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2020 will be the year of the trader

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

It will not have escaped your attention that Scott Bain is the only senior goalkeeper under contract at Celtic.  Fraser Forster is floating around while we wait and see if we can afford to meet Southampton’s terms (assume nothing here), while Craig Gordon rejected a “vastly reduced” offer to stay.

I know how important Fraser was last season, so if at all possible, I would have him back, but as a general position, I would be reluctant to pay comparable rates to anyone not in the ‘absolutely critical’ category.  Football clubs everywhere cannot afford the contracts they paid last year.  Like Celtic, many have to pay expensive long-term deals, but there can scarcely be a club in the world that would not be happy to offload players to generate enough cash to keep them in grass seed.

With so much trauma in the market, the clubs who shed expensive contracts and take advantage of newfound value from places they could not afford to buy from a year ago, will make the biggest gains this year.

The challenge for Celtic is to find a keeper who can mount a genuine challenge as first choice on the “vastly reduced” offer we made to Craig.  The same is true for other positions we are looking to fill.  Having missed Champions League football for two seasons, we have to be frank and admit that despite closing in on a fourth consecutive treble and nine-in-a-row, there are better players across Europe than some in our squad.  2020 will be the year of the trader, let’s roll the dice!

I’m not against reconstruction on principle, but like everyone else in the country, the first thing I think of is, “What’s in it for my club?”  A 14 team top flight has two fewer games against bottom 6 (or 8) clubs.  These games do nothing for Celtic beyond cluttering up our calendar, so I’m happy with that.

Since Hearts have moved on from both the football-competency and arrogant-belligerence approaches to avoiding relegation, their latest proposal, for a 14-10-10-10 setup hit the “What’s in it for me?” question.  For most clubs the answer is nothing, beyond putting your name to a motion that helps a club that participated in an outrageous charade against the league in recent months.  Aesop could have told the tale of Hearts actions this year.

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  5. EmeraldBee \o/ A Double Niner!! on

    Jobo, well done leading three out four Kilbridies at the top.

     

     

    DD, we know that 3rd is the new first!!. Hope to see you back in your usual seat in 102 next season.

     

     

    CRC thanks very much for your efforts, been a great addition to the relief during lockdown for we Tims (and the Big Tims too).

     

     

    Ave Ave

  7. Jobo Baldie on

    Marc, thanks for all your hard work in recent weeks in providing these quizzes and, of course, for doing so over many years. It’s a real pity that the site problems have led to reduced numbers taking part and ultimately to your decision to retire this particular format.

     

    Hail Hail.

  8. Delaneys Dunky on

    Magic Marc thank you.

     

    Well done Jobo and Bada. Great Celtic knowledge bhoys. An honour to share the bronze medal with Emeraldbee. We used to share a close space in North Stand Paradise.

     

    Cheers

  9. blantyretim is praying for the Knox family on

    Congrats Jobo and well done CRC

     

    Good to see regulars back on

  13. Delaneys Dunky on

    Emeraldbee

     

    3 Kilbridies and a Bankie in tap 4.

     

    EK 3 Clydebank 1.

     

    A score you may see on the fitba pitch soon. 😊

  14. Delaneys Dunky on

    Bada

     

    Odsonne is here for 11 in a row. Then he leaves on a free transfer.

     

    What I would do if I was him.

  16. Friesdorfer on

    CRC

     

    Great quiz again tonight sorry I missed it. Thanks for all your time and effort throughout, very much appreciated.

     

    HH

  20. Greenpinata on

    CRC,

     

     

    Apologies I missed your quiz.

     

    I realise and appreciate the time and effort you put in.

     

     

    Cheers and HH.

  21. Jobo Baldie on

    Good morning, friends from a grey and drizzly East Kilbride..

     

    Used to love my Saturday morning scroll back, usually clicking on various music clips and other interesting opinions. Just the 4 posts since 11pm. The game is over. The adverts have won ;-)

  22. NorrieM on

    Jobo

     

    100%, caught up in about 2 mins, that includes scrolling back to look at CRC quiz questions

     

    Which I see is retiring with your good self as Champion

     

    Could prompt a song 🤔

  24. Hot Smoked on

    Should John Grieg`s statue be removed as his Club had a sectarian signing policy??

     

    That would go down well :-))

  25. big wavy on

    “I don’t have to sell my soul

     

    He’s already in me……

     

     

    I wanna, I wanna, I wanna…”

     

     

    Altogether csc

  31. bankiebhoy1 on

    Delighted for Eddie Bhoy……….he’s a class act.

     

    To me he’s what Celtic are about……….Calmac’s savvy enough to know there’s a difference in what each can do and have done.

     

     

    Let’s keep Eddie bhoy a happy bhoy!

     

     

    HH

  32. WeefratheTim on

    Just popped in for a quickie, Celtic’s Invisibles are on Sky Sports Mix ( Sky ch 45 ) at 1400. Hope all are safe and well. Byeeeeee. HH

  34. Hrvatski Jim on

    HS

     

     

    based on overall consistency of contribution I would agree on Calmac but on key moments it is Eddie.

     

     

    Let’s be thankful that we have a few contenders.

     

     

    Hope that all is well with you.

  42. An Tearmann on

    wee fra

     

     

    Good to see you on wee fra .I hope you are well and leepin busy down on the farm.stay safe and hopefully not to long before we meet at Celtic.stay safe buddy

     

    :-)

     

    HH

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