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Glad to see a new thread has started that puts the incident of earlier in the week behind us.
Paul, any news on when the next press conference will be? I've heard there was supposed to be one today but I fear that was just wishful thinking.
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Paul67,
I have read your site for tha last week or so with interest, it being one of the few rational sites around.
I am normally quite reserved when it comes to criticising the board and broadly support many of your observations however I must confess to becoming evermore worried as the close season drags on.
Firstly the JM affair was again handled badly by the PR dept whatever way you look at it. The facts are GS wanted him to stay and we believed that his tradition would keep him at the Bhoys and that we could that him with disdain.
He got a better off and good luck to him...all this running around trying to match it at the last minute made us look un professional.
Secondly where is all the new arrivals. While most teams are out there signing players we again seem to be sitting on our ar*** doing nothing. GS has had 6 weeks now to evaluate and move on players and still there is no white smoke on a daily basis whils all the players worth signing are doing just that... signing for other clubs.
I personally think that Celtic are waiting On Bellamy to commit as this is a large part of the summer budget and will dictate what is left over.
Lastly I would like to see Balde go.. he has been a rock for us these past years but had a very poor season last year and is commanding a huge salary which would be better put to use on someone else... the reason we had such a bad year last season was because we leeked so many goals (we scored just as many as when Henke was still here). The defence needs totally re-built and wee GS should be doing all he can to get some quailty in that dept into Celtic. EVERY great team is built on a rock solid goalie and defense.
I hope I am wrong but the signs do not look good so far.
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Read that WGS has been looking at Boruc as a new goalie for us - not overly excited about this as I don't think he offers anything more than Marshall does. I would rather have someone like Niemi onboard who can bring Marshall along that little bit more that he needs.
I believe the only 'big name' signing we will have this season will be Bellamy if he decides to stay (hope he does). The rest of the signings will be SPL and lesser known names from further afeild. Not necessarily a problem but we have waited a long time for money to spend and unforunately we have so many places to fill I can only see us getting lots of cheap replacements.
PLEASE LET ME BE WRONG!!!!!!!!
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Polmonster, I think your being a little bit cynical in saying we seem to sitting on our ar** doing nothing, while currently GS is in Poland looking at no less than 5 players, including a keeper and I think we all agree that Eastern Europe is the best place to be looking as far as the wages are concerned.
I'm not sure if anyone picked up on the comments from Broto the other day "my hope is that Strachan remembers me" and if it came to a choice between Real Madrid and Celtic he would definately choose Celtic, sounds very willing and we know he's able, as IMO he was prob the best keeper we had for a load of years now, he's not young but experience is what we need until DM is a bit older. Strachan looked at him when at Southhampton and he's available for free. Might be worth a go. ???
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Polmonster. agree completely.
Balde wants it all his own way. He is on a very good salary and , after the abismal season he's just had, should consider himself very lucky to be on the salary he is on. However, he should realise that other clubs will be all too aware of his past season as well. So, one wonders if any of them are actually going to sign him anyway.
The JM affair is now getting ridiculous. Why on earth does every Celtic signing (or re-signing of current players) have to be like a soap opera. Now it would appear that every player who leaves on a free(or is sold), appears to have a story to tell as well.
Lord it will be great for us to be actually talking about football again. roll on the new season
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I would rather see names come through the door that I know little or nothing about than go for medium quality players from the bottom half of the EPL or lower. How many knew much about Larsson when he came, or Lubo or Petrov? All great signings and arguably better quality and value than the Hartsons and Suttons of the world. I would rather go for an unknown quantity (as long as they have been scouted well) than a mediocore player who comes in just for the high wages.
Don't know much about Boruc but I'd just be looking for someone between the sticks to show a little consistency. As for the PSG midfielder - looks good but some top European clubs have been looking at him and I doubt we will get him.
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Hi Paul,
Your Blog (Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - Balde signs new 4 year deal)in your view seemed to be - "Financially a good bit of long term business" for Celtic.
I had my doubts and responded with :
At 7:07 PM, Freddiebhoy said…
Hi Lhads,
This may be a bit of good long term business for Celtic but I bet it's even a better bit of business for big Bobo - This man (or his agent) must be very shrewd indeed - he seems to have taken Celtic as far as he possibly could to get that special deal - does anyone know the financial breakdown?
I believe Paul that there are still a few twist and turns in this story and as you suggest he will be searching for a better deal elsewhere along with his 'very shrewd' agent.
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The bauld ego.
I totally agree with you, Broto was the best keeper we have had for a long time. Something must have happened with MON and hime though for MON to get rid???
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I THINK JM WAS TREATED REALY BADLY BY CELTIC AND I'VE READ THAT HE IS WORRIED THAT CELTIC SUPPORTERS WILL THINK HE WAS BEING GREEDY AND PIERRE LIKE.I DONT THINK THAT JM NEEDS TO WORRY ABOUT THAT FROM ANY CELTIC FAN HE WAS A GREAT SERVANT TO THE CLUB.GOOD LUCK JM
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Taken from Reuters
Celtic ponder bid for Poland striker Zurawski
Fri Jun 17, 2005 11:25 AM BST
WARSAW, June 17 (Reuters) - Polish champions Wisla Krakow are in talks with Celtic over the sale of international striker Maciej Zurawski, the club said on Friday.
Zurawski, 28, has long been regarded as the Polish league's biggest offensive threat and has attracted interest from Turkey's Trabzonspor and Austria Vienna.
"We have had initial talks with Celtic," Wisla chairman Janusz Basalaj told Reuters. "For the moment we have no official offer from them, although we may know something more later today."
Asked whether it was likely Zurawski would go to Celtic, he said: "This is a question of whether he wants to go and whether Celtic's offer satisfies us. It would clearly be a good move for him."
Polish newspapers reported that new Celtic manager Gordon Strachan watched Zurawski in this week's Polish Cup semi-final, in which he scored.
He has scored 13 goals in 42 internationals.
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Interesting post on getting control of the dressing room. It was obvious for the whole of last season that things were not right - the players were incredibly sullen and there was very little enthusiasm.
I had out this down to O'Neill and his situation - but clearly he kept a lid on it.
I actually agree with Paul here - there is NO room for petulant players here - if they are not happy then out you go.
But the board must be more professional in their dealings - get it sorted out now.
As for Jackie - truth lies in the middle - board made a mess of it - but Jackie should just shut up now - advice for the board - don't react and GIVE US A SIGNING NOW!
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One problem we could have is that Bellamy will be on 45k a week and the next highest earner will be on half that, with the majority on a quarter of that. Just hope this doesn't create dressing room unrest.
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Here's something that may be of interest to u all.
Last October my brother, (works for fire brigade as fire prevention officer including CP) mentioned in conversation that he had heard from CP that MON would be leaving Celtic and, wait for it, GS would be his replacement! At the time I thought mothing of it, however it happened! Lucky guess, or was this planned for a while, which raises questions that MON may have left for more reasons than his wife's illness??? The plot thickens!!!
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I have read recently that there are a number of players unsettled in the dressing room. Don't claim to have any inside souces but the team spirit that got us to Seville was sorely lacking last year. Too many players letting their heads go down at important times for the season. (Sorry for the cliche.)
Can you shed any light on this Paul?
I hope that the players we bring in over the close season have the same work ethic that was instilled in the Seville team with perhaps a touch more flair. I am not necessarily calling for a return to the Tommy Burns days of cavalier football, although I have to say that it was the most beautiful I had ever seen, but surely we should be looking to play the Celtic way. I think that the comments made on this site with regards to our over reliance on the 442 system were spot on. A little more value for money on the product that we all invest in.
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Alistair
I don't think he left for other reasons (IMO). But I do think, and have said before, that he knew he was leaving earlier (more than likely in January or before). Hence the poor form of the team and the fallings out etc.
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Spot on Neg.Anon Re JM
Celtic and JM should have the dignity / intellect not to react to papertalk.
Can't wait for the first game to see all our new signings. I'm certain that there are going to be many. WGS and the board know the pressure they are under. you can therfore be sure that ther will be quality new faces, a new manager could not survive a cock up of this nature.....not at our club anyway.
the bonus is the there seems to be no transfer activity in the south side, at least we know that re-enforcements are en-route.
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MON was a great manager and if he has left for other reasons then good luck to him.Lets not forget what he done for us and that his wife is ill
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Regarding GS replacing MON, my concern is if the story from last Oct was true (and not a lucky guess) why all the pr when GS signed? Plus it would also explain the smooth hand over and why GS knocked back all those other clubs last year!
Paul, can you shed any light on this?
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Lubosghirl.
Don't get me wrong. Iam not having a go at MON or anybody, it is just a bit of interesting gossip!
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Alistair, I have no doubt that your story has a fair bit of truth in it, MON said himself he wanted to leave to look after his wife last season hence the rolling contract etc. but I think your reading a bit too much into it I don’t think he had any ulterior motive. He after all helped select GS for the job to make the change over as smooth as possible and all the PR was expected for a new manger. I don’t see anything sinister in this.
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What does everyone make of Moyes saying that he would like to manage either of the old firm one day
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Lets just hope that WGS has a better start to his first OF game than MON did
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Does it relly matter exactly when MON decided he was leaving to take dare of his wife and when WGS was offered the job.
The main thing is that there was an easy handover and that it was well planned so there was no rushing about trying to find someone at the last minute.
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Forgive me for stating the obvious here but what has happened that has led many to believe that there has been an 'easy' handover?
We have not played a game as yet, let a number of players leave the club and no reinforcements of quality in.
THe clubs PR is agreed to be generally of a poor standard and our new manager has gone on holiday as soon as he signed on the dotted line. IF GS had come straight from another football job, I would defend his right to have a family holiday as much as the next punter but he has worked as a part-time commentator for the MOTD2 crowd since he quit Southampton, thus hardly in need of a 'holiday' when he has just taken on the top job. Surely, as would most people, when you take on a new job, wish to get your teeth into it. If he knew that he was going to get the job before MON's announcement, as it has been suggested, then why didn't he take his holiday prior to MON leaving? As such we are lurching from one 'Media crisis' to another with no obvious leadership showing the way at CP.
If there was such a seemless transition as many seem to think has occurred, why have we as a club allowed this situation with JM, CB, Bobo, Lenny, McManus and all been allowed to happen? Seemless to me would involve the quick replacement of the quality we need to compete in Europe next season. Has this occurred? No.
Hope things work out for GS and his signings take us on to the next level quickly but as yet we seem to be a ship without a rudder
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awe_naw.....at 12.06pm.
If OF stands for Old Firm then it would be great if Celtic didn't takes as long as the 1st minute in which they scored in O'Neills first OF game. That should give Strachan some breathing space.
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Christ baldymeister you didn't hold back there. Shooting the man down before as you say a ball has even been kicked. The change over went smoothly as in we are now concentrating on recruiting players and not running around for a manager and the two week overlap allowed GS to get up to speed before signing the dotted line.
As for the contract situations and players leaving surely they are problems inherited by GS and not caused by him, it was all inevitable even if MON was still in place.
He has only been in the job 17 days and new signings appear to be only a formality now.
You may be completely right but I'm reserving judgement 'til things pan out.
Only Jesus could turn water into wine and it took him 30 years, you expecting GS to do it in 17 days!
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Celtic Signings imminent.
Who does he play for?
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Er as a Cov born Celt I am hardly over the moon over GS, whereas I was really chuffed with MON when we got him.
It took me ages to accept that he was really the next boss as I was so angry, couldn't sleep as I always felt he was not in our class. On some of the threads further back I went way OTT in my vitriol on him. Since then accept him as boss, wish him well and hope that he gets it right quickly, if not well....
My issue of leadership, though, is not with the ginger one - its with Lawwell, Quinn etc. What is it with Celtic bosses and mobile phones. You'd have thought with the CEO of T-mobile (UK) on the board, we should be able to use them properly and communicate effectively Celtic's msg to a wide a fanbase (market) as possible.
These guys are allowing the Media to effectively drive our marketing and promotional brand both domestically (Scotland and Ireland), nationally (UK) and internationally. This is where we have no leadership. Would you want to sign for Celtic at present if you can get the same or more money elsewhere? All i want to see is some leadership, clear support for GS ( if he is to be successful, he needs tools to do the job) and a clear strategic overhaul of Celtic's PR.
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I would say it was an easy handover in respect of the fact that we were not scrambling around during pre season interviewing candidates for the job.
Its maybe time to calm down a bit with regards to not signing any new players yet its only the 17th of June,theres plenty of time.
I dont think we can really speculate about what WGS has been doing over the last couple of weeks either.im sure he didnt just turn round on his first day in charge and say 'thats it time for a holiday'.i imagine he's known about this job for while now and has been coming up with a game plan.
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The real GS here.
Will everybody get off my bloody back! I'm only in the job!
Regarding my holiday. After all the pressure of travelling to Glasgow I needed a holiday. Now that I am back from my trip from Poland, all signing will have to be put on hold as I need another holiday! See you's all in two weeks!
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Baldymeister. most managers are usually allowed at least a honeymoon period. I know GS was not most people's first choice to replace MON, but he's there now.
Depsite all the will they, won't they sign debacles going on at the moment, GS needs to be judged on how the team performs on the field.
I think we have to give him the benfit of the doubt right now, and assume that a lot of the unrest is something he has inherited.
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Hi the real GS again.
That's better, cut me some slack. Signings are underway, trust me. Shhh Don't tell the press but I'm trying to bring back larsson, aye gen up, that would get my managerial career off to a flyer...
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Don't want to set off another JM debate, but has anyone else seen that the Celtic V Wolves friendly has been postponed till next year?
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I think we all need to be patient about prospective signings. Whilst we would all love to see new faces in asap, it is much more important to get the right players in. I know this usually sees us scrabbling around on 31st August for bargains, but I think part of that was down to MON struggling to find value for money signings that were better than we already had. We don't have this problem this year. But we still need to make sure there are more Petrovs and Suttons than Scheidts and Camaras. This takes time.
If you look at the transfer market as a whole just now, there has been very little movement. People are on holiday and when they come back they spend time weighing up their options. I have no doubt that we will sign new players. Like everyone else, I wish they had signed yesterday. But I am not going to lose any sleep over the lack of activity unless it continues well into July. Then it would be time to panic. But I can't see that happening. We need a new team in time for the CL Qualifiers and I believe we will have one.
As for Jackie Mac, thanks for the effort, and good luck in the future. However, I wish you could have left without making the comments you did. As a Celtic captain, you should have known more than most what the media would do with those comments and if you feel your name is being 'dragged through the mud', then you only have yourself to blame. Hopefully all parties concerned can put this to bed now and maintain a dignified silence.
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Alistair,
According to The Mole who very often posts here, the Strachan deal was decided at the beginning of last season, and he would have been asked to step in at any time should MON have to leave unexpectedly.
Incidently, I notice now that Strachan has been running the rule over the Polish goalkeeper Boruc, did The Mole not say this about 6 weeks ago?
The rest of his / her stuff has still to materialise, but does anyone have a concise list of what he / she has predicted? The same would apply to The Insider.
Paul - Are you aware if Celtic had to pay off John Robertson and Steve Walford?
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Why, why why all this stuff about the amount of players who have left?
Take a step back
A. Henchoz – an obvious one – it just didn’t work for us or the player
B. Sylla – Did any one want him to stay – good luck to the man
C. Big Rab – As above
D. Lambert – we all knew he was retiring
E. Jackie – yes, a shock, badly handled – not irreplaceable by any stretch
F. Joos ( not yet off but soon) – did any one want him to stay ?
Therefore, why all the hysteria ??
We knew/expected/wanted this to happen.
Granted we will have to wait and see what transpires on the signing front, but please keep the exodus in proportion!
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I wonder if Celtic are just waiting to announce a number of players at once, and possibly are awaiting a 'big name' until any announcments are made?
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Hope so but as i stated I now am behind GS and hope he can deliver what he couldn't elsewhere.
My problems lie with the lack of direction outwardly shown by the Board.
I do not really have an issue to bare with their prudent financial controls except at times they seem bereft with new ideas. ]
My present ire is directed with the continuing lack of control placed upon our promotion. We have continually allowed our PR agenda to be hijacked by the largely unfavourable press and do nothing to allay it.
Consequently we allow ourselves to be tied into the poor 'old firm' brand which suits them more than it suits us at present e.g. the recent publishing deal, Carling etc. Allowed the MON story to break the same day as the most important game of last season. No 'Celtic Spin' is ever successfully put into the media and we suffer as a result. Even those distribution channels that the club possesses, The Celtic View, the Web site are poorly constructed, updated infrequently and poor in terms of access, navigation and advertising etc. Do we really have a marketing department or is it really just a bunch of mates who have read 'Dummy's guides to publishing and Website hosting?'
As a club we have to take control of these issues or we continually allow 'media crisis' such as this JM one to taint ourselves. Hopefully they must realise this and are working out a strategy now. If not, then we are going to let our agendas be decided upon by the Editor of the Record or the Sun as usual and all we possess is a crisis management strategy, reacting to their developments as we have at present, rather than promoting our position as potentially one of the world's biggest footballing 'families' and brands.
Would rather that we were setting our own agendas rather than allowing hacks to continue as they have over the pasy 100+ years.
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jm is gone but i dont feel he will be that greatly missed if we sign a half decent left back then there is no place for jm in the back 4 as agathe will occupy right back
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1:03 PM, TimOTay
The Boruc interest had been posted elsewhere as well. I beleive what The Mole said is that the deal was done and he had already passed a medical and signed (which now appears to be utter nonsense). It amazes me why people beleive things just because someone tells them they have "a source". Just like other people on here whose sources tell them such nonsense as we're going to sign Matthew Upson etc.
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Yes, things are messy right now and there maybe some more before the dust settles. The quicker Wee Gordo gets a grip on the dressing room and lays on the line what he needes/expects from the PR department the better.
Once the signings come the focus will change. Right now Jackie type stuff is the fodder for the rags and all it serves is to get our family upset.
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Alistair or is it GS? - Lay off the drink.
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If the club had any players already signed they would announce them pretty much asap. They know the fans crave signings and that the longer it goes without announcements the more restless they become. Keeping any deals quiet makes no sense from their point of view.
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Lawlerm - agree. Not even our shoddy PR team could fail to realise that any kind of signing at the moment will douse the current bad press.
I don't believe we are waiting for a big name signing first. We are just waiting on a signing.
Still ages to go yet but at least one signing now would let all of us rest a little easier!
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Baldymeister - wrt Strachan's holidays, I was thinking the same thing. The best Bozzies (TM) are being snapped up and our Ginger Wean is sunning himself (albeit in Poland...)
Anyone else here the name Pascal Feindouno (Guinean int. - plys for St Etienne). No? OK.....
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as a fan of JM and GS and Celtic I wish all parties would bury the handbags and stop making all concerned look bad.
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Paul posted a while back two players were all but signed and they are being held back. Maybe he would be able to enlighten us as to why they are being held back.
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Has anyone seen the haircut on one of the Pole's we are interested in? Have a look at the pic on here:
http://www.celticfanzone.com/cgi-bin/newsnow.pl?showrecord=10210
shocking!
A bowl cut with a Mr Magica topping - outrageous.
I for one will not stand for this type of signing. Next you will be telling me he drives a Ford Ka!!!!!!!!
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Not sure why we should be asking the fans to show patience. What we are going through now is exactly the same as what has happened in the last three summers. The fans are eager for signings the club drags its heels and try to get a few overpriced hasbeens on loan deals at the last minute.
This PLC board,imo, stand accused of almost criminal neglect and certainly gross incompetence, in the way they have allowed things to deteriorate since Seville.
I believe that Martin, and the board, knew in January that he was for the off and they have sat back and done nothing to date.
I also believe that the game plan was for a summer share issue that would provide the funds for new players but, becuase Desmond is now in the huff, he will not underwrite any issue and it will not now happen.
It seems that this club is now run according to the mood of Dermott Desmond. I am happy to be proved wrong but where is the evidence of any long term strategy? We seem to stumble from one disaster to another.
The PLC board are nothing but yes men for Mr Desmond and if he is not playing then the are in a quandry. I will not hold my breath waiting for any big name signings until someone puts the dummy firmly back in Dermotts mouth.
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Lawlerm,
I don't neccessarily agree with you that things don't make sense to the board. This board couldn't run a sweetie shop therefore I wouldn't put anything past them.
Ultimately IMO the biggest problem with Celtic is that they adopt this cloak and dagger pr style. They realise that the fans need to 'know' the goings on regarding the team, yet they decide to keep quiet allowing the press to have a field day winding the fans up!
Surely, without the fans there is no club, therefore they should treat the fans with more respect and information should be forthcoming - even only to inform us of who GS wants to sign. Who cares if they fail to sign all their targets, at least we know whats happening instead of all this guess work and anxiety.
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Buzzbomb.Consider this.Celtic have a share issue and all clubs currently in negotiations with them for players suddenly up the price as they think we are minted.
Conversely,Celtic negotiate on a level playing field for all their summer signings and after all business is concluded announce a share issue.
Which one is the most beneficial scenario?
As it is,Paul has mentioned here previously that any share issue at this stage is not for player acquisitions,so I don't think it has any bearing on anything that is going on at the minute.
BankieBhoy
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Culled from an anonymous posting on CQN on 13 May; seems to be backed up by this week's events:
I know that I have had my critics on here about future signings which have not come off. Sometimes things just don't work out for various reasons.
However here is a wee exclusive for you all.
Legia Warsaw and Poland keeper Artur Borac was in Glasgow this week for 2 days for talks and a subsequent medical with the club. He was here with his agent, former Celtic favourite, Darius Wdowczyk.
Talks went well and he passed the medical with flying colours, so don't be surprised if he is our first signing of the summer.
For all the cynics out there, the two of them played golf at Dullater golf club with Raymond Sparkes and a friend.Wdowczyk stayed with an old friend not a million miles from your abode in Carfin, Paul.
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What's that Corporal Jones? Don't Panic!!
Come on bhoys and ghirls lets not get all het up for no reason. I firmly believe that things are going on in the background and signing will be announced in the near future, so lets not all start flapping about like wee lassies ( sorry ghirls).
IMO the club should be doing all they can to quell the hysteria that seems to have kicked up this week, but I'm sure as the signing's start to roll in we'll have forgotten all about JM stupid wee tantrum.
The main thing is that WGS has a firm idea of who he's after and judging by the Polish trip I think he might have a few players at a good price and with a bit of pedigree.
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Regarding the fee/terms agreed for a midfielder from the other day - I
saw Paul Hartley in Sainsburys (middle class) in Hamilton (also middle class) on Wednesday night, I brass necked it and asked if he was signing, "mibee" was the reply accompanied with a big grin. He had a loaf of soreen in his basket as well as various dairy products (fatty) but could not see any gillettes or bic's to take care of his don johnson stubble. If he does sign I hope we pay him a decent wage...he was driving a blue(!) vauxhall vectra, and we don't want another pearson situation on our hands - do we?
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First posting here.
Like many other celtic fans, I too am starting to get worried about the fact that we haven't publicly announced our first signing.
I think I am right in saying that during the first press conference with GS and Lawell, they had said that they had targeted players to sign and were busy working on these deals.
I hope Paul is right in saying that some of these deals have been done and they are waiting on the 'big' signing before anouncing anything. I'm also glad that we are looking outwith the English leagues for players and searching the eastern european countries - a route many people on here have urged the club to take.
We really need the club to say something publicly soon to put our minds at ease.....but given their pathetic PR record, it's extremely unlikely.
Also, could someone within Celtic please do something about the official website. The board keep on telling us how celtic have such a massive worldwide fanbase, yet their website is an absolute disgrace for a club of celtic's stature.
How many celtic fans actually log on to the official website on a regular basis....I certainly don't and i'm sure not many others do either.
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Pearson situation ? or Juninho ?
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Bankie Bhoy.From my recollection, Paul has been suggesting for some time that the share issue was imminent. The success of any issue probably depends on it being underwritten by someone most likely DD.I am now firmly of the opinion that he is now no longer prepared to do so hence his petulant childish outburst on the official website. The share issue if it was going to happen would have done so by now. It won't happen so wherever that money was to be used we will now need to find it from somewhere else.
I also find it hard to believe that we have also finalised the signing of two players but won't publicise who they are. Given the hellish week we have had in the press this board must be crying out for some positive news stories. A signing or two would help but as i said earlier i will not be holding my breath.
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I think that should we go for the three Polish players we must be mindful of mistakes from the past i.e. Darius Dziekanowski (spelling??)
Coming to the west with a massive weekly wage let to distraction and destruction of an unbelievable talent.
This time (should we purchase these players) we should keep an eye on their extra curricular activities, boozing etc.
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let war commence...
http://wolves.soccer24-7.com/general/4026
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Bald Ego, there is no chance of them announcing a press conference until a couple of hours before it happens.
Polmonster, fear not, there is lots going on in the background.
Freddiebhoy, no doubt that Bobo is still looking for a move.
Neg Anon, you impatient old devil. Deep breath.
Ryn, without venturing into the realms of harmful gossip about Celtic, I am sure spirit in the dressing room was well below par following the Ibrox game.
Alistair, I am sure GS has been kept informed of the possibility for many months, though I believe the final decision that Martin would go was only taken in the last few weeks of the season.
Awe Naw No, Agree, 53 seconds is too long to wait for a goal.
Bald Ego, Celtic have agreed terms with two players and clubs, awaiting Celtic to conclude. They will do this as and when they are ready.
Buzzbomb, come back and show me where the money would come from the last couple of years and come back on 31st August to say Celtic how well Celtic have done in the transfer window. The share issue will not be announced until any big signing deals have been done.
Welcome highlander88.
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An interesting article from Sportnetwork.net (see below). In the circumstances it's just as well it's not going ahead this pre-season, lest one of their new signings should break an ankle on his debut!
"Pre-Season game with Celtic - Information
By Scott Cooper - June 17 2005
WE have been asked to confirm the details involving a pre-season game between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Celtic.
The two sides were set to meet this summer as part of the deal which took Henri Camara on an, albeit unsuccessful, loan deal last summer.
However due to the SPL starting early because of the 2006 World Cup, the pre-season game this summer was put back to next summer.
The game will take place at Molineux.
Wolves have replaced the pre-season game with Celtic by confirming their attendance in a new Scottish Cup competition.
Wolves, Sheffield United, Dundee and Dundee United will all battle it out in the newly formed "City Of Discovery Cup" over the weekend of 23rd and 24th of July. All games will take place in Dundee.
To see more details of the key dates for this summer, please visit our "Summer Dates" page."
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1:05 PM, Celtic-Mas-que-un-club
Couldn't agree more, we have already taken millions out of our salary budget, with more to come.
Glad to see the Polish net spreading to players from more than one team. I would rather we were cherry picking than taking job lots from mediocre teams, going back to first point, Paul Lambert and Jackies wages alone would cover Polish signings salaries.
On moles etc., folks, I would take these with a hefty pinch of sodium chloride. I have a cousin in a top coaching position at Celtic park and he wouldn't dream of telling anybody idle tittle tattle about the club and I respect him all the more for it.
The type of people at the club telling tales would not be the type of people to believe on any topic, even if now and again they hear something credible.
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forgot i was reading the old post and sent my comment in! doh! here its again...
from reading the posts earlier it looks like we're waiting till monday before we see signings. i was looking forward to a press conference today. was it jock stein who made sure we had good news on a friday so the hunday papers would HAVE to write positive news about us? i think we should have had the signings today.
we as fans deserve to see good news now!
also i'm going to the pub with my dad tonight and it would have been nice to discuss our new signings over a couple of beers!! monday's aren't good for that!!!
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Don't panic don't panic you all cry, ok I agree a little with that, that signings if any will come.
But incase its escaped anyone, you can sign bosman signings on the 1st of January. People keep going on about making the best of our money so why don't we ?
As my mate says, has any team in Europe done worse with Bosmans than use, we seem to just lose players. For six months we've been able to get players on pre-contracts, GS wasn't no last minute appointment he's known he's been coming here for a while so moves should have been made.
I'm not really that fussed that JM is gone, it was the way it was handled by the club that got to me and if Lennon is going to, fine but we shold handle these proceedings a little better, but if he does who'll model our new strip on the webby now ?
My main concern is now that teams will know we need new players and can now play poker with us.
Interesteding times not exciting, yet.
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Paul
As i said on my first post I would be happy to be proved wrong and if they do well during the transfer window then i gladly come back and acknowledge this. Why wait until August 31st when the window closes? We could be out of Europe by then!! The board have known for some time that we would need to replace Martin and that some key players contracts where up for renewal. Why did they wait until now to try and do something about it? Why have we never had the ability to tie players up on pre contract agreements?
You ask where we would have found the money in the last couple of years. Is that not what we employ a CE and pay for an expensive board of directors? We could have borrowed some? I know you don't like the phrase but speculate to accumulate might have gotten us into the knock out stages of the CL. Perhaps I am just a romantic gambler with a desire to see my team being succesfull.
Why don't you tell us when the share issue will happen then? Have you had it confirmed by anyone on the board? I will come back to you and remind you when it has NOT happened this year.
Lastly, and I apologise for asking so many questions, why are we not divulging the identity of our two new "signings" when the fans are screaming out for something to happen?
It may help those who only last week where sent reminders for not renewing their season tickets, to make up their minds about parting with their hard earned cash one more time.
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Looks like Joos has gone now as well - supposedly a 3 year deal with Bruges!
I always liked Joos - sad to see him go but he wasn't performing and no point having him on the wage bill!
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Highlander88 2.16...agree with you about the official website. i find myself hardly reading it now because there's not a forum like this on it. apart from reading articles that appear in the papers a day later and the supporters comments there's not much else.
i know you can pay extra to see celtic tv but you can see all the lst team's games on sky/council tv now so there's no benefit(maybe apart from pro-celtic commentators!).
what i would like to see is regular footage of our u21's and youth teams to promote what's coming through and a list of where they are playing their league games for the whole season so it gives us the chance to go and watch them.
maybe a period of activity in the transfer market would boost the website?
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change "sky" for "setanta" on my last post!!!
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Would I be right in saying that at this point in time we only have four senior team defenders?
Balde
Varga
McManus
Laursen
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Emjay, I agree that there could be more detail of the reserve and youth teams, and that the fixtures and results could be updated more regularly - I don't think the league tables have been updated for the end of season positions yet! (Although I think the tables are maintained on an external website.)
Often it takes 2 or 3 weeks for the results to be updated, which was incredibly frustrating towards the end of the season when I was trying to follow the respective teams' progress in securing their championships.
If people would like to see different things on the official website, or things already on there done differently, then write to or email the club with your thoughts and ideas. If enough people contact them with good suggestions then hopefully they'll do something about it. Although I did email them last summer to ask if they could reverse the order of matches on the results list, so that the results were listed from most recent to oldest. (It's really irritating having to scroll all the way to the bottom to get the most recent result.)
Needless to say, nothing happened! But if loads of fans email them they might just listen...
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BradBhoy - To this day I will never understand why Joos was played at left back. He was never the same player after being ripped apart in the CL in Porto.
Amazing we never had a proper left back in MoN's time at the club. Gray being ripped apart in Lyon also springs to mind.
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I think Macmanus is being courted by Livi .. is that a loan deal or a permanent one?
Lausen has made wait and see statements and Levein is waiting in the wings
SO really it leaves us with two and if Schalke/bayern make Bobo a deal matching his Celtic wage (which they might not!) he will be off !
Leaving Stan Varga
.. but hey 3 weeks to gel possibly 5 new different players from 5 different countries and a new manager with a new style and new background people to knock out say the likes of Udinese in the CL ... nae bother
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every close season we see the back pages of the papers spin the usual "crisis club celtic" - even when we win the treble.it was probably no different in 67 either.
i must say that this year i really do think we are in crisis and i am surprised the papers havnt picked up on it yet...
whether jackie should have left or whether he was any good is missing the point - we simply could NOT afford to lose him at this time. even if we sign lennon and keep balde and bellamy i reckon we need at the very least 3 quality first team players and another 3 squad players(try writing the 22 man squad down minus all the guys like sylla, douglas, etc. we are in big trouble here. give the new manager 30 million and we are still in trouble! go on, write the squad down...just imagine, we might not even be in a position to let laursen, etc go - we might actually need them at this rate!
if balde goes who do we have in centre of defence - whether they be any good or not? even if wee gordon makes six signings he will be goosed as soon as he gets a couple of injuries.this is not speculation - its fact! champions league? are we being serious?
lets imagine lennon, balde and bellamy all leave(which might very well happen)the situation becomes absolutely frightening. it really annoys me when dermot d harps on about us getting into the premiership - he has a neck. our team has been aloud to wither to the point where it makes wee gordons job just about impossible. he will need at least three seasons. i am bracing myself for a season of "crisis club celtic" on every back page every damn day. i dont like blaming anyone at the club and i do think sometimes we tend to blame the board for everything just because they are a bit more private than the honerary chairman and his spindoctors. but surely someone must take responsibility for the state of the current sqaud?
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To all paniking about signings
If what Paul has said is true, and we have all but signed on the dotted line for two players. Then it would be reasonable to presume that we are waiting on a big signing coming through. I would think that if we do no hear anything over the weekend then we will have to wait till just before July 1st. This would IMO happen for two reasons: 1) shirt sales would increase with a big signing. 2) income generated from names on the back would also increase.
I think it will be 50-50 whether the board do hold off signing news of big stars till nearer the time the new strips are on sale. If not then I think it would make sense to do it at the start of the weekend to supply the Sunday papers with some positive PR.
Paul would you agree with this?
Also, to those who want any sort of signing announced straight away this is fair enough, and I would want the same. But I know the negative reports that would follow and the bad PR just wouldn't be worth it. (Not mentioning fans unrest with the 'no ambition brigade' at full strength - I must admit I can be part of this at times but that's only to do with new markets not being explored and nothing to do with a lack of spending).
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I must admit Awe Naw, looking at the latest feature at http://tinyurl.com/d8465 does make slightly worrying reading. It's far too heavily weighted towards up-coming prospects who may or may not realise their anticipated potential! Or established players coming into the twilight of their careers.
And I suspect that Laursen will be staying now that Jackie has gone.
But I'll be reasonably happy if we get Bellamy, Riordan, Diamond, Zurawski, Boruc and Baszczyñski, plus a couple more to add to what we already have.
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