SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

We are now into Day 24 of The World Cup,and with only three remaining games before the winner is decided. Yet Celtic are back in action the day before the final,surely the first time that we have played competitive matches during the finals stages of any tournament.

The supreme irony of it all being that it is probably the first time that Celtic has had the possibility at this late stage of a tournament of having a player involved in the final itself! Yes,in Josip Juranovic,there is every likelihood that we will have our name-vicariously-in lights during a World Cup Final.

Croatia play later today in the first semi-final against Argentina,an Argentina where Messi will be pulling out all the stops to finally win the trophy in what is likely to be his last venture,his last tilt at his own personal windmill. There will be plenty of footballing romanticists willing him to do it,more as a reward for a magnificent career than as the leader of this particular incarnation of his international side. While The Netherlands were certainly far from blameless for the petulant and sometimes violent behaviour-the incident where the ball got slammed into the Dutch bench came about as a result of Messi being kicked without sanction three times in as many minutes-the reaction from Argentina was considerably over the top,and frankly unforgivable.

Of course,this was all abetted more than aided by the weakness and downright incompetence of the referee that night. And it means that Croatia are more likely to attract the favour of the neutral on the day. In this,I suspect that also includes the vast majority of Celtic supporters,as it is a Croatia player I referenced at the start of the article. And not just ANY Croation international,but one who was named by many as MOTM against Brazil,of all people,in his role at right back as they knocked out tournament favourites Brazil in the quarter final.

There won’t be many players who can put on their CV that they had Vinicius Jr in his back pocket to such an extent that he was subbed just after an hour,and made sure that he had room there for his replacement Rodrygo too. Though I doubt that the CV will make much mention of CL performances against the same player,Friday was a match with the eyes of the footballing world on it. And it is something of an open secret that Celtic are not averse to losing JJ in either of the forthcoming transfer windows,nor that the player is looking to an ever-dwindling future in the game at the age of 27. An age widely regarded as being towards the upper limit of a player being able to maximise his contract demands.

Celtic have no need to even pay lip service to the value that JJ places on himself,as he is under contract until the summer of 2026. Nor are we likely to even make an attempt in that direction,as even making him our highest-earner ever,more than even Henrik earned at his peak-with or without adjusting for inflation-will be well below what the player expects at his new club. Having recently read that the likes of Juventus and the Milan clubs no longer have players on wages over £100k pw,his likely destinations will be the top three in Spain,or somewhere in England. The game isn’t quite as awash with the money elsewhere as is widely thought,and JJ will try to strike while his stock is high,and I expect Celtic to be willing to play ball,given a price approaching that which we received for our last big money full back departure.

We will,after all,have two capable deputies,each of whom has experience at international level themselves. And one of them even played in the World Cup itself! Sadly,neither JJ nor our Canadian signing Alistair Johnston will be available for Saturday in Aberdeen. Johnston won’t be available until we play the huns on 2^nd January,and I don’t expect JJ to be available until the Christmas Eve tie against St Johnstone,at least. That will only give him our match at Easter Road to get himself match fit for Ibrox,so we have to hope that Tony stays fit and up to form until then,even to the extent that he gives AP a selection problem.

Of course,AP has another selection issue which has been only exacerbated by the World Cup. I thought Aaron Mooy was Australia’s top player during the tournament,where they were knocked out though hardly disgraced in the last 16 by Argentina. He played in a deeper role there than how he is used at Celtic,and it is one which I have long said favours him. However,even though he has never let Celtic nor his country down since he played himself back to full fitness,he will find it difficult to get into the Celtic midfield when CalMac returns to the favoured triumvirate of Hatate,O’Riley and CalMac. Which is a shame,as his performances certainly deserve better.

However,this is where the versatility of the four comes into play. Mooy can come off the bench-or into the first team when we decide to rest one of the three-and the remaining two of the three can slot into place. It’s not a bad problem to have,is it? Especially when Haksabanovic can fill the 8 or 10 role too,if required.

To have made two signings for the January transfer window by the start of December-!-is hopefully a sign of how well run the club is these days,certainly when compared to the high stakes poker played by the worst poker player in history in Lawwell. Back then,we entered the new year new window filled with hope of a new dawn,only to get a couple of duds on loan on the last day. To have such versatility in the squad too is a mark of how well it has been managed and coached. This is Ange’s fourth window,and each has been better than the last. I hope it is a sign of an upward trend,and of the changing of the guard.

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Above article by BMCUWP