Building mainstays, lessons from yesterday

1164

Great news that Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre have extended their contracts until 2017.  Footballers’ careers flow on a few distinct tracks.  Some are too hot for their clubs to retain, Victor Wanyama, who declined a contract renewal with almost 3 years of his initial deal remaining, fell into this category.  Some, like Georgios Samaras, will represent diminishing value to their clubs, and attract only diminishing contracts.

I could make an argument that the players in the third category, who are highly valuable to their club, but are not so valuable that they are impossible to retain, are more important than the latter.

It’s important for Celtic to have outstanding achievers (especially up front) but clubs find it difficult to remain on-strategy if they have significant churn each season.  Transfer income is great, and often needed, but ideally you would look at your squad around this time of the year and want to change no more than 3 players over the summer.

I reckon Celtic should be able to hold onto Lustig, Izaguirre, Matthews, Ambrose, Brown, Commons, Mulgrew, Stokes and Forrest until the club want to move them on.  These players are the mainstay of our squad, hopefully Johansen will prove to be too.  Forster and van Dijk fall into the same category as Wanyama and Hooper – they will have high paying options in England.

Forster and van Dijk will help get us into and compete in the Champions League, but two or three gems are useless if they are surrounded by players less polished bling.

The last 24 hours has been a salutary lesson on what will continue to happen until Celtic appoint a manager.  The Daily Mail got the ball rolling when someone told them Roy Keane was leaving Dublin to speak to Celtic.  This was good information, in as much as it was true, Celtic did meet Roy Keane, but the ‘paper put inappropriate weight upon it.

Soon everyone and their dog was reporting the deal was done.  Which surprised Celtic.

Today’s news – there is no news.

‘News’ will continue to break and eventually one story will actually be the news we’re waiting for.  There is value (reputation and advertising) in rushing out with a story before it’s confirmed or others are doing the same, and little consequence (zero damage to reputation and you get to keep the ad money) in getting it wrong, so stay tuned for the next instalment.  Only this week, Pope Francis was talking about papal retirement, maybe he has another gig in mind.

London Calling

Let me know if you would like to attend the CQN Question and Answer evening at the Manor Club, Wimbledon, on 21 June, with a confirmed line-up of Lisbon Lion, John Hughes, and our own Brogan Rogan and Auldheid, celticquicknews@gmail.com

Visit the CQN Bookstore to get Tommy Gemmell to sign your personal copy of his tome, All the Best.

[calameo code=000390171873c910154bd lang=en page=106 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
Click Here for Comments >
Share.

About Author

1,164 Comments
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. ...
  12. 31

  1. Celticrollercoaster luvs his luminious lime boots on

    voguepunter

     

     

    15:52 on 30 May, 2014

     

     

    mob rules ok! :-)

     

     

    HH

     

     

    CRC

  2. Reference to a few posters asking why emilio and mikel signed new contracts and they might not know who the new manager is and who does this benefit.

     

     

    I have said it before, we are a business and if you look at it from a business point of view it makes perfect sense.

     

     

    Izzy and mikel are two of our top performers and it makes sense to get them signed up regardless of the managerial position.

     

     

    If the new manager wants them, job done. They are signed up till 2017 i believe. Good business.

     

     

    If the manager does not want them we can command a higher transfer fee for two champions league, international class fullbacks. Good business.

     

     

    From the players point of view. They will have signed on good terms and they now have their future sorted for the next few years. Good business.

     

     

    From my point of view its a good deal for both parties and one that makes a lot of sense.

     

     

    Looking at it from a negative point of view, have they signed on bigger contracts to get the deals done and announced to boost season ticket sales? Either way, good business.

     

     

    Happy for them, especially izzy as he is now the first honduran tim. I believe he is and he has earned it. He gets us and we get him.

     

     

    As for mikel, he is the angriest player in our team. He gets really angry when badly tackled and it is a quality i like aloater (cheers kojo)

     

     

    He is in a long line of swedish tims.

  3. Petec

     

     

    Point of Interest..

     

     

    Ah spoke tae a Hungarian Acquaintance( Na.. it wiznae Zsa Zsa.. this time!)

     

     

    n.. She told me..

     

     

    That..

     

     

    Dracula, is Called Dracu.. in . well. Hungarian..

     

     

    n.. Dracu , means.. The DEVIL.

     

     

    Ah thought that that wiz interesting. fur she went oan tae say.. the word Dracu

     

    comes fae the Word..

     

     

    Dragon..

     

     

    n Furthermair..

     

     

    A Dragon, is Sometimes referred tae as .. a Snake. a Big Wan.. of course

     

     

    n she Continued..

     

     

    As Everybuddy Knows.. It wiz the Snake who Caused the Whole Magillah.. in the Foist n the Second Place.. that led tae the Fall of Man…

     

     

    Man.. that Gal .. Sure Knew Her Onions.. which, of course has not Much tae dae wi whit we are talkin Aboot..

     

     

    But.. Ah jist thought that Ah wid throw that in!

     

     

    Jist hivin a wee bit Fun, wi ye pal…

     

     

    Nice Chattin. as Usual.. with Ye.

     

     

    Kojo

     

    Still,Laughin’

  4. Dontbrattbakkinanger on

    Fourth tier Canadian ice hockey will give you a game, but fourth tier Canadian ‘soccer’?

     

     

    CQN 5s select would give Ventura County Fusion a game.

     

     

    THis is huntundraguffery.

  5. Dontbrattbakkinanger on

    Accordin ‘ to ole online English- Hungarian dicitonary ‘tépõfarkas’ is Hungarian for devil.

     

     

    Maybe ‘dracu’ is Sevconian ?

  6. Kojo

     

     

    17:10 on 30 May, 2014

     

     

    Petec

     

     

    Point of Interest..

     

     

    Ah spoke tae a Hungarian Acquaintance( Na.. it wiznae Zsa Zsa.. this time!)

     

     

    n.. She told me..

     

     

    That..

     

     

    Dracula, is Called Dracu.. in . well. Hungarian..

     

     

    n.. Dracu , means.. The DEVIL.

     

     

    Ah thought that that wiz interesting. fur she went oan tae say.. the word Dracu

     

    comes fae the Word..

     

     

    Dragon..

     

     

    n Furthermair..

     

     

    A Dragon, is Sometimes referred tae as .. a Snake. a Big Wan.. of course

     

     

    n she Continued..

     

     

    As Everybuddy Knows.. It wiz the Snake who Caused the Whole Magillah.. in the Foist n the Second Place.. that led tae the Fall of Man…

     

     

    Man.. that Gal .. Sure Knew Her Onions.. which, of course has not Much tae dae wi whit we are talkin Aboot..

     

     

    But.. Ah jist thought that Ah wid throw that in!

     

     

    Jist hivin a wee bit Fun, wi ye pal…

     

     

    Nice Chattin. as Usual.. with Ye.

     

     

    Kojo

     

    Still,Laughin’

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    Whit aboot Appollo?

     

     

    Appollyon, Abbadon.

     

     

    Some might Say, cue a song.

     

     

    I would try to reverse engineer at the first name.

     

     

    Abbadon — A Bad one, who Am I to Judge anyone.

     

     

    Celtic. Great, Smashing, Super.

     

     

    And that is the bottom Line.

  7. TBJ says Wee Oscar Knox is in heaven with the angels on

    Evening all

     

     

    Just drove by the Celtic way and I can exclusively reveal I have no exclusives :)

  8. thunder road

     

     

    16:54 on 30 May, 2014

     

    “……………

     

     

    Sorry bud, never heard of a rivercobbler…. but as they say every day’s a school day!!

     

     

    Wouldn’t fancy eating one though, gives the impression as tough as old boots!

     

     

    HH

  9. petec – can’t think of any mellow techno links at the moment but the recent-ish album by Public Service Broadcasting isn’t bad.

  10. My dear,dear,dear,friend.. The Singing Detetive

     

     

    Mark McGhee..

     

     

    Who is He?

     

     

    Nice.. it even his a Rhyme tae It..

     

     

    Na.. Ah am Afraid the Answer Must be Nay

     

     

    .. Ah Canny see That He wid Bring Anything of Value tae oor Dressing Room. ( How aboot that Rolex that he is Always. Ostentatiously, Checkin’ every five Minutes?.. ed) ( Man,ye hiv a Point there.. Never thought aboot That.)

     

     

    Ach … Ah still canny see Mark As oor Manager..

     

     

    Noo.. the Ither guy ,whom ye suggested..

     

     

    Diznae Hiv a Rolex.. Ah believe he Sports a Timex.. which is A sign o’ Him Eethur…

     

     

    Bein’ a Nice Unpretentious Type o’ Guy..or..

     

    It is a Sign that he is ,instead.. Merely…. An unfortunate n Impecunious Wan!

     

     

    Yes.. Stevie Baby, diz hiv Qualities.. well Hidden of Course.. but Ah sure that he Hiz them.

     

     

    Ah widnae be Averse tae Preferring Hiz Selection over that o’ Mr. Keane’s.

     

     

    Anyone, in fact.. wid be Mair Preferable tae Mr. Keane..

     

     

    Anyone?

     

     

    Well… Actually, No.. jist ..Anyone..

     

     

    So.. Who then?

     

     

    Ach . let’s Drap the whole Thing!

     

     

    Anywey.. Mark Ma Words..

     

     

    If Keane gets the Post..

     

     

    He wull Damage the Club.. No a jist… wee Tate. But a Hellava Loat!

     

     

    Nice chatting, Pal. as alwiz..

     

     

    Kojo

     

    Still,Laughin’

  11. Mullet

     

     

    Please by assured that by Tim -I meant that I believe that he is a CFC supporter

     

    His religion means absolutely nothing to me

     

    I do think he would get more money to spend on players than the likes of OC or most others because he would be DD’s pick

     

    Would he spend it wisely? – who honestly knows?

     

    Every manager makes mistakes in the transfer market

     

    For sure he has far more experience as a manager than Lenny had when he was appointed

     

    I tend to think that only us or MU would really engage him – however as I said earlier I don’t think he will want to uproot his family and we cannot have a manager who is only here part time. That would be unfair on all parties!

     

     

    HH

  12. leftclicktic We are all Neil Lennon on

    Bomber was sporting a neat pair of shoes in the photos:)))

  13. Pogmathonyahun aka Laird of the Smiles on

    tootingtim

     

    17:28 on 30 May, 2014

     

    ———————————–

     

    Neither do the words managerial genius ;-)

     

    I hope you are keeping well.

     

    Aff oot – the lawnmower beckons, but will a good excuse for a few beers later!

  14. leftclicktic We are all Neil Lennon on

    Bomber,Huston ,”the glib & shameless liar” & tinfoilheid Graham

     

    The motley crew they have assembled to do battle with the Spivs:))))

  15. Don’tBrakkbackin Anger..

     

     

    Hiya,Pal..

     

     

    Nice tae Chat wi ye.. Long time..

     

     

    Well.

     

     

    So She Lied..

     

     

    But, then Ah am No Surprised.. Ye jist canny trust those Hungarians..

     

     

    Fur anithe Acquaintance done tole Me..

     

     

     

    “As long as Ye hiv a Hungarian fur a Freen. ye wull Never Hiv tae Look far. Fur an Enemy,”

     

     

    N.. He Is Hungarian, an Awe!

     

     

    Nice Chattin ,Pal.. as alwiz

     

     

    Kojo

     

    Still,Laughin’

  16. eddieinkirkmichael on

    TootingTim

     

     

    17:28 on 30 May, 2014

     

     

    The word Celtic does not appear in Roy Keane’s autobiography

     

    —————————————————————————————————–

     

     

    Look in the section where he talks about topping up his pension fund ;)

  17. more than a touch of the Ronald Villiers in those Willie Vass photies……….

     

     

    Sharks’n’ThePrivateJets CSC

  18. weeminger

     

     

    17:26 on 30 May, 2014

     

     

    petec – can’t think of any mellow techno links at the moment but the recent-ish album by Public Service Broadcasting isn’t bad.

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    Thank You.

     

     

    Not sure what is coming in this upcoming Sonic that I have just pressed PLAY to.

  19. glendalystonsils on

    The good old DR is flying a headline about Irish fans turning on the traitor RK because of the possibility of him joining Celtic.

     

    They don’t waste time in inventing an anti-Celtic story out of nothing, do they?

     

     

    I’ve been trawling the archives to read up on the furore that broke out in the MSM when the cardigan dumped Scotland to join the team then known as Rangers but strangely enough…….

  20. Italian midges – mosquitoes with teeth – starting to bite.

     

     

    Dont tend to bother me too much – usually feast on the wife n wean when theyre over.

     

     

    Alcohol in the bloodstream seems to repel them.

     

     

    HH!!

  21. Director : “Okay Ronald – Pick up the petition and leaf thru the pages, you know, kinda nonchalantly, –

     

     

    …….. ACTION!”

     

     

    Ronald : Whit?

     

    ahm no ready yit,……………. aw the pages or just a couple? Whit aboot Bomber wit’s he daein?

     

     

    ……..CUT!

  22. Nye Bevans' rebel soldier on

    Happy new moniker Friday,am no a hun

     

    and fine yees know it….I used to be valentinesday

     

    but am no anymare…….no need to worry my post’s

     

    will still be the same old same old….the ramblings

     

    of a sometimes bevvied, sometimes no bevvied

     

    working class thicko philosopher……btw have we

     

    got a manager yet?

  23. Season-2005/06

     

    Wed 5th April 2006

     

    League

     

    Celtic……………………..1-0….Hearts

     

    John Hartson-4min

     

     

    Artur Boruc………………………Craig Gordon

     

    Paul Telfer……………………….Robbie Neilson

     

    Bobo Balde………………………Panagiotis Fyssas

     

    Maciej Zurawski………………..Andy Webster

     

    John Hartson…………………….Edgaras Jankauskas

     

    (Dion Dublin-69min)……………(Michel Pospisil-54min)

     

    Mark Wilson………………………Paul Hartley

     

    Neil Lennon……………………….Roman Bednar

     

    Stilian Petrov……………………..Saulius Mikoliunas

     

    Shunsuke Nakamura…………..(Rudi Skacel-62min)

     

    (Stephen Pearson-58min)…….Deividas Cesnauskis

     

    Shaun Maloney…………………..Christophe Berra

     

    (Aiden McGeady-82min)………Julien Brellier

     

    Stephen McManus………………(Calum Elliot-85min)

     

    unused subs……………………….unused subs

     

    David Marshall…………………….Steve Banks

     

    Alan Thompson……………………Bruno Aguiar

     

    Stanislav Varga……………………Martin Petras

     

    Ross Wallace……………………….Ibrahim Tall

     

     

    Celtic go 20pts ahead of Hearts

     

    win the league

     

    with 6 games remaining

     

     

    Tue 09th May 2006

     

    Roy Keane Testimonial

     

    Manchester United……..1-0…….Celtic

     

    Cristiano Ronaldo

     

     

    Thu 11th May 2006

     

    Alan Shearer Testimonial

     

    Newcastle United………..3-2…….Celtic

     

    Albert Luque………………………….Shaun Maloney-pen

     

    Paul Lawson-og……………………..John Hartson

     

    Alan Shearer-pen

     

    hail hail

  24. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Have not read back. Apologies. No time.

     

     

    Deeelighted to read that Emilio und Michael have signed new contracts.

     

     

    Now get the same thing done for Matthews and Commons. Broonie too.

     

     

    Tell FF and VD your here for another year or at least until we have qualified for the CL.

     

     

    HH

  25. skyisalandfill on

    Good evening

     

     

    Sky sports and a number of newspapers keep referring to Dermot Desmond as Celtis’s majority shareholder.

     

    How accurate is this? My understanding is that with around 20% of the clubs shares, DD is the biggest single shareholder but not majority shareholder, a position I presume would require > 50%.

     

    Lazy journalism or am I missing something?

     

     

    Incidentally, Kojo, what purpose would quitting the blog serve in the event of RK getting the gig?

     

     

    HH

  26. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Herald today has surp itself with regards Irish bitterness. Let’s not forget MON and big Suttys part in their downfall. Their pain is our pride.

     

     

    HH

  27. Nye Bevans' rebel soldier on

    Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo

     

     

    Ingerland v Peru, itv London.

  28. Awe_Naw_No_Annoni_Oan_Anaw_Noo on

    Nye

     

     

    Lovely that will do nicely.

     

     

    Thanks for the response.

     

     

    HH

  29. Thunder Road on

    desertbhoy

     

    17:22 on

     

    30 May, 2014

     

    thunder road

     

     

    16:54 on 30 May, 2014

     

    “……………

     

     

    Sorry bud, never heard of a rivercobbler…. but as they say every day’s a school day!!

     

     

    Wouldn’t fancy eating one though, gives the impression as tough as old boots!

     

     

    HH

     

     

    —————————–

     

     

    You may recognise their more commonly used name……basa(could have been another pun earlier!)?

     

     

    They are actually pretty good……was looking for something for the dinner 1 day and bought some as the price per kg was very good.

     

     

    Kinda like cod but not as good and hence a cheaper product, but when there are 7 mouths to feed…..cheaper products can be all you can afford!

     

     

    It was boneless and when breaded and fried everyone enjoyed it and i thought……good stuff…..will get it again another time.

     

     

    When i googled it later on to see what the heck a rivercobbler looked like, i read some stories about concerns over the levels of toxins in the fish as some were fished from polluted Vietnamese waters.

     

     

    There doesn’t seem to be any damage done, except that my jokes have got even poorer!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    I remember reading something about them years ago

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. ...
  4. 5
  5. 6
  6. 7
  7. 8
  8. 9
  9. 10
  10. 11
  11. ...
  12. 31