Developing Paulo

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Portuguese international football is on a high at the moment, after winning the Nations League Final against Spain earlier this month.  The country has enjoyed a decades-long prodigious run of producing tier-one level talent.

All this makes Paulo Bernardo’s role as vice-captain in the European Under-21 Championship all the more interesting.  Although Paulo is 23, eligibility for the tournament depends on your age when the qualification tournament started, so from 23-year-olds can participate.

Paulo’s development took a backseat to that of Arne Engels last term.  The club had just paid £11m for Arne, so he was always going to get the nod.  Still, Paulo’s talent and ability to produce in big games has been evident to Celtic fans since 2023.  We paid £6m and need to make sure his development does not suffer again.

Portugal Under-21s face Georgia tonight, hopefully Paulo builds on his scoring performance last time against Poland.

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  1. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    I thought it was hailed as “a great piece of business” because we got him for £3m?

  2. bournesouprecipe on

    Good for Celtic that Paulo is still eligible to play under 21’s and progress in development.

     

     

    Needs to up his fitness, and stamina for more than the bit part he plays at Parkhead, maybe if Hatate is sold he’ll take his berth.

     

     

    Big season ahead for him.

  3. Evening yesterday…did I win ;-))

     

     

    H.H.

     

     

    Nothing to say about the nonsense that is Nations League P67…?

  4. TheLurkinTim on

    Mmm…is this your way of saying you’ve been told Hatate is offski….to be honest I thought it was gonna be Kuhn

  5. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    Had some decent scoring opportunities in the first game but was a bit wasteful, then scored a real quality goal in the second game. Good that he is at least getting forward and into scoring positions – we have been missing that since MOR left. If Paulo can do it so much the better. Need more goals from MF.

     

    Some decent players in that tournament. The Romanian CF Munteanu looked a handful. Plays for Cluj so might be gettable. Ukraine has two left-footed CBs – both good defensively and with the ball.

  6. BRRB

     

     

    Ref Dublin

     

     

    Maybe next time re a few gins.

     

     

    Over for my son’s stag weekend and the rugby.

     

     

    Wallet and credit card have already gone into hiding.

  7. Bernardo didn’t have a good season. Injuries were in the main the issue but when he did play then he never performed as well as he had in the previous season.

     

     

    He has shown that he has a powerful shot but didn’t often have a go in the shot shy Celtic team. Does Brendan order them not to shoot. I don’t think so as he is often unhappy with our attempts at goal.

     

     

    Shooting at goal can produce goals not just from a direct shot but from deflections and keeper parrying the original shot. Celtic don’t do it enough. Cup final was a good example when we had loads of possession but passed it to death around the edges of the penalty box.

     

     

    Bernardo is as guilty as the rest of the midfield. If he wants to play regularly then he needs to get among the goals

  8. TheLurkinTim on

    B78…chat was he’d been tapped by a top-flight German team….not sure why he’d have checked out tho….avoiding injury?

  9. Paulo wasn’t the only dud in the SC Final, nor the worst performer (as ever Scales took that familiar bow). However, he was the most significant player in our midfield cohort that contributed the sum total of fcuk all.

  10. Remember that time we faced two red bull teams in a Europa league grp?

     

     

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cwyqjl9zpw8o

     

     

    This could have implications for sevco if Leeds manage to secure European football, the article states the “lower ranked team” would be excluded but isn’t clear on the ranking system used. Leeds don’t currently have a UEFA coefficient, but the references a hierarchy related to the domestic achievements which secured qualification.

  11. quadrophenian on

    Hope Paolo becomes more assertive and dominant – a Portugese man o war if you like – as he ages with us.

     

    But it will need someone to leave (hi Reo) to free up a berth for him.

     

     

     

    Wee cinematic recommendation… Mrs Q and I just watched “Last Night of Amore” a cracking wee Italian thriller film; clever plot and great performances.

     

     

    Buona Notte Tutti !

  12. scullybhoy on 17th June 2025 10:48 am

     

    “The Irish soccer club in Scotland – the history of Celtic FC”

     

    %

     

    And nowadays both Ireland and Celtic are run by and for Tories.

     

     

    James Connolly type of Working Class Socialism for the Irish and British public will only come about if Celtic Fans in Scotland vote AGAINST all of the Tory crooked politicians ie:

     

     

    Tory/Lab/Lib/Ref/Snp/Gre/ and vote WPB led by George Galloway.

     

     

    Mr Galloway’s Fearless Integrity and Straight Talking Honesty, not to mention his unmatched Knowledge of Current and Historical events will have Celtic and Rangers fans working together with clear goals and realising just how misguided they’ve been by folk who have become very rich off of the backs of all of the lies they’ve told you all since the day you were born.

     

     

    And when Uk and Irish public see Toryism and its Media Liars being utterly crushed by Upitty WPB Socialists in Scotland then George Galloway’s version of Socialist-Conservatism (like Socialist China without the spyware) will be Greatly desired by Uk and Irish peoples.

     

     

    And Celtic and every other Uk Football club will be owned by their fans as £Billionaires and their crookedness will be outlawed by WPB Goverment.

     

     

    Think about the future!

  13. bigrailroadblues on

    Good afternoon all from the Arch Bar, Swords, County Dublin. I hope ye are all hale and hearty. 👍

  14. “Paulo’s development took a backseat to that of Arne Engels last term. The club had just paid £11m for Arne, so he was always going to get the nod. “

     

     

    Yes, a strange mindset that.

     

     

    Celts seem to be overly obsessed by the price of a player.

     

     

    My understanding was the aul Board had a moan at the new years of derby that 25 mn’s worth of players were on the bench…

     

     

    Engels, Idah and Trusty…

     

     

    Player development will certainly have blueprints but it is not formulalic in that sense.

     

     

    The blazers need to sort out if we are in the business of developing players, leave that to the coaches, trainers and analyists who know what they are doing.

     

     

    Hopefully Paulo will kick on next season with Idah, Dane Murray and a few others.

     

     

    If Benjamin Nygren is in the mix will be interesting.

     

     

    Seen Tyler Hatton get a mention – like my brood Tyler is from Marlow, a real Marla’ lad, so that makes him a-o-k;)

     

     

    Hail Hail

  15. Very true:)))

     

     

    Knew his family too, think his dad was a racing car obsessive.

     

     

    Enjoy aul Dublin Town… the quaffing capital of the free west.

     

     

    Hail Hail

  16. bournesouprecipe on

    “ leave that to the coaches, trainers and analyists who know what they are doing.”

     

     

    What about the Bloggers ?

     

     

    (Thumbs up)

  17. bournesouprecipe @ 4:51 pm,

     

     

    Yes, where the thinking Teir 1 Coaches go for advice;))

     

     

    Hail Hail

  18. vinniethedog on

    Thought Bernardo had a fine start to the season kept Engels out the team. Really good against the huns in September but hit by injury. Didn’t quite get back to that

     

    I’m sure it was 3.5 million and not 6 !!!

  19. After two seasons of watching Bernardo .

     

    The jury is still out for me .

     

     

    I’m notoriously quick at righting off players.

     

    So I’m trying to be fair to him .

     

    But my gut tells me if Bernardo is to be Hatate’s replacement,then we will be weaker for it.

     

    I think similarly about Engels after one season.

     

     

    TT

  20. bigrailroadblues on

    Time to head back to the airport. Met some interesting Tims today, none from these islands. We are a worldwide brand, the hun are a crimplene brand.

  21. Hello AT. Dear old Donegal.

     

     

    Full name: Patrick Gallacher

     

    aka: Patsy Gallacher, Patsy Gallagher, Patrick Gallagher

     

    Nickname: The Mighty Atom

     

    Born: 16 March 1891

     

    Died: 17 June 1953

     

    Birthplace: Milford, Donegal, Ireland

     

     

    Major Honours With Celtic

     

     

    Scottish League

     

     

    1913-14, 1914-15, 1915-16, 1916-17, 1918-19,

     

    1921-22

     

     

    Scottish Cup

     

     

    1912, 1914, 1923, 1925

     

     

    Glasgow Cup

     

     

    1916, 1917, 1920, 1921

     

     

    Glasgow Charity Cups

     

     

    11 times

     

     

    https://www.thecelticwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GUPRmVpXIAA39cM1.jpg

     

     

    https://www.thecelticwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GUPRmVfWkAE96Yt1.jpg

     

     

    https://www.thecelticwiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/F3HXQ54XgAAYjnV1.jpg

  22. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    It’s going to be a long summer.

     

     

    The story lines get thinner and the connections even more non-existent.

     

     

    As long as it has got the “R” word and the “C” word in it … in that order … with “R” word positive and “C” word negative ..

     

     

     

    … that will do.

     

     

    “R2ngers supporting Z-lister shines in supporting role at the opening of an envelope while Celtic supporting dog without a tongue rues missed opportunities”

     

     

    Yawn.

  23. Biggest problem we have as a team

     

     

    Is everyone insisting on playing the ball thru calmac every single time we have it

     

     

    It slows us down and makes us predicatable

     

     

    That needs to change

  24. There is no doubting the talent Engels has, but to wee me he just does not fit in our methodology.

     

     

    Sign inside a clinic for paranoia patients..

     

    Please be seated we will be out to get you shortly

     

     

    KINGLuBO

  25. Champions league 1st qualifying round

     

     

    Shelbourne v Linfield

     

     

    =================

     

     

    Scullybhoy,

     

    thanks for Patsy detail,class as usual

     

    My friend has a house on the road from An Tearmann to Milford where the poor house was.

     

    Fascinating how he became a much loved Celtic beacon to generations long after he stopped playing and passed on.My fathers generation talked of him in revered terms.

     

    Hope all good with you

     

     

    HH

  26. I’d agree about Engels and Paolo – after his comments about how much we’d receive from selling a development player relative to the fee we pay for them Brendan will know he’ll be judged on Arne’s development and how close to the £40m celling he said we could achieve. At least the judgement will be more harsh than for Bernardo who cost £8m less and didn’t break our transfer record

     

     

    He pretty much nailed his new strategy to the mast with his comments about £7/8m players selling for £30/40m, so after he spent more than that one one player its not hard to imagine which player’s development he’ll prioritise.

     

     

    I can see Paolo having a long career at Celtic, he seems to have found his level for now, and can grow under less pressure than some of the more obviously talented players we’ve signed over the years, a bit like Stan Petrov

  27. P. BONNER

     

    C. MORRIS

     

    A. ROGAN

     

    M. McCARTHY

     

    B. PEACOCK

     

    N. LENNON

     

    R. KEANE

     

    P. CRERAND

     

    C. TULLY

     

    S. FALLON

     

    P. GALLACHER

     

     

    SUBS

     

    T. COYNE

     

    A McGEADY

     

    R. KEANE

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