Perhaps the biggest signing coup since a dreadlocked chap jumped on a plane to get away from his nightmare at Feyenoord could well be about to be pulled off by Ronny Deila.
Martin Odegaard, the 15 -he’s not 16 until next Wednesday- year old wonderkid has been all around Europe, courted by the biggest clubs on the continent, and it appears they may all have been wasting their time.
His dad, Hans Erik Odegaard, is a coach in Norway, and just happens to be Ronnys bestest buddy, and ronny , who has been the lads mentor thus far , has advised him that Celtic is the place for him to learn his trade.
Deila is on record as having said;
“I have control over that situation. I know what is happening there, This is more about his choices What is his thinking? “Is it go to a big club and try to break in there and go through that road or go to a smaller club in not such a good league but it makes it easier to make the first team? “He’s a very good player but we must stand in line – there are 20 clubs, maybe more, who want him. “He has been to clubs all over Europe – to Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and Liverpool. PSG wanted him but he hasn’t had time to visit so there is some hard competition.”
To make his point, he even used green words, and that means he isn’t kidding.
Odegaard, for his part, has been practicing the Broony ready for when he wears the hoops.
Having seen a video of the lad, -theres one on You Tube-he does look like a hell of a prospect, and he’s already played for Norway. A left sided midfielder, his arrival will have Anthony Stokes comparing house prices in Bolton and Cardiff.
The way the papers would have it, Stokes, Commons , Mulgrew and Adam Matthews are all heading to Lancashire to join up with their old boss;
But we hear Lenny has his eye on someone else….
As regards all these prospects, we’ve seen the movie before, with the likes of Freddy Adu and Islam Feruz, and the latter especially is an example of what happens when a prospect gets too much too soon, and the reality is that Odegaard senior will trust Ronny with his lad, and perhaps more importantly, the lad will trust Ronny.
Another interesting little bit of tittle tattle is around a possible new shirt sponsor for the 2015-16 season. It comes from winnerSports, who claim to have also broken the Mike Ashley takeover of Second Rangers back in 2013.
Winner Sports have been in close communication with the growing mobile gaming brand (Fruity King) in recent weeks after they informed us that they’re looking to facilitate the growth of their ever growing brand within the footballing world.
The brands Head of Commercial Strategy told us directly; “We have the budget to break a record main shirt sponsorship deal.”
Our sources can confirm that the mobile gaming brand are having ongoing discussions with“several British” clubs. The “tentative, but encouraging” discussions are mainly focusing, at this point in time on kit sponsorship deals, but are not limited to, “Stadium naming rights, training kit sponsorship & potential independent sponsorship deals.”
The brand is also expressing an interest in buying class A Ordinary Shares from any Selling Shareholder in-order to establish itself in British Football.
When asked, if the mobile gaming brand had any club in mind, he went on to say; “We have a short list, we can compete with other gambling brands who currently work with some of the biggest clubs both in England & Scotland”
When pushed further, he told us; “We are enthusiastic about investing into Scottish football”
According to information obtained by Winner Sports, the clubs that are set to be offered a record shirt sponsorship deal for the 2015/16 season are, Leeds United FC, West Ham United F.C, Aston Villa FC & Celtic FC.
Er, Fruity King ?
Not really something I’d like written on any shirt I’d be wearing. Not after that incident in Lanzarote when we stumbled into a “showbar “.
Speaking of the replica kits, there’s also talk of ditching Nike, which would be a great move for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, theres the obvious sweatshop scandal, where Nike pay even less to their workers than what Celtic pay to theirs, and apart from that, theres the piss poor quality of the materials used. Go on, admit it. You miss Umbro as well.
We all bought the first Nike hooped effort, and then watched it turn into the bright green away top after a couple of washes, and they didn’t even let us know it would happen until we’d bought the away one.
Wee aside about the green away one, this one;
A mate of mine rang me to tell me that he’d ordered one online somewhere, who had offered 25% off the price, but when the order was processed, it actually deducted £25. If I recall correctly, everyone got one of those for Christmas that year. Even the wife, actually. Remember that old fantasy of a lass in a Celtic top….
Mind you, she killed the moment by asking me if I wanted her to be Neil Lennon or Chris Sutton.
Anyway, I’m rambling again.
Theres a couple of firms touting for the contract, including no doubt Nike, and we’ll keep you informed. After all, Etims broke the Magners story long before it became official, although we are reluctant to tarnish our image further by getting anything else right.
On to Thursday game with Dinamo Zagreb, and it looks like the side won’t have to face one of those hostile Eastern European crowds. It seems only 3000 turned up at the weekend for their game, as they are all sick of how shite their team is.
Celtic are set to send out a fringe team, as the game doesn’t matter, but it does give the management a chance to try something different.
Like passing to each other, and scoring goals. Who knows, it might even catch on.
Speaking of fans not turning up because their team isn’t very good, it appears that over at Ibrox they’ve been doing a Tesco-theres perhaps a little more irony in that comparison than is immediately apparent-by inflating the numbers.
Even though there was no television coverage of the recent game with Cowdenbeath, largely due to a complaint put in by manager Ally Mccoist who was unhappy with the tagline below his picture, only 15,092 actually turned up.
Still a big crowd for a lower league game, but they had reported the attendance as 28,000 or so. Obviously that was just a mistake, and not an attempt to explain any money that may have suddenly appeared in the tills.
Its a bit like when the CIA described torture as Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.
This is Enhanced Accounting Techniques.
There is , of course, no connection with any of this to any illegal activity whatsoever, and its presumably not why one of their directors left yesterday. Norman Crighton, perceived as the man representing the Laxey Partnership walked away, he hasn’t said why, but as soon as he gets home, gets disinfected and puts on some clean clothes, he’ll let us know.
There was a little bit of pre Christmas cheer for the godless over there though, when the SFA ordered Dundee Utd to pay £170,000 plus VAT for Charlie Telfer, who had come through the ranks at Murray Park. Or should that be “come through the ranks relatively unscathed by Murray Park ?
United had argued that since Second Rangers were only two years old, they should only pay two years development money, but since Telfer TUPEd his contract over to the new club, its hard to see why the Ibrox club aren’t due the money. They did take on his contract.
Thats why they never got money for Naismith, MacGregor and all the others who hit the highway as soon as the old club died.
Naismith, of course, bravely gave his reasons why;
Bill MacMurdo, one time agent and now the voice of , well, its not really a voice. more just a noise, really., has added his tuppence worth to the great debate surrounding the competence of Stewart Regan and Neil Doncaster, who in some peoples eyes have failed in their jobs as heads of the SFA and SPFL respectively.
In other peoples eyes they have made a complete arse of it and should be charged in the high court with taking money under false pretences.
Mine, for one. Or should that be two ?
MacMurdo reckons that;
“I don’t think the people leading our game are up to the job. Neil Doncaster and, to a lesser extent, Stewart Regan must accept responsibility for the failure to fully exploit the commercial worth of the product.
“It will be in their job specification. I don’t know how long they can last. Okay, they are administrators more than salesmen but it’s up to them to put the right people in charge and motivate them to get the job done.”
He’s spot on, but flushed with happiness, he takes it too far…
“The problem is that many club owners don’t apply the same techniques in football that have brought them such success in business.
“Successful businessmen will equip their companies with teams of salespeople and a creative marketing department, so why not their football clubs?
Actually, the problem was caused by one man doing exactly what he did in the business world with his football club;
Which is why they are all fucked.
I’ve never really figured out how it can be difficult to sell Scottish football. a recent study showed that Scotland has the fourth highest attendance at football games per head of population in the world. Then theres all the press coverage, the phone in shows, the online forums and blogs.
How hard can it be to sell that ?
I’m in that game, so perhaps I find it easier than most.
One interview I went to, the guy passed me his laptop and invited me to “sell it to him ”
I picked it up, tucked it under my arm and walked toward the door.
“Oi, give me that back ”
“Give me £100 ”
Not a caption competition today, its a quiz.
Who is this guy, and what never to be taken away from him record does he hold ?
Neil McCallum, scorer of Celtic’s first ever goal.
I think the Daily Ranger described it as blatantly offside and a hand was used in the build up to the goal.
Neil McCallum, scored our first goal.
Surprised only Broony and Forrest didn’t go to Croatia.If
anybody needed a rest at home,it’s Johansen.Could Ronny
play 4-4-2,just for the Hell of it,on Thursday ?
Odegaard ? Not sure if it’s a good idea.If he is a sensation,
Lawwell will be happy with the extra bums on seats.Even
though,there will be a 95% sell-on clause.Celtic retaining 5%
for 2/3 year development,until he’s ready to leave.However,
what sort of message does this send out to our up and coming young players ?
That they’re not as good as him ?
Obviously,Ralph.I am talking about,how does it affect their
mentality,regarding their chances,of aspiring to make the first team squad.Was this not part of Deila’s remit ? To improve
our young players ? Henderson should not have to go out on loan.Kayal should not be on the bench taking his place.
I have watched our youths.Thomson,McMullan and Nesbitt have the potential to be first team material.But,will they get a chance ? Not if we are bringing short-term show ponnies in,
like the freak at the circus,for commercial gains.
Afterall,all Celtic fans love to see one of their own make it !!
I’d prefer our own to make it, but if we can get this guy, we should.
Maybe that is why we bring in loan players, to allow the younger teams to develop before being played rather than thrown in too early? just a thought
Correct.
I would like to see Celtic scrap all youth sides under 17 and concentrate solely on a development squad made up of the best youngsters we can find in Scotland or elsewhere.
We should let other Clubs get them to 17 then step in when it becomes apparent they have genuine potential,offer the parent Club the proper money or a Sell on Percentage then take it from there.
I would also fuck the female team off too as it serves no purpose whatsoever in my eyes.
Steamline the whole shebang and gear it towards a First team and Development Squad.
The message it sends is they, at the moment are not good enough. We would never sign anybody if
we took the line it would hold back the youngsters…
You are missing the point.The wonder-boy is about to turn 16.
So,Ronny’s ex club want a massive return.Rightly so.But,for
them is now the best time to sell ? No.Why do we not USE the
big club Celtic for 2 years,who will play him and give him Champions League exposure.When he has proved himself,at this level,Stromgodset are quids/euros in ! Pay Celtic their development fee,as we won’t pay a transfer fee,and like
Denayer,we have helped another club,in developing him for first team duty.
This process does not sit nicely with me.Never,in my 40 years supporting the Tic,did I ever imagine,we would ever lower ourselves,in to becoming a feeder club.Alas,is this the NEW Celtic Way !!
Holy, I’m not sure I understand your concern, I assumed the 95% sell-on clause was exaggeration.
We would not take this player on just to improve him to line Stromgodsets pockets, can’t believe such a contract could be drawn up. But if we bring the boy here for a few years and he helps us improve domestically and in Europe then he is giving our club value; I’d hope a subsequent transfer on the strength of his performances for us would see us benefit to enable investment in first team and youth development.
Also if he enjoys it here he may be want to stay per King of Kings, so he is inexpensive potential which we hopefully benefit from.
Gerry,
Yes,I was being a tad cynical with 95%.However,my main
concern is,will we be ready,for qualifiers next season ? As we sure as Hell were not ready this season.We should have a
settled team,planned in advance.Our team should be tweaked
every summer,with say 2 in,2 out.Continuity brings consistency.
BT will add an extra 8M to CL group pot next season.Potentially
next year’s group is worth 33M to us.This finance keeps us at the top of the Scottish game.Using these resources to invest in
players and maintaining the correct structures throughout the
club.
I feel our policy at present,is taking the eye of the ball,namely
not focusing 100% on Champions League qualification.
Derek Mc Innes said McCallum’s goal should never have stood since Celtic had been wrongly awarded a throw in 5 minutes previously.
McCallum looks like he could be great-grandfather of Alan Stubbs.
That is incredible, I hadn’t noticed but now that’s all I can see!
i dont know who the guy in the photo is but if someone links the original picture the guy in the cap up above him looks like big alan stubbs great great granda check it out i cannny do the linky thing
Sending some fringe players to Zagreb , but not Henderson who is or should be FIRST TEAM SQUAD REGULAR,also give fasan a game see if he,s up to it,Zaluska has been very poor this season
RONNY OUT OUT OUT OUT
I went to Goodison the other week Henderson was not a standout performer on the night.
Tierney when he came on looked very promising an attack minded very direct kind of player.
Findlay and Twardzik also stood out for me above the rest so perhaps Hendersons form has dropped?
Or could it be he’s not mobile enough to cope with the demands of the way we play?
Deadhead,
Shut the fuck up min!
The Bill McMurdo blogs are done by Bill McMurdo the younger, the offspring of the scrawny, bearded and loyal former agent orange (as christened by Not the View).
Post lost in reply to Gerry.Please…
Thanks,Ralph.
New Balance will produce the new Celtic shirts …..you heard it here first
http://www.designfootball.com/design-galleries/competitions/celtic-2015-2016-new-balance-nb-football-shirt-kit-competition/orig-celtic-15-15-home-new-balance-20515