There was a standing joke on here for years. On day one of the transfer window someone would write, “The transfer window’s been open 13 hours and still no news, get your finger out Celtic”. It mirrored the less jovial comments when the transfer window had 13 hours left, although “get your finger out Celtic” occasionally still featured.
It’s not just Celtic, transfer business is a deadline activity. Why sell your prime asset early when you know desperate clubs will pay over the odds to appease the manager who is demanding sufficient resources to meet target?
You need to work an angle to pick up prime cuts this early in the window. We picked up Virgil van Dijk for a paltry £2.6m in June 2013, which is remarkable, considering he is an outstanding player who was working in one of Europe’s heavily scouted leagues.
We got in early with van Dijk, who had been released by Willem II without playing a game before making 62 appearances with Groningen. A false start followed by a period with just enough form to tempt Celtic’s scouts, but not so much as to alert the slower footed.
So what do we know about Dedryck Boyata? He’s 24, three years older than Virgil when he joined, but has played around half the number of first team games Virgil had experienced. Dedryck was vacuumed up by City as a 16-year-old, part of the annual harvest major clubs make each year. He clearly had something about him to convince City to retain him, but first team outings were rare. When Celtic came shopping a year ago, City were prepared to live without Jason Denayer for a season, but not Dedryck, who went into their first team squad.
It’s correct to say that knowledge of Dedryck is scarce, even among City fans, but Ronny has spent time on City’s training fields with him, and had him watched extensively in non-first team outings over the last year.
Is he the answer to our defensive prayers? Time will tell, but the recruitment strategy which brought him here is coherent. All our scouts and management team have watched him to the extent that a consensus has been reached. His profile is not high enough to commend a fee which is out with our budget, and most importantly, we can bring him in now, making sure he’s embedded before the potentially lucrative Petrofac Cup Champions League qualifiers.
Welcome to Celtic, Dedryck.
Still laughing, in case you were in any doubt.
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21-5-79
11:42 on 4 June, 2015
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..and the donation is coming from the development fund, in the hope that they will ‘develop’ into human beings…….!!!!
Comparing the Saudi regime with Scotland, America or any other country in an attempt to somehow lay claim that ‘we’re not all perfect’ is a poor argument in my opinion.
Yes Scotland has its bigotry and indeed the Americans can be held accountable for much of the violence visited on other nations from the mid 20thC onwards but the last I looked neither of these countries permitted public executions sometimes for fairly trivial offences.
There are 195 other countries in the world, I think we’d have been better advised to have created links with one of those.
which major shareholder will benefit from linking Celtic with this vile state and in an instant destroy our reputation
iki
11:32 on
4 June, 2015
Press conference re saudi link.
Question from Peter Smith Stv
” does this further deepen the links formed when Arab money was used to fund Irish terrorists?”
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PL’s reply “Not in the least, however we are only following the British tradition of offering support to murderous state regimes in order to make a huge profit from it.Also the Saudi flag is green and white so there is a fair bit of synergy already. Any further questions? ”
Next question
weeminger
11:43 on
4 June, 2015
Sandman
11:38 on
4 June, 2015
No it wouldn’t, because poor black kids wouldn’t have been within a mile of any football clubs during apartheid.
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Eh? I think there were many football clubs playing in South Africa who had black players long before and during apartheid. Kaiser chiefs for example was one of many.
21-5-79
Well if it’s in the Record and not true I guess Celtic will sue them for making things up?
Given some of the comments on here today I think some bloggers will find some justification in anything Celtic do.
Quite sure that if the current custodians came up with the idea of charging for using the toilets in Celtic Park, some would see the merit in it and try to defend it.
Some of you really need to get a grip! We live in a country with laws and practices we don’t agree with but we have no power over. It’s a football club we’ve linked up with FFS and could provide some of the boys out there with a real chance to make a career for themselves.
Leave the politics out of it for once
Delete my comment “long before”
Burghbhoy
11:43 on 4 June, 2015
Sandman
Some things are just not right.
This ain’t right.
And do u honestly think those South African kids you claim we would have helped under Appartheid would have really seen any benefit, financial or otherwise, when the state’s constitution was to persecute them ?
Would the SA authorities have said , ah well, it’s Celtic money and expertise, let the black kids benefit?
Come on bud, get real
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Who knows, but I gave you another perspective.
If you belive Hajer represent Saudi Arabia’s problems then what does Celtic represent to them? Murder? Imperialism? Christian savagery? Think about it.
Why is the principle knee-jerk point here about overarching political standpoints and not about the football tie-up?
We, Celtic, have f#ck-all to do with political differences between the West and Saudi.
Indulging in piety over their human rights is no more than whataboutery.
This is about football, and should stay that way.
Ghirls & Bhoys,
Thanks very much for all your kind words re “Mans best friend ”
Much appreciated.
HH to all.
HT
The bombing of innocent civilians is crime in my mind.
Worse than crimes perpetrated by the Saudi regime.
I don’t get this narrow thinking here today.
Sandman
11:46 on
4 June, 2015
Oglach
11:40 on 4 June, 2015
Absolute and total nonsense
Iain’tgonnplaysuncityCSC
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No, perspective.
Broad strokes = small minds = ignorance.
Hajer = the historical and current combined ills of the oppressive Saudi regime = absolute and total nonsense.
Fixed it for you.
==
Still total and utter b*llocks of the highest order.
This isn’t exactly new news……maybe just news to get out when our defences were down!
@(null): #هجر Signs partnership with Scottish Club Celtic quality @celticfc http://t.co/VndfHzauWj #البشت_الحساوي
Check the date
HH
HT
Yes Scotland has its bigotry and indeed the Americans can be held accountable for much of the violence visited on other nations from the mid 20thC onwards but the last I looked neither of these countries permitted public executions sometimes for fairly trivial offences.
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I’m sure that the parents of young unarmed black kids shot by the police may disagree with that..
Charging for toilets wouldn’t be a bad idea. We’d have better quality bogs and it would discourage people from getting pished before the game and spoiling everyone’s view by constantly squeezing past during a game to go for a pee. Bring it on Peter. :-)
Syd
PMSL
Brilliant mate
Oglach
11:53 on 4 June, 2015
Still total and utter b*llocks of the highest order.
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Thanks.
We are very definitely a club where football and politics should mix
In Scotland, in its first season as the Scottish Premiership, Deloitte said Scotland’s top tier of football suffered an £11m (8%) fall in total revenues, largely attributable to Celtic’s due to relatively poorer performances in cup competitions.
Celtic alone accounted for over half of both the total revenue and total wage costs of Scottish Premiership clubs’ in 2013-14. They generated £64m in revenue in 2013-14, compared with less than £6m on average for the other 11 clubs.
Deloitte said looking ahead there was a positive sign for Scottish football, with Ladbrokes signing up as title sponsor of the four Scottish professional football divisions for two seasons from 2015-16, following two seasons without one.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32931345
LB
DD
As do I, however, why choose to have links with a country when the club should know how contentious it could be amongst the support?
Ridiculous hysterics regarding a link with a football club, from supporters of a club who fairly recently had the likes of Baron Reid of Cardowan as chairman, a man who performed many roles in warmonger tony blair’s cabinet and voted for the invasion of Iraq, in itself a huge contributor to the current state of affairs in the middle
East.
yorkbhoy
11:55 on 4 June, 2015
HT
Yes Scotland has its bigotry and indeed the Americans can be held accountable for much of the violence visited on other nations from the mid 20thC onwards but the last I looked neither of these countries permitted public executions sometimes for fairly trivial offences.
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I’m sure that the parents of young unarmed black kids shot by the police may disagree with that..
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I’m sure that you know the difference between the two.
I suppose when your own National Association sanctions an International match against Qatar I think any reputational damage has already been done
Still think we there were better choices for Celtic though than this one
Many of us did not want Baron Reid anywhere near our club.
Another example of the club ignoring The support.
What a bizarre argument. Because we had John Reid on our board then that means it’s ok to have links with a football club from a country with such an appaling human rights record as Saudi Arabia.
Find it utterly amazing that folk are strenuously arguing that we should keep the politics out of this. If I have learned anything as a Celtic supporter, it is that we pride ourselves on our political stands. Be that as it may, imo, this is not about promoting football in Saudi. It is about getting access to more money. We are getting involved with a team who play in a country where I wouldn’t be allowed to practise my religion. I find that totally abhorrent.
Hamiltontim
12:01 on 4 June, 2015
DD
As do I, however, why choose to have links with a country when the club should know how contentious it could be amongst the support?
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You can pose EXACTLY the same question on HajerQN.
There’s perspective severely lacking on the blog today.
Back to work for me.
new article posted.
I’m not going into the whole moral high thing on the link up. I buy food that is grown in Israel, which I’m sure many people would scorn me for, so I am not going to be a hypocrite on this. However, my objection to this link up, and all our other link ups, is that I just see no real benefit to us. What do we, as a club, gain from it?
curses
HT
I agree that we aint boxing too clever here.
The Saudi team are not the Saudi State though.
quantum
11:51 on
4 June, 2015
Fair point. Too high up on my horse there. Turns out the whites only league folded in 1977 and merged with the black teams only league one to create a non-racial league where ‘white’ teams could field a maximum of 3 black players.
67Heaven @ 11:43 on previous page.
I do not understand . Why are you addressing that post to me?
JJ
Hamilton tim
Not an argument, an observation, I’m in no way condoning the club’s disregard for the opinions of the support on this, John Reid and other matters, and indeed I do not hold any positive regard for the Saudi regime, I do ,however, believe that developing positive footballing links, offering bright young talent the opportunity to a future in the sport beyond those shores of inequality is something to be commended, obviously we’d be having first pick of any potential Saudi footballing genius :-)
We need to ask ourselves why sevco aren’t asking for the SB money yet …..is it because they are going into administration and don’t want the administrator to get his hands on that money…!!??
Ernie Lynch 20:37 – I never knew that about element 2 for perjury – every day is an education.
Though I’d still maintain that it breaches the oath of “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”.
http://i.imgur.com/qJi2vL9.png
And the cry was no attenders!