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Celtic Diary Saturday February 1

So, the transfer window is pulled to and placed on the latch until the summer, and there are mixed emotions amongst the support as to how well it went.

On the way to pastures new is Welsh midfielder Joe Ledley, who was called in during training yesterday and pointed in the direction of a plane to London, where a few hours later he was in front of the camera telling reporters he was delighted to play in the premiership, as it was his dream, whilst wearing an expression that you see on peoples faces after they come out of the vets alone, ย having gone in with the dog and emerging holding just the lead.

See for yourself here;

joe ledley-over the moon.

Ledley was a much better player than some give him credit for, and he will be missed. The club decided that the ยฃ2.5m was too much to lose if Ledley decided to stay and run his contract down, as he had done with his boyhood favourites Cardiff City. Its not difficult to see that if he had done that to the club he loved, he would have had no hesitation in doing it to Celtic. So, Lawwell made his decision, and Ledley was told that he could go.

Better than letting him go for free, and at the end of the season when they run the accounts book up the flagpole for us all to cheer and admire, then we will perhaps see it their way.

 

But for me, all the money that comes in via the champions League-which is our main source of revenue these days- is down to key players, such as Ledley, and before him Wanyama and Hooper, so when it comes to new contracts, they should be amply rewarded, not at ridiculous EPL levels, but somewhere inbetween, and then they might even stay.

Then we can build a stable, successful and experienced team at the top level. Like we used to have.

If the stories are true, then Ledley was being asked to take a pay cut, as indeed is Georgios Samaras. Frankly, if thats the case, then they should have stayed ( Samaras has ) and milked the club for every penny, because if I played for a club, or worked for a company that was telling the world how financially well off they were-better than ever before-and then asking me to take a pay cut, then it wouldn’t take me long to formulate a full and coherent response.

Not entirely sure if I’d want to play for Crystal Palace and Tony Pulis , though. Still, it’ll develop his upper body strength.

Its easy to forget , amongst the last day pandemonium, that Celtic have signed what looks like a very decent replacement in Stefan Johansen, but again , theres a bit of a gamble involved, and if Ledley wanted to stay, then we could have pushed the boat out a bit to meet his requirements. We know his capabilities, whereas Johansen could become another Bangura. Or Lassad. Or Miku. Or, bloody hell, I could go on forever here…

Heres hoping he won’t , though. The same goes to Leigh Griffiths, the debonair acquisition from Wolverhampton, who couldn’t get up the road quick enough to sign yetserday, once the midland side accepted a bid of around ยฃ800,000.

Co-incidentally, thats exactly how much it costs to run the traffic lights on the one way system in Wolverhampton town centre. The only system of its kind in Britain where if you miss a light you have to go back to the beginning and start again.

Griffiths can’t wait to get started in Glasgow, and he’s looking forward to the football as well.

He comes with a reputation of having off the field baggage, and its up to Neil Lennon to deal with that. but has he already dropped the ball ?

Heres Griffiths arriving at Celtic Park yesterday;

and here he is leaving;

And heres the the guy who asked him where he got that bag from;

You know what ? Its great to have someone with a bit of character at the club. Someone that the kids can identify with. Griffiths comes across as likeable and honest, and he spoke of Lennons wee word with him before he joined;

โ€œIt was a good chat we had and he told me what is expected of me as a Celtic player, saying I canโ€™t do anything wrong or people will pick up on it.

โ€œFor me itโ€™s just about keeping my head down and working hard to try to prove wrong the people who say Iโ€™m not good enough.

โ€œEverybody has a past. I just want people to concentrate on what I do playing for Celtic and forget about everything else. I want to be judged on what I do on the pitch.

โ€œIf you speak to any of the people who have played with me or been around me they will tell you I am not a bad lad.

โ€œYes I have been daft in the past but when I come to training I do my work, get on with things then go home.

โ€œItโ€™s a massive deal but I have no doubt I can handle that and take the pressure that comes with it.

โ€œThere was a lot of pressure in my last year at Hibs to fill the boots of Garry Oโ€™Connor and I managed to take that in my stride. So, hopefully, I can do the same here.โ€

โ€œMy agent phoned me in December and said Celtic could be interested in January. I have been counting down the days since.

โ€œUntil the first bid goes in you are never sure if it is going to happen. It was all talk until then. But as soon as Celtic made the first bid I wanted it to go through.

โ€œTwo bids were rejected but my heart was set on it because you want to play at the highest level you can.

โ€œI have watched the Champions League nights on the TV and there is no better place to play. That is where I want to be.

โ€œI wasnโ€™t playing at Wolves so I wasnโ€™t happy. But Iโ€™m leaving a good club to join an even bigger club in Celtic.โ€

โ€œI know what it takes to become a Celtic player. I had a great season last year at Hibs then I went down back the road and started scoring goals as well.

โ€œI did it last season for Hibs and have done it for Wolves so I am just thankful to get my chance here and hopefully I can prove I am a good signing and start scoring goals for fun.

โ€œI was confident last season when I was creating most of the chances on my own but at Celtic they are always going to create chances

โ€œI want to get on the end of them and put them in the net.

โ€œWe have an unbeaten run to maintain and a big Scottish Cup tie against Aberdeen coming up.

โ€œHopefully we can go on and win the league and cup Double.

โ€œFirst, though, I need to break into the team and that will be tough but I am confident I can do that.

โ€œMy message to the fans is Iโ€™m looking forward to playing, scoring and winning plenty of trophies.โ€

Neil Lennon agreed;

โ€œI like gallus players and heโ€™s certainly got that nature on the pitch, although I donโ€™t think heโ€™s
ill-disciplined or anything like that when he plays.

โ€œHaving spoken to him you get a different perception of people sometimes. He actually seems quite a quiet boy away from the pitch.

โ€œLeigh knows the responsibilities involved in coming here. Heโ€™s just got to mind himself away from the park and weโ€™ll do all we can to help him with that as well.

โ€œI spoke to him about his responsibilities as a Celtic player and to be wary of things away from the park. Heโ€™s got to get used to the intensity of playing for Celtic and the public perception of him but I donโ€™t think people should judge him on his past. Just judge him on his football ability.

โ€œHeโ€™s not a bad boy, he just needs to change peopleโ€™s views and he can do that through his football.โ€

We haven’t had a gallus player since Charlie Nicholas, so heres hoping we’ve got one now.

He’s not an expensive foreigner, with a name like a scrabble hand. He’s not a big name from the south coming up to supplement his pension. Nor, indeed is he a youngster who will freeze in the bright lights of a big city.

No, he’s Leigh Griffiths, of Celtic.

And I think we are going to like him.

( PS , Peter, I will accept either cash or cheque. The author reserves the right to change his mind at any moment without notice )

He might even end up as part of a club and country partnership with Tony Watt, if , as hoped , the errant forward returns from Belgium all grown up and sensible, but thats for another day…

Yesterday was a busy one at the club, and also for reporters up and down the country, who told unashamedly inaccurate stories about moves that were on, off and then on again. Scurrilous nonsense designed just to get people to pay attention to them. Serves you right really, for paying them any attention, when we’ve got the ever reliable and trusted Rumour Mill on here, for all your gossip needs.

( You’d be surprised how much of that is actually true. Come to think of it, you’d be surprised if any of it was true. )

One story that had us on edge yesterday concerned Efe Ambrose, one half of the best double act at Celtic Park since Jock Stein and Sean Fallon, who according to SSN, was signing for Fulham…

The story then disappeared, only to emerge again at tea-time , with Ambrose “moving to England “, and then -nothing.

There were also rumours that Lee Wallace might come in, enhanced when the ever sharp Tommy In Glasgow rang Ally McCoist to enquire, on behalf of Scunthorpe, about Wallace, and was told to ring Ibrox. Meaning that they were ready to listen to anyone.

Georgios Samaras was the subject of late interest from Marseille, and Fraser Forster was wanted at Arsenal, but they’ve decided to leave that until the summer.

So my mate says, and he should know. He watches all their games on the telly, and has a new strip every year, not the current one, he’s a year behind because its cheaper.

And it got more ridiculous.

But nothing more ridiculous than this story, an old one dredged up by STV, who have a partnership with the new Rangers club to promote them-fair enough, that must be like trying to sell chips outside weightwatchers-in a crass attempt to score points against Celtic. Presumably the editor behind it was in a huff, because a big boy called Timmy stole his dinner money on the way to school.

Mohamed Bangura ‘will be a legend like Henrik Larsson’ at Celtic

Presumably this was to deflect from the lack of activity down Govan way, wher eapart from a mysterious bid from Nottingham forest, no-one seemed to want any of Scotlands second highest players…

Which is a good thing if you are one of those players, earning an awful lot for a doing awfully little , er awfully. But a bad thing if you are running a business that needs to raise a bit of cash quickly.

Or maybe there was another deflection…

McMurdo – Sandy Easdale Speaks Out

Bill McMurdo, son of Bill McMurdo, and big fan of, er, Bill McMurdo, has been talking to Sandy Easdale, who has a significant share in New Rangers..

The claim by Whyte that his ownership of the club โ€œabsolutely extends to Ibrox site, the training ground, the players, the entire entity as it standsโ€ has drawn a withering response from Sandy Easdale.

Speaking exclusively to this blog, Easdale hit out at Rangersโ€™ former owner: โ€œCraig Whyte is mad. Is he not aware that everyone with a share has more claim to RFC assets than he does?โ€

Easdale revealed that the club have been aware for a while that Whyte has been rattling around media outlets, trying to get support for his outlandish claims.

โ€œHeโ€™s like a big kid,โ€ Easdale went on to say. โ€œItโ€™s like if he canโ€™t have Rangers then all he wants is to try to ruin things for everybody.โ€

Whyte was famously outwitted and outmanoeuvred by Charles Green and Imran Ahmad when they acquired the club but Easdale believes that Whyte should accept this and move on, especially given that he has nothing to do with the present regime.

Easdale claims he has never met or had dealings with Whyte and that if Whyte turned up he would personally escort him off the premises.

โ€œ I have never met or spoke to the man but I personally would throw him down the marble stair case if he ever turned up at Ibrox.โ€

Rangers fans will certainly be cheering this last statement.

( Those who can remember how to cheer anything, that is..)

Actually, someone on the Follow Follow site summed this up better than anyone;

That’s how low weve sunk ,when one of the brothers Grimm uses wrestlemania language to win popularity,Bill Struth would turn in his grave .ย 

Happily for Struth, if he turns around, he might see them excavating a new plot for the new club.

Enough of them, and back to our own club, and the mayor of amsterdam has been biding his time, before unleashing a volley of criticism at the Celtic fans who tore up his city during a coup,ke of days of rioting , pilllaging and crossing the road before the wee man turned green when we popped over there last year

‘Dronken Celtic-fans oorzaak voetbalgeweld’

The rest of the article is here, but you get the drift of it from the picture and the headline.

dutch article

And you can complain about it by sending an email here;

 

#DamJusticeย It might help if other “drunken,violent Celtic fans” also complain by email to amsterdam@parool.nl ..

Thanks again to our man in the dam, Carljunglebhoy, who you really wouldn’t want on your case. Especially if you are the mayor of Amsterdam and you were prone to telling lies to make yourself look good after you have made a massive arse of something

Google images again. Sorry.

Incidentally, this idiot has backed the new five year plan to come out of Ibrox, which should see the new club challenging Celtic for the title..

Ally McCoist with Rangers chief executive Graham Wallace

He looks convinced, doesn’t he ?

“I would have thought that was about fair, yeah. I would agree with Graham there.

“He has been completely honest with everybody and if he said a five-year plan has been put in operation then I think we should respect that.”

He sounds convinced, doesn’t he ?

” Is it fuck an iceberg. ” said Captain Smith.

We’ve not had a wee quiz for a couple of days, so to help while away the hours today, heres a wee picture to look at.

What is Danny saying here ?

PS, there was one other transfer story yesterday that I haven’t mentioned. Apparently Amanda Knox has been linked with a move to Italy.

 

 

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jas
10 years ago

So Sleekit changes horses yet again,amazing! 5 years @ ยฃ825k p.a. = ยฃ4.125m,no bad for an idiot,get us a form will ye?

Brencelt
10 years ago

DMcG: One team in Glasgow, there’s only one team in Glasgow!

CarllJungleBhoy
10 years ago

Cheers Guys! If anybody wants a swatch at the emails (in Dutch or English) plus some additional thoughts/cmmments I’ve added since then.. Check:

http://carljunglebhoy.blog.co.uk/2014/01/31/letter-to-het-parool-31-jan-17673072/

See also hashtags (Hash? Amsterda?m) #DamJustice and #LDAMLS (Lies, DAM lies & Statistics) on Twitter

CarllJungleBhoy
10 years ago

BTW Protest tweets can also be sent to the Amsterdam City council @@AmsterdamNL or you might want to thinks about #BoycottAmsterdam

Martin
10 years ago

I still can’t understand your attitude on Ledley. You would support players milking Celtic and taking their salary while hoping to walk away and leave us without a transfer? Joe Ledley was a good solid pro, not a great player but consistent and always did a job. In return for that he got paid about ยฃ25k a week, played in the champions league and was supported by some of the best fans in the world and one of the best venues in the world. Why should I feel sorry for him? Why should I think we owe him loyalty? If Peter Lawell offered to let him stay and continue all those benefits and get paid in the region of ยฃ20k per week for it, why are you so sad for him that you would feel he is entitled to milk your club and leave them with nothing?

I just don’t get it……

As for Griffiths, I wasn’t sure about him at first but I trust Lennon’s judgement. And if we had got the mysterious ยฃ3m striker from Turkey I doubt he would have sounded anywhere near as enthusiastic about playing for Celtic as Griffiths did yesterday.

I’m pretty happy with where the club is right now. I’m happy with the performance of Lennon, the scouting system and Peter Lawell during the transfer window. Hail Hail!

10 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

So by that reckoning, every player who signs for Celtic should be held until their contract ends?
Petrov & McGeady’s transfer fees allowed us to buy KI, Wanyama, Forster, Hooper etc etc. Their transfer fees will allow us to buy other players who we will be hoping can also be sold on to make us money – it’s where we are.
Other teams across Europe do the same.
As long as we keep bringing in new players with the money we get from transfers, no Celtic player should be allowed to run their contract down.

holy sea
10 years ago

Ralph,

Why the negative theme again ?
Ledley will be missed ?Good player but no leader.
Johansen is 5 years younger,and by all accounts,a great prospect.

I am looking forward to going to CP on Sunday,to see Leigh.
MSM say he has to win fans over.BOLLOCKS ! His cv of 28
goals,at Hibs,last season has won me over.Commons on 16 goals will welcome Leigh,as Samaras,Stokes and Pukki’s grand total of 15 goals is pathetic.

I hope Leigh starts,but Stokes will probably be given the nod ,so he can settle in.If he’s on the bench,I predict he will score when he comes on.

I see the sun,yesterday,slagging him with their crass, “Thumbs
up,” headline.I hope he sticks 2 fingers up at them,by being a great success at our club !!

holy sea
10 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

Ralph,

With the greatest respect,I don’t understand your rationale re
Ledley’s contract.Surely every club works in this way.If all
contracts were to be honoured in full,then there would be no
transfer fees.
Also,Ralph,maybe Celtic gave him a sweetener to go ?

CarllJungleBhoy
10 years ago

I don’t think it’s being negative to say Ledley will be missed. He was always very reliable and CL quality. However, he would have gone for nothing in the summer, so getting something for him IF he was deterined to go is good business.

Agree Johansen looks like the real deal but time will tell and he still has to prove himelsf at CL level.

OH. and IMHO we still need a CL quality striker… tee hee

Martin
10 years ago

Am I missing something about the Ledley transfer? Did Lawwell hold a gun to his head and force him to sign a contact with Palace? Did he leave a horse’s head in his bed Godfather style?

Crystal Palace made Celtic an offer for a player they had. Celtic accepted that offer. Palace made Ledley a contract offer. Ledley accepted that contract offer. End of story. No bad feelings. No reason for Ledley or anyone else to feel bitter or angry about any of it. Ledley was entitled to sit out his contract like Sammy is doing but chose not to….his choice. Big bad evil Peter Lawwell didn’t force him to do anything.

Johnd
10 years ago

Those of us around long enough know that the club isn’t great as an employer… We have some previous regarding ‘easing’ a player out when we’ve had enough of him.

But sadly it’s all part of the bigger biscuit tin picture at Celtic.

It used to be a policy of ‘just enough’ to stay ahead of THEM, and even that failed sometimes, and now it’s ‘just enough’ to get through the CL groups stages, and that failed miserably this season.

More fans are now getting it, the board plays the ‘global club’ card and the ‘Irish ness’ card for all that they are worth and at the same time runs the club like a corner shop and criminalises it’s own supporters … Backed it has to be said by many do right old timers who for get that they too once had a pair.

So aye, it is quite depressing, the state of the died club is of no interest to me beyond a wee snigger, I’m concerned about the Celtic.

I inherited the biscuit tin club from my da, now my kids are inheriting it from me.

I want a club run by people that have the same vision as the support.

And don’t dare anyone start with handwringing ‘ aye but we’re in great financial health’ crap… We’re no a bank, were a fkn fitba club… A fitba club with world class support but with number crunchers in the boardroom taking the piss.

10 years ago
Reply to  Johnd

You haven’t learned a thing over the last two years, have you? And save the condescending comments about older fans having none to subjects you have a grasp of, of which i’ll guess there aren’t many. Fool.

MarkyBhoy
10 years ago

EH?

MarkyBhoy
10 years ago
Reply to  MarkyBhoy

Whether you like it or not the Club is being run no differently than any other Corporation. And by a mix of some odious business types, spineless new labour apparatchiks and some arsehole fae the nobility who no doubt will be wanting wan of your sheep aff you aswell as your season book money. More than any other issue this is the one Celtic fans have to resolve. We need to remove and replace these people with dudes who have the sense and smarts of Quinn & McCann but also their nous in being able to run a football club and stand by our identity aswell as keeping the thing afloat. Simple. In fact, it’s a piece of piss.

J McTighe
10 years ago

yes we do have to remember he (Griffiths) ran Hooper very close for top scorer last season. One was playing in a poor Hibs team, the other in a dominant Celtic team. I’m cautiously optimistic about this signing.He might just surprise everyone.
Throw him on from the start tomorrow , forget this settling in rubbish. And Stokes has had his chance.
5-0 and 2 for Griffiths.(cautiously optimistic?)haha HH

J McTighe
10 years ago

Ah fuck it 5-0 and 3 for Griffiths

Nick
10 years ago

“they should be amply rewarded, not at ridiculous EPL levels, but somewhere inbetween, and then they might even stay.”

– aw, you show a touching faith in players if you think they will come to or stay at Celtic on wages less than the crap EPL teams can offer.

Jim McCall
10 years ago

Amanda Knox to Italy.Now finally a joke in good taste!

10 years ago

Ralph,youre a dick!
Love
They C*nts

AwAboutOpinions CSC
๐Ÿ™‚

stu67
10 years ago

Don’t think he can play tomorrow – he didn’t sign before a 5pm deadline apparently …..Farry esque !!

Charlie Saiz
10 years ago

Ledley would have been a bench warmer under O Neils Celtic side if truth be told.
He was a decent player nothing more nothing less but to think he was up there with the likes of Petrov Moravcik Lambert or even Lenny is a nonsense.
I am all for selling him in this window he never intended playing beyond 4 years at Celtic so it makde perfect sense to sell him on and make some money.
His wages alone will be a big saving in a League Title amble that’s already near completion.
Good luck Joe and thanks for the good service.
Ps.
If Johansen becomes the next Morvcik he will soon be forgotten.
By all.

Charlie Saiz
10 years ago

Tony Watt scored again against Anderlecht on Friday

http://youtu.be/E_Mq6dkcU8U

pensionerbhoy
10 years ago

Ralph

Mine was chucked in the bin again and i had tried to defend you too. Not everything ’cause some of it was rubbish :). I do think some commenters are totally misinterpreting what you are saying on some issues.

Anyway, the window is shut again, thank God, and I can the breeze of opinion and simply wallow in my own odours for the rest of the season. It should be interesting to see who else was right like me ๐Ÿ™‚

Danny “And Efe just bloody boot it or you will be out that fucking window up there.”

H H

pensionerbhoy
10 years ago
Reply to  pensionerbhoy

“…ignore the breeze….” – damn!! Bloody Google translator!

H H

10 years ago

Efe every time you score(during the game we are talking mind) you run up the park awe your finger up like this.
As for the transfer window goes, in my opinion we have done quite good.a striker who will score goals, a prospect striker also, and a hopefully suitable replacement for Ledley , who I wish all the very best to. He was a good servant to the cause.
Ralph I can’t understand your bitterness against the club, without their astuteness there would have been no wanyama, no hooper, no Forster and no equaling the shut out record. Now we are beginning to see team 2, which hopefully will mature in the remainder of this season.
It is also a bit concerning to see all the negative comments about the club, which personally I cannot understand at a time we will look back on as a great time in our history
Hail hail, keep the faith and keep SUPPORTING OUR TEAM, com on the hoops

Brisbanecelt
10 years ago

Danny looks like Moses (albeit with allegedly a shorter beard and celtic training top on) delivering the 10 commandments to Efe (I think)…1. Thou shalt not think you are Beckenbauer and leave the dribbling for the soup…2. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s skills(van the man)…

As for the ‘transfer window’ the deals are just not transparent enough and so the sooner the curtain comes down on this the better…need to go before the internet provider (wife) stops me using it

Charlie Saiz
10 years ago

“Efe I goat ma skills bestowed on me fae him up there”

Charlie Saiz
10 years ago

Ladjokes have:
John Terry 1/5
Ashley Cole 1/6
Amanda Knox 6/2
Griffiths 33/1 on who will be the first to score in Euope next Season

acoustamatix
10 years ago

The debate rages on, as does the biscuit tin mentality that nearly bankrupted Celtic once upon a nineties nightmare…

Danny Mcgrain: “So ah says tae ‘um – ‘Aye! Ah ken fine yer Zico, but yer no getn the baw the day!'”

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