I’ve heard a lot about Patrick Roberts. He’s burdened by enormous expectations, compared to the greats since shortly after his 17th birthday. Manchester City moved 2 starts and 17 substitute appearances into his Fulham career – £12m on the basis of 399 minutes football.
He’s here to force his way into the team between now and the end of the season, and be ready for the European challenges ahead. I think we’re going to enjoy watching this lad.
We saw around 80 minutes of Erik Sviatchenko on Sunday. As I said yesterday, he’s probably our best defender, not that that is taking enormous liberties. In Virgin van Dijk we managed to recruit a dependable defender who wasn’t scared of the ball, and was first to organise those around him. If Erik’s near that standard, he’ll do well.
Ryan Christie (20) is a No. 10. We need a No. 10. He’s 12 years younger than Kris Commons, the only comparable player in the first team squad. Kris has been our MVP for more seasons than anyone else currently on the books, but we’ve been far too dependent on him, which has become acutely evident recently, when he’s out injured.
There’s an argument that we could have done with another No. 10 during our European campaign but it’s far from clear Ryan would have got his chance. We’ll see a good bit of him before the end of the season.
Many of the things I could say about Colin Kazim-Richards I alluded about Carlton Cole when he signed. He’s a physical presence, not easily intimidated, should be an effective foil for Leigh Griffiths.
Colin joins with an actual rap sheet. Online comments yesterday recalled the reaction the day Griffiths signed. At the time I wrote that it’s important for Celtic to affirm positive values in Leigh’s life. The player hasn’t looked back, he’s every inch a positive role model. It’s now important the club and Colin work to ensure a similar result.
Aidan Nesbitt (18) is also a No. 10. He’s the player you’re most likely to hear development and youth coaches talk about. The next stage of his development required him to play against men. Four months in the Premiership playing for Partick will achieve this.
Farewall Nadir Ciftci, who is off to Turkey until the end of the season. I described Nadir as less like a Ronny Deila player than any other I’ve watched and known Celtic to be interested in. He has a touch and is a better player than we’ve seen, but he was built from different material than practically all other Deila signings.
Last month’s business will hopefully mean we have a settled and secure defence for the qualifiers, something missing at the beginning of this season, something missing on Sunday afternoon. The Kazim-Richards signing could go a number of different ways. The player will get his chance to live up to his own expectations.
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Ciftci one of the worst Id say,
Good riddance
Over and over
You one in here supporting the club and everything with it? That’ll never catch on in here, gaureunteed your next post they will be lining up for you, they will do the usual text blitz and before you know it, you’ll have a pack of rabid dogs on you, and Huns included as they wind them up to a frenzy, they start behaving like Huns (prob. Cause they are) great post mate, a Celtic fan, welcome
PS
Oh and when you are winning the debate and getting ripped into them, they spit the dummy out, an run ti the heedy,……watch yer back.
TONYDONNELLY67 on 2ND FEBRUARY 2016 12:54 PM
Michael O’Halloran is a Hun now, never forget it, and like McCann the worst kind.
——–
Why are they worse?
GlenDalyTonsils
Ronny is a very good communicator, lost in translation, mmmm, I doubt it !
TD
Is it bad luck?
I’m pretty certain his medical history was known before we signed him.
Could it possibly be bad judgement?
Kris Commons is available for selection tomorrow Charlie Mulgrew could also be in the frame for a return Ronny has a big pool from which to select from. H.H.
Jinky was small, but he was built like a middleweight boxer, shoulders to match. GMS looks like a strong breeze will knock him over.
TD
“time will tell, like everyone he deserves his chance, although some of the trumpets oh here will tell you different, #nutsackscsc”
time will tell, like everyone he deserves his chance, although some of the trumpets oh here will ALWAYS tell you different, #nutsackscsc FIXED THAT FOR YOU :) por cierto
GlenDalyTonsils
Ronny is a very good communicator in his press dealings, lost in translation, I doubt it !
OVER AND OVER
Don’t think that’s your first post but a belter nevertheless por cierto
Stumbled across a wee quoted I thought worth sharing:
“Losers think winning is down to luck. Winners know it’s down to cause and effect.”
Well well, here’s JJ.
https://johnjamessite.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/hard-pressed/
Over and Over, breath of fresh air, been absent for a while myself, great post onwards and upwards .
Awerabest PJ
With Mulgrew and Commons coming back
I’m afraid Joe Hansen has ran out of time and luck
Belfast Telegraph @BelTel · 4 hrs4 hours ago
#Celtic weighs up move for Northern Ireland boss O’Neill @celtic @celticfc http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/celtic/celtic-weighs-up-move-for-northern-ireland-boss-oneill-after-euro-2016-34415658.html …
Over and Over, that’s exactly how I feel about Celtic.
Hail Hail.
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/angela-haggerty/
On here Mikey Ohalloran wasn’t good enough to play for us, now that he has signed for Sevco,he is being called a Hun, well I for one was a bit disappointed that he signed for them.But Mikey once a Tim always a Tim, don’t forget that Son.and good luck.
IMO it wasn’t too bad a transfer window as far as January transfer windows go. It’s just a shame we couldn’t get the deal completed in time to get the highly rated Dutch winger Derk Boerrigter in before the summer.
Over & Over
Well said.
Sadly for a few on here their support fluctuates depending on the actions of the board – if we all took that attitude there’d be no club. You can guarantee if we were playing Barcelona or Bayern Munich tomorrow night they’d be demanding tickets.
The core support ARE Celtic and always will be.
HH
Breaking news:
Celtic’s line-up has been announced for tomorrow night’s game at Pittodrie…
GLK: Boerrigter
DEF: Brown, Rogic, Bitton, Johansen
MID: Roberts, Allen, McGregor, Armstrong
STR: Commons, Forrest
SUBS: Christie, Mackay-Steven, Thomson, Henderson, Kazim-Richards
Expected formation is either a 4-4-2 or possibly the rarely seen 0-11-0.
Celtic to win 2-1 by virtue of own goals from Dons’ midfielders Barry Robson and Niall McGinn, with Willo Flood netting the Dons’ consolation.
Not the worst transfer window ever but yet again we fail to address the glaring deficiency in our squad. A defensive midfielder. Delighted when we signed Sviatchenko, more so after getting to see him on Sunday, but the reality is no matter who we play in central defence we will always be liable to lose goals due to no protection in front them. This weakness will continue to be exploited in Europe when we play better teams, and on occasions domestically, Motherwell at CP being a prime example.
Our best European run in recent years, 12/13, where we lost one goal in four qualifying games and eight in six group games, our central defence was Ambrose & Wilson. Not the two you think of when choosing best central defensive pairing.Why? They had defensive midfielders in front of them, sometimes two, and the team was set up to protect them. Wanyama, Ledley, in the middle, Mulgrew on the left, tasked with protecting the central defence and or wandering left back.
Domestically we’ll get away with it more often than not but we have not enhanced our chances of CL qualification in this window IMO.
Over & Over
I believe the vast majority of fans on CQN have the same feelings as you and I am sure they look not just at the last result but the big picture and express their views.
I am not convinced about our manager or the board, I also feel our supporters have let the club down in the past few years, poor attendance being one example (although their are some mitigating circumstances for this).
I am 51, I like many have been a season ticket holder for many years, seen bad times and good times.
Because I have views and opinions like all of us I am sure this does change our love for the club, this is not measured simply on comments on a forum like this, for me it’s about supporting the club, attending when you genuinely can, fighting our corner among opposition fans and recognising we all have views.
We all have a common cause !
Thanks very much for all the positive comments. Much appreciated and means I’ll definitely be posting a bit more.
All the best.
We’d all have liked a DM. We were certainly looking at them.
Charlie and Broony can hopefully fill in til the end of the season
TIMALOY29
“We’d all have liked a DM. We were certainly looking at them.”
Are you kidding? Look what happened to the last club that had a David Murray por cierto
TRADITIONALIST88 on 2ND FEBRUARY 2016 1:47 PM
Over & Over
Well said.
Sadly for a few on here their support fluctuates depending on the actions of the board – if we all took that attitude there’d be no club. You can guarantee if we were playing Barcelona or Bayern Munich tomorrow night they’d be demanding tickets.
The core support ARE Celtic and always will be.
####
Did your ‘core support’ favour the Old Board or Fergus McCann?
Maradominic on 2nd February 2016 8:28 am get rid of Stokes who scores 1 in 2 in league bring in a dumpling Cole
*it was stated on here before that the reason we signed Nat King was shift key turned out to be a disappointment and not what it said on the tin.
It’s known as damage limitation.
Why just a DM shouldn’t we be looking for a Dragon some dark Elves and possibly a few Wizards to form our band of adventurers ?
Hail Hail.
CultsBhoy
Peter Lawell went on a supporters bus like you and me, whilst he enjoys his dream job and bonus, it’ll likely remain a permanent internet topic, and be debated ad nauseum.
It will also remain calculated and awarded by other custodians in bona fide business like fashion. Celtic are a big business we need to get over it, Brother Walfrid was very quickly gone, and there was always a vehicle where money was to be made for owners or employees.
I’m more concerned what decisions PL makes in order to earn his bonus, I don’t like certain aspects of his and other board members relationships to the Celtic supporter, and I await with interest the Celtic stance on the introduction of a new club to the SPL.
In the meantime and tomorrow night around ten, the merits and demerits of Peter Lawell’s Ronny appointment will be reviewed again on the internet a very short time after it suffered another blow.
Not many genuine football clubs ‘go to the wall’ but this board make mistakes like any other football club, we have to trust that Ronny Deila was genuinely appointed to bring on a long term culture change at Celtic and endure the pain on the way.
We appointed him because he achieved this in the Tippeligaen ( remember Molde? from the wee diddy league) it took him a long time, but he got there and his CV at the time of appointment is actually a good deal better than that of Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan Tony Mowbray or Neil Lennon.
They had all won little or nothing, the Ronny Deila deal is to bring on a Celtic team with a bunch of young players and seasoning them into a decent side.
It’s still very early days in that sort of build, but if we can get a few more like Keiran Tierney into the team because of this approach, I certainly won’t be complaining about that.
Drastic change doesn’t happen overnight, and there will always be transitional periods, but if all big bad Peter does is chop and change managers every couple of seasons, we won’t build any consistency and will constantly be rebuilding.
In which case therefore I will conclude his bonus payment was too high.
Vespacide on 2nd February 2016 2:15 pm
Why just a DM shouldn’t we be looking for a Dragon some dark Elves and possibly a few Wizards to form our band of adventurers ?
——————-
Only saddos will get that reference :O)
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 2ND FEBRUARY 2016 2:16 PM
CultsBhoy
‘Peter Lawell went on a supporters bus like you and me’
####
The problem is that The Great Desmondo didn’t.
When will those on here realise that Peter Lawwell’s remuneration has nothing to do with Celtic’s success or failure on the park – just like Scott Brown or any other player or employee.
The squad is expensively put together,by Scottish standards, and is not performing to required levels
All money that comes in goes out – please please read the Annual Accounts – there is no large financial reserves lying around – any profit from a season goes to funding the seasons when there is no profit….simples.
Ronny was an new and imaginative appointment and of course he has been given a chance – but it is not working – we can all see it with our own eyes.
Can we get to the end of the season with him and win the title?
My guess is that yet another gutless performance and defeat at Aberdeen, should and could be the end for him.
As I write the vast majority of fans have either written him off, or, are in the process of considering it – this will not have escaped the ears of those who will make any decision.
The common denominator, whether it be team selection, team tactics, team performance, or transfer selection, is Ronny.
Peter Lawwell sets the budget, but it is Ronny we decides on players – what kind of a man would he be if he was only told who was signing, to suggest that he stands by and says and does nothing to bring in HIS players is ludicrous in the extreme.
ernie lynch on 2nd February 2016 2:13 pm
TRADITIONALIST88 on 2ND FEBRUARY 2016 1:47 PM
Over & Over
Well said.
Sadly for a few on here their support fluctuates depending on the actions of the board – if we all took that attitude there’d be no club. You can guarantee if we were playing Barcelona or Bayern Munich tomorrow night they’d be demanding tickets.
The core support ARE Celtic and always will be.
####
Did your ‘core support’ favour the Old Board or Fergus McCann?
=======================
I knew you wouldn;t be able to resist.
You see Ernie, our very existence is not under threat any more. Do keep up.
These are not desperate times requiring those desperate measures. Of course we can improve and aspire to structural change in football so maybe you can explain how boycotting the club to force change at the top will help achieve that aim, when the most likely outcome is more of the same from any new incumbents?
HH
TRADITIONALIST88 on 2ND FEBRUARY 2016 2:20 PM
So when did your ‘core support’ switch allegiance from the old to the new?
Mr Pastry
Great post.
TT
TinyTim
Ross County won because we were down to 10 men. We were well on our way to running up a cricket score prior to Efe’s dismissal.
As for next season’s average attendance…..25k to 30k ?? Absolute nonsense. Despite many being disillusioned with RD.s tactics I have little doubt that we will prevail in his year’s league championship and have evry confidence our average attendance will increase next season not decrease.
Interesting post on e-tims.
ChrisBhoy February 2, 2016 at 10:50 am · Reply →
Ralph, a wee comment on the transfer window and back to Sunday
On Sunday we had Ciftci and Nesbitt on the subs bench
On Monday they were both on the bus out the door.
A) Did Ronnie know they were going? If he did why waste 2 places selecting them for the squad
B) If he didnt know they were going what does that tell us about who runs the team?