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Neil as captain? He would get my vote.
You know he bleeds Green & white (not literally I hope) and with the possible exception of Sutto, he’s probably the most respected and feared senior player in the dressing room. It’ll be interesting to see how he deals with the added responsibility and pressure, plus the requirements of press conferences, etc.
I dunno how much input MON had into it though. I’m sure he’s passed on his recommendations, but GS seems like his own man to me. Mind you, maybe he just picked the shortest player he could find. Wee guys stick together!
Gotta get to bed. Still wired after REM!
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Makes sense Paul.
As I mentioned a few days ago I think the other reason for his appointment is to instill the "Celtic Way, history, culture and beliefs" into the new signings, some who will be foreigners. Also Stan can understudy for next year when he takes over. Win - Win all round.
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When you watch Lenny in games, he out-shouts anyone, but giving him the armband may give him (and us) a memorable finale to his Hoops career. Not so sure that Stan is ready anyway, and Sutty is too moody at times.
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to me Neil has been captain for the last 5 years, but this year it will be official.
Well done Neil you deserve it.
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Morning Guys
Although it's every fans dream to Captain Celtic, Most Pro's I hear talking about it think the Captancy is overstated.
They seem to think that you get to toss the coin and lead the team out, and that's about it.
Every team will have their big personalities on the park, people who will shout and encourage and tick off the players around them, irrespective of whether they have an armband or not.
So although I think it's a nice gesture to award it to Lenny, I still expect to see Thommo, Sutton and Stan greetin' the face off the newcomers this season
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In respect to how important the captaincy is i feel that it really depends how well you use it. Many teams don't see much importance in it but it can literally be like having a manager on the park.
Obviously everyone has to take responsibility but a captain can be an inspiration to everyone. Everyone talks about the role Billy had for the lions also you can look at recent times with people like Roy Keane at Man U.
A strong captain is something a manager should try to use to their advantage and can be of great use.
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A great appointment, we will now have leadership on the park. Nothing against JM but he never ever looked like he was the captain,
never urging his team on or giving anyone a tongue lashing when they needed it.
I think a few refs will be shaking in their boots though, NL gave them a piece of his mind at the best of times but now that he is captain........
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We seem to be making headway -:
Wisla Krakow striker Maciej Zurawski is expected to become Gordon Strachan's first signing as Celtic manager in the next 24 hours.
Celtic faced competition from Austria Vienna and Trabzonspor, who had also agreed to meet the Polish club's asking price of £2 million, but last night the Turks conceded defeat in the battle for the 28-year-old's signature.
"Zurawski is a big disappointment for us," said Trabzonspor director Murat Bozoglu. "He is not coming because Celtic have offered him more money and he has said that he wants to continue his career in Scotland.''
Austria Vienna chairman Peter Langer flew Zurawski to the capital in a private jet last week but former Celtic defender Dariusz Wdowczyk has sold the player on Celtic.
Strachan assessed Zurawski in the flesh on Thursday when he watched him score his 25th goal in 26 appearances for Krakow in a Polish Cup semi-final defeat at Lubin.
The player's British agent, Raymond Sparkes, last night confirmed that Zurawski has accepted an invitation to fly to Glasgow and negotiations are expected to begin tomorrow.
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Nice to see the private jet doesn't always work!!! ;-)
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From the sporting life site -:
Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell believes Celtic manager Gordon Strachan must be given the cash to fund six high-profile signings.
Strachan has certainly been busy since succeeding Martin O'Neill last month, accruing air miles looking at players.
Poland international striker Maciej Zurawski is expected in Glasgow within hours to begin talks, with a £2.2million fee having been agreed with Wisla Krakow.
Left-back Mo Camara, a free agent after leaving Burnley, is also said to be on his way, having been recommended by O'Neill.
Strachan is also closing in on a top-quality goalkeeper to replace Robert Douglas but Gemmell, who helped the Hoops win the 1967 European Cup, is convinced an ageing and depleted squad needed an even more major overhaul.
He said: "To my mind, he needs to bring in half a dozen players. Each department needs boosting, from the back to the midfield to up front.
"I expect he will have his work cut out because I don't know whether the club will give him enough money.
"This is a team that needs fresh legs, fresh blood and fresh ideas."
Gemmell, who sold Strachan to Aberdeen for £80,000 when he was manager at Dundee, was confident the former Scotland international would be able to provide the latter at least.
He said: "He will give it his best shot, there is no doubt about that."
Whether Strachan will be able to persuade Craig Bellamy to stay at the club following a successful loan spell last season also remains to be seen.
Newcastle know a number of Barclays Premiership sides are willing to pay big money - and big wages - to get him and Benfica are the latest side to be linked with a strong interest.
Zurawski would be a much cheaper option and has an impressive track record having scored against England, Wales and Northern Ireland last season.
The 28-year-old has never even been to Scotland before, however, and may need persuading that the Bank of Scotland Premier League is his ideal destination.
The player's United Kingdom agent Raymond Sparkes was cautious about the prospect of his client joining the Hoops.
He said: "It is a visit for him to find out what he and his wife would be coming to as this is a country he has never visited before.
"And it is also an opportunity for Gordon Strachan to look into his eyes and see if he really wants to become a Celtic player."
Celtic have not paid money for a new player since Stephen Pearson was signed from Motherwell for £350,000 in January 2004.
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I hope we do sign this Magician, I'm sick of reading -:
Celtic have not paid money for a new player since Stephen Pearson was signed from Motherwell for £350,000 in January 2004.
It's like a permanent sin on our character. I wouldn't mind, but we get no credit for the imagination of the loan deals whether they worked out or not. I think we all expected great things from Junihno, and Bellamy did excite for the latter half of last season. Even, Camara, I was always hopeful he could blossom as his pace was electric too.
Still here's hoping.
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A new thread and only a few comments, I'm missing madmitch, in fact I'm beginning to feel like him, answering my own posts. Anyway, seems like is not so sweet at Manure for poor (I use the terms loosely) little Liam. We did try to tell him -:
LIAM MILLER has vowed to put last season behind him and prove he can be a big hit at Manchester United.
The former Celtic midfielder made just eight appearances last season after struggling to cement a place in Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
But the Irish international insists he can make the grade at Old Trafford and show people he was right to leave Celtic.
He said: "I'd liked to have played in more games but I've just got to wait for my chance and take it when it comes."
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He's the world ended and no-one told me?
I found this and thought it might interest you Paul67. It has some interesting facts and figures. It is a couple of years old but it shows the trends.
http://tinyurl.com/arf7p
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Here is the 2004 version of the same report.
http://tinyurl.com/b2myg
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Go on Neil, restore some pride !
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Inspirational thread Paul :)
June 14th
BlantyreKev said:
We went to Ibrox a couple of seasons bak with almost no defence through injury and suspension, Sutton played centre back and Jackie came back from Siberia and was given the captain's armband for the day. Played a blinder and figured in the team thereafter as Jack(ie) of all trades.
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MadMurph, you're not alone, the rest of us are just a couple of coffees behind...
As was said, in many ways lennie has been the captain, just without the armband...
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I think it was important to keep Lennon and make him captain for the sake of continuity.
With so many experienced players leaving I think you need someone to pull the team together.
In the late 80s and early 90s we lost a lot of experienced players like Aitken, McGhee, Burns, Stark and replaced these with blokes who didn't know what we expect from a Celtic player.
We them appointed a captain who although a Celtic great was never IMOM a good captain.
Lennon will run through walls for Celtic and this will hopefully rub off on new players.
Does anyone know if Lennon has accepted a pay cut for this season?
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Lennon was made to be captain and is a born leader.
I never saw Jackie rally the troops or lead by example in the same way that Lenny has done for the past few seasons.
It seems obvious to me that Jackie has shown through his conduct over the past week that Lennon should have been the captain in Lamberts absence, and that it is more fitting for your captain to be an influencial player as opposed to a utility man.
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Thanks Jocky bhoy. I kept thinking I was the last poster on a previous thread and Paul had sneaked in another one. I kept going back to the main URL just in case.
Any on Topic, I was one of the ones who thought Stan was the obvious choice, but the more I think about it the more it makes sense. Stan can learn from Lenny. Hopefully he can instill what is required from all in the team and Stan can learn for the future.
Paul are the talks today just at a preliminary stage, or is this the end game?
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TheMadMurph, thanks for the link, I’ll read it tonight.
Talks today are the “end game”. Looks like we have got our man.
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Great news! Lenon was born for this roll...Also makes me happy that GS has not simply went along with public opinion. Stan will have his day, sorry he missed out.
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Has any one had any problem`s watchin the video clip of Zurawski`s goal`s? www.putfile.com/media.php?n=zurawski. I`m getting into the page but it`s just a blank screen the video doesn`t seem to be playing? Am i doing anything wrong
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It seems Souness might be in a forgiving mood-:
Craig Bellamy is unlikely to sign a permanent deal with Celtic, according to Newcastle United chairman Freddie Shepherd.
The Welshman enjoyed a successful loan spell with the SPL giants in the last four months of the season, but the Bhoys have made no move to sign the striker on a permanent basis.
Craig Bellamy Newcastle United 2004/05 profile size
CRAIG BELLAMY
Bellamy has also been linked with Aston Villa, Everton and Benfica but Celtic appear to have been scared off by the £6million price-tag on the player's head.
"The loan option ran out and we've never heard any more from Celtic," said Shepherd.
"I'm not sure if they have the money or not.
"It's up to Graeme Souness whether he stay with us. There's a long way to go before the season starts.
"Everyone will tell you I'm a forgiving chap, but whether or not he plays for Newcastle again is up to the manager.
"I think Bellamy is lying on a beach at the moment and good luck to him. He's due back on July 4 and we'll see what happens then."
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jackd,
I had the same problem. You probably need the DivX codec for Wwindows Media Player.
Go to http://www.divxmovies.com/codec/
to download.
Hope this helps.
Rob
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respect to the madmurph for breakfast posting with a mission!
Delighted for Lenny and think he's the man. The point about captaincy being what you make of it is a good one but look how greats like Danny, Caeser and the maestro are remembered and that's one of Lenny's ambitions, make no mistake there.
Stan will be brought on in the role, its a natural transition and expect him (perhaps sutty) to sport the band if Lenny's out, subbed later on in games.
Watched the 100 goals Zurawski clip = roll on the press conference. I couldn't access the link on CQN either so had to search elsewhere and there's a few other links posted in most of the celtic chatrooms that connected for me.
Could we be actually be welcoming a new signing to the extended family today? OH go on, go on...
Remaining distinctly upbeat
CW
ps - Paul, any chance of a view counter on the site. Yes, gimmick but would love to see how many hits CQN is clocking up these days!
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Rob71
Thank`s alot that worked a treat.
I watched the clip , what a goal that was, it was just the one goal though, does anyone have a link to the 100 goal`s ? Sorry if this has already been posted.
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I'm fed up reading about MON's influence. His day has passed!! Let GS get on with the job the way he wants to do it. Imagine starting a new job, and the previous incumbent constantly trying to give his advice and thoughts on how you should do job. You would soon tire and tell him where to go!!
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Latest report(for what its worth)is that GS decided not to take up the option on Bellamy.I am sure this was decided weeks ago-couldnt they have said so instead of us all living in hope.Very poor communications once again.
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Could it be that we will see more signings from the Polish league as these guys no longer require work permits for the U.K. I know that Maciej is an established international but I dont believe the others that have been touted have the required 80% over the past two years.
Hoping for good news today.
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JackD, try the following, takes a while to down load, but worth the wait...
htt p://s35.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=366UTCYME78I336P3QGDNY4LIF
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I'm delighted to see that Lennon has been made captain. With it being his last season, he is going to be really up for the coming campaign.
Although I have been trying not to read too much into the latest transfer gossip, I am getting increasingly worried that CB is not going to sign for us. If that is the case then I'm wondering who the 'plan B' big player is.
I dont think the pole would be classed as the major signing although I have a good feeling that this guy could be an ecxellent player for us.
We heard the phrase "exciting times ahead" being used often by the board, MON and GS in recent weeks. Lets hope we are going to have something to shout about very soon!
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ryn,
I don't think the 80% thing matters anymore. It was applicable for signing players from outside EU.
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themadmurph
Still here, but in this game timing is everything. Last two topics have my essay as the last entry. Consequently will have to get up to blogging speed.
Nobody seems to be interested in financial questions at the moment, maybe the recent stramash over legal issues has had an effect.
With regards to outstanding issues, I have many more questions than answers, trying tie up the loose ends that any thread produces is almost a full time job.
Regarding the captaincy, no major issues, looks a bit short term but NL is an inspirational figure. He could never have been captain under MON as it would have looked a bit incestuous.
Point on the importance attached to the job, when in the past the captain was the best paid player in the team the job was desirable. I think making King Kenny the captain in the 70's was a money saving measure, the board didn't want two people on his money.
John H
Interesting point on Bellamy, iIhave spent the weekend taking the skelfs out my ar*e after sitting on the fence on this subject. Love the player, did a lot in a short time but 50% of the budget on one man is a leap of faith beyond most people including me, well 50% of the time anyway.
Still mugging up on tactics, Stan, AMcG and NL all in the one team without any of them playing on the wing? Difficult!
Paul
Any comments on the posts late last night? Looking for any info you have on the bank and its attitude to our debt level. Slow squeeze or will they listen to a good argument or failing that heavy pleading?
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Bhono,
Thanks. I was having trouble getting this to work too. Seems calm on the ball and scores a good variety of goals.
Seemed to have a reasonable turn of pace.
Someone said we have only signed 3 players in June in the last decade. Hopefully no4 will be today.
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On looking at the video of his goals, you can be sure he won't have an issue with the Scottish winter.
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Pure6, many thanks for your insight. I am really looking forward to seeing Zurawski now.
Madmitch
The money/borrowing facility was not available after Seville. We had our highest income in our history and wiped £13million of the balance sheet even though we reached a European final.
We came very close to selling key players that summer, spending more was never an option. Great though Seville was, it cost a fortune to get the team there, money which was not recouped in income.
I am staying away from getting too specific about budget at the moment as thinks are changing so quickly. To answer your specific questions:
1. The bank will support an increase in borrowings if this is the route the club want to go.
2. The share issue will relieve cash pressure, so I do not expect borrowing to be increased.
3. I expect the share issue funds to go to infrastructure projects.
4. I do not expect Celtic to spend £20million this summer. The negative feedback from the fans following the last big spend/low spend five year cycle has hit board morale (just read DD for a clue).
From now on we will get enough money each season to keep all the complainers happy, there will not be a repeat of the massive ‘speculate to accumulate’ back in 2000/2001.
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The clubs official site really is garbage when your looking for crumbs on the tranfer front.
The info on it is no better than what appears in the scum rags.
I know they might not want to give too much away but just repeating whats in the papers isnt good enough.
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Bhono
Thank`s alot. Some superb goal`s on there, Agreed that the polish league isn`t the best but you can only play what is put in front of you. I noticed one of the games was against Parma. Look`s promising!
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Tried the link suggested by Bhono for the Zurawski goals but no luck. Does anyone else have one I can try.
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Cheers for that Pure6.
Calm, composed and confident on the ball. Maciej Zurawski certainly looks the type of player that we need.
Pity about Bellamy though, as he looked to be enjoying his time at PH, but when we can possibly get a player of Zurawski quality for a third of the price and a fraction of the salary I think he's a better option.
Here's hoping this will see the start of the rebuild.
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ISPY,
Bhono put a space between the h and ttp. Delete the space and you should be in.
Charlesandringo
Giddygins?
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I telt everybody aboot these Polish boys coming long before anybody else. Including The Mole.
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I can't believe the amount of times someone has said 'it's only the polish league'. its scotland and SPhell he's coming to, not la liga! he'll score a barrel load, he looks to have everything. It's easy to say the defending in that video is poor, but a lot of those goals would be scored against any team. its not like they're going through the keeper, most of them are clinically tucked just inside the post.
i'm sure i read somewhere WGS saying he'd always wanted a player like neil lennon in his teams, and tried to shift players about to make one, but never successfully. he obviously rates lenny.i just hope the anticipated fitness regime pays dividends and lenny picks up a yard or 2 of pace!
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I agree with your comments thebhoys67.
We have to be sensible. We all know that we have a tight budget and a massive rebuilding to do. When we can get a guy with his track record (and he has a better scoring record than Bellers both for club and country) for less than a 1/3 of the overall costs then it is a no brainer. It will allow the other money to be spent on improving other area's of the team.
We all agree we need at least a goalkeeper, a central defender, and a left back. In my opinion we also need a guys who can play wide left and wide right. Maybe Thompson will pull his head out (or Wallace will make the step up) and we will not need the guy on the left). But by my accounts that is at least an additional 4 guys. We also need some cover in the middle of midfield.
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Ispy,
Space is between t and p.
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I guess I'm in a minority here but my main feeling on reading that Bellamy is unlikely to sign is relief. Don't get me wrong, his pace was breathtaking anf some of his finishing was world-class but, not only has he a worrying record of injuries (vid Martin's unwillingness to play him on the plastic pig at Dunfermline last season) but his reputation as a wind-up artist, particularly one who would almost certainly be the highest paid player at the club, would, in time, become disruptive. I can imagine him offering one of the new POlish players part-time work as his window cleaner or pool boy. I don't think Craig can help himself in this respect - like the scorpion said to the frog 'It's my nature.'
On a happier note, did anyone else notice the final poat on Paul's last thread? It's Pure6, a Wisla Krakow fan who has not only generously given us a glowing appraisal of Zurawski's ability but also a great chant which could cause even greater consternation to the denizens of Ibrox who are still struggling to understand our ability to construct coherent sentences in English.
Great times ahead.
Gail
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Whoops! Just noticed Paul had already thanked Pure6. Still encourage everyone to read his post.
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MadMurph
Sorry my post (on re-reading) is a bit dis-jointed. The point I was trying to make is that now that the 80% over two years is no longer a condition may mean that we are looking at an influx of players from these countries.
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greenghirl, well worth the rewind.
A very generous and passionate eulogy to a departing legend; perhaps not too dissimilar to what we would have been posting last year on Barca Quick News.
Not of course saying he's the new KOK but, well, most welcome comments from old friends in Poland.
CW
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Any of you lucky bhoys and ghirls going to see U2 on Tuesday are in for a blinder of a treat!!!!
Saw them at Twickenham last night and it was brilliant stuff!
Coexist.
Hail! Hail!
Martybhoy
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Hi zbyszek
We remember Darius Dziekanowski and Dariusz Wdowczyk well in Scotland, both fine players.
I have no firm news on Boruc for you, though Celtic have been looking at him. Please let us know is you hear anything in Warsaw.
Thanks for the update on Zurawski, very encouraging.
Celticwullie, sites hits have gone through the roof in recent months. I’ll add you comments to the site review suggestions.
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Is it just me that's thinking Newcastle have shot themselves in the foot by claiming the possibility of Bellamy going back to St. Jame's Park. Saying this IMO not only makes them look like they are going back on their word but also that they have recieved no offers for him. If this is the case Celtic's position will be strengthened and the transfer fee could fall. Of course this is on the assumption that he doesn't go back... I was of the belief last season that Sou would get the boot and Bellamy would return as they done so poorly last season but this doesn't seem to be the case.
Any idea of when a press conference will be held (on the assumption that Magic is all but signed)?
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greenghirl,
I went back and read pure6's comment and the one after it by zbyszek. Good stuff. Although someone should explain to Pure6 that the UK is one of the few countries which does not have the Euro and it is about £2M
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Ryn,
it certainly looks like we are looking at these players as value for money is the name of the game. We need to cut our spend on wages as a % of our income. These guys may be the answer. If we can get on or two in, then more would be likely to follow.
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Although im a bit dissapointed about the fact that the bellamy deal looks doubtfull I suppose I can see the sense in bringing in a proven goalscorer at a fraction of the price and using the money saved to strengthen other areas.
Roll on the new season (after some more signings of course)
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Although im a bit dissapointed about the fact that the bellamy deal looks doubtfull I suppose I can see the sense in bringing in a proven goalscorer at a fraction of the price and using the money saved to strengthen other areas.
Roll on the new season (after some more signings of course)
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Malone19,
I was thnking the same when I was reding what Freddie shepherd was saying. It could be that Bellamy has intimated he is not interested in going to smaller EPL teams and snce Celtic are cooling their interest, they might have a problem on their hands.
It might work in our favour. I think hes pace is fantastic and he has a football brain too. The only question mark is his finishing. If we had someone who could keep up with him to do most of the finishing, it might be a winning combination.
Although points made about his status as a wind-up merchant may have been noted iside CP too.
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Any one else optimistic that WGS and his fitness programs could help revitalize Hartson’s celtic career? Same goes for Lenny as well but if Hartson has no choice but to train and get in shape then we it could be like a new player, by the way if we don’t get Bellamy what’s the chances of him turning out against us for Everton in the CL qualifiers? Don’t want to tempt faith though, hope we get these Polish players, reckon they look the part
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This is for the 'it's only Poland' brigade.
The Polish National Team is comprised of players almost all based in the national league.
Given the gulf betwixt Scotland and Poland in the rankings, I think this statistic speaks for itself.
Maybe we should be saying 'it's only Scotland'
Just watched the majic clips and I am SO EXCITED.
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Tom64
You may be right if it is true that the majority of the national squad play in Poland. I have no doubt he will score plenty here but people are right in saying some of the defences in the 100 goals video looked deplorable - I've seen boys clubs teams defend better. Nobody seemed to put in a tackle - at all. Also, is the guy with the blond hair Zurawski? He was No.9 but apart from the possibility that he could have had a (much needed) new haircut and dyed his hair the guy in the clip looked a smaller more build player.
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P.S. what time did Pure6 post at? I read it earlier but it seems to have disappeared.
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Will any fitness regime really help BBJ? My impression is that the injury problems he has had in the past tend to need rest to be kept at bay. He coped with most of last season but by the end was obviously running on empty.
Zurawski looks a player - let's hope we can agree personal terms. Certainly the last two we had were excellent players (albeit in one case a bit too fond of Victorias!).
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malone19,
Pure6 message was on the previous thread at the bottom.
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P.S. Previous post as tommyl. I think I screwed up on user names and screen names somewhere along the line. Oh well, no one ever said IT was easy!
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Ah Paul - you teased me into the debate with that "speculate to accumulate" comment!
Hang on - I thought DD and BQ did not speculate to accumulate. They keep telling us this so are they just confused?
The reason they spent relatively big (its all relative when it comes down to Celtic Boards) was because they were trying to eradicate the hash they had made during Barnes and Co - and at the same time it was part of the deal to get MON to the club.
You say the share issue will go into infrastructure "projects". Is this a second share issue to fund the youth acadamy that was promised at the last share issue? Is it also to make the posh seats a bit posher?
And now - after about a year and a half we see that we will not have a £20M spend. After years of underinvestment the board will continue its parsimony. Not only that but everything is the supporters fault is well. This really takes the biscuit.
And yet more evidence of confusion and chaos amongst our "ruling class". If the polish striker is to be our first signing is this the big name we were promised. Or is this just a case of downsizing from any attempt to sign Belamy - to soften the blow.
With every passing day I become more and more concerned with the alleged lack of direction and strategy at CP. All this board appears to have an interest in is their own welfare.
Another season or two of this and not only will we not be invited to any new league but we will go into terminal decline with a fanbase thoroughly dissillusioned.
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Paul I wonder if you can tell us why Mo Camara is in talks with the club? is he just there to keep Bobo happy? I think we should be going for bosman players but this guy is surely not good enough
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I believe there will be signings and don’t think for one minute that this board or WGS are sitting back without a signing direction or strategy. My only fear would be that there isn’t a robust enough back up strategy in place should the first choice signings fall through. I think this is what undermined our plans at the start of last season.
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Don't know if this has been discussed already, but is the lack of action on signing players maybe down to the Umbro deal ending, and the Nike deal starting on 1st July.
If a player is signed, what strip would they hold up if they were signed before 1st July?
Is it true there is already a nike tick on the seats at CP?
I know adverts are in the press etc..., but unsure what the contracts says.
ANyone shed light on this.
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Falkirkbhoy,
I do not think that is an issue since we have seen pics of Celtic players in the new kit both in the press and on the website. You can even pre-order it on the website.
As for the swoosh at CP, see:
http://tinyurl.com/9qegj
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Neg Anon
I think you are taking it a bit to the extreme negative end on this one. I think the truth usually lies between what you and paul say (somewhere in the middle).
IMO spending £20m when you really can't afford it is absurd. Apart from the chance that the money is wasted on a few big money deals (Flo for TFOD, Rafeal for us - less money but less action). £10m to me and maybe £5m for next season and the season after would be much more suitable IMO. Rather than blowing everything we can spend for the next few seasons all at once then having to only spend £350k on a Pearson ever couple of seasons; I'd rather we revamped as much as possible just now then chase a couple of top quality bosmans. These guys should be on a fairly large shortlist of possibilities that we should be chasing for over a year. Adding a couple of signings to this and I believe we should be able to achieve a good CL quality side for under £5m a season.
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Everyone,
Just heard a bit of info regarding the transfer kitty.
A reliable source has informed me that GWS transfer budget is not £15m, as promised, but only £5-£7m max.
Is this why we haven't contacted NUFC regarding the purchase of Bellamy?
If true, I feel completely cheated by Celtic as they made a promise that £15m would be made available.
Paul, can you shed any light on this matter.
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Alistair. I don't think the club ever made such a promise. I suspect you have been taken in by media speculation.
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Could it possibly be that the £5-7m is transfer fee alone without wages? Also, when you take amortisation into account (yawn, yawn) we could buy 3 Bellamys for this (without wages I must add).
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Has anyone actually confirmed that the Bellamy deal is dead yet? Nothing I have read so far convinces me that it has.
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vclxi, it's still all speculation at this stage. No definite statement has come out of either club. The media are just trying to fill space by drawing conclusions from Freddie Shepherd's inconclusive comments.
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vclxi,
All the news reels report Freddie Shepherd as stating Celtic's option to buy has ran out and no one from Celtic has been in contact with NUFC.
malone19,
Good point about amortisation, however, this would not come into account when purchasing a player. It only effects the balnce sheet, not cash flow (yawn). Anyway, If we only have £7m max, then we clearly cannot afford to spend £6m on Bellamy.
What is happening to the rights issue? Was this a hype by DD to rally the fans in order to ensure the season tickets were sold in quick fashion?
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Think Shephard's comments are just trying to force a reaction from any interested clubs, but IMO if the deal with Zurawski is at such an advanced stage then you can just about rule out a move for Bellamy as WGS doesn't have the luxury of bring in 2 strikers when the squad is so depleated in other areas.
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I see from today's Rumour Mill on The Guardian site that Spurs are possibly looking to buy Andy Johnson leaving them with a spare Robbie Keane! They also mention Everton are looking at Bellamy for £5m.
2+2 etc?
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Otto, the answer is 15!
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Does anyone know much about Mo Camara? I can't say I know much about him or have noticed him playing but I'm just presuming he isn't of the quality that we are looking for at Celtic. Does anyone have any info on him or have video clips of him playing?
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Malone19
Any discussion on the club's finances and its ability to invest in new players should be undertaken without any reference to the concept, idea, notion, theory or hypothesis of amortisation.
It is a complete non starter given the situation we are in. Discussions involving this word should be let to accountants and accountants alone. The issue should be who will be on the park in 4 weeks time not how it will affect the books in 4 years time.
Here's hoping the first instalement of the rebuilding programme 2005/06 will be announced soon and be the first of many.
Since its his gaff and his rules Paul should be the only person who can use the dreaded "A" word.
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I see that world footballers are quoting from the Daily record claiming we turned down Bartez. I'm glad if we did as I think he can be a great goalkeeper when under pressure constantly but when you only have to make one or two saves a game I think he doesn't have the concentration for the Celtic sticks.
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malone19,
I've heard Camara has got quite a high opinion of himself and his "talent", probably a footballing version of Derek from Big Brother.
15 indeed!
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With regards Mo Camara, I have not seen him play much but I will assume that WGS knows better than me.
We have already seen players come from lower leagues and do well in the EPL. You had Peter Crouch doing the job for Portsmouth doing the job in the 1st division, Danny Murphy who Liverpool got from Crewe, Matt Holland who came from Ipswich,and Delaney came from Cardiff. The point is to do your checking and analysis correctly and you can find quality at smaller clubs.
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i want to see bellamy stay. all i remember from the last game at ibrox was the panic in the hun's defence every time he got the ball. especially after he scored his wonder goal. that'll still be in their minds the next time we play them. the relief when he got injured and us knowing we would have scored more if he'd stayed on. this is the only problem for me. his injuries. not his attitude. as i've said before we've all played with strikers who were right cocky b's but they put the ball in the back of the net more often than not so you put up with it.
i think the tfod are afraid of him now and will be glad if we do not sign him.
we should be able to afford him as well as magic. look at the figures Paul has quoted that say the board are CAPABLE of spending but who knows if they will.
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Afternoon everyone,
glad to see the place looking more and more bhoy-ant every day, the good news seems to be trickling through reliable sources now.
Just a quick (Tongue in cheek) point on the original article re: Lennon's appointment as captain, I think its a bit ambitious to say it will make Lenny a better player "A promotion with additional responsibilities will make most people raise their game, Neil Lennon will be no different." If that was the case make Fernandez captain!!
But in seriousness I dont think Neil will feature as much this season as before so he should remain club captain ala Paul Lambert and Stan should be team captain when Lenny's not playing ala JMc.
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What about this?:
Bellamy goes.
Zurawski arrives.
Sell BBJ.
Buy Andy Johnson.
I reckon we could get £1-2M for BBJ from an EPL team, and this would free up a large wad of salary budget.
AJ has been linked (admittedly only by the media) with Birmingham, WBA and Spurs. A move to any of those would not really be indicative of much ambition on AJ's part, and the lure of CL football might just be in our favour... but whether or not it could outweigh the negative effect of the SPL is another matter. This is a guy trying to keep his international hopes alive.
Perhaps we could get him for £3M, of which at least half would be covered by BBJ's fee. And BBJ's salary would probably be more than enough to keep AJ happy - Can CP be paying him any more than £20k pw?
Just think: Zurawski and And Johnson up front, with wee Sean supporting just behind... There are a few goals to be had in that combination.
(Perhaps BBJ and CP would be open to a swap plus cash arrangement?)
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Is Whittaker and Riordan non-starters? Would be a shame as they are great prospects and would be a good financial move for the club. Although considering how the transfer fees for players have dipped I think Hibs are looking for a bit too much for Riordan (we'd only get a little more for Hartson than what they are after and he is an tried and tested international).
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It can't be just me - but IMO Bellamy cannot be replaced by a pure striker - the Pole or whoever. Bellamy is exactly the type of player we need to create the goals and take defenders away from the main strikers - would always give him freedom behind 2 strikers. He's more like an Agathe with a better/more consistent crossing ability. Hope its just Celtic trying it on to get the fee down but not sounding good for him staying.
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Bigchipsuk
I think spurs have had £7 million turned down for AJ.
IMO i think the guy`s a bit over rated, the new James Beattie, Kevin Phillips- one season wonder`s flash in the pan!
I do agree that we should look to possibly sell BBJ while his stock is still reasonably high.
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I reckon the noises from Freddie Shephard might suggest we are in some sort of negotiations about Bellamy.
Celtic not appearing desperate to keep him, Newcastle indicating they would take him back.
Bit of cat and mouse maybe.....?
No panic from me on signings. It's a whole rebuilding programme and I'd rather get the right signings than quick one's!
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Jack...
SEVEN MILLION for AJ?!!! I know he was the 2nd highest scorer in the EPL last season, in spite of being at a team that was relegated, but in today's market that's surely ridiculous. At that price forget it. I'd sooner take Bellamy for £5M.
Or just think: Zurawski and Beattie up front, with wee Sean and Petrov supporting just behind... There are a few goals to be had in that combination!
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We need someone who is at least a bit-part target man up front, does anyone know if Zurawski can do this? Is he strong enough and have good enough aerial ability? Does Pure6 or anyone know this?
Also, would I be correct in saying that half od AJ's goals last season were penalties? No doubt he is a good player and would get goals for Celtic but I'm not sure if he is the right guy for us - especially as he seems to have a pricetag of well over £4m anyway.
Has the Zurawski deal progressed any furher?
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Forget Andy Johnson. It won't happen. His price tag is way too high for Celtic. And I hardly think we'll be able to persuade him that playing in the SPL will enhance his chances of going to the next World Cup Finals.
It was an idle thought on my behalf, but I now notice that KTF are trying to sow seeds on this one.
Not sure if I'm that keen on Malone's "target man" concept though. We already have BBJ anyway, and all this role does is encourage the big punt up the park.
A couple of skilful ball players might encourage us to keep the ball on the deck and go through defences rather than trying to go over them. And with Zurawski having a suggested scoring rate of 2 goals every 3 shots, wouldn't this be more productive?
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I think it is becoming clearer and clearer, given the transfer budget amount being continually revised by "those in the know" at a lower and lower figure, and the poor reporting of supposed interest in our daily rags, that we are looking at the Cheap end of the market as usual. Now i am not saying that you cant pick up the odd gem here and there, but i firmly believe you get what you pay for. Majic looks the part, and certainly would add some mobility up front, but would like to see CB there with him. Do you think we are calling Newcastles bluff, no takers then dive in with a years loan bid, getting Robbie Keane on pre contract (not my cup of tea, but would be willing to review that if he came up trumps), thus having international strikers for the next couple of years for a transfer budget of say £3.5m (£2m for the pole, and £1.5m for CB loan). As for the perennial "he'll come good" rant about Maloney, apart from free kicks i cant recall all that much that he has contrbuted in any game, in the SPHell or Champions league, time to move him on, with McManus and wallace.
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Bigchipsuk
What I meant was someone who can at least hold off defenders and hold the ball up. We have Sutton and Hartson but I was making the presumption that BBJ will go - which I'm starting to think he will now not leave. I think the team does need someone who can stick the ball in the net with their head though and all I was asking was: Is Zurawski capable of doing this. If so that means we would not have to play BBJ or Sutton and could have a more skillful forward in the line-up.
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Just think how many Larsson scored with his head. They don't need to be big slow beasts but being able to hold a man off and out jump/header a defender is a bonus.
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I definately think selling on Maloney and Wallace would be suicide, Maloney was and still has the potential to be a great player until he was injured and young wallace still hasn't been established yet. Will you be saying the same about AMcG next year if he gets injured or has a bad run?
In the financial climate with more outgoings than incomings we cant afford to sell our young stars. Why should we groom them and develop them then move them on before realising their potential.
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I know this might sound like heresy,but I dont think Craig Beattie is a good player.I think he is clumsy and without skill.my fear is that we are falling into the old Burchill trap and just wishing him better than he really is or will be.I am open to changing my mind about him if any of you can give me evidence.
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Maloney hasn't kicked a ball in earnest for Celtic since Rugby Park May 2003. I was a huge fan of his but the fact his proposed move to Livv hasn't been laughed out of court suggests it's being seriously considered. Maybe it's just a loan deal but I fear his Celtic career is effectively over.
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I think he is an ok player with a lot of potential. I do however think people exagerate his pace. I don't think he is extremely gifted in this respect and is just as fast as I would expect from any althelite. IMO he will get more of a chance to prove himself next season, as will all the youngsters who are deserving of a chance.
Has anyone seen Finborgsson play, and if so do you think he'd be able to do the same kind of job as Beattie/Maloney?
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I love the internet. On one site we have -:
NEWCASTLE have have dismissed suggestions that they could be ready to welcome Craig Bellamy back to St James' Park.
The Magpies refused to comment today on reports that they have given long-term pursuers Everton permission to talk to the 24-year-old, who is currently on holiday in Mallorca after the end of his loan spell at Celtic.
And on another -:
Freddy Shepherd is refusing to rule out the possibility of Craig Bellamy returning to Newcastle United Football Club.
Make your mind up!!!
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i get sick of hearing criticisms of our young players. it seems to me that perennial underacheivers like fernandez, laursen and sylla get more leeway than wallace, beattie and maloney. maybe these guys need a wee bit of encouragement, no? i remember beattie literally falling over the ball the last time we played fulham and sections of the crowd moaning and groaning -5 mins into a friendly! next week celtic go to the USA and with no 'real' fans to slag him, beattie ends up our best player. all i'm saying is maloney to me has shown he has a lot to his game, lets see if he can take it a bit further, and the next time he shoots wide, think:would you have criticised henrik?
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Can I have a pint of whatever 'The Bald Ego'has been drinking?
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Why oh Why is Jackie continuing to bleat to the Tabloids? Could it be that he knows he has made the biggest mistake of his career by jumping ship? I thought Jackie was one of our top men during his time at Parkhead, but surely he must recognise that nobody pushed him out of the door - he quit - plain and simple - despite knowing there was a two year deal on the table and that in WGS he had a manager who believed in him and wanted him to stay. No matter what way he tries to paint it, he quit - walked out on us. He should now do the decent thing and concentrate on Wolves and stop feeding the Tabloids anti Celtic propaganda. And anyway - he was the captain at Fir Park on Black Sunday - enough said.
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Malone19,
IMO you should restrict the number of posts you make as IMHO they do not contribute a lot and IMO you post more often than anyone else. This is not a chatroom.
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magic and bellers up front for us next season. that'll get me excited. sell bbj and keep sutton for pushing magic for a place. if we are selling bbj i want no less than 3 million. if as said hibs are asking for 1 million for riordan, andy johnson being quoted 7 million why is bbj being quoted at 2 million? top scorer in the league and international player. it can't be the league he's in because i wonder what tfod would ask if a club wanted Nacho Novice? not the top scorer and no international experience. the mint would ask for no less than 4 million.
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Paul67, do you think the polish lad is our Big signing for this year?
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any news on a press conference?
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RAB1888,
Regarding your earlier comments on CelticFC.net.
I tuned into the Weekly Huddle last Friday on Celtic TV, as you do, to hear Ally Begg reporting that Jackie had left Celtic for Wolves. Fair enough.
He then followed this up with something along the lines of “And Craig Bellamy could be following Jackie down south, according to newspaper reports”. It may even have been Stan Petrov that he was talking about. I can’t remember. The player mentioned wasn’t the point though.
The point was that CelticTV are now quoting newspapers in their reports!!!
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Any word on Zurawski yet?
Been stuck in a meeting the past few hours.
Cheers!
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Its frightening.Celtic tv and celtic.net are meant to be how the club directly communicates with the fans.
they could learn some lessons from CQN
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Cant understand what the fans expect from the official website. Do you expect them to deal in all the rumour nonsense that people on other fanzines do? Perhaps a wee hint about who we are after to push the price up? Or allow "lazy journalists" who copy large sections from the Celtic View without acknowledging the source,to "eclusively reveal"? The Official organs of the club CANNOT deal in rumours. The Club always refuse to comment until a deal is sealed. This is how it should be bhoys and ghirls.
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Emusanorphan: Ditto.
brummybhoy said...
"the next time he [Maloney] shoots wide, think:would you have criticised henrik?"
As anyone who has played on grass pitches knows, the surface is anything but flat and smooth, and the ball bobbles all over the place. If it bobbles just as you go to strike a shot it can end up anywhere! So criticism in such a case is unwarranted. Even henke missed a few.
If a player is clean through with an open goal however, and contrives to belt the ball over the bar (bobble or otherwise), then that's a different matter.
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Emusanorphan: That ("Ditto") was re: your 4.30pm comment.
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I have no real problem with Jackie wishing to move on at this stage of his career but his handling of the matter has been nothing short of disgraceful.
I'm not the board's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination but I'm glad to see they have learnt from the Lambert fiasco.
The deal they appear to have offered Jackie, it seems to me was, in the best interest of the club.
Now if Jackie wasn't keen on this then that's fair enough and he has every right to seek a better deal elsewhere.
But I'm not going to slate the board for refusing to give another ageing play a final big pay day - especially a player who has just had a testimonial.
I feel Jackie's consequent undignified attacks on the club via the tabloids are nothing more than a deliberate attempt to stir up ill feeling towards the current manager and board.
And all this just because his financial demands weren't met.
I have no sympathy at all for the man and in the past week my estimation of him as a person has plunged.
The black and white of it is he made this public in an attempt to distablise the club. 10-years loyal service or not, this act alone means I will never class this man as a great Celt.
Jackie's no fool and he knew full well what he was doing in attacking the club via the tabloids.
Yet when the club put forward their side of the argument Jackie even had the cheek to play victim with his talk of "character assasinations".
Well, if you can't take it Jackie then don't dish it out.
Jackie has shown in the past week that he can be vocal and passionate when motivated.
It's just a shame our former skipper didn't display the same characteristics in the last game of the season at Fir Park.
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Y'all going to stop mentioning Fir Bloomin Park - I'm just off the medication required after that and don't need reminded! It will make it even more enjoyable next year to win the league - in a weird sort of way....
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emusanorphan,
Agree 100%! Fanzines such as Etims can deal in rumours (which they do with a great deal of humour!) and indeed there has been a lot of discussion on this site about possible litigation. If Celtic.net came out and claimed "Jackie has spat the dummy" what would the response be? I know we are frustrated at the lack of news but as I asked previously, why sign someone to sunbathe? Players are not due back until July.
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Wee Jinky,
I totally agree. I feel the board had to say something but perhaps said too much. I feel JackieMac should call it a day, as should the rest of us. It's been thrashed to death.
Bigchipsuk, was your ditto to endorse emusanorphan attack on Malone or a likewise?
I think we all have something to say, and although recently it has gone nuts on the site, lets not have a go at each other just for t he sake of it!
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Hey TheMadMurph you leave Bigchipsuk alone!
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Madmurph,
Wasn't an attack. I think 10% of all posts is excessive unless you have something really interesting to post. This is why you can no longer post anonymously. The deate then included possibility of restricting number of posts.
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Murph, my ditto was an expression of annoyance that emu was "having a go" at Bugsy. Anyone is free to express their opinions whether or not the rest of the world agrees with them. Apart from emu of course, because his opinions are really those of Rod Hull.
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Off Topic post.
Confused?
Not as much as the guy who posted this http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hun&skip=20
Look at point 23 :|
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I'm fine with Neil Lennon as captain, like many others I think it is over rated as a position.
JM has been our captain, but never seemed to be, the likes of Thompson, Lennon and Sutton have been the guys to drive the team on, normally by being greeting faced, but nothing wrong in that. Remember Lenny's shove on Hedman?
I must admit, I'm trying to be patient, but i think I have now blinked, need a signing to start the feel good factor. Mind you, i do have my 8 year old boy quizzing me on signings every night I come home! Doesn't help! I know, it's not a basis for making signings!!
Somebody please tell me we have signed Magic?
Posts from our Polish friends were excellent. I would like to have known the Wisla supporter Pure6's opinion on the Legia keeper Boruc.
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Francis, the interest in Mo Camara predates GS. I have no personal knowledge of him, but I am encouraged that at least they have been watching him.
Falkirkbhoy, one more time, the signing of players have nothing to do with the Nike deal. This story has been put about by those seeking to distract and wind-up. If Neil Lennon can pose in the new Nike strip so can any other player.
Expect more of this type of misinformation surrounding Nike in the months and years to come.
Neg Anon, Celtic PLC have spent more than they have earned since DD has been in control. DD has increased Celtic PLC debts since he took control not decreased them. Celtic FC have a higher Uefa coefficient than when DD took control. Celtic PLC will spend more money than Rangers this coming year.
When you tire of conjecture, revisit the facts.
Alistair, I know your reliable info on the transfer budget is not true.
Madmitch, we all need to learn about amortisation! This is the source of so much confusion and frustration among Celtic fans. Keep it up Malone19.
Gerry, Zurawski is not the box office signing they are hoping for (and will not be the last striker).
DialupCelt, Rangers web site has been regurgitating newspaper ‘stories’ for some time now. I despair if Celtic are doing it now. This is a blatant attempt to sell you tat, know it for what it is.
Thanks RAB1888.
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Bhoys & Ghirls,
Here's an idea, who fancies have a meet somewhere for a ggod old rant befor the new season kicks off???
Replies!!!
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Sort of like Bhoys Reunited (although we would need to drop the "re" for the first meeting)? Maybe a business idea in there somewhere.
How long does it take to agree terms with Zurawski? Maybe we've suddenly discovered that we were offering Zlotys and he was expecting Euros!
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does anyone actually know if zurawski is in glasgow yet?
maloe19 - keep up the good work
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paul it encourages me when i read you saying that zurawaski is not the box office signing and we're still looking for another striker. i take it the box office signing is bellamy. if we're not successful there will "box office signing plan b come into play?"
looks like we're waiting another couple of days for Zurawaski deal to be finalised.
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According to Scotland Today (that's how desperate I am for Celtic-related news) Zurawski's expected at Glasgow Airport in the next couple of hours.
I happen to know that a KLM flight from Amsterdam (no direct flight ex Warsaw) arrives at 8.40 so unless he gets sidetracked by the Dutch fleshpots we should have news tomorrow.
Fingers crossed.
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Zurawski will be flying in the night. (STV news)
maloe19, just flicking though the posts and just noticed the
post from emusanorphan 4.40, take that with a big pinch of salt :-) if your thinking in moving to another site lets us all know, so we can meet up there :-)
keep it up
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long time daily reader but only dipped the toes in as far as comments are concerned.
malone - although you do comment a lot, most off your comments do add to the debate or at least get a reaction from another users which is surely the purpose of this site.
keep them coming.
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BBC Reporting Scotland has just reported that "Majic" is due to fly into Glasgow tonight.Interestingly the report was accompanied by footage of the player missing a penalty!! I'm definitely not paranoid so what might be the explanation for that one.
Paul67,
On another topic,yes that amortisation word again,would I be right in assuming that if the manager had a transfer kitty of say £6m then a £5m fee for a new player on a 4 year deal, eg. CB, would use up only £1.25m of his allocation this year? In other words he doesn't really need the £15m all at once. Or am I totally out of it?
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Paul,
Have to agree with Lennon's captaincy. He is a wee snarling pain in the ass. THe only time you see him is when he's having a go at someone (demonstrates the ghostlike way he plays the game).
THe midfield deffo need that. Stans dissappointment last month showed his passion but we needed composure at that point. Thats why I think Stans time will come but not yet.
Malone
I say keep it going its all good
PS Its becoming helluva difficult to post on here with the volume of posts to read first.Need to get up earlier to catch that worm
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I knew the positivity was too good to last!!!
I go away for 24 hours and before you know it there are sources telling us the size of the trransfer budget,criticism of the board for lying about the £15 million spend,shopping in the bargain basement,I didn't want Bellamy anyway,etc....
And our good friend Negative Anon who reminded those of us who have forgotten,that he isn't a fan of DD or this board.
I had a chuckle today when I saw on BBC Sport that Everton were leading the chase for Bellamy.What a coincidence that their exclusive came out the day after Freddie Shepherds alleged comments in yesterdays papers,no?
Don't believe their rubbish.No-one promised £15 million to spend,we don't know we are shopping in the bargain basement as we haven't made any signings yet,Bellamy may yet sign and we won't know the size of the transfer budget till the final player has been signed.
Let's keep any discussions around signings or whatever positive please.It does none of us any good to be negative about the club we all love.All will become clear very soon and we will know for certain where we stand as a club.
Until that time comes,the only thing I know for certain is that Negative Anon hates the board!!!
BankieBhoy
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Sorry guys (and Malone 19) but I have to agree with Emu. Malone 19 posts, then answers his own post with three others!! He allows one comment before posting again and again and again. Sorry for upsetting anyone (especially Malone) but I had to state that there are other bloggers who agree with Emu regarding Malone.
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Paul67,
you write
Celtic PLC have spent more than they have earned since DD has been in control. DD has increased Celtic PLC debts since he took control not decreased them.
Any chance of a breakdown on this as I find that fascinating.
How much did the dream team cost and was DD on board then ?
DD has increased our debts suprises me (BIG TIME) I got the impression over the last few years that we had done well at bringing the debt down. Is "PLC debt" something different ?
Does it make sense to have a "manageable PLC debt" in a financial sense, by that I mean is it deliberate policy?
Just because its a PLC does not mean that everything is above board and squeaky clean. Are the books being cooked ? Because if they are not then is it fair to say that it´s the only buisness that DD is involved in where the books aren´t cooked ?
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the evening times quotes Zurawski as saying 'on Monday i will be in Glasgow ...and i hope celtic will offer me a contract' with his agent suggesting that he may sign there and then. so looks like the first signing of the summer is imminent gentlemen, and i for one am very happy that we've got a guy with this pedigree. to score with the regularity he has shown, in ANY league, makes him a class act.
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and emu, thats bad form mate, think malone19 should be able to write what he wants. you dont have to read them, and they're better posts than the rambling incoherent pish i usually stick down.
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That bastion of fairness BBC Scotland showed (as an example of his ability) Zurawski missing a penalty.
Never let anyone kid you that its a level playing field in this country.
As Big Jock once said "There are Celtic supporters and Anti Celtic supporters" do not ever forget this.
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and there's me doing exactly what you were moaning at him about, following my own posts with another. Whoopsee!
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Have to agree with some of the posters here on the quality of posts in the last few days. This site has fallen into the same trap as most other celtic messageboards. There are already a great number of places to post 'my starting eleven' and so on, why bring it to a site that was doing a great job of debating the other side of the football club.
I think your site development can't come soon enough paul, need to distinguish between the chatroom and the real news/debate.
McStay
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Jimbo8: Regarding the amortization, yes a 5m player on a four year contract hits the balance sheet at 1.25m per. The way you need to look at it is this. When MON took over in 2000, the board decided that over the course of the next 4-5 years they would be willing to spend 25m-30m quid. The decision you have then is whether to spend it all in one go, or distribute it across the time period. Regardless of what you do, the players transfer fee is amortised across his contract length. So when Paul says we have the ability to spend 20m or so, he is effectively saying that we can handle a 5m hit on the balance sheet in each of the next four years. This is like saying the manager has five million to spend each season.
Awe Naw: The debt level has been reduced in the last few seasons, but think of it this way. MON has spent b/w 25-30m and Barnes was allowed to spend 10m the year before. The wage bill has increased dramatically over the last five years, so it is only common sense that our level of debt has risen since Fergus left.
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Was talking to a mate of mine(Hold your weish)
Jackie left us for wolves for EXACTLY the same money, though he did get a signing on fee... which Celtic wouldn't agree to after his testimonial. Jackie walked away from us.
As regards players we may/maynot sign..who knows best us or the manager???
If anyone is interested in meeting up I'll be right up for it will even bring a few of the troops!
Bit of preseason training!
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Alistair and ScotCelt56 we had our first meeting many months ago.
There is a golf/dinner/after dinner event coming up next month for those who play golf, or for those like me who eat dinner. Taggsybhoy will be posting on it soon.
Malone19, keep it coming. Oh, and get used to a wee bit ‘feedback’ from fellow Celtic fans, part of the territory it seems.
Jimbo8, yes.
Signing CB for £5m on a four year deal would cost the profit and loss account £1.25m per year, though the cash may be paid in year 1.
Keep telling it BankieBhoy, there are far too many people out there believing what they hear in the media.
Awe Nae No…
I know, I know. Stating simple facts like I have done about DD and it seems incredulous to so many people who have been listening to the wrong people. Go to the official site and download the accounts. I have been following them for years, all the information is there.
In the season ending 1999 (two months after Fergus left and DD took over) we were circa £2.5million in debt. DD then authorised the Barnes spend in 2000 and the O’Neill spends of 2000 and 2001.
They also lost money in each of these six years.
As for anyone who tells you books are cooked they are either talking nonsense of are deliberately misleading you. The accounts detail how income has increased during this time, what money has been spent in transfers and what has gone in wages.
Great no 8
We are in the silly season at the moment with no actual football to talk about. Stick with it.
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Hi, new to the site.
It took me ages to get hold of Majic's 100 goals and as far as I have heard he rarely has missed a penalty... so how much research went into finding the one that he did miss.
Excellent site Paul, keep up the good work.
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Well said, Terry O'Neill. I was in the gym tonight and saw the footage from afar.
I thought "surely that's not the BBC doing a feature on our new guy by showing him missing a penalty??"
Looks like that's exactly what they were doing.
I find the bias of the BBC even more annoying than the tabloids. I have a choice as to whether I buy The Sun, The Record or whatever. I can exercise my freedom of choice as an individual.
I have, however, absolutely no alternative to buying a TV license. If you have a TV, you pay a fee, which supposedly goes towards providing "impartial public service broadcasting". My ass.
What's more, they don't have the excuse of having to attract advertisers because they're not allowed any.
Hunbelievable!!
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GM...
Hear Hear!
There's already a few of the hun hack's checking out this site!
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Just to add some information to the idea of new forwards (plural).
Sutton's contract is up in 2006 with a one year option (whose? his/clubs/both??)
Could we just possibly be buying Bellamy after all - incidentally, the comments from that guy Shepherd suggest they can't shift him, this Polish guy and Riordan too. We sell Hartson and Maloney so we stil have five forwards. In January we sign Mr Keane on a Bosman and Sutton leaves in the summer.
Even those loveable rogues at the record would struggle to find the negative there.
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Why not offer BBJ in a swap deal for Anton Ferdinand? We need a quality young defender.
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Welcome tony1967 and thanks for your kind comments.
As for the BBC showing Zurawski missing a penalty, let’s call these things as they are:
We should not expect people in the media to be impartial when it comes to Celtic, none of us are so why should they be? If one happens to be a Rangers fans and writes an article or shows a Celtic prospect in a poor light, well that’s what football fans do.
The problem is when Celtic fans, yes Celtic fans allow themselves to be influenced by this.
At least these days if Celtic score six or seven against Rangers the BBC are not destroying the tape before is can be screened [Celtic beat Rangers 7 -1 in the 1957 League Cup Final. TV footage never seen the light of day and the game has never been shown on TV. Pathe newsreel footage of the goals only have subsequently been shown].
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I have to say that I don't find the footage shown by the BBC particularly surprising.I may be wrong,but I think Paul mentioned at one stage that the BBC was one of the few sites he would check out for Celtic news,as at least they didn't give you headlines in order to sell advertising.
I understand that sentiment,but I don't feel that their coverage of Celtic is any better than the tabloids.Very little of what they report has any basis in fact."A source said","it is believed" or "BBC Sport understands" don't really cut it with me.
It was mentioned on here,butI can't confirm if it's the case,that Zurawski has only missed two penalties in his career.The goals he has scored are readily available on the web,as many of us who have seen them can testify to.So to what lengths did the BBC researchers need to go to find a penalty that he missed?
On the subject of Zurawski,although video clips can make any player look better than he is,this guy looks quality.He seems to be calm in front of goal and there was a good range to his goalscoring,tap-ins, headers,strikes from distance,et al.He seems to have that knack of getting himself half a yard in the penalty box as well,which all good strikers have.
Fingers crossed we sign him,then we can find out just how good he is for ourselves next season.
Stay positive
BankieBhoy
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Paul, I believe the 4-2 match in 79 suffered the same fate as did Celtic winning a league away at Hibs though I think that time there was some other obscure reason. The ones who really annoy me are the likes of Nicholas, Provan and the awful Andy walker who always love to put the boot in. Just wish we had our own Big Derek, who I actually find far more fair to us than the others I mentioned.
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re; the 7-1 game Paul...the Beeb's excuse was that the cameraman left the lenscap on so there was no footage...
Re; the positive cash flow in every year...I beg to differ....
Did we not bring in cash last year....
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Who cares what the BBC does or doesn't show? At the end of the day, if he signs, what he does on the park for us is all that matters.
I personally couldn't care less. Let everyone else think we're signing a dud, we'll be one's laughing in their faces soon enough.
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With regards to people who should be asked to curtail their output, instead of taking aim at young Malone may I suggest that another target would be more appropriate.
I am talking about the "Care in the Community" group that Paul so kindly supports by letting them post in their own inimitable style. You know the riddles, the codes, the in-jokes and hints of top quality connections in the world of football, music and entertainment. Just the usual suspects, they know who they are.
Wait a minute, brilliant thought, if successful we could move on to the accountants, lawyers, economists ... in fact all the middle classes so that we can reclaim football for the masses.
Anybody know how to build a barricade?
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Wise words gothetic. Fingers crossed you'll be proven right.
As you can see, I tend to get a bit riled when it comes to our media. I already boycott tabloids, The Herald and Radio Clyde. Looks like in order to keep my blood pressure down I'll need to add the BBC to the list. What's left??
All the best.
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Emusanorphan, 4.30pm...a wee bit harsh my friend in telling other people to stop posting. Names are at the top of the letters, so feel free to ignore the stuff you don't want to see.
Alistair, 5.55pm...There's a get-together planned for 15th July. Taggsybhoy is organizing it.
Good comments Paul, I personally have wanted Lennon to be captain for about 3 years now.
GM, 8.25pm,...Don't get me started on TV licenses. The BBC have put this type of crud out before regarding Celtic, and it certainly won't be the last.
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From memory Hibs away in 74? was a strike or work to rule by cameramen. I think it was over the most trivial of issues. At least I got a trip to Easter Road out of it.
BBC Scotland has a history of being biased, I think there was an unofficial bar on employing Catholics even into the 50's. In 98 they held a wake in the studio after Harald put the second one in. Seemingly the place was packed with Huns (is this acceptable on this site?) watching the pictures coming in live from the games. Even now almost all of the suits pray towards Govan.
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According to Majic's stats, he has only ever managed to miss 2 penalties in his professional career, so that has been some feat for the BBC to pull that out. Neg Anon would be proud of that negative broadcasting.
As for signing the player, with Peter Lawwell still on holiday, who would do the financial negotiations with the player / agent, or has this already been completed?
Has Artur Boruc also flown into Glasgow too?
Interesting times.
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I don't see the problem with anyone posting as little or as often as they want and in whatever style they like.For my own part,I enjoy Fargo and his alter egos.Even dialupcelts' little story of her taxi/car/train ride home a week or so ago was very cryptic and quite amusing.
Ultimately,reading the blogs on here is like reading Keevins or Traynor the tabloids.If you see the name and don't like their style,don't read it.But please don't start identifying and picking on particular people on here.We all have the right to an opinion,whether it's agreed with or not,and how we put that opinion across.
Vive le difference!!!
BankieBhoy
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Malone19 - keep it coming - all comments welcome and you can have as many as you like (the joy of the internet). On your post about the middle ground - perhaps you are right - but this is an issue of trust. Do you trust them? More on this later.
Paul - well - we have had many a debate and you know that I believe that the board have used creative accounting for their own means. I won't rake over old ground. I've also pointed out time and again about people who tell you that thems the facts - particularly when it comes down to producing a set of accounts. As Annoni has pointed out - DD has quite a record on this point.
I don't really mind our disagreeing on these points - I could be completely wrong. However I do take issue with your assertion that anyone who disagrees is being fed lies by the media and being disloyal to celtic. I absolutely refute it and its simply a charter to get dissenting voices either discredited or to shut them up.
I know the media in this country well and despise them for their institutional bigotry. They, like many other institutions in this country despise us. Just look at the buried story of the coppers refusing to turn up at the trial for the racist chants against Bobo. The BBC are no surprise to me - don't forget they had their own sectarian signing policy up until the 50's. They are steeped in it.
But I'll tell you what - the fact that our board continually lets us down is perfectly clear even without the media. What sickens me and maddens me more is that in a backwater where we are hated our own let us down and subject us to the horror of Fir Park just to get a few bucks more. Thats the real sickener.
It does you no good whatsoever to suggest a dissenter is simply tabloid fodder. I do not accept that just like I won't accept to be someone else's turnstyle fodder - no matter how much I love celtic. We don't deserve it - but that is exactly what is happenning.
Paul I'm going to ask a question that you didn't answer - you keep telling me they speculate to accumulate whilst DD and BQ say they won't speculate to accumulate - who is wrong???
You see BankieBhoy this isn't about hatred its about trust. The board gamble with all those hopes and fears and risk the success for the supporters who pay their money religiously (often more than they can afford). Then they criticise the support for daring to see what was so obvious. After all the fans were right to fear - Fir Park will live in the memory won't it. The seeds of that were firmly hatched in the boardroom. We all saw it coming.
In previous posts I have highlighted a sickening liteny of ineptitude. They say one thing and do another, they are contempteus of the support at AGM's and through the media, they have their plans but won't tell us, they appear to mislead us when it comes to season book time then suddenly spring news upon us or just don't bother spending. Share issue rumours anyone - big spend - get the renewals in then silence. If you don't think celtic use the media as well you really are deluded.
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didn't want to be the forst to say it...but you're bang on madmitch (9:41).
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Having lived all my life in England BBC's Reporting Scotland is something I've only seen on a regular basis since we had Sky digital installed.
The anti-Celtic bias displayed in the show has been a genuine surprise. Sometimes it seems so blatant it would make the Record editor blush!
In the BBC's defence though there are a few myths which have sprung up around the TV coverage of the 7-1 game.
In short this is what really happend.
It was decided by the BBC only 48 hrs before the match that they would film highlights of the game to be shown on the evening of the final.
At this time even highlights of games were rare. On the day of the final the BBC were to use an outside broadcast unit at Hampden to film the game.
These pictures would be sent to a studio London where they would be recorded by another camera off a TV screen for broadast later (Obviously TV technology was very primitive at this time).
Now everything was going well until half-time. Then a technican in the London studio put a dust cap on his camera to protect the equipment during the break.
However, the technican forgot to remove the lens for the second-half so no recording was made of the last 45 minutes.
Amazingly such mistakes were not unusual at the time when recording events as live.
This error was made by the BBC in London and not BBC Scotland who many Celtic fans blamed for the blackout.
The head honcho at the BBC at this time was non too chuffed and launched an investigation. As far as I can remember a few people were "removed from there posts".
Pat Woods and Pete Burns' excellent book "Oh, Hampden In The Sun..." covers this controversy in full and paints a lot clearer picture of what happend than I'm capable of.
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Paul,
CelticTV costs me around the same as what it would if I bought a daily newspaper.
The main reason for me subscribing was to get regular access to what is happening in the reserves. I would like to see Irvine, Lawson and Quinn get a chance in the big team this season.
I was going to start ranting about the lazy journalism that CelticTV dished up last week but Big Brother has just started. The perfect departure from the football off-season if anybody is wondering.
The signings will come.....although that Dutch outfit's sound system seems to have been muted of late?
:big wink:
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RE BBC Scotland, wee Rhona who often does the sport headlines is a good Celtic ghirl.
She was sat directly behind me at an away old firm game a few years ago, in a very poor disguise. That being sunglasses and a Celtic brand baseball cap.
She gave it big licks like the rest of us when Lubo did the business in a 3-0 win.
The token tim in the sports dept i guess, and good on her for hanging in there amongst them.
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Negative Anon. Why bring all this negativity with you in your daily journeys? The police, the church, Scottish society and the Celtic board; you are clearly distressed by many torrents from these organisations.
I know the human condition has many faults, and I have no doubt you may well have suffered personally in your life from these people, but if I may offer some advice; move on. Put them behind you, ‘they are just not worth it’.
The human condition also has wonderful warmth to offer. You will find this warmth in all areas of Scottish society.
There is no point in going over old ground here on the board, it would only bore or confuse everyone else. Let’s agree on two things:
All Celtic fans should read the accounts and make their own mind up.
This summer is the time for Celtic to show their mettle. If they spend, they deserve our support, if they do not, they deserve our complaints.
Back in January you promised to put the negative demons behind you until we get a result on this. How about it?
Dialupcelt, I hope you are right about the youths, it has been twenty years since a youth player has stayed the course.
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The Magic Man has arrived in the country, and if we give him the same welcome we gave the last guy to arrive here from Cracow, he'll be staying for a long time (though I think that earlier guy was a goalie. Remember: 1982... Bellahouston Park?)
Have just had another look at those 100 goals and reckon if we can keep him fit, we have finisher in the Jorge Cadete class (although I hope he has a better psychiatrist). Magic has pace, a great shot with his right foot, finishes well with his left, runs into space well, holds off defenders, has great balance and athleticism. And composure, too. Yeah, video clips can give a false impression, but the impression I get from them is that this guy is sheer class.
By the way, can anyone with Sky Sports tell me who is playing for the Celtic kids at the Hong Kong Sevens, what the scores are and who looks good? Ta.
"It's Magic, you know, Zurawski's the Pole who scores goals."
(Copyright: JohnBhoy 2005)
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From a tabloid lackey to a delusional psychotic in two easy posts.
Agreed read the accounts but remember who is writing them.
As for Scottish society - well all you need to do is go and watch the Orange march on Saturday - just cause you like the music mind.
I did indeed agree to hold my water until the summer - but a lot has happened between then and now. Summer's here and the signs are not as positive as they were in those heady days.
NegAnon - still visiting the phsychiatrist on Friday evenings.
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Timotay 9.52, and some others on a previous post, although Peter Lawwell may be on holiday, he is still available to fly back at short notice if and when he`s needed, which was also the case last season.
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I have a degree of sympathy with those who want some form of editorial policy over multiple posters. I was going to make a similar point myself but hesitated as yer man Malone19 has a punnet full of enthusiam which I wouldn't wish to dampen. So do keep it coming Malone, but the questions are to Paul67, is this a message board or is it something less immediate and live? Is it a place to chat and swap banter or is it somewhere to debate at length and at times through riddle and metaphor the big questions facing our club? Can it be both? CQN Live! and CQN Strokey Beardy? I will happily contribute to a debate about these questions - how about a main article about the future of CQN?
And can we keep the class war nonsense out of it? I thought we were all Celtic supporters regardless of all that crap.
Paul - over to you
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As johnbhoy says,Zurawski is in Glasgow,so hopefully we will all have something positive to discuss over the next 24-48 hours.
Expect Daily Record headlines refering to him as the Polish Ruud van Nistelrooy. :0)
BankieBhoy
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Apologies if this has already been posted but don't currently have time to delve throught the above banter.
Here's an eloquent and succint summary of how we should really be optimistic about the summer so far from the ever entertaining Etims:
http://www.etims.net/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=878&Itemid=29
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Hey Malone19 - come back, your not supposed to take these comments that seriously.
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McGraininSpain - CQN Strokey Beardy !!!! good job I cant get arrested for laughing at a computer screen ...... where do I pay my membership fees??
I deal with a couple of Polish companies and the guys have been raving about Zurawski. One even went as far as compare him with Henrik, but Potato Vodka is seriously strong so I gave him the benefit.
Liverpool have a large following from Poles based in UK mainly because of Dudek, don't be surprised to see a similar reaction at CP. The Polish community is growing rapidly here.
Hope it's not another false dawn ..... where did I leave my half empty glass of voddie???
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Rammiebhoy - I agree - there is a massively growing Polish community here and there could be some commercial savvy going on.
On Lenny getting armband - I have staed previously, that I would have liked to see him leave, but given that he has re-signed - I think it is a good shout. Reward for Lennon giving us his best years and walking the talk when it comes to I've always wanted to play for Celtic. Remember when he came he took a pay cut for the priveledge of playing in a then poor Celtic team. Quite the contrast to Roy Keane and the like!
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McGrainInSpain, Celtic Quick News is not a chat room, and it will die quickly if it becomes a “strokey beardy” place.
In essence it is a fairly successful web log (between 10,000 – 15,000 visits per day during the week), which might just become a force for good if the calibre of comment remains high.
I took some risks last month which brought the blog to a wider audience This inevitably brought some changes to the site, but I thought there was no point in remaining an interesting curiosity, better to take the argument into the mainstream.
I believe we our views here are being heard far and wide.
As for the general chit-chat; we are in the close season at the moment and there is little real business to discuss, so why not. I have also stayed away from posting stories about transfer speculation (the Zurawski offer being actual news), as this really is the last bastion of the lazy media.
I will be getting together with Martin (see the CopyDesk link above) to plan a route forward for things. Might even spend some money!
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paul could you let us know if the box office signing/s could be in defence as this is where we lost the league last season.
i'm delighted to see us sign a quality striker in zurawaski but we all know what we're missing at the back. to me this is of higher priority or should i be a bit more patient?
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Rammiebhoy - happy to tickle...
Paul - so you've said what we're not, ie neither chat room nor strokey beardy.
I guess I'm looking for clues for development and perhaps the silly season is just the time to consider these things. Come on Paul - I've been around for nearly a year and have never held back at complimenting your efforts, so there is no need for defensiveness on your part. My view is that our views are being heard far and wide but that shouldn't stop us from seeking to develop nor prevent us from looking to do things differently. The last time I offered up CQN Live! as an notion, you seemed quite taken by it. Assuming you are still quite taken by it, what would not CQN Live! look like? Let's be inclusive but recognise that of the 10-15k visits per day (of which you should be hugely proud), we are not all looking for the same thing at the same time. Is it possible to lay things out in a way which keeps Live and Strokey Beardies happy? (By the way I am, at different times, both). I cannot offer IT skills to help, but I will happily offer, the thing that comes easiest to me, my opinion .
Anyway at risk of appearing like a multiple poster....
Got something I want to share - 2 cracking articles in the Guardian today (see link to Guardian Unlimited on the right of the screen) - one one the growth of mutualism in football (Glazer scenario at Celtic Park?), the other on the great tale of Birmingham fans opposing the Ned Bowyer's transfer to BCFC. Birmngham City fans? Progressive? Not Blue Noses? OK - do for me.
The Guardian is doing a fine line in anti-Souness stuff these days and let us not forget the Stark Tackle. Yosser should've murdered him when he had the chance.
Hail, hail....
McGrain
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emusanorphan
Yes I may have posted more than most on this site in recent days. However, seeing that there is no news on Celtic to post no matter whether you are: a "journalist", someone in a position of knowledge in whatever respect ('my cousin is a coach'; 'a friend of a friend'; 'a good source' etc.) or simply an average hoops fan. Unless you want this site to contain nothing then posting ideas, suggestions and opinions is about the best you are going to get. I realise that I may have being posting a tad too much or too frequently for some people's liking; if you don't want to read it then skip it. Until news of new signings, information of changes to infrastructure or a genuine piece of information crops up regarding the boards ambitions there is not much to talk about (unless you would prefer to talk about JM for weeks on end). When throughout the day when there is nothing to brood over I tend to post a few comments in order to get people posting their ideas. Perhaps that is not the point of this website but if there is no legitimate news coming from the doors of Parkhead (which just happens to be most of the time) then what do you expect? Learn to read faster - it's a good skill to have!
Well that's my rant for the day... I will cut down the postings a bit but would ask others to contribute more and bring a bit of interest to the site when it's quite, especially during the day.
On the subject of the BBC, is anyone really suprised? Institutional racicm or sectarianism has been rampant in Scottish society for generations, why should the Beeb be any different? I am not implying this is caused directly through sectarianism as the papers clearly market towards a certain market anyway. However what excuse do the BBC have? After doing one years elective at Uni in Sociology (biggest regret of my life!). The one interesting, if not suprising, thing I learned was that Irish Catholics have the most forms of racism against them. I cannot remember which forms but it was basically: 1) anti-Irish 2) anti-catholic 3) sectarianism. Next in the victims of rasicm league were the Jewish community. Yes I am aware that Celtic is a diverse community but the stereotype Celtic fan is Irish (mainly of Irish descent) Catholic. Aside from this, after the panorama escapade is anyone at all suprised?
Any idea when Majic will be paraded?
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Great scenes of jubilation when we ended that CL away form curse one of Hartsons finer moments, try tellin this lot it was offside.
http://www.donegalassoc-csc.com/archives.htm
go to the camp nou celebrations how my head popped up in this vid ill never know. WGS hopefully can bring us more nights like this in europe, bring on the new season
Great site by the way !!
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Paul, disappointed to read that you now think that your own long-projected £15m spend this summer isn't likely to happen, although not surprised.
This being the case, how far do you envisage the board being willing to "push the boat out" so to speak, to allow Mr Strachan to spend this summer? As far as i'm concerned we need as close to this £15m figure as possible, given the need for major first-team surgery.
PS - I'm talking in terms of transfer fee cash only, not a budget taking wage figures into account.
Regards.
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Well malone son,
You have joined the ranks of the Royally Skewered veterans of CQN. It will make you better for it. Some of us know from experience.
Why even our own Neg. Anon spat out the dummy once, but came back to give and take some more.
Keep your chin up and head down.
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McGrainInSpain, I'd hesitate to give the Birmingham City fans too much credit. I live in Birmingham and had no allegiance either way when I came down here 3 years ago, but have found their fan base to largely comprise the same right wing, thuggish element as another team in blue a lot closer to home. That headline was based on a small internet petition, the local evening paper down here (birmingham evening mail) ran a poll where they found 94% of Brum fans wanted him. Anyway, they gave Jermaine Pennant a contract the week he got out of jail, I don't know where they got this sudden attack of integrity from. Hypocrites.
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Paul, i think that if your looking to upgrade the site and it will cost money then some of us would be happy to contribute.
Perhaps if you are serious about the upgrade, you can let people post some ideas on how the site can be improved and what they would like to see on it?
Reagrding the 20 million not being spent as you suggested earlier in this post, due to spreading the money out more ovber coming years, then how much are you expecting to be spent this summer?
A fair few players have gone with possibly more to follow, and if 10 million or less is to be spent then i struggle to see how we can get the numbers up in order to have a squad big enough for Europe & winning the league back.
Bellamy alone would take up most of that figure between transfer fee and salary.
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Paul you wrote
This summer is the time for Celtic to show their mettle. If they spend, they deserve our support, if they do not, they deserve our complaints.
If they don't spend what good will complaints do..they already have our money..do you really think the board will take notice of the complaints??
They will just go on their merry way and come out with another sweetner next May to get the money again once everyone has forgotten about this year.
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All the stupid wee nicknames do my nut in - WGS, BBJ, Bellers, Lenny, Majic etc etc!! Do you know these people? Are they your friends? Grow up!!!
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Glad to hear Zurawski stating that he wants to play for Celtic. We've all seen the video of the guy and I'm sure he'll be a big success here should he sign.
Let's just hope he left the pudding bowl he used for his hair back is Warsaw!!
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Way off beam but thought it might bring a smile to faces. I have just learned from a scouse mate that he took the scarf I gave him after Anfield (combined Celtic-Liverpool) all the way to Istanbul. Reckons it was this what won it too(he is still amazed at our support at Parkhead and Anfield).
Here's hoping we're really smiling today.
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Does anyone know if the DJ George Bowie is a closet Celt?
I know he proclaims to being a Ton fan but I was just listening to the 8.30 news and sport on the radio and right after speaking to Ned Flanders about Zurawski he played Queen "It's kinda Magic"!?!
Could be a good song to play at PH when Maciej scores next season.. ;o)
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Guys,
regarding the BBC own employment policy, I think it went beyond the 50s for the sports dept. I remember my Dad telling me about Big Jock falling out with some guy at BBC Scotland sport (Jock called him Blue Peter, don't know his real name). When the head of BBC contacted Jock he was told in no uncertain terms to come back when the BBC sport dept. had a catholic in their ranks.
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Bison Heid
Are you over 40 or 50 or 60. The internet has gone the way of the text revolution. I'm afraid everything is shorthand. So you'll have to get used to WGS, MON, BBJ. In My Humble Opinion (IMHO). I would love to eloquent prose from every poster but it aint gonna happen. Sorry to burst your bubble.
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bhoy67
bowie is a hun sometimes does half time at ibrox
To some fans on here STOP panicking signings will be made and so far we have only lost squad players who where rubbish anyway (jm wasnt a squad player but should have been as he is average at best). to many read tabliod carbage writng bad press and believe it open your eyes people they want you to panic so the broken crest can be cut and paste onto their back pages once again.
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Saw this on http://www.celticfanzone.com/cgi-bin/newsnow.pl?showrecord=10220
did a cut and paste job, save you looking it up -:
Last weekend the figures came out for attendances in the whole of British football for last season. What emerged was something we already knew, but are very rarely given credit for by the British media.
Average gates show that only Manchester United had higher attendances than Celtic. They were first with 67,748, our 57,943 was second, which is remarkable when you consider the respective populations.
London alone has a higher population than the whole of Scotland. Arsenal and Chelsea talk about being 'big' clubs, Liverpool is supposed to be a football city, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham are all large cities, but when we talk about really big clubs, clubs with a worldwide support then we, Celtic are miles ahead of those mentioned with the exception of Man Utd.
So when they want to improve the standing of the Premiership then surely they have to have more clubs with worldwide recognition or are they frightened that a club from Scotland might just win their league?
It's not just Andy Johnston (AJ for Bison Heid) that know were the second biggest attendance in Britain. We all knew already, makes you proud.
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On the "blue peter" thing. This is a good wee read from tom campbell on NTV -:
http://www.ntvcelticfanzine.com/editorials/ed%20104%20campbell.htm
Here is the relavent paragraph -:
Another area of suspicion involves the Scottish media, and once more the memory of Celtic supporters goes back a long way. Some of the media institutions were bastions of reaction against Catholics. The BBC - or at least the Sports Department - in those days simply did not employ Catholics, no matter how well qualified. It was a cosy little club chaired by Peter Thomson (memorably described by Jock Stein as 'Blue Peter'). When Celtic won the League Cup in 1957 by beating their greatest rivals 7:1 in the final, the more paranoid Celtic fans were not too surprised to find that the TV footage of the second half of the match had been erased - although to be fair the fault was attributed to a technician in London.
sorry for the multiple posts, I'm conspiring with malone19 and madmitch to get the thread above 500 comments. ;-)
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TMM - OK I C WER U R COMIN FRM. But what about GS for Mr Strachan, JH for Mr Hartson, MO for Mr O'Neill, CB for "Bellers" - rubbish nickname by the way!!
For the record, I am 15.
MTH
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Paul67 not been able to post but have read all the threads excellent as usual.
On the subject of youth the lad Irvine should have been in the side last season even at Jm's expense. On that subject I wish him well for the future but he should have stayed silent for his own self RESPECT.
I think we need to stay focused and enjoy the summer as signing after signing arrive at CP. We have endured MON's transfer sagas so another wee while wont hurt.
Paul dont change too much about the site as it works at the moment and the grumps who dont like reading the long boring posts should go back to their red tops.
Dont think Bowie on Clyde is a celt a mate informs me he does match announcing duties at TFOD
Hail Hail
Stephen with a "ph"
