The Sunday Post, the paper we all used to get, has employed Alan Brazil as a columnist, alongside other notables such as Gordon smith, which probably explains why it’s the paper we used to get.<\/p>\n
Brazil, who doesn’t watch Scottish football but is never short of an opinion on it, reckons there’s a massive tug of war going on between Celtic and “rangers ” over Liverpools youngsters, and then they’re going to plunder the rest of English clubs for their talent.<\/p>\n
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WHEN Celtic and Rangers do battle on the pitch, everybody stops to watch.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Far fewer take notice when a tussle takes place behind the scenes.<\/em><\/p>\n But the scrap that is happening right now proves the return of the Old Firm is breathing new life into Scottish football.<\/em><\/p>\n In one corner, it\u2019s Celtic and Brendan Rodgers.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n In the other, Rangers and Frank McParland.<\/em><\/p>\n And the prize? Plundering Liverpool \u2013 then the rest of the Premier League \u2013 for the best of their young talent.<\/em><\/p>\n The Gers won first blood when they plucked teenage midfielder Jordan Rossiter from the Reds\u2019 academy on a permanent deal.<\/em><\/p>\n But before Rangers\u2019 head of recruitment \u2013 and former Liverpool academy director \u2013 McParland could even begin to enjoy the moment, along came Rodgers and the plot thickened.<\/em><\/p>\n The new Bhoys boss wasted no time in whipping out his own Anfield contacts book with a view to nabbing \u00a33.5 million-rated Joe Gomez on loan<\/em><\/p>\n As far as one-upmanship goes, that\u2019s a beezer \u2013 and Hoops fans will be loving it.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Actually, I think we’ll stop there.<\/p>\n Recent indications from Celtic are that Dermot is putting the band back together, and getting players in on loan is not the way forward.<\/p>\n And Celtic fans will not be “loving it ” if the best we can hope for is a few loans and a couple of kids.<\/p>\n What Brazil has failed to grasp is that the Old firm no longer exists. what we have now is a single superpower in Scotland and a club with a sizeable support trying desperately to appear relevant, when simply they don’t have the revenue or the backing to compete.<\/p>\n So, of course, he has to bring Celtic down to their level, as opposed to the other way round.<\/p>\n He’s not \u00a0 the only one doing that.<\/p>\n Apparently Celtic and “rangers ” are in competition for Danny Graham of Sunderland and Steven Taylor of Newcastle, two players who would be way above Ibrox expectations, and way below ours.<\/p>\n But it keeps them relevant.<\/p>\n Another that really shouldn’t have any opinion on Celtic is former defender Mark Wilson, who gave his views to the Capital City Press…<\/p>\n MARK Wilson insists Kris Commons could have saved Ronny Deila\u2019s Celtic career \u2013 and believes the attacker is a \u2018luxury\u2019 Brendan Rodgers can afford to keep.<\/em><\/p>\n Wilson is convinced Commons should have featured more last season as Celtic struggled to hold off Aberdeen in the league.<\/em><\/p>\n The 32-year-old, who had a public falling out with manager Deila during the Europa League defeat to Molde in October, made just five league starts after the New Year.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Struggled to hold off Aberdeen ? Yeah, thats how it was.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, personally, I think he has plenty to offer to Celtic. I\u2019m a big fan of Kris Commons as a player.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought he should have played a lot last season and he didn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cRonny Deila opted for anybody else rather than Kris Commons, which was weird when he was such a goal-scorer and such a big player for Celtic over the years.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI would like to see him stay, because I still think he can contribute. And for a large portion of the Celtic fans, they would like to see him stay.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHe should have made more appearances last season and maybe if he did Celtic would have been in a better place, and maybe Ronny Deila would have still been there.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHe is a luxury player, but with what he brings to the team the other nine outfield players can chip in and make up for the bad bits of his game.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBrendan Rodgers does change the system and that\u2019s why I think he\u2019s the perfect fit for Celtic.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnd he might just be wise to keep Commons, because there\u2019s no doubt he\u2019s valuable for certain games.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Luxury player , of course, is a euphemism for lazy bastard. But we all need someone who the other players can carry when he’s not doing his job…. don’t we ?<\/p>\n One name linked that might have a little bit of truth in it is, oh I’m not even going to try to spell it, here’s all nigeria soccer instead;<\/p>\n Scottish Premiership champions Celtic have made enquiries about signing Chidiebere Nwakali from Manchester City, according to the midfielder\u2019s camp.\u00a0<\/span><\/em> With his loan deal with IK Start set to run out in the coming weeks, Nwakali recently traveled to Manchester to discuss his future with the club and it is not ruled out that he would take part in pre-season training.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cCeltic wanted to sign Chidiebere last week, they approached Manchester City but the club gave them a negative response,\u201d Chidiebere\u2019s elder brother Allwell Nwakali told\u00a0<\/span>allnigeriasoccer.com<\/b>.<\/span><\/em> We’ve already got one player in from Start, so it’s not unreasonable to assume we may have spotted another, and we have been known to do business with Manchester city in the past.<\/p>\n But to take two players from a side which hasn’t won in 28 league games is a bit like, well, signing the Dundee United front three and expecting a run in the champions League.<\/p>\n Which reminds me, Etims have , due to legal pressure , been forced to reveal our pish stained source, the man in the know who keeps us informed of transfer goings on…<\/p>\n
The Nigeria youth international has impressed since joining Norwegian\u00a0<\/span>Tippeligaen side IK Start in March, starting the last ten games in the topflight and scoring one goal against Aalesunds FK.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in Manchester to see the officials after he was given a two-week break by IK Start to find out if he will take part in pre-season. We are working hard for him to start playing for Man City. \u201d<\/span><\/em>
Chidiebere is currently in Lagos and will travel to Owerri on Sunday to attend the birthday of his younger brother Kelechi Nwakali, who is in Calabar with the national team.<\/span><\/em>
The ex-Flying Eagles star is now managed by very influential agent Pere Guardiola.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n