Quality over Quantity
I have repeatedly said I hope Scott Brown stays for another two years and retires . I did opine the last league game but that years Scottish cup final (should it be reached) would be far more fitting and only natural .
So in this BIG decision he didnt skippy away down under to the nice climate and for sure easier life . Scott my man , fair play to you .
Ill admit right now that when it was Scott and Massimo Donati in the middle of the park they consistently failed to impress me and I woulda flogged them both at that point ,, I am delighted to be wrong on 50 percent of that one. I was upset at the Neymar kick that night , but we all know now how much of a wee shitebag he is , harder next time ffs !
Automatically “ the 10 “ gets drawn into this conversation due to the circumstances .
Of course he could go down in immortality as the Captain who brought us 10 ,, could rightly look big Billy in the eye with that tucked under the belt ( be stared down though ) and feel comfortable knowing he delivered something special .
But then the 10 itself , and this is where the heart and the head start to diverge unfortunately . He cant , just cant play every game the way he has been .
As much as Scott will be a unifying figure on and off the field , we all know forces will align against hitting that target ,, Scott will be a huge target to take out and disrupt the rhythm or even just attempt to demoralize the camp .
Make no mistake , hes sticking himself physically on the line for the push . Again respect where its due . If its any consolation Scott I would also 😉 .
However looking at our squad and the expected departures , we head towards next years qualifiers with a new pairing at central defence probably , and new right back or 5 months into the job right back if one is procured pre slamming of window shut .
His shielding of that area is going to be critical , priceless infact this June . Well about 30 million give or take .
Yet he has hit slow down age . Its a lot to ask an aging captain to cover the defence in your biggest games of the season . But thats what he does , cover his rearguard .
With an increase in his age and importance of the game we could well see the double screen in our first few European tests against those of a decent level . Nir and Scott know each other well and if he is to stay at the club ( been around for quite a while hasnt he ) then being relatively fresh after a long layoff , perhaps he would be a great partner in that deep lying role with Calmac pushed ahead a little in Europe ?
From this moment onwards until the end of that contract ( which may be the last playing but I doubt the last he will sign with the club ) Scott should be managed very carefully with maybe a horses for courses attitude . Certainly what I would do , and no doubt the man himself knows at this stage over the course of the next two seasons he will deliver us exactly what the title says , quality over quantity !
Scott Brown , no matter what happens from this moment in , respect brother !
Bhoys were great last night. The perennial whipping bhoys. Brown, Sinclair, Forrest, Lustig again played really well. I think wee Izzy is petrified of being caught up the park. I think he needs to relax more when playing the customary 12 players behind the ball opposition. That´s what we have to be careful of between now and May. The frustration of watching teams who will have ago against Sevco and get regularly beaten by them because of it versus dropping points away. We are clearly the by far superior footballing outfit within the SPFL and can only really beat ourselves. I enjoyed the more aggressive greedy role played by Burke last night.
Scott Brown for ten in a row. If he has to play in a wheelchair he deserves it. If he is genuine about leaving at this stage in his Celtic career it can only be through being bored and seeking a new challenge. Maybe life off the pitch has become more tiresome and troublesome I suggest professionally being irritated hence the Oz dalliance. Maybe the pursuit of McGinn rang some bells although swapping Christie for him would have been a mistake imho. Or maybe he realizes that Ronny Mark II is in the post and he has seen and done it and doesn´t want to work under a 6th Celtic manager. I wonder what Jock Stein would think about it all
A court hearing over Rangers chairman Dave King ’s multi-million pound offer to buy out club shareholders was postponed yesterday.
Judge Lady Wolffe fixed the hearing in November to determine whether King had complied with a court order to make the share offer.
But the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh was called off.
King had been ordered to lodge the offer or face possible contempt of court proceedings.
On Friday, he announced a buyout worth a potential £19 million just hours before the deadline.
The businessman had been taken to court by the Takeover Panel financial watchdog.
It’s understood both parties agreed not to go ahead with the scheduled hearing.
A new date hasn’t been set, but it’s expected to return to court after February 15 when the share offer ends.
The Takeover Panel had ruled King worked “in consort” with a trio of businessmen to take control of Rangers by acquiring a combined 34 per cent stake.
That move in 2014 breached the 30 per cent barrier triggering a mandatory buyout offer, it said.
King, 63, said he’d made a £19 million offer to buy out the remaining shareholders, with funds transferred from South Africa, where he’s based.
But the entrepreneur previously said he didn’t expect to trigger a large-scale sell-off while some major shareholders have given an “irrevocable undertaking” not to accept the deal.
These undertakings cover nearly £11.1m of shares, meaning King would need to shell out nearly £8m if everyone else decided to sell.
Daily Express claim Derby County are ready to offer him a route back down to England.
Mulumbu has huge experience down south after spells with West Brom and Norwich City in the Premier League.
The Rams are pushing for promotion and the 32-year-old could be given more first-team football.
Mulumbu’s outstanding form with Kilmarnock last season caught the eye of several clubs across Europe, including Swansea and Bordeaux.
BR on #DeadlineDay: “We know specifically what we want. We’ll assess the squad after tonight to see who can go out on loan. I don’t think we’ll be overly busy but hopefully we can get one more in.”
More from Brendan Rodgers on http://celticfc.net
STEPHEN HALLIDAY Published: 06:00 Thursday 31 January 2019 Share this article
Celtic will look to complete a loan deal for Borussia Dortmund right-back Jeremy Toljan in what manager Brendan Rodgers does not expect to be a frantic transfer deadline day for the Scottish champions. Rodgers hopes to make at least one more signing before the January window closes at midnight with 24-year-old Toljan, who joined Dortmund from Hoffenheim for £6 million in 2017, understood to be his priority target. “We won’t be overly busy,” said Rodgers after watching his side beat St Johnstone 2-0 at Celtic Park to move six points clear of Rangers and Kilmarnock at the top of the Scottish Premiership. “We know specifically what we want, so hopefully we can do that. We would hope we could get at least another one in.” Rodgers confirmed that on-loan Leicester City central defender Filip Benkovic will be sidelined for around six weeks with the ankle injury he suffered last weekend. It had initially been feared Benkovic’s season might be over, forcing Celtic to try and recruit another central defender before the transfer deadline. But Rodgers praised the performance of Jozo Simunovic, who replaced Benkovic last night as Celtic racked up a fourth consecutive clean sheet, while Jack Hendry will no longer be allowed to leave on loan for the rest of the season. “It will initially be four to five weeks for Filip,” said Rodgers. “He will have his ankle in a protective boot. We will assess it after four weeks, then it will take another week to 10 days to get back into training again. He will stay with us. “It’s disappointing but Jozo Simunovic came in and was excellent tonight. He was concentrated, alert and passed it well. When he’s like that, he’s a very good player. Filip’s injury could change the plan for Jack. We wanted to get him out for games but I need to ensure our squad is covered before anyone else’s. We will assess that on Thursday morning and see where it is at.” Ukrainian winger Maryan Shved was in attendance at Celtic Park last night and should complete his £1.5m move. The 21-year-old will then be loaned back to Karpaty Lviv for the rest of the season. Rodgers, meanwhile, is hopeful captain Scott Brown will end speculation about his future by signing a new contract at the club. It’s believed Brown has decided to reject the opportunity to move to Australia and join Western Melbourne. “I don’t believe anything is finalised yet,” added Rodgers. “But Scott is very happy here and we have given him the time. Scott is back to fitness and it would be brilliant for the club, his team-mates and me if he stays. He has been a brilliant captain and hopefully he will sign.” Rodgers expressed his satisfaction at Celtic’s performance against St Johnstone as goals from Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie maintained their 100 percent winning record at home in the league this season. Niall McGinn says Aberdeen can muscle in on Celtic treble-treble bid “I was delighted with the performance,” said Rodgers. “It’s still very early in the season, there are still a lot of games to go. We’re only just about to go into February. But everyone has looked at this game in hand for a few months and wondered if we were going to win it against a good side. We did that. “It’s a six-point lead, which is nice, with a good goal difference. It was another clean sheet and we are defending very well.”
that phrase I don’t think we’ll be overly busy, might just mean the window is closed for us, hope not we need cover at right back.hh.
Recently, I Posted a link toan article on the Ajax system. Just for interest’s sake, I thought I would see if I could find The remuneration for their CEO, Edwin Van Der Sar.
This link shows PL at 1.2 million pounds, so more than double, EVDS’s pay of 480,000 euros, which includes a base salary of 301,000, plus a bonus of 140,000
https://www.investing.businessweek.wallst.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=238581255&privcapId=8209395
Mike, that puts things in perspective.
He’s over paid , that’s a fact, and no wonder won’t move. 2 and a bit more years to go,,I expect him to go after 2021.
Hail Hail
How many games is that now after the break? Four, I think, and after the first one you could have been watching a rerun of Groundhog Day. The same tactics deployed by our four opponents with the exception of last night where St J started with two strikers up front. Although their job was mainly to stop us moving the ball forward quickly. It worked for about 15 minutes until the physical demands of it pushed the whole team back into their own half. Chances were few and far between in the first half with lots of sideways movement and virtually no penetration. Both widemen were quiet and Izzy provided the only sparkle from that area. Burke was isolated and forced to shuffle back to get a touch of the ball.
Second half, someone had the bright idea of shooting from distance. Anything can happen when you do that….a deflection, an unsighted goalie, and bingo you get a goal. As it happened, neither of these occurred as CalMac placed his shot powerfully into the keeper’s bottom right hand corner. Class from a player who has ball control skills that rival a continental. Then Celtic did the unusual, they quickly finished off the men from Perth with a quick second goal! Christie runs himself almost senseless during a game like a car that kangaroos as it runs out of gas. He simply gives everything each game……what a find! Of course, PL knew this all along and saved us 2.75 million. Cheek and tongue come to mind!
However, as we watch Groundhog Day over and again, we still do not know how good this defence is…..especially without Boyata and Benky. Both FBs have slowed but we have not seen any damage caused by this, as yet.
Weah? I wonder if we shall ever see the best of him. Our play does not suit him. He needs balls into the channels for him to use his pace to toe poke a ball past the keeper. When will we ever learn to do that? Starting by not play the ball directly to feet would be a beginning, but, alas……. Brown showed the way with his pass inside the left FB for Forrest to run onto.
Burke? I am not convinced that his best position is in the centre. I suspect coming in from the wing is his forte but he is a physical presence up front. Hopefully, Bayo will both score and hold the ball up in the penalty area……we need that.
Strangely, that was not Sinclair’s best game recently, but I began to realise what BR sees in him. He ghosts into dangerous areas as evidenced by his well executed header.
The ref? I have seen worse but he did himself no favours with missing the clear handball and awarding a corner to us when Forrest clearly shot the ball out.
St J away and the Hibbees will be better tests.
Rebus
MAHE
I noted on here the other day that Ajax had a core of ex players involve with the footballing side.Celtic mostly seem to employ ex players on hospitality matters.Would far rather have EVD’S on player recruitment matters than an accountant who uses his arithmetic skills to decide whats best for team.Our best chance to succeed in the present football financial markets is with vision and sadly our board do not seem great at this.I think a head of football department to oversee all things on the playing side should be prioritized.Taking the money from Lawell’s disproportionate salary should make this possible without additional expense.
REBUS67
Posted on CQN in the first half last night that the formation only works if McGregor and Christie attacked the last third and disrupts St J’s two stationary lines.
If we just changed the body angle to slightly more forward of our players receiving pass it would make a huge difference as they would see more of the positive areas of the field.
Burke made some great runs but as our anticipation is zero due to our possession obsession no one played ball for him.Same was happening to Weah.
St Johnstone were no more than a well disciplined hard working team and our side to side one paced style made it easier for them.
We have the players but our system is not getting the best out of them.
MAHE
I’m delighted that Broonie has decided to stay with us. Hopefully he’ll have his hands full when he plays his last game,a tenth successive champions medal.
But there’s no denying that he’s getting on a bit,and for that reason,I too would like to see his game time managed. We know the type of games that we need him for,Europe,the huns,mini-huns,sheep. Teams who will do their best to come at us. We don’t need him in games where opponents stand off us.
Rest him in the latter while giving him the last fifteen minutes or so to keep his fitness up,and to see out the games. That will allow our younger midfield more time to get used to playing without him.
He won’t be the first Club Captain not to be a regular starter. Tommy Boyd and Paul Lambert weren’t first picks every week,and it didn’t do their reputations any harm.
On last night’s game,delighted at the result,solid 2-0. Not so happy that we barely created a chance all evening.
Even with the two goals,they owed so much to the goalscorers themselves that they should get the points for the assists too!
I see that Celtic’s Ministry of Plenty have increased our January transfer window chocolate rations by signing Broonie. 🙂
I thought I was more hungover than first feared but it seems my eyes did not deceive me.
A Liam Millar has signed for Killie.
A forward.
Fan-a-tic,
Yes, I saw your post and it made me think.
By comparison, I watched the second half of the Barca vs Seville game. Certainly, Barca are a case apart but observation of Seville was instructive. Rarely does a ball go to feet and only for short passes. Player movement was excellent and balls were played into space for them to run onto. It all means that the ball moves faster up the park.
It is not just Celtic that play ball to feet. It is all of Scottish football. It must be acquired at an early age.
Rebus
Delighted Broonie has committed.
I have been saying for years that we should employ a DoF and a coach to coach the players, it’s half way to how things work at the club presently, problem is we have a defacto DoF in our CEO and a manager who imo doesn’t fully understand where he stands at times, hence his public reiterations re transfers, there doesn’t seem to be a defined role at the higher echelons of the club.
We have no long term plan re transfers, what we should be targeting is a minimum of five years, ideally seven to ten years, I fully accept things may change but presently we have no plan other than source the markets for low cost projects that cost little in the hope that they can be developed and sold on for a decent profit, on the face of it a very decent plan, but in reality it really isn’t working as well as it should be, an awful lot of hard earned money is being wasted on these projects that could be better spent imo.
Two of our biggest successes in the transfer market were scouted by Neill McGuinness who at one time worked in the IT dept at Celtic, he then joined the scouting dept and his job solely was looking at videos of players, he discovered Virgil van Dyke and Victor Wanyama via this method, he reported to John Park, he then left the club for reasons that I won’t go into here, he wasn’t replaced.
The summer window is when the majority of contracts will run out and the final six months of the window players are free to talk to clubs, we should be using this for sourcing players, we should also be targeting and talking to players now, then we should be targeting players who will be out of contract eighteen months in advance, I don’t believe we are doing this presently, if we are something is not working as it should be.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS
Totally agree about both goals.
All the more surprising as in the first half both Christie and McGrogor looked feart to face in a forward direction.
Gents
Have any of you read ‘Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics’? It traces the evolution of football tactics, and, in some cases, connects them to the socio-political environments in which they developed. Fascinating read. And not overly complimentary to the English game and its refusal to keep up with changes in the modern game. I think the same applies, perhaps even more so, to the Scottish game.
I am not doing the book justice. If you haven’t read it, I think you guys would really enjoy it.
Fan-a-tic,,
we are in total agreement . Forward planning does not seem our forte as evidenced by the fact 3 of the back four for any qualifiers will be new to each other , or in KT and Ajers case , not regular together .
Watch through the fingers stuff.
I think we would all agree on a youth first system ie mostly youth playing fast , attractive footie .
Hire a DOF . Revamp youth scouting and open few centres, aim for homegrown 11. Each coach employed thereafter should have a great resume of developing kids and bringing them through the stages .
Supplement with bosmans on high wages but will buy in contract players for right money right man right time. This football larks easy ffs.
Hail Hail
MiT,, was a great transatlantic read years ago . Very well wrote and informative . Stay warm man !
Hail Hail
TeT , what would you rate the chances of our two punts , Bayo and Shved , being labelled as deadwood in a couple years . You always want to give players the benefit of the doubt but with the long list of names that preceeded them both , its hard not have at least a little degree of skepticism .
A Ukrainian’s chance of settling arent good for a start with language and lack of similar food / culture / countrymen all barriers in their own way . It is a bit outside the box and so I understand the punt , but if these tow get added to the list,,,At some stage someone somewhere must read that list and say you know what lets rejig things at a minimum , rip it up at a maximum
Hail Hail
Mahe
50/50, I read on another blog that the Ukrainian fella was via a recommendation from Svechenko [sp] to Dermot, they know each other through their love of golf, no idea if this is correct, just what I read, I imagine that Kolo will have had an input re Bayo, so it’s anyone’s guess really.
I have been harping on for years that we can get them for free but we have to pay them decent wages, seems that we have a wage ceiling and we won’t break it, seems daft to me but there you go, also loans are not a problem imo if there is an option to buy.
The summer window should already be a done deal re transfers in, but we will get the usual pish about it being difficult etc and it will fail, I will wager that now.
If we get the German fella in the window will look good on the face of things, but the summer is gonna be a nightmare, this is where the lack of a forward thinking plan will come back to bite us on the arse, jeezo, if Brendan goes as well, what a clusterfeck it will be.
TeT, at least I have read some posters saying if Brendan walks fill the car park etc.
If anything will shake em ,, that has a good chance. But he’s far too long in the tooth to dish out dirt, will be professional of course.
Very interesting season the next one is shaping up to be! And to think I might actually attend one of these fingernail killing qualifiers,,
Hail Hail
Seems the fella didn’t go awol then 😉
CELTIC are delighted to confirm the club has signed young American players Andrew Gutman and Manny Perez on three-and-a-half-year contracts.
Manny (above left) has represented USA at Under-20 level and has been named Player of the Year in the USA Soccer Development Academy. Andrew (above in the Hoops) is the most recent recipient of the Hermann Trophy in America, one of the most prestigious awards for young players in the USA.
Both players will continue their development through loan moves back in the USA. We welcome Manny and Andrew to the club and look forward to both players joining up with Celtic in the future.
Manny said: “It is a huge honour to sign with Celtic FC, one of the biggest clubs in football. From my time visiting Glasgow, it was clear to see the scale, the spirit and the professionalism of the club.
“I am happy to be a part of Celtic and during this next period I will be working hard at my loan club in the USA to continue my development. I look forward to joining up with Celtic in the near future.”
Andrew said: “When I realised Celtic FC wanted to sign me permanently, I was really honoured. I know Celtic is a huge name in football, they have tremendous supporters and it is a club where I believe I can flourish as a player.
“For the immediate period I will be focusing on my loan in America where I look forward to playing as many matches as I can. After that, I can’t wait to join Celtic and be part of such a storied institution.”
Mahe
I doubt there is a supporter out there who wants Brendan to leave, I pray he doesn’t, but as ever we will just have to wait and see, all these loans are not a great sign imo, but hopefully that is bollix 😉
TET AND MAHE, ok we got these young guys for the future, but what happens if they get injuries playing for their current clubs..hh.
TET.
I usually pride myself on ignoring the tabloids.
However they ” got ” me with Gutman and the AWOL story.
I read it on Twitter, through a link to the tabloid and thought, surely that’s not made up. Well, what do you know, once again it was.
Hail Hail
JNP
I read it on a blog, they obviously got it from the rags, why people still buy and believe them is beyond me, but they do and they still have the megaphone no matter, the blogs are all well and good, but for the smsm, all they have to do is ignore a story and as if by magic it kinda goes away, just look at how the huns have gotten away with all that cheating and the corruption.
HH
Totally agree fan a tic. I have been saying for years now that lustig’s body position only gives him the option of side ways and back. What is more worrying that in the last 18 months I feel Kieran has adopted a similar body position and does not seem as forward thinking as he wa when he first broke in and in Brendan’s first season. I understand Mikael being more cautious – though I don’t like it but with Kieran it really gets my goat. He is to my mind better than Andy Robertson but the caution creeping into his game means he has been overtaken by him. Let’s hope he returns in full fettle and looks to play forward more often.
So far our biggest spend this window is our esteemed CEO’s bonus
Delighted broonie has signed a new deal. I thought he was outstanding last night, controlled the game from start to finish. I have to confess I would have sold him two years into his stay at Celtic park and it took Brendan coming in and improving his game beyond measure before I changed my mind. It’s comcal now when I think back on all the games he would come out the tunnel and run straight to the corner flag and I used to shout for them to open the gates so he could keep running. Maybe us women know hee haw about football after all !!!
Btw just watching the cricket from the windies. That wicket has more grass than the new Celtic park pitch.
I wonder if it will be worthwhile staying up until midnight in case there is a last minute signing. Don’t know if that kind of thing still happens.
jim hi pal just curl up in bed put the electric blanket on and read a good book,hh.
BP, probably good advice mate!
What new pitch?
MAHE
Very few Joe Ledleys out there,mate. Which is the type of Bosman we would be looking for.
Very few decent youngish players are allowed to run down their contracts. They are usually given a much-improved one by their employer-which is a main cause of wage inflation in the game-or punted way before that.
Go to bed Jim, the young German fella is in, that will be all.
HH
Yup, just seen it on the club website. Welcome Jeremy and good luck. I think that’s all our ins and outs dealt with. For good or for bad!
There are still 55 mins left, get the finger out, Celtic!!
55 not to be confused with delusional peepul, btw
Haha,
If I didn’t recognise your moniker from CQN,I’d have suggested you were on the wrong site!
You’re not,and you’re most welcome aboard!!!
HH
Bmcup, wtf happened to you on that other site? If I compared it to a pub you were it’s best customer!! Did you get barred, or get fed up with it? Genuine enquiry.
Right that’s the window shut, you can all go to sleep now. Except you Bobby. You are night shift and driving. It would be dangerous for you to fall asleep now.
Night night.
Nite Jim, not a bad window. Sure there’s plenty of gaps but we should have enough… Shame about Bencovich’s injury but that’s football. Every team has to deal with injuries and that’s what defines Champions.
For all the misgivings I have about Scottish football and the shenanigans I still want whatever version of ‘Rangers’ to get stuffed.
Their blatant cheating and noxious behaviour seems to only stiffen the resolve to gubb them.
Music to the PLC’s ears I know…
Nite all & HH
THE EXILED TIM
Worth every penny as he continues our incredible domination of the Balance Sheet League with yet another resounding victory.He has asked that this season’s trophy be made of glass so he can admire his sharp suited image while looking at the trophy on his gold plated mantlepiece.
SFTB if you are reading
Can i repost your CQN posting
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on 23rd July 2018 9:55 pm ???
One of the most interesting posts I ever read about modern Celtic
I think now is a good time to comment on it.
Mags
Almost right TET. It’s DD’s son who is best friends With Svechenko, was his best man por cierto
Mags,, I’m sure my old sparring partner won’t mind. Fire it up,,I miss “sorting him out ” !
I’ll take it down if there’s any issue