Ah Transfer deadline day…you know the old phrase…<\/p>\n
As one window closes, another slams in your face…windows, doors, och\u00a0its all the same isn’t it.<\/p>\n
CyberParadise was a strange mixture of Pitchforks and PraiseHawks last night as the Celtic fanbase seemed split on their thoughts regards Celtic and the latest\u00a0Transfer window. Everyone will have their own specific view on the successes and depresses of our latest foray into the weird world called Transfer.<\/p>\n
Its always good to live in interesting times and while certain folk cited our lack of signings in specific areas, others heralded a rise in quality with our latest signings and highlighted that just cause Sky Sports demand we all jump into the 24 hour river of signing madness, we don’t all need to get the budgie smugglers out!<\/p>\n
So, lets have a look at some key points and feel free to add your own thoughts in Comments section below.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Defence:<\/strong> In the middle of defence we have a few options but our main 2 central defenders will surely be Kolo and Erik ( sounds very Sesame Street dont yout think?). As back up for those guys we have young O’Connell who had a baptism of fire recently, Dead to us Dedryk\u00a0and of course we still have\u00a0The Littlest Hob \u00a0aka Jozo Simunovic.<\/p>\n Jozo, despite repeatedly telling fans the rumours were nonsense, went all the way to Turin for a medical and some duty Free fags and vodka before heading back to Celtic with no deal closed with Torino. The problem seems to be a broken Transfer Chain and\/or Celtic not open to accepting any loan deal.<\/p>\n The Daily Record made a right mess of themselves claiming Jozo’s medical was failed but lets be honest, the Daily Record getting something wrong is hardly something new. Still, would be nice to see the Record and the Sun banned from asking any questions at Celtic Park for a while.<\/p>\n Lest we forget, also available to help cover Right Back, centre Half and Hoopy the Huddle Hound, we still have Efe the Entertainer who rejected a move to Rotherham and Standard Liege. maybe we never offered enough.<\/p>\n Midfield (Engine Room)<\/strong> This was a big disappointment for a lot of Celtic fans and possibly to Brendan too but no-one will know as he’s too classy to down-cry the Board in public. Lest we forget, we punted Johansen, generating about \u00a32m the other day so couldn’t we have used that cash to finance a replacement, even an expensive loan deal for the playmaker role?<\/p>\n And no, we wont be recalling Scott Allan…stop laughing at the back, this isn’t funny!<\/p>\n So whilst the SPL may be okay, we will go into the Champions League with a known weak link in the spine of our side and we should prepare for at least one horror show.\u00a0 All we have left as a regular starter is the industrious if limited Callum McGregor and as backup Liam Henderson who was a recent sub in CL qualifier and of course Stuart Armstrong.<\/p>\n Armstrong is the classic “I wish it would work out for him” guy at Celtic and has all our best wishes but in truth he hasn’t reached expected heights. Countering any claims that he doesn’t get to play in his desired position is the question that surely he needs to earn that right on the training ground?\u00a0 Armstrong was actually wanted by big Mick at Ipswich Town but that move failed to complete.<\/p>\n In out news, Chuck Mulgrew sorted out a 3 year deal at Blackburn which is probably one of the best negotiations of the whole window..kerching!<\/p>\n Forwards<\/strong> Covering either wing is also Gary Mackay Steven who rejected the idea of loan moves to Ross County and Dundee United. While GMS wont be in Brendans immediate plans, he could get a few League games as sub and a Cup run out here and there. As for Kris Commons…if he ever gets fit enough for a side of Brendan Rodgers then I will admit to being pleasantly surprised. One positive note was we managed to avoid Aiden McGeady heads home stories, with the man-child heading to Preston…phew!<\/p>\n Thats the wings sorted..now what about through the middle. Cue the groans!<\/p>\n Lets start with Ciftci, no I cant see it. Ever.<\/p>\n That means have 3 decent performers, Super Leigh, young Dembele and Hot and Cold Tom Rogic. Rogic when on form is a great player but some games just don’t seem to suit him and for all the great games from the Aussie, there’s the same amount of anonymous showings. Hopefully that can tip towards the positive as this season goes on. Dembele has done really well since joining and has shown real confidence, especially with THAT penalty. The issue is we don’t seem, least for now, to be able to play Dembele and Super Leigh together at the same time. Whether this will work out is up to Brendan but for now, Im viewing Dembele as Plan B and also as a backup to Leigh (but not a direct backup as Dembele plays with his back to goal and Griff on the shoulder so any replacements mean tweaking approach.)<\/p>\n Which brings us to the 30 million dollar question,,,what if SuperLeigh gets injured?<\/p>\n We already hear worries about his hamstring (thankfully already out of Scotland squad as a precaution) and we will have to ensure our superstar is protected and rested as much as possible. It is good to see folk like Rogic, Sinclair and Forrest scoring but every team has their focal point and we all know ours, as does everyone else.\u00a0 There were rumours of Robson Kanu ( who was available on a free!) and even Jordan Rhodes but over the window, only Dembele was purchased for a striker role.<\/p>\n The failure to bring in another striker to help lift the burden from Leigh’s shoulders is one we may wish to regret, not just in the CL but also in tight games in the SPFL, i.e up at Pittodrie. Given we have been told for years that all clubs need 4 strikers, can we assume Sinclair will be deemed a possible No 10 as we don’t have many other options, bar Kris Commons getting a lung and legs transplant.<\/p>\n Tactics<\/strong><\/p>\n To help combat a real lack of strength in depth in certain areas, the manager may already have some variations in mind\u00a0 and he will be tested as much as the players to get us through to January given the up and coming heavy demands on the squad.<\/p>\n Quality Kids<\/strong><\/p>\n “What about the weans?” some will say. Well we may be able to promote some of the kids but the League cup is already well on its way and Brendan hasnt made many gambles in the squad so far so I think he will stick with what he knows for now. Young Aitchinson up front may grab some game time eventually but I cant see it being anything other than last 10 mins or on a truly emergency basis…Tony Watt vs Barcelona anyone?<\/p>\n Some\u00a0will cite Kristoffer Ajer also being available for both Midfield and Central Defence but I think the kid needs to be nurtured rather than rushed and I wouldnt expect to see him in the Hoops first team bar possibly some early Cup run outs or a post January run-in when hopefully the League will be wrapped up early.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n We got some quality signings in and we have some clear areas still needing improved upon. Its gonna be a tough 4 months but fingers crossed we have enough. Interesting times meet Interesting Tims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ah Transfer deadline day…you know the old phrase… As one window closes, another slams in your face…windows, doors, och\u00a0its all the same isn’t it. CyberParadise…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/quality.bmp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2wn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9695"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9703,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9695\/revisions\/9703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWe now have Gordon to back up new first choice keeper De Vries and we have Baily and Fasan to help Stevie Woods carry the balls at training. At left back, we retained Izzy, a January exit is mooted, to back up Kieran Tierney and on the right we brought in Cristian Gamboa to challenge\\backup Mikel Lustig while waiting for the last minute to send Saidy Janko packing to Burnley on loan never to be seen again after that Hapoel showing.<\/p>\n
\nWell, here comes the rub. Celtic fans have been lavish in praising Scott Broon for his early displays but he has been very poor the last few games. The fact that he has been beside Nir Biton, or “that Ronnie pairing” as some call it may or may not be a factor. That pair just arent cutting it in the new Rodgers side and the centre mid area was crying out for a new face of true quality and vision. We all smiled on hearing rumours of interest in names like Hernanes and McCarthy. It got so desperate that even a bid for devout Hun James Morrison was being suggested but ultimately no-one was signed.<\/p>\n
\nLets first split our forward minded midfielders away from the engine room as its one area where we have a few options. Sinclair has hit the ground running and we have Patrick Roberts and James Forrest also showing well in performances. Hopefully none will suffer any injuries but we do have some variations there at least. Ryan Christie has been involved and even scored recently but seems to be viewed more as a sub, least for now.<\/p>\n