Celtic Diary Tuesday July 1: Looking Back at the Celts in the World Cup

With Nigeria falling in the round of 16, the Celtic interest in the world cup, barring any bids for any of the goalkeepers left in the tournament, oh hang on Ghana and Mexico are out as well, then its time to see how our heroes did. Will we have to fend off any big money bids for anyone who appeared in Brazil ?

Its unlikely there’ll be too much interest in  Emilio Izaguerre. At club level, Izzy has had a great season. Arguably back to the player he was before his leg break, he has defended well, overlapped well, and contributed several assists (12, in total ). However, his stats in the World cup suggest they belong to a different player;

Minutes played: 135 (two appearances)

Passing accuracy: 69%

Defensive contributions: 8 (four clearances, one block, three interceptions)

Offensive contributions: None (no assists or chances created)

 And he didn’t half come across as a right wee miserable bastard. But then the Honduran team came across as a bunch of cloggers. Their manager , Luis Suarez, in keeping with others of that name, had a thoroughly miserable tournament, and has since resigned. Stuart McCall is favourite to replace him, as they would like to continue a no-football approach.

 Izzy will be glad to get home, to somewhere he is appreciated, and having signed a new contract, will be happy just to get back to work. And for that, we are eternally thankful.

 Then theres Georgios Samaras, alright, he’s not a Celt anymore, but he’ll always be one of us;

Minutes played: 398 (four appearances)

Passing accuracy: 78%

Shots: 6 (two on target, four off)

Goals: 1

Offensive contributions: 8 (one assist, seven key passes)

Greece were a very organised side, and should have beaten Costa Rica, but when Samaras is your outstanding forward, the others are always going to be , well, shite. and so it proved to be. In the cold light of day, with six shots in four games, thats pretty much his club form, so maybe it is for the best that a parting of the ways takes place. There will, however, always be the unanswered question, what could a player of Samaras’s undoubted skill achieve under a coaching team of Ronny and Jonny ? He was far and away the most dangerous player in the Greek side, winning the ball in the air, making probing passes, but there was no-one on the end of them.

Sammy will find a non descript team somewhere nice and warm, and play out the rest of his career, making occasional headines for doing something wonderful, but never on a consistent basis. and we wish him all the best. Seville is favourite, but Everton are hanging in there.

Then there was Fraser Forster, the only player in the England squad who doesn’t play in the EPL, and consequently the only one not to get a game over in Brazil. Which means his reputation survives intact. The old boy network meant that Ben Foster, who has no experience of international football, either for club or country, got the nod for the Costa Rica game, when Forster, the obvious successor to Joe Hart, whose weakness was exposed against Italy and Uruguay ( he’s shite at goalkeeping ) got to kick his heels on the bench.

Minutes played: None 

Yet he’s already the subject of interest from other clubs, which is no surprise. Atletico Madrid have allegedly made a bid of £8m for a quick sale, which, not surprisingly, has the Scottish press doing their best to suggest that Celtic should take the money. Diego Simeone, the Atletico boss wants to seal the deal in a hurry, but Celtic are in no rush. The club knows that they will receive other offers for Forster, and anyway, its all down to the big man.

The Sun reports on the Atletico bid, and note the tone of the article;

CELTIC and England goalkeeper Fraser Forster could join Spanish champions Atletico Madrid in a sensational £8million move.

But manager Diego Simeone wants the deal for Forster done in double-quick time before Celtic’s crucial Champions’ League qualifier against KR Reykjavik due to be played in a fortnight’s time.

Simeone targeted the 26-year-old England No3 to replace Chelsea-bound Thibaut Courtois who is returning to his parent club after two hugely successful seasons on loan in La Liga.

But with wealthy French aces Monaco also keen on the Hexham-born stopper, Simeone won’t be drawn into a bidding war for the 6ft 7in giant who has also attracted interest from Barcelona in the past.

Simeone has been keeping tabs on the Englishman and is ready to offer Celtic £8million — four times the £2m fee they paid to sign Forster from Newcastle United two years ago — in return for a speedy sale. 

It suggests that if we don’t sell to Atletico, no-one else will offer that much money, and Celtic will lose out…hence the reminder that £8m is four times £2m. In case anyone was struggling with that.

The Glasgow giants would ideally want £10m for the once-capped England international, who set a Scottish record of 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal in February.

That would make Forster the most expensive British-born goalie in history, topping the £9million Sunderland paid Hearts for Craig Gordon in 2007.

However, Simeone is unlikely to budge from his £8million valuation of Forster and could turn to Costa Rica’s World Cup sensation Keylor Navas of Levante if Celtic try to play hardball.

The Argentine boss wants a deal struck now before Celtic are tempted to cup-tie him in their Euro second-round qualifier against Reykjavik.

If Celtic do dig in it is unlikely to impress Forster, who was England’s only unused player at the World Cup.

He believes his hopes of challenging Joe Hart for the England No1 shirt are being hampered in the SPFL. 

Simply put, if Celtic do cup tie him, then he will be staying. If we don’t, then we know he wants away and a replacement of similar quality has to be found.  But this slant, which is actively telling Celtic to sell their keeper now, before the three season defining qualifiers, is blatantly working to an agenda.

Finally, we move on to big defender and all round character, Efe Ambrose;

Minutes played: 360 (four appearances)

Passing accuracy: 84%

Defensive contributions: 29 (18 clearances, 11 interceptions)

Offensive contributions: 6 (six chances created, no assists)

 Thats actually very good. Ambrose had a really good tournament, playing at right back for his country, which,  as we know, is not his best position. don’t be surprised if its been noticed. Meaning we could lose both centre halfs and a keeper this summer. Van Dijk, of course, is still subject to the old media game of pick a number, pick a club and link him to a move there.

 And I was in such a good mood this morning, as well.

Thats because reports from the training ground in Austria suggest that Deila is focussing on the passing game. now, if he can improve on what were the better performances last season-the ones where we passed a lot-and make it the norm, then he will win a lot of people over very quickly. Theres a game on Thursday, and Charlie Mulgrew can’t wait to get started. If, of course, he does start.

“It’s good when you have a match so soon because we need to get our match sharpness up and that’s what we’re looking forward to.

“We also know what these qualifying games are like. Granted, we don’t know a lot about our opposition but we know they’re into their season just now but we want to get into the UEFA Champions League proper. We’ve been there the last two years and we want to be there again.” 

 Thats the plan. But how does he feel its going under Deila and Collins ?

 “A lot of the things are still the same. There’s still some of the same staff and things like that but the new manager has his own ideas and everyone has responded well to them. 

 Perhaps there was a staleness creeping in under Neil Lennon, and maybe the players as well as the fans noticed it.

Kris Commons, who spends most of his time waving that new contract around he was promised, apparently he’ssigned it in triplicate but needs someone elses mark on it, wants to just get on with it. He played down his chances of repeating his 32 goal haul a little though, which is fair enough;

It is going to be difficult to reach the goal level that I did last season.

“When a new manager comes in, especially with new ideas, it is important to try and cement your place in the starting XI

“That is what the lads will be trying to do pre-season, to stay in his mind that you are going to be one of the main contenders for the starting XI. That is vitally important.

“As far as goalscoring goes, to get 32 again this year will be very difficult. But hopefully I will be in the same sort of areas that I was last year and I can get on the end of things.”

But you can tell he’ll give it his best shot.

The new manager has also tried to recreate the glory days of the old Barrowfield training pitch, by making the players walk to the sessions over in Austria. At least the weathers better;

Deila also went on to show Tony Watt and Adam Matthews his new plan to prevent teams scoring against the hoops;

Anyhoo, Ronny and Jonny were the first two out on the training pitch again this morning, and they were assured the players couldn’t wait to get started again;

If you are interested in how its going over there, have a look at this;

Celtic Tour Diary Day 1 or this; training video

We have got someone new in, though. From the Celtic Journal; ( thats the report, not the player. )

Guinea-Bissau born Sancidino Silva has been in Glasgow for the past week and will train with Celtic’s U20 squad as part of his trial after rejecting a new contract at Benfica.

Silva hadn’t played for the Portuguese champions’ first team but was a regular in the B side, usually playing as a striker or on the wing.

The 20-year-old forward has also attracted interest from Besitkas but seems keen on a move to Celtic.

Like Amido Balde, Sancidino was born in Guinea-Bissau but holds a Portuguese passport meaning he wouldn’t need a work permit in the event of Celtic pursuing their interest further.

The ex-Benfica youngster is best known for his trickery and speed and could well be a welcome addition to Ronny Deila’s Celtic squad. 

 I’ve no idea if he’s what we need, or if he’ll be any good. But the phrase “like Amido Balde ” in any context doesn’t fill me with glee. There is also interest, allegedly , in Alefe Santos, a nineteen year old winger with Bristol Rovers, suggesting that our scouting policy hasn’t changed that much at all.

 Elsewhere, perennial Celtic target Ryan Gauld, the Dundee Utd forward, looks set to sign for Sporting Lisbon. his agent, who clearly misunderstood his desire to wear the hoops , has wangled him a £2-3m move to Portugal which would certainly develop him better than moving the player to the English kick and rush Championship, and Dundee Utd will get more than we would have paid them as well.

 Just another sign of Armageddon , I guess.

 The club that replaced the one who started all these apocalyptic stories have apparently seen an increased demand for season books on the back of signing Kris Boyd, who is regarded as a bit of a hero by those who follow the tribute act, as few of them as there are these days.

 Matthew Lindsay, who writes for the Evening Times when he isn’t staring adoringly at pictures of Ibrox, had this to say;

Rangers revel in Boyd ticket bounty 

RANGERS have experienced a flurry of late season ticket sales since striker Kris Boyd made his emotional return to Ibrox last week. 

How many is a flurry ? Is it as many as a “surge “, or roughly the same as a “trickle ” ?

Matthew Lindsay 

Boyd ended weeks of speculation when he signed a one-year deal with the SPFL League One champions – and is set to team up again with Kenny Miller. 

One year ? Thats an awful lot of players going to be out of contract next summer. Wonder if, if they do make it to the SPL, they will all be rewarded with a new deal ? Or will they just be dumped ? 

And his capture has since led to a surge in Light Blue supporters signing up to watch Ally McCoist’s side in the 2014/15 season. The ticket office at Ibrox at the weekend was queued out of the door for long spells as fans snapped up season books for the new campaign. 

Snapped up ? Queued out of the door ? Go on, tell us how many. 

Lifelong fan Alan Anderson, from Cambuslang, was taken aback at the level of interest when he renewed his ticket at Ibrox on Saturday. 

Lifelong ? How old is he ? Two and a bit ?

He told SportTimes: “I was told the season ticket office was going to be open until after two o’clock and popped down half an hour before it shut.

“But when I got there there were a lot of cars in the car park and people were queueing out of the door.

ah-thats where Lindsay got that phrase from. Far be it from him to be original. And the cars ? Probably being used as a car lot to raise a few bob. 

“There was a great atmosphere among the supporters who were waiting to buy tickets. 

And then they shared a cab to the pub to celebrate.

“I think most of them were, like me, buying season tickets because Kris Boyd has signed. 

With Boyd and Bawheid on board, the response might have increased, as McCoist got the “b”s in. Madjid Bougherra is looking for a club as well. Told you they’d move on to the “c”s.

“But people were genuinely excited about the season ahead and the prospect of playing teams like Hearts and Hibs.

Or “Full Time Teams “, as they are collectively known. 

“I wasn’t going to renew my season ticket, but I decided to do so when I saw that Boyd had signed.

“I think a lot of people were the same as me. 

The collective term is “Terminally fucking stupid “

“I don’t necessarily like who is in charge at Rangers at the moment, but I am, as the slogan goes, prepared to support the team and not the regime.” 

Clever wee slogan. It rhymes and everything. May I humbly suggest the next two lines ? 

“because we’re out of the red, since we became dead “

Rangers announced to the Stock Exchange a fortnight ago that “approximately 17,000” season tickets had been bought by fans this summer.

That is in stark contrast to the 34,000 supporters who made the Gers one of the best backed clubs in Britain for the second stage of “The Journey”. The Union of Fans – an umbrella group comprising six supporters organisations – has been urging fans not to renew their season tickets.

Was their slogan ” Don’t buy a ticket because its not the same club “?  If it had been, then not as many people would have been skanked, and around £100m would not have been pissed up the wall.

The UoF and former director Dave King set up Ibrox 1972 Ltd in the close season and urged supporters to pledge their money to it instead.

Unbelievably, some of them did.

They want Rangers to give them security over the stadium and the training ground at Auchenhowie in return for the cash. 

They also would like an end to universal poverty, a cure for cancer and  global disarmament. All three of which are far more likely than the spivs giving up any part of their little cash cow.

Meanwhile, Rangers are believed to be closing in on the signing of former Cardiff City and Scotland midfielder Don Cowie. 

Which could mean another spike in season book sales. Especially if Mrs. Cowie wants one

SportTimes revealed last month that Ally McCoist was keen to land the 31-year-old player and had spoken to him about moving to Ibrox.

They are hoping the experienced star will be able to join them in the Highlands for their pre-season tour this week.

And so are we. You can never get enough laughter. 

 Finally, a big well done to reader Babs and her band of travellers, who climbed Ben Arthur on sunday, and in a touching tribute released a few balloons in tribute to Oscar Knox, who recently passed away.

Danny Fox, the left back who left as soon as he could, was the player in the picture yesterday.

From time to time, I’ll pick up a boigraphy of a former Celt, to have a wee light read. The one I picked up this week featured the line

” Under Stein, the catholics only signing policy was relaxed “, which admittedly doesn’t augur very well for the credibility of the rest of the book. But who would have said such a thing.

Heres a picture to help you.

 Sorry, my bad. For some reason a monkeys arse came up when I googled his name.

Try again;