The wrong move can kill the career of a footballer. We discussed Maik Nawrocki on Tuesday, who arrived in Glasgow as a promising 22-year-old but has scarcely seen grass on active duty since. The same can happen to proven talents, such as Kyogo.
Rennes were in relegation trouble when he joined them in January. Three days later, the manager who signed him was sacked, leaving Kyoto a peripheral figure since. Anthony Ralston has played more than twice as many minutes for Celtic as Kyogo has for Rennes since the Japanese forward went to France.
Reports from France suggest Kyogo will be available for transfer when the window opens in June. Like Jota, 30-year-old found the perfect platform to flourish at Celtic. Like Jota, his slight frame does not fit the popular identikit of the modern player. He will struggle to find a place to land next season which makes the most of his outstanding talent.
You want him back. I know how you feel. So many great goals and great performances mean he is an easy player to love. For me, though, he is off plan. Celtic has (perhaps had) a football identity; for years this has been a club which finds undervalued potential, develops and sells great players at a significant profit.
When you have a clear and successful strategy, commit. This is without question the best strategy open to Celtic and to maximise our potential, we need to lean into it. This strategy invests equally in this season as in three years out, when the newest crop may leave.
It is not clear we are still on this path. The only player we signed across the last two windows who could be described as undervalued and with potential is Viljami Sinisalo, who has made one appearance since joining (against Raith Rovers).
Kieran Tierney will be 28 when he arrives. We love Kieran too, he will improve the team and help with the all-important qualifier (if fit). Jeffrey Schlupp is a solid performer and we may need a solid backup to Kieran, but Jeffrey is 32. The argument to fill your first team with players who have development potential is substantial; there is no argument for backup players to be the wrong side of 30.
This brings us back to Kyogo. Kyogo did more for Celtic than Kieran. He picked the club up off the turf in 2021 and helped deliver eight of 10 available domestic trophies in his time here. As far as our legacy strategy is concerned, he is off plan. If that strategy has discretely been disposed, like Jota and Kieran, he still has something to offer Celtic.
Finding undervalued talent and developing players is hard work and you usually need to wait until the medium-term for payback. It is a lot easier to sign them at their reputational and earning peak; until the reckoning comes. 20 years ago, some of us watched a great Celtic team grow old, before being broken up, sold for buttons or leave for free. This is a warning for us.
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the bold anthony’s best game for scotland /
often the escaped goat, i thought he had a fine game.
if only we had subbed AJ for him on sunday.
Hirst needs to shift up a gear
Well well well
Greeks worst defeat since the Peloponnesian Wars
Beware of Geeks bearing GIFS
Well done Scotland
Porteus is a loose canon
Gene – totally correct, sent off last time and flew on just in the final whistle tonight- leave him out
Good night you absolute shower.
dearie me.
BREAKING NEWSConor McGregor announces he will run for PRESIDENT in Ireland after meeting with Donald Trump – as he poses in front of a private jet wearing a ‘Make Ireland Great Again’ hat
Who would win in a fight between a Flied Lice and a Gleek Plick ?
Great win.Tony and Hanley terrific second half.Gilmour gave the ball away too much.Adams played well up front.KT for Hampden,I think,joining up with Robertson on the right.A wing full of Tims.
Well,Erdogan running riot here.106 opposition arrested,scores of Media huckled,pop stars,actors,37 arrested for FB comments.Meanwhile the Lira heading for,50 to the £.
Luvvly Jubbly.
STAINT STIVS
Mental stuff.
Musk and Twitter will be behind him.
Turkeybhoy, how did Barkas play?
garygillespieshamstring @ 8:38 pm
Hey McLeod, get offa my ewe.
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😅😅😅😅
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce8yk09zrjro
Two kids.
60m plus ….
I backed Five Horses yesterday ( Same Jockey on all Five ), they were ALL beaten.
I backed Four Correct Scores on the Fitba last night, ALL Four Predictions were wrong.
I didnt lose much money but my Bets yesterday do show that I can be a CHUMP….Sometimes.
LOL
HH.
garygillespieshamstring @ 8:38 pm
Hey McLeod, get offa my ewe.
…………..
Very good mate.
LOL.
HH.
AIPPLE…
Belated Happy Birthday young fella.
HH Mate.
Decent research and pod
http://youtube.com/post/Ugkxg0x9pCNFu0gaRHJgSrikLxxWmU3t08JT?si=AE4r5jsYc5no35nS
https://www.celticnewsnow.com/hoople/
Took me 6 goes
Good morning all from Govanhill. It’s a wonderful life. 😊
Gene – hoople
got it in 4 today
Joes11
Well done
Ryanair helping out Heathrow passengers, from the goodness of O’Leary’s heart of course……
Cheers BIG JIMMY
Hopefully grab a beer next time.
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!!BADA BING!!
A tad mental that one source of power can take out the busiest airport in the world.
Ps Well done Scotland but I still hate international breaks. Means I have no excuse to not help with the housework this weekend.
My friends in Celtic,
Anthony Ralston put in another good shift.despite lack of game time with us.
We all know Tony’s limitations but lack of bottle is not one of them. You do not need to be a Paolo Maldini to be effective in Scottish football.
He should have been playing last Sunday and not bring him on against Aston Villa still seems wrong and strange.
HH.
GP- we do need more physical guys in the team
If we’d announced the side last Sunday with Tony in ahead of AJ, supporters would have changed his name to……….Ralston FFS
Hindsight CSC
Tony Ralston made the best defensive challenge of the whole game in preventing a certain goal in the second half when he diverted the Greek effort at absolute close range near the left hand post. First thought to be a miss but latterly acknowledged by James McFadden as TR’s intervention. Crucial given the pressure the Scots were under at the time.
new post,
Dont know if it was a new post or an old post…
But it was definitely the left hand post
new article posted.
Can’t see the new article….
Now I can…..