We have watched Celtic through many transfer windows but I don’t think we have ever hit as many targets before – both in terms of who we brought in and who we moved out.
It is still early in the season but Kyogo Furuhashi (26) looks every inch a superstar in hoops. Two years ago we pondered who was better, Edouard or Dembele, without reaching a clear conclusion. Today, Kyogo would be first pick from the three of them. It has been 17 years since we have seen a striker with such promise – so no pressure, Kyogo.
The first assumption is that Georgios Gialouakis (26) will have to wait on Kyogo being rested to make his mark. With a long season ahead, who knows? Georgios offers an aerial target that we have missed for many years, there could be occasions when he is preferred, or when both are used.
I hear great things about Josip Juranovic (26) from Zbyszek. He was a stand out for Legia last season and no one there is happy he has left. He gets forward, has an end product and can defend. The defence is already vastly more stable than it was last season, the addition of Jura should help.
Carl Starfelt (26) is frustratingly difficult to assess. He is good on the ball, fast, and reads the game well enough to cover for teammates. Then there are the mistakes that cost goals. At the same stage of Christopher Jullien’s Celtic career, the French defender was sitting on the bench, unable to win a place in the team that exited the Champions League. Christopher soon settled, Carl must do the same.
That’s four 26-year-olds added at their athletic peak. Not often we do that.
Paying £3.6m for a 19-year-old from Israeli football is at the higher end of what Maccabi Petah Tikva could have hoped for. Liel Abada’s instant return in goals and assists indicates why they got that figure. He is the youngest of the 12 signings this window and will continue to develop for years.
Joe Hart (34) is by some margin better than any of the three keepers who shuffled through the starting line-up last season. He has already brought authority – as well as saves (!) – to the team.
Five years ago, James McCarthy (30) was miles out of our reach. The subsequent seasons have not been kind, as the player’s appearance stats were subverted by various injuries. 30 minutes into his Celtic career, he again missed out through injury. James has controlled games in the EPL. If we get him fit, he will play in our most important games. Let’s hope.
Filipe Jota (22) has skill and incredible pace. Last season he was on loan at Real Valladolid, who finished 19th in La Liga and were relegated. There is a rule of thumb I used whenever Patrick Roberts moves. Patrick is a slight and skilful player, similar to Jota, but since leaving Celtic, Patrick has mostly played for teams at the bottom end of the table, where robust defending is required, often at the cost of creative players. The slight, pacey and skilful players should ply their trade with clubs operating at the top end of the table.
There is development work ahead for Jota but he starts from a respectable high.
Cameron Carter-Vickers’ (23) signing was not quite as late as John Guidetti (another story) but he slipped through the window with minutes to spare. My big worry about central defence is that I don’t expect Christopher Jullien to contribute much before Christmas (he is a slow starter to the season), leaving us short of cover for the Europa League.
Jota and Cameron both have the incentive of a permanent deal with Celtic to play for. This worked well for Odsonne, let’s hope for the same.
Liam Scales (23) is the same age as Cameron and will hope to force his way into either central defence or left back. £500k is decent money to pay for a League of Ireland player, his addition should ensure we do not force Nir Bitton back into the middle of the back line again.
Liam Shaw (20) and Osaze Urhoghide (20) are unlikely to see much game time this season.
Do you want to know how important it is that we sold Odsonne Edouard and (to a lesser extent) Ryan Christie? Wait and see what happens across the city, where a team who publicly made it known they needed to sell players were unable to do so.
You either manage your assets or you fail to manage your assets and they expire looking more like liabilities. Under different circumstances, Odsonne, Ryan and Kristoffer Ajer would have been sold a year ago, but the decision was made to retain them for the 10-in-a-row season. I know, you all said “Sell them!” at the time………
None of them attracted clubs of the calibre that Kieran and Moussa did. That we got north of £30m for them from EPL bottom dwellers is above my expectations. There are deductions for sell-on clauses, of course, but this money, in addition to the revenue from Jeremie Frimpong (minus sell-on) and Patryk Klimala will have a huge impact on Scottish football in the years ahead.
Leigh Griffiths moved on, thank goodness. Boli Bolingoli and Vasilis Barkas did not, both will wither on the vine.
So, are we going to win the league? I’m feeling good about it.
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Scunner for the boys in green.
HH jg
And of course I jinx them. Ronaldo scores.
31003 on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021 9:30 PM
England have made a sem-final and a final in the last two tournaments. Portugal have looked in deep decline since 2016 despite the talent they have.
same old Scottish negative mentality – no guile, not adventure , no creativity, until its too late or back to the wall – don’t want the responsibility as leaders!! see independence results
Scotland team….good second half, but lets be honest ‘Planks o wid’
WEEBOBBYCOLLINS
Ronaldo 110 goals for Portugal. World record, Bobby. Hardly Peter Grant.
k ( ) n T
STEBHOY on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021 9:40 PM
Wit??? speak for yourself it may apply to the fitba team but not the people ffs!
Make that 111. Heartbreak for Eire.
Very unlucky Ireland. Some goal from Ronaldo.
And to think, I switched over to Ireland to cheer me up!
Portugal deserved it – Ronaldo 111 – unbelievable.
Ireland – fantastic effort.
Shocking refereeing in the Ireland game and out and out cheat. Ireland robbed
2 bullet headers. Bit of a prick, but world class nevertheless. Looking forward to seeing him up against Van Dyck this season.
Ronaldo is hanging in the air for both headers.Amazing player.Real legend.
We need to encourage technical football across all age groups in all clubs. A coherent strategy that everyone understands and works to
So why, when we have a manager who is all-in on high tempo, technical hi intensity attacking football are we still talking about signing bigger, more physical players, winning the midfield battle and bringing Bobo Baldes back into the team?
That doesn’t sound like we’re practicing what we preach
Is it ok to hate CR?
Shooda paid the Danegeld
Iniquitous,
Think your wrong about Ronaldo.Wonderfully generous individual.
Celtic4me………….
To compete / beat what’s in front of us – Big hun lumps o’ wid………….
No other reason.
Ross Co. at home on the 11th. We gotta go for it.
Aaaaaa the international break and a Transfer Window slamming shut is a perfect storm on here…
Republic defended heroically, Ronaldo’s 2nd header…..wow
WBC- we really need an edit function on here…😁
BANKIEBHOY1 on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021 9:57 PM
They ain’t changing, so do we look at what the academy does with that in mind?
If we’re looking to play that sort of football and sign those sort of players to play in the first team it doesn’t make sense to have the academy players playing to a different blueprint.
And we’ll carry on producing players who can’t cut it at international level.
There’s a very good reason that Murray Park is full at the international breaks while Lennoxtown sees players go off all over the world
McPhail Bhoy- added injury time? 5 minutes plus…
TURKEYBHOY
I’m sure he is. I remember he treated all the Hoops fans in his hotel in Lisbon.
We all have faults, me more than a few! One of my abiding memories of CR is of him screwing up his face when Messi was announced as the winner of POTY or some other award. He is so competitive, he took his rival’s victory in very bad grace.
Not the worst trait to have, I guess, and I’m sure he has plenty good qualities.
I’d say we’d be better off beating them at our game instead of theirs
Celtic4me
All good points I’m in agreement with………..this year, given who we have and who we were looking to recruit.
Short term tactics to win this League meant I wanted us to sign a bit of strength to augment the light touches of our ball players.
Celtic4
There’s only so much this year I would risk.
win at all costs.
H
They think it’s Moldova…
It is now….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd5ztTz1564
#savingitupforpablophanquefriday csc
JHB – “the conundrum is how are they (Sevco) making it work?”
Agree we don’t know for sure …
… but an educated guess (based on info available) might include the following …
1. ST money paid off Close Brothers, football debts (transfer fees) and deferred wages
2. Default operational procedure for Accounts Payable team – no money paid out
3. When no.2 is simply untenable, lean on the next director on the carousel for a “share issue”. Happened 9 times in a 12-month period recently , (before ST money came in of course) or once every 5¾ weeks.
4. Screw the fans
Surely teams like Denmark illustrate that you can be physically strong and technically gifted?
Indeed, you need to be both to succeed in the modern game.
HH jg
BANKIEBHOY1 on 1ST SEPTEMBER 2021 10:14 PM
“win at all costs.”
The danger is that it’ll be the same story at the start of every season
We’re completely rebuilding the squad at the moment under a new manager with exciting fresh ideas. There won’t be a better time fir a long time to create a team with a dynamic modern style.
We could be set up for years if we do it right. I think the risk is worth it.
But going back to the original point, we can’t expect a revolution in Scottish football if we aren’t prepared to encourage it in our own ranks
Years ago we had extensive debates on here about ID cards in general and entry to the football in particular.
Overwhelmingly the blog was against.
Have you had a look at the Vacinnation card ( written or on phone ). It is an ID card in all but name.
A few of us on here predicted this control measure.
HH.
Juranovic got MotM for Croatia tonight
One of our local school lads cam on as sub for Ireland tonight. Town is buzzing for him
That’s my highlights!