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Paul – I agree, we cannot on one hand complain about players getting paid far and above what they are worth. During the Barca documentary a director was heard saying about a player that he would be offered the “ standard package” also Nonda signed for Roma on £10,000 a week. Big changes ahead and for the good of the club’s future we have to hang in there!
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Agreed Paul - Jackie is replaceable while I think its definitely more important to keep Lennon at the club - he knows what the club is all about and I think we can be rest assured he'll let any new players now what its about when they arrive.
Look at how many goals we lost down the right side when Jackie was playing at right back when Agathe was out.
Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen all at Parkhead.
Sorry Jackie but its time to go.
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I'm sorry to see Jackie go too, and yes, he's not irreplaceable - but the question is who do we have lined up to replace him?
Interpreting Jackie's comments, it seems he would have stayed had he been offered the two year deal straight off instead of a one year deal, followed by a two year deal when it was rejected...I'm not sure where that leaves the thought that Celtic played hardball with him. Sounds like they were willing to do enough to keep him, and the manner he was treated was the problem.
As a friend just said today, "One of the most honest player's I've seen in the hoops". Wouldn't disagree.
As for the implication that many of the plyers didn't perform to their best because they thought they were leaving - very disturbing, but probably realistic. I presume Paul you're suggesting that the likes of McNamara/Lennon did give their 100 %, but that the quality product at the 100 % was lacking due to minds not being fully on the job.
I hope we see some new blood SOON! Time is running down before that first CL qualifier...
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Got to agree with previous posters.
It makes sense to reduce the average age of the squad and make sure that the more experienced players contribute.
The Lambert situation last season was an absolute joke.I would hate to see Jackie go this way being brought out for cup games etc.
Looks like all change at the back this season, no bad thing after last.
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The team that capitulated the league has got to be dismantled ASAP.
Motherwell was my darkess hour and the eleven that played that day collectively shamed the jerseys. I would be ruthless and replace them all within a 2 year period. A one year contract for Lennon is probably reasonable to help in the rebuilding, Jackie warrants the same, if his ambition lies at Wolves, then he is not the man we need to move this club forward.
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Interesting switch on the front page of the Club website. Yesterday had Jackie on the front advertising the new strip...today it's Lennon!
Heopfully they'll react as quickly to the departures with getting some new quality players in...
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I will be sad to see Jackie go....I think he was one of our most consistent players last season...He was the only one of the defenders who looked composed in most games (Barcelona aside)... Thankfully he had his testimonial before we shuffled him out the back door.....
Everyone is replaceable if there is a will to replace them....lets hope that WGS has some replacements lined up sharply.....
Look out for the words "biscuit tin" in today's papers unless we have some good news from the PR team....
On the subject of the Barca programme & our PR dept...Barcelona have a daily newspaper to fill with club related news and manage this well......and we cant even get a website updated daily....shocking!!....
Why is it that there are about 15 tic sites run by fans out there and all of them are updated daily (or thereabouts) and the PR team that we pay for cant do it??....
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you're all joking right?
how can you compare Jackie's situation to that of Lambert/Lennon.
1) He's on nowhere near the same money those guys were on.
2) He's only 31. Lennon is 33, Lambert 34.
McNamara would have been well deserving of a 2-year contract, and has young enough legs to maintain his consistency.
He wouldn't have wanted any more money that he is on already.
Given the choice of renewing McNamara's contract or Lennon's, I'd have taken Jackie.
Sure, he's replacable, but it's another chunk out of the transfer budget. A chunk we could have avoided if we hadn't taken Jackie's loyalty for granted.
the board have been shown up for fools on this occasion, no doubt.
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Agreed re PR dept - have been shocking over the last few years and the other lot have regularly trumped any of our good news . We need a right good feel-good press conference - Friday mid-afternoon would do - gives all of us the weekend press to read all about it. Perhaps get Bellamy in and one other big(gish) name - don't mind waiting until a week on Friday....
Celtic will be a better football team next year - can't see the other lot improving as much as we will.
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Celtic captain and current Scotland international going out the door for nothing, how many others are doing the same this year. The budgets you are away to look at Paul67 would look a bit better if we started getting a return on investment.
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Have to say, as McStay 8 mentioned on the last thread, I think the manner in which Jackie has been treated is digraceful. I know we have to learn from situations like Lambert but how many players around Europe have given ten years service to their club and on the wages Jackie is reported to be on.
There is no place for sentiment today, but as Jackie is a year or two younger (and also fitter) than Lenny, I feel he deserved a two year deal up front.
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so that's another one for the taxi then......
i always liked jackie as a "back-up" player but thought that when he was a first pick for the team, it was a sign that our first eleven wasn't quite good enough.
always gave 100% but that's not always enough. if you threw me the hallowed hoops and told me to get on the pitch and give 100% you'd get that, and more. wouldn't mean that i'd deserve a run out every week though. i'm sure the punters would be chucking rotten fruit and veg at me....!! what we need is better quality PLUS 100% commitment.
so who's first choice for captain now then? if lennon was going to be here for more than one season, i think he'd be perfect for it. playing where he does, he can see the whole game and he'd definately kick some bahooky when required!!
failing that, it's just GOT to be stan, hasn't it...???
watching with interest from afar..
alan
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Paul - understand the board's strategy about reducing wage bill and average age of squad, but I don't feel that the Lambert situation applied with Jackie.
For a start, he wouldn't be on more than 10 grand a week for the duration of the contract. Then take his wealth of experience in OF and CL games into account, never mind his flexibility.
During the course of a long season with players picking up various injuries, here's a guy who could do an effective job at left-back, right-back, "Lennon" role or part of a back 3?
Big mistake and definately not the start I was looking for under Strachan.
AND more negative PR...great!
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Agree with Paul and other posters. We can't let sentiment get in the way. For those who criticize the board on this, remember it will have been WGS and probably MON before him that will have recommended the 1 year deal.Jackie has been a great servant and received a lucrative testimonial, boosted by MON's departure and Henrik's appearance. The other thing to rememer is that Jackie's form has always fluctuated. No guarantees on which McNamara we would have seen next year.
Thanks Jackie and good luck.
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Have to disagree Paul, we are making exactly the same mistake as Lambert, Boyd, etc by offering Lennon a million pound deal.
I've never been a fan of Lennon, for me he summed up everything that was bad about our style of play under MON (slow, can't pass, can't dribble, can't shoot).
Surely we should be looking to the future rather than wasting money on a 34 year old just because (as Mr_Stein says) he knows what the club is all about.
Although not his biggest fan it surely would have made more sense to keep Jackie. He's younger, more versatile and I'm sure after a decade at the club he surely knows what it's all about as well.
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Just typical of this lot in charge-they obviously took Jackie for granted and I cant fault him for sticking it right up them.I am absolutely gobsmacked-dont know why,I should be used to it by now.
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Jackie was a wonderful player for Celtic. I remember him finding his place in the team at the same time as Simon Donnelly and them forming a partnership down the right wing that was exciting to watch. The fact that he stayed at the club and continued to improve contrasted with Simon's ill-advised move and subsequent decline. His role as a utility player who understands the current squad inside-out cannot be filled overnight. What is disturbing is that Strachan made it one of his priorities to keep Jackie, and in that respect either he or the board have failed. I agree that the Lambert situation does not apply. Jackie would not be off taking coaching courses rather than reporting for training the season after next.
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The summer transfer season is often referred to as a revolving door at present only the exit sign seems to be illuminated at CP.
Judging the news at present this is a loss given Jackie's long service and value to the team over the last few years. However, we can only really make an informed judgement when we see his replacement, lets wait until late July before delivering the final verdict.
I hope I am not being to harsh on jackie but I never saw him as the driving vocal captain we require.
If we are going to build the team around petrov, lets prove that by playing him cente mid with the captains armband.
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Anyone who feels we can replace Jackie (a strong realisation of what the club is about, £10k per week, CL and international experience, another tranfer fee for replacement and his versatility) is living in fantasy land. I've been there, its nice, but this cant happen in reality.
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oh, how fortunate that the laptop loyal only start reporting the complications with the greeks contract the day before they sign hemdani from marseille. Another conveinant coincidence.
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So far we have seen the following leave...
Rab 32
Joos 29
Lambo 35
Sylla 28
Jackie 31
Henchoz 30
Juninho 33
I reckon the following are likely to join them...
Laursen 29
Varga 32
Hedman 32
Fernandez 29
Now that would 11 players out the door at a club with already a small squad.
On a positive note though the youngest of these players was 28, and hopefully we will replace all of them with players under 28.
Now we will see how many replacements we sign.
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Jimios, 100% effort for sure, but the team spirit had already left. Time for big changes in my opinion.
Ginger Prince, why are you so quick to come out with the “fools” comment? Jackie has signed a one year deal for the last two seasons at the insistence of Martin O’Neill, why is this now foolish?
Covenant, it was Strachans decision to keep Lennon, he wanted to keep McNamara, but each of them was only worth a certain price to him. Who do you think Martin would have been advocating on behalf of most?
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Rangers signing of Brahim Hemdani on a bosman is described as "a significant transfer coup" on sky sports web site. Interesting also is their stats on him for last season played 7, 4 of which were as a sub!
How will the departure of Jackie and the arrival of Hemdani be reported in the press? answers on a very small postcard please.
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I was suprised to wake up to find the jackie was leaving. Thinking towards the link with the 3 Polish players (2 of whom were right-backs) I shouldn't have been so suprised. However, rationally looking at the deal being offered and Celtic playing 'Hard Ball' with players I am encouraged in one respect. Until Celtic start drawing the line with contracts and wages the bill will never drop. They achieved this with Lennon and although McNamara was on lower wages than most of the team - which I believe is unfair to ask of a club captain - they have stuck to a structure they want to follow. The board are lacking in good PR but at least they are being strong and not giving into player, media or fan pressure (when it is not rational).
I will be sad to see McNamara go as he was a good player and a good example to youngsters and new signings. Saying this, I believe we should be looking for higher quality players than him if we are to build on the squad. He may have warrented a 2-year deal as he is younger than Lennon but nobody knows the situation he may be in after a season.
IMO the pressure will be put on the board now more than ever and if signings have not already been made some will have to come - and come quick! If players were due to be introduced at a press conference on Friday this may be brought forward if the pressure is high.
I am concerned at the lack of a defence we now have, especially considering how poor it was last season, but perhaps this can be viewed as a good thing - a fresh start.
I have said earlier on this website that next season I would have asked Petrov to be the captain. He encaptulated the desire to win we need at the club. I'm sure anyone who seen the last 2 games of the season and how he was bursting a gasket to get back and going off his nut at the defence, in particular Agathe, would agree. The only thing that would stop me would be the sentement of having McNamara as captain. Could this possibly be a reason towards him deciding to leave?
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Celticbhoy...
He also threatened to knock the managers block off in training in April......
But Im more interested in what we are doing to be honest.....Has anyone seen our manager since he started work?
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Jackie was one of my favourite players. He could defend adequately and was comfortable with the ball at his feet (a rare thing amongst Celtic defenders in recent years). I will be sad to see him go, but I agree with Paul. The club need to take a strong line in negotiations.
I wish Jackie had taken the one-year deal. But he didn't. No hard feelings, I hope he does well at Wolves.
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They say no news is good news, I think us well seasoned Hoops fans can disprove that. After analysing some of my previous comments, i sound like a grumpy git - you see this summer like every other summer fills me with dread. Reason, the type of player regularly linked with us, the apparent poor handling of negotiations with existing players and the unending rumours of possible good signings only to be discarded like todays tabloids. If i am honest i think the loss of a versatile player such as Jackie Mac is unfortunate, but as much as i would like to castigate the board, if we want the wage bill and the average age down then tough decisions have to be made (Barca and thier dutch players last summer is a great example of moving on the older high earners). I am now beginning to believe that we will have a strong 15 players augmented by those from the reserves and youth teams, at present given all the departures and all our hopeful future departures like fernandez and hedless we're probably left with a core of at least 9 of the current first team squad (excluding Beattie and Bellamy). What worries me is that we're away watching strikers, or being linked with poor strikers from the Championship - does that reflect our ambition, or are more departures imminent. Is it wise to let so many players leave, albeit underachievers, and have no adequate or better replacements, history of previous summers has taught me not to expect too much, but it doesnt stop you dreaming of what might have been.
Hoping for a good news story soon - anything will do, even DD getting new golf clubs would be a start.
Vive la revolution
Navarro
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Jackie has turned down a 1 year contract, he has chosen to leave, which of course is his right.
He's gone to Wolves, which suggests he's not of the quality we'd like to see at the club.
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I am of course sad to see Jackie go - I believe he could have the job for us for at least the next year and possibly the one after that. There are not many players who can be utilised in as many positions as he has been and still be of a consistent level (I agree - not always the most skillful of players but you can't have a team full of them!).
What I am more shocked about though is the amount of players leaving. I knew there would be a few this summer but it is getting ridiculous. The majority of them are only squad players but it still means we are without them if we need them. I don't understand where the money is going to come from to replace this many players. I think we may be even thinner on the ground than we were last season.
I only hope WGS has somethin up his sleave (and not only his hankie!)
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I thought a revolving door allowed access in both directions. So far all we have seen is an escape chute.
Still, with no signings over the summer, it will allow the youths to get a shot in the first eleven.
If we make the split next season we will be lucky.
So hope I am going to be proved wrong, but all this looks like is a cost cutting exercise so the board can get bigger dividends.
Hail Hail.......(starts to weep)
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Rab 32
Joos 29
Lambo 35
Sylla 28
Jackie 31
Henchoz 30
Juninho 33
Laursen 29
Varga 32
Hedman 32
Fernandez 29
Out of the list above who have left or almost left I would only thought: Varga and McNamara would be worth keeping. As for the rest they are very much squad players and IMO the younger lads at the club could step in and do just as good a job for the club if we were hit with injuries (I am not saying they are as of yet at a quality good enough to play consistenly for the club but IMO neither are many in the list above).
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Re 11.53 jquinn67
Another factor to consider with the list of 11 departures, only 3 of them played a significant number of games.
The number in the squad is not
important.Replace those 11 with 6 first team players i would be delighted.
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Louden Tavern Rumour -
My mate sent me this email last monday....
My mate is an architect for the GCC. He has told me that the original plans for the Clockwork Orange extension include a new rail/underground station to be built at the Duke st. station. This area of the town had already been earmarked for 'regeneration' immediately after the recent Haghill revamp.
The excellent new is, that the station would be built on the site of the Louden Tavern AND the Bristol bar. ON TOP OF THEM! i.e. They would be demolished !
The plans are called 'Celtic Walk' which my mate assumes would be the name of the station. He said that there are 3 sets of electric walkways in the designs. Which he said would be the longest in the uk, longer than anything at Heathrow. One goes to the Forge shopping centre and the other two are to and froms to Celtic Park.
The name of the station is to encourage Rail and underground travel to CP on matchdays to reduce road congestion.
He couldn't find dates as the whole underground project has not been fully scheduled.
More boringly, plans for Partick station will have two underground lines on different loops, with the new one going out as far as clydebank.
Cessnock will be closed as part of the new plans with an old never completed station being opened somewhere too.
squeak!
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Paul you say
'it was Strachans decision to keep Lennon, he wanted to keep McNamara, but each of them was only worth a certain price to him. '
If that's the case why the late offer of a 2 year deal. It suggests to me that because he previously signed two 1 year deals in the past he would do so again. I think the late offer was a panic measure when it suddenly dawned on them that he was preparing to walk.
As I said on the last thread I have no problem with McNamara being shown the door, it's the way it has been handled that concerns me. It GS believed 1 year was as much as he was worth we should have stuck to our guns. Instead we have the worst of all options. We have given the impressions that he has left against our wishes. More ammunition for the chip wrappers.
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BradBhoy: Do not share your concern about losing players, or a previous post saying that the squad was too small. The squad, if anything has been too big of late, but a squad that consisted of a recognisable and familiar first team and then a long list of "backups" and youngsters who were not used even when the first team players were carrying injuries. In the Barca documentary we saw the board and manager sitting down to identify 22 players, 2 for each position, each of equal quality. Mourinho had exactly the same approach when he took over at Chelsea. it leads to competition and a formation that does not need to change.
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Greetings all from Zante. I'm in a good mood - i've just found a 1 euro coin at the bottom of the hotel swimming pool - this will pay for my Cornetto.
Anyways just heard about Jackie going to Wolves - to be honest he was a great servant to the club - but all things must pass and Celtic have probably learned their lessons from giving Hartson & Thomson 27 year contract extensions
Right i'm away for that Cornetto now. Hope to hear of some signings soon
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.
The news about Jackie Mac is the bad old days all over again.
Bully boy tactics by the board, taking someone's loyalty for granted.
And what happens when someone stands up to them?
Back down at a rates of knots and give them what they want.
Only too late.
At least Jackie had some decency.
However some way to treat the club captain.
Really sets the tone for the required rebuilding job.
The issue here is who was behind this? Suits or tracksuits?
Past history suggests the suits.
The whole thing stinks.
Very poor performance all round.
On the back foot already.
No-one in, loan deals all round.
Surprise and delight?
How do you spell that?
Board version = "S # A # M # E O # L # D P # I # S # H"
WGS has been hobbled before he can get started.
The rabbit will need to be the size of a artic hare when it comes out.
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Hmmm Jackie's leaving fills me with much apprehension. While he was not always my favourite player, I felt better having him in the side knowing our replacements than not. Joos and Ulric are IMO not as good as Jackie even at left back.
I was half hoping that Lenny would leave as he costs much more to pay and that Jackie could play in that holding role in midfield that he has done for Scotland on a few occasions.
Now that my first choice for that role has signed for them (Murray), I can't say that competing at the highest level in Europe is going to be on our agenda next season with Neil still in our centre midfield. While I think he is a great character in our squad, his position needs someone blessed with pace. Sadly Neil was left behind when the speed genes were being dished out. In the CL games away at Shakter and in the last few mins v. Milan, Neil was unable to compete as they ran away from him. Similarly when we were humped by Porto away a few years ago in the CL when he was awarded MOM, I was stumped. Neil got all the plaudits for playing in a sweepers role behind our CBs. Hang on if Neil did his job where he was supposed to do in the midfield and stopped Deco etc running at us from there, perhaps we would not have been in such a position where we needed to defend so deeply.
Jackie with slightly more pace may have been able to do this for a season and hopefully bring young Lawson or the U'19s lad Ferry,through the ranks to be the long term replacement. As usual we seem to be struggling in the signings stakes.
I just hope that the club realsie that signing players on EPL wages who weren't good enough to keep their respective teams in the EPl i.e. Camara, Phillips, Niemi and very definately Huckerby, or players who can't get a game at their very ordinary EPL teams (Konchesky, Juninio etc..) is hardly going to improve our team to the level where we see ourselves competing in Europe after Christmas.
Hoping that the signings will be sooner rather than later and the arguement that its better for us that they arrive later for our cashflow does not hold true. I would require the entire squad to have a complete pre-season training so that the team hit the ground running and not caught cold like we were against Basle a few years ago. Its not going to help our cash flow, if our best X1 is unable to play due to lack of fitness or even knowing eachother by the time of the qualifiers.
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Jackie was a good servant to the club and is still a decent player but its definitely time for a major overhaul. I wish him all the best at Wolves but I can’t see myself getting too upset at his departure. Time to move on and lets just hope the new signings start asap
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Let`s not get too carried away, feeling sorry for poor old Jackie, yes he`s been a good servant but to say he wasn`t on great money is a bit wide of the mark. He threw a £30,000 themed birthday party for his misses last year, that`s more than i earn a year so poor old Jackie couldn`t of been doing too badly off Celtic.
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rumoid, you asked “Has anyone seen our manager since he started work?” It appears he is in Poland, or is going to, in order to look at up to 3 players, Polish league has 2-3 games to go.
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Never seen that lads mentioned and not even going to attempt to say their names apart from Klos. But I hope they are diamonds in the rough because at the moment we need a few and I'm not sure they fit the bill we need at Celtic. On a more positive note though the Polish way of playing football probably fits in with the style of the SPL.
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If these are the players WGS and Mon have compared notes on why do we have to send our manager out to have a look at them in his first week....Is this not peter Lawells job....the vacuum is getting larger.....
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Well what can I say? I think everyone in this thread has a fair point. I'm sure we all remember Jackie's contribution to halting the dreaded 10 under Jansen and some sterling displays since then as well, but......... all good things come to an end.
Good luck Jackie!! Hope it works out for you.
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I wouldn`t say it`s Peter Lawell`s job to look at player`s, certanly not. It`s the manager`s job, PL only comes into play when WGS gives him the green light.
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That's charming.
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Doesn't have the same effect when not posted directly after the charming man hiumself.
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Paul,
Cracking site, gives all fans an insight into the Financial affairs of Celtic and how the Corporate World influences what we see on the park, week in week out.
Keep up the good work!
I would like to set the record straight on what exactly happened between Celtic and McNamara.
McNamara was not approached by Celtic until 2 weeks ago. This was due to Darren Jackson (His Agent) contacting Celtic, informing them that McNamara had other options (i.e. Wolves)
McNamara's current salary is 11k per week (£572k per annum). Celtic up to 2 weeks ago had not offered McNamara a contract.
Celtic offered McNamara a considerably less package than he is currently on (I do not have the exact details) and a 1 year contract.
Glen Hoddle has been contacting McNamara every day for the last 2 weeks. McNamara went down to Wolves to check their set up, liked what he say and was offered a better package and a 2 year deal.
McNamara was looking for a 2 year deal on a better package than he is curently on. When you consider the Mr Balde is on £28k per week, I think the guy is entitled to this (being club captain and his performances over the last 2 years, £15k would be appropriate).
Ask yourself this, who would you rather have in your team on a big European night - Mr Consistent (McNamara) or Eratic Colosious (Balde).
Celtic then offered McNamara a 2-year deal on a better package. McNamara had already given his word to Hoddle that he would sign, as at that stage Celtic were no were he wanted to be. Being a man of principles, dignity and honour (commenable), he is going to sign for Hoddle and Wolves.
So make your mind up folks, put yourself in McNamara shoes, what would you have done.
Ask yourselves this, how much will it cost to replace McNamara and was this accounted for in the suppossed £10 million transfer budget that WGS has at his disposal. I think not!
Well done Celtic, nice and proactive as usual.
As for postings on Lambert's contract being a waste of time, people should remember that the year in the reserves will have benefited the young players tremoundsly, to have a player of Lambert's stature (How many other SPL players have a CL Winners Medal: Stefan Klos, the player most supporters would have between sticks at Parkhead),involved at Parkhead is for the good of the club. Lambert will be an excellent manager and was one of the most underated players at Parkhead. Look how easy teams tore straight through the centre of the park in the past season.
If you want to have good players, you have to pay the going market rate, hence why Henrik was afforded a game at the end of last season.
Lambert said, which is true that the team that took us to Seville, will not be appreciated until they have all departed.
Rangers have shown Celtic up once again, in getting in early and obtaining a good Bosman. You have to ask the question, what is happening with the Scouting Network, why the competition are always one step ahead of us.
Who is going to replace Agathe (when he is injured) or fill in at left back or play centre of midfield. Ask yourselves that one folks.
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Paul et al,
Now that Jackie has gone, the captains armband must go to Stilian. In my opinion, WGS must take petrov into his office, hand him the armband and tell him he is the future of the club who will never be played out of position again. Our new team should be built around petrov and we will then see the best out of the only world class player currently at parkhead.
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Jack D
My point was that WGS has been looking at players for months and him and Mon compared notes so the legwork should already be done. The contractual stuff should be up to PL...
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Thanks Jackie for your 10 years of service, but it is time to move on.
How many Celtic fans have been saying for the past 2 years that the team needs broken down and improved?
Now that it is happening, people are complaining.
Whilst McNamara was an honest professional with Celtic, he is not at the top notch that we should be expecting. That was summed up in Martin O'Neill's early spell when he was on the bench or in the stand.
Now we can look forward with Stilian Petrov as an influential captain, at the heart of WGS's newlook side.
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So who thinks it will be Petrov and who Lennon as captain next season? I'm for Petrov but I can see it going either way.
Paul
As far as you are aware, has there been any signings made?
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Jackie Mac for me was a player who got better with age. He is not CL class but who is at Celtic? Jackie Mac was value for money how much are we still paying Fernandez ? Have the financial loose ends for Juninho and Camara all been completed? Why was Lambert allowed a 30K week two year retirement plan? Does WGS not look a wee bit stupid in NOT being able to keep Celtic´s captain?
So where is the replacement player, that´s going to cover for Rab Stan and Bobo? I think the bonuses he got for goal line clearances must have emptied the biscuit tin, "seamless transition"
And with the UEFA new rules regarding home players .. dont worry we have enough scottish schollboys being primed for Falkirk sitting on the bench.
Lubo was already 33 when he arrived at Celtic, Jackie Mac is 31.
Lets not have a go at Jackie he got a deserved testimonial and he is going to a club that has infinitely more ambition than the great Glasgow Celtic. He´s off to the English first division with Wolves.
The 64,000 dollar question is why are Celtic historically so CRAP at doing buisness and treating their fans like horse manure. This must be the recipie to acquire an enormous faithful following. Treat them with utter disdain, make them pay over the odds at every opportunity and give them 0 information before they start to get uppity and have ideas above their station like being shareholders etc.
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Rumoid
Fair enough, i see your point. Maybe these are over and above the player`s targeted, if the rumour`s are true there`s already a few deal`s done and we`re just waiting on one or two coming back from holiday?
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Thanks and goodbye, Wee Jackie. I tend to agree with the earlier poster, any of the team who blew it against Motherwell are welcome to go, if thats what they want to do. In truth I've always been concerned when Jackie was played as a defender, simply because he has no pace. On a different subject, ref Junihno's piece in the media yesterday about MON being the only manager he has ever played for who does not give a pre match teamtalk. Sour grapes or possibly some truth in it?
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Here we go thought this was another case of Paul speaks and we all nod in agreement we love you Paul.
Sorry but we've let our club captain and one of our most consistent players leave for free.
I for one wish we had kept jackie, ever club needs a player like jackie.
To go on about playing hard ball and getting wages in structure is fine, but for if MON only merited him worth a 1yr deal for the last few seasons, when he wasted our "Short Supply" of cash on Juninho, Camara, Henchoz, Fernandez etc is a disgrace and don't get me started on the contract extension for Thomo, what a waste of money he was this year. Paul your saving grace for him was his pass to Bellamy that should have won us the league.
Rant over and here's to a brighter future good luck Jackie, wish you were staying but life goes on.
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There's always some truth in what people say. Don't know how much in this case but a lot of the time it seemed as if MON never spoke to the players. Just think about the contract situations with some of the squad, how can you be at training every day and not know if the manager is going to offer you a new contract or not, how disheartening must that be?
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If the stories are true about us looking hard at some Polish guys, then that's good news. We have been saying for a long time on CQN to check out markets like this.
The striker with the "Magic" name sounds like a winner.
I'm also for Stan as the new captain.
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I can't believe Jackie's gone, he was the first name on my team sheet for the last 10 years. The one player i could identify with.
Now that he's gone, we have lost a player who could play just about anywhere in the team, and guys like that are worth thier weight in gold. My thought was that if Neil Lennon moved on, Jackie would take on his role.
He must be upset that after all his years of service, he was
treated shabbily by the club in the end. Of course his testimonial can hardly be described as shabby, but he was shown a lack of respect the past couple of years, in that his contract was always left till the last minute, and he was just expected to put up with it, and re-sign.
Thanks Jackie, i'll always remember your great partnership on the right with wee simple (Simon).
Excuse the sentimentality :o)
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I have to agree with many of you that now is the time for Stilian to be asked to step up and be captain. Let him play his best position - centre midfield - and build our team around him, he is genuine class, we need him and the captaincy would let him know he is more than wanted at CP, he is essential!
Much as I like Neil Lennon and the role he plays, it is time for the younger generation to take on the mantle of leadership, hence Stan's progression.
Time to move on and look forward.
HAIL! HAIL
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Hoots McGraw,
Thank you. Some sanity at last.
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jack d - when we refer to Jackie being on "not very much money", it's bviously in the context of his working environment, and what those around him are getting paid.
Paul - I can't believe you don't think the board messed up just a little here. If a one year contract was all they thought Jackie was worth, then when scramble at the end and offer two years when it's too late.
IMO, the board took Jackie's loyalty for granted. I would even go so far as to suggest they wanted to wait to see who WGS brings in, and then decide whether to make an offer to Jackie at all.
I agree that if we are to progress in the direction we all want, then players of Jackie's ability need to be replaced, but I still think he could have done a good job for another two years.
The fact the board paniced when they realised Jackie might actually leave, proves the messed up and I feel I'm justified to brand them "fools".
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Some very good posts on here about our departed captain. I liked him as a player, but as captain, I hold him (with others) responsible for our demise at the end of the season. He also went off form pretty badly. Godd luck Jackie for the future.
But, Rangers have signed 2 captains (Murray, Hemdani), and ours leaves.
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Paul - I always smile when I see how you always try to turn another board disaster into a triumph. Lots of praise to you on your mental gymnatsics on this one.
TimoTay - you too - I've yet to see ANY evidence of rebuilding - dismantling and cost cutting certainly - but rebuilding???
Fact is GS stated he wanted Jackie to stay and now Jackie is gone due to the clearly crap offer made by our illustrious board. Now surely that can't be a good thing - or is GS already wrong?
Is the fact that we lose a very experienced defender, who in fact was our most mobile and consistent defender and our captain to boot a good thing? Tell me do you think we can get a quality replacement for less than £10K a week.
This is the sign of a board who is ignoring the obvious, making a hash of its negotiations and praying it will be alright in the end.
Its no good blaming bad PR (there is nothing good to say) or blaming the press. In less than a month we have lost the league, lost a fabulous manager and are offloading large numbers of players. Yet we hear NOTHING. Where is our new manager - is he still on holiday? The fans are clearly nervous (and with good cause) - what a disasterous start to the new regime.
We have been going through this every year since Seville - nothing.
News on the share issue is non-existant - clearly that money will not be available this close season - cold feet indeed Paul.
Even for me - this is an extremely bleak situation.
I'll be seeing you in the car park..........
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I don't think it would be wise to blame anyone other than our former captain for his departure.
The reason he has given to the press for his decision to move is more security for his family, i.e., guaranteed two years inflated footballer’s salary as opposed to the one on offer from the hoops. Does Mr McNamara not see that if he continues to perform at his current standard then WGS will undoubtedly extend his contract by another year?
Over the last couple of years we have been handsomely paying two other former captains to sit on the bench when the are unable to perform top the required standard. This is not to become a trend.
Boyd should have left a year earlier. Lambert too. We cannot allow McNamara to exploit the club in the same way.
Let’s get off the back of the manager and the board- who have after all a greater interest in the future of the club than the elderly players who seek to boost their pension funds.
Enjoy the Coca Cola League Jackie- you'll miss the win bonuses
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CALLING ALL LONDON TIMS
Just to update you from my previous posts, the new London City CSC is a go go. This will be situated in the city, close to Liverpool Street Station. As far as I understand most likely "The Bevis" will be the boozer.
I'll keep you all posted with details as and when they are sent through.
For those who know me you have been sent an email and added to the mailing list.
Cheers
Martybhoy
(With a burnt nose from sunny Aberystwyth last week)
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It's really sad to see Jackie go he has always been one of my favourite Bhoys. Also we have now lost our captains.
What really worries me though is the communication between the players and the club. No one seems have a clue whats going on or where they stand. Jacke said he waited for the contract to *finally* come and it was only a year contract. This is really poor communications surely especially for a player that has been here so many years. Our contracts always drag on for months on end. We lost Liam Miller this way, Juninho didn't have a clue were he stood, neither did Henchoz. It seems Valgearen didn't have any idea either and i wouldn't be surprised if Lennon is totally baffled right now either.
Surely we need to improve on this side of things.
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Who was the person who was telling us earlier on this year that Jackie Mac was the obvious person to replace the ageing and highly immobile Lennon ?
Now what we have ended up with is a past it 34 year old on a £1 million contract.We could have had a person when at the end of his contract would have been 33 and cost the same amount over two years.
To me Lennon represents a style of play that does not progress you in Europe. We should have thanked him for service over the past 3 years and allowed him to move on.
Oh , and the answer to my question ? Mr Paul67 himself.
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This Maciej Zurawski sounds like a good player but does anyone have any info on him as a player: how he plays, his age, how to pronounce his name etc?
Does this mean Bellamy is a no-go or Hartson/Sutton are leaving?
To anyone who has their calculators out, what is the wage bill down to now? How much money on wages per week can we afford when signing new players?
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Ther polish players have not been signed they are just being looked at, so no need to learn how to pronounce their name just yet.
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Davortim, I can't see how you have come to that conclusion. Jackie has been one of the most professional players that I have ever seen. He has been shafted by the board in my mind who are trying to cut down on costs. How do the think they will replace Jackie and save money? There are no decent excuses for the manner in which he has been treated. Read Hoots McGraws post at 1.01pm.
Neg Anon is spot on, this is very typical of this board and even the most patient of us are beginning to get a wee bit fed up I think.
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Hoots McGraw said:
"So make your mind up folks, put yourself in McNamara shoes, what would you have done."
When the club came back to me with the 2 year deal that I had asked for I'd have said "geez yer pen, where do I sign?".
Jackie has been a great servant of our institution for as long as many can remember. And his reputed salary, along with the fact that he has turned down 2 newly promoted Premiership clubs in favour of Wolves, shows that he is motivated by more than just money (relative to his peers at least).
But he owes Glenda Hoddle nothing, so he could have said "sorry, I've changed my mind". A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's not written on. So if he really loves the club so much he coul have re-signed the new deal.
Alas, it's Jackie's decision, and I am grateful to him for his service to Celtic over the last 10 years. And to those who imply that his testimonial went some way to compensating for being one of the worst paid (actually "least well" paid) players at the club: I understood that the proceeds from his testimonial game went to charity.
I wonder what GS makes of it though. One of those players that we need to keep because they know so much and their attitude and commitment can rub off on those around them...! (or words to that effect). Mmmm.
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IMO Jackie was never our captain, sure he wore the armband, shouted head`s/tail`s swapped the odd pennant in europe. He never organised or ralleyed the troop`s when there head`s were down. Again IMO i think Lennon did this. To those of you that think Jackie could have filled Lennon`s boot`s your all mistaken. I don`t think Lennon get`s enough praise. Thank`s for the ten year`s Jackie, but i`m glad he`s away.
Petrov for me should be our new captain.
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