SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all.

I think by now that everyone is aware of my aversion to prodigals, that “you should never go back.” Be that as it may, I can hardly be critical of stats-obsessed football commentators reeling off historical data which is of little relevance to the game we are watching if I pull the Bertie Auld rabbit out of the hat every time a possible return for a previous hero is mooted. 

I groan every time I hear a commentator reel off this nonsense. Who wants to know that Melchester Rovers haven’t lost to Glasgow Gasworks United in sixty years when they have scored first after a missed penalty, or whatever nonsense they come out with. Usually greeted by a chorus of “Absholutely, that’sh for shoor and I’ll tell you shumshin elsh…” from his lobotomised jakey sidekick? 

My argument in these circumstances is that each game is to be taken on its own merits, that current form may matter but stuff from sixty years ago sure as hell doesn’t. 

I therefore greet the signing of Jota yesterday with loud hurrahs, cheering to the rooftops. After all, it is only around sixteen months ago that he was one of our top men, arguably the fans’ favourite-and for good reason too. He was just completing a treble-winning season to add to his double the previous year. And speaking of doubles, we could forgive him the double denim. Hell, he looked like he could carry it off, so why not? 

I certainly didn’t grudge him his move to Saudi, arguing that in three years time he would be 26yo with £30m tax-free in the bank. And young enough yet to continue to make his career back at the top level. Never for a minute did I think that his time post-Celtic would turn out as it has. Never for a minute did I think we would see him back in our colours either, and certainly not so soon. 

Signing a 25yo with only two decent seasons in his career to date would normally bring its own question marks. And I won’t lie to you, there has to be a concern that the months since he left will have left him struggling for confidence and even more for match fitness. We shouldn’t expect to see many MOTM performances from him in the early weeks, though with a player like Jota I reckon anything is possible. 

So, welcome back. We love hunskelpers, and Jota certainly meets the mark on that score. 

Speaking of hunskelpers, the downside to the deal is the departure of one. Kyogo. I’m sad to see him leave, and I wish him well. I hope the move works for him, and that he is a roaring success. And that he achieves his dream of a recall to his national team, which I believe is the main motivation for this otherwise strange move. And, of course, I stand by every word of my article on the subject a week ago. Especially the part about the terrible timing of the move.

The onus is now on our recruitment team to earn their corn by finding a replacement, and they have less than a week to do so. No pressure then! The reason for such a ludicrously short timescale is obvious-they have sat on their hands for the first four weeks of the window. Even though they were aware months ago that Kyogo wanted to leave (and that the club was happy to facilitate that) there have been no obvious attempts to get a replacement. And this time there is no Mark Lawwell around to point the finger at either. 

It is entirely down to Nicholson, Rodgers and Co that we now find ourselves even shorter up front than before-and given the lack of goals so far from our striking spearhead, that is playing with fire. It’s bad enough that we head to Villa Park tomorrow night with only Idah and the untested Cummings available, but it is unthinkable that they and the equally untried Johnny Kenny will have to see us through till the end of the season. 

So much for a well-run club,huh? 

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Above article by BMCUWP