SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

To conclude my summary of the transfer window to date is really to pin our hopes on our new Japanese Bhoys who along with Kyogo make up a quartet now coming to a small and strange nation. While Kyogo of course settled in right away,that each of them has a friendly face or three around should make the transition easier. 

However,that is not without its potential pitfalls. We have recently had four young Frenchmen at the club,and the rumours of a dressing room clique developing were too strong to ignore. Dembele was the first to arrive,and was joined the following year by Ntcham and Edouard. In fairness to Dembele,the only problems we had with him during his first two years were with his hamstrings. But as soon as his first two seasons were up,he made it clear that he had no desire to hang around. 

Now in his third season at Lyon,I think their fans have yet to see the best of him. 

With Ntcham,he was with us for four seasons. From an almighty high in his first season at Celtic Park to becoming a peripheral forgotten man by the end of his tenure,I doubt any of us were sorry to see the back of him. He has a hard job in front of him to rebuild his career,and the early signs at his new club are far from encouraging. I’d like to say that I wish him well,but frankly I can’t bring myself to do that. He was,in the main,a waste of a jersey for three seasons with us. If he is honest with himself,he will know that. But I suspect that his shocking attitude to the game for those three seasons will prove too difficult a malaise for him to overcome. He is too set in his ways to rediscover his love for the game,to raise his game to the previous high standards which came so naturally to him. 

Edouard is a strange one altogether. He joined us mainly with a view to rehabilitation after some ridiculous daft boayishness while on loan from his parent club,PSG. Initially also on loan with us,we dithered somewhat in moving for his permanent transfer and that saw us paying a higher fee than the one agreed on during the loan. But £9m was cheap by any standards for a player of his quality,a quality that screamed for attention during his first three seasons. But his final season,as we were going for the ten,was simply a disgrace. 

Talk about Le Sulk?!!! He clearly didn’t want to be here,and he didn’t care who knew it. And as a result,his market value fell like a stone,which can be seen by the fact that he is at Crystal Palace and not Manchester United. He has struggled a bit there-despite a flying start-and is surely struggling to raise his game from the disinterested levels of last season. Will he get there,back to a level which can have the bigger clubs once again sniffing round him? Well,frankly I don’t give a damn. His final year trashed all the good memories of him,in my opinion. Palace are welcome to him. 

Last but not least is Jullien,who didn’t join us until our Nine In A Row season. That first season,once again,gave us high hopes for the new Frenchman in our side. He was terrific-mainly-that year,but his performances in the first few months of last season echoed those of his fellow Frenchmen. I don’t think that is a coincidence,and is the main point of this article. While he hasn’t been seen for over a year due to a knee injury,his performances towards the end hardly make him a miss for the team. He has been readily replaced,and will find it difficult to get his place back or achieve a transfer elsewhere. Tough!

I think then that AP will do well to ensure that his four Japanese players don’t become TOO supportive of each other. The good thing,of course,is that Japanese culture has no history of such behaviour,no assuming that the world owes them a living and is lucky to have them. I’m looking forward to them knuckling down,integrating themselves into the team and the dressing room and installing themselves in the hearts of the supporters as much as their compatriot Kyogo has already done. We are getting closer to the day when we will finally see them on the pitch,where we can judge for ourselves. If they can settle in as quickly and as successfully as Kyogo,we will have won a watch. 

And I have no doubt that we have!

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Above article by BMCUWP