasn’t done very well over there, at least by the standards he set at Pittodrie, and there is talk that he could join Celtic. That could happen as soon as rodgers makes his mind up about where to use Daezan Maeda, although in fairness Maeda doesn’t really stand still long enough for anyone to work out what his position actually is.

If Maeda becomes first choice striker, then Miovski could well replace Adam Idah, who may not fancy another season as back up, although he hasn’t quite grasped the opportunities he’s had to become the main man himself.

Football, real football, is back on July 4 when Celtic play Queen’s Park. there were reports that the two clubs have agreed to a deal where young Celts can be loaned to their oldest neighbours, which could mean the Celtic players change strips for the second half.

Or maybe we’ll lend them Lennon Miller….

Yesterday, we had this…

Today…