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Ending off-piste

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By on CQN BLOG & Comments

The January transfer window closed in an underwhelming manner last night.  Celtic concluded a straight four-month loan deal for Adam Idah (22) from Norwich City.  I started the week bemoaning how physically light we were, so the addition of a 6’ 3” traditional target man is welcome.  It is somewhat regretful that this is not a strategic acquisition; there is no option to buy and if the player is a success, Norwich will use this to prime his resale value.

We seem to have talked ourselves out of a left back.  From what I hear, that’s not as much of a stress as it sounds, as latterly we were shopping distinctly off-piste in the ‘clearly for backup purposes’ lane.

The only permanent and strategic signature was that of Nicolas Kuhn (24), from Rapid Vienna.  Nicolas arrived in the middle of the month and has already made his debut.  He is every inch the data driven dream: creates chances, is useful in possession and after an injured season, has been fit since the summer.  They are out there, if we are prepared to commit to the system.

A few eyebrows were raised at the reported £2m Cardiff City paid for the signature of David Turnbull, a player who has been on the fringes of the Celtic first team since his arrival from Motherwell four years ago.  We paid £3m to Motherwell for David amid high hopes he would become a mainstay of the midfield for years to come.  He is a player with great technique and was the best finisher at Celtic Park.  With only six months left on his contract I expected a fee of around £400k, so happy with £2m.

Our winger population was thinned out a bit yesterday.  Mikey Johnston (24) went to West Brom on loan and Marco Tilio (22) returned to his former club, Melbourne City, both are set to return to Celtic in the summer.

Not one of you wants to hear this, but playing on the wings is a really tough gig, especially at Celtic.  Mikey has talent, he reminds me of one of those five-a-side players you can never get the ball off.  Decision making and a good final ball is never an issue at fives, Mikey needs to improve on both if he is to reach his potential.

The window shut with Brendan Rodgers words reverberating, “Obviously, statistics will give you a lot, but I’m not driven by it.”. So we’re off-piste now.

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  1. onenightinlisbon on

    !!BADA BING!! on 2ND FEBRUARY 2024 4:16 PM

     

    TURKEYBHOY- it’s impossible to have a conversation with you,you clearly don’t understand the concept of a blog,where guys have different opinions on things,……wrestling with a pig comes to mind

     

     

    100%. One view only. No one allowed to express any other view.

  2. KINGLUBO on

    TURKEYBHOY

     

    Stark staring mad am I, we’ll see.

     

    Agree with you and Kyogo, tactics are to blame for his lack of goals for sure.

     

    As an aside, you’d cause a fight in an empty room ! Why all this pent up aggression, where does it come from, I don’t know.

     

    Some of your posts are very good, but just try and lighten up, for your own good

     

    KINGLuBO

  3. G Fearon on

    Celtic actually made an attempt to sign Sergio Gomez from Manchester City on transfer deadline day.

     

     

    That is according to Football Scotland.

     

     

    MmMmMmMmMmMmM.

  4. 31003 on

    With our present predicament re left back, maybe now’s the time for ye olde 3-5-2 formation with Idah and Kyogo up ye olde front

  5. onenightinlisbon on

    AN TEARMANN on 2ND FEBRUARY 2024 3:57 PM

     

     

    Ange appointed Mark Lawwell…..really?/

  7. Go tell the Spartim on

    TB

     

     

    Its been an absolute shit show of a transfer window, we dont have a back up for Taylor, who is injured, Bernabei isnt a LB. The Manager, by any stretch of the imagination, is the most important person in the club, he wanted 4 players of quality.

     

     

    Idah doesnt appear to have much going for him, i was being polite and trying to see the positive if there is one.

     

     

    Im content with Kuhn, but we’re still weak at the back and goalkeeper, its not as if we’re having to player trade to stay afloat, we are actually planning to fail with having such big reserves in the bank.

     

     

    Its not difficult to see there are issues, you place more importance on a chairmen and a board, when their role should be to facilitate the first team squad. Your stuck in your ways with no room for development.

     

     

    But you stick with your head in the sand approach and you know what they say about that….

     

     

    As ive said, enjoy your night pal.

  8. Turkeybhoy on

    Bada,

     

    I am not listening to conversations on here.I am reading agendas,Dogma from the PL ,Board .

     

    haters.You really have lost the meaning of the word Irony.Anyone with a different opinion to the haters,and agendists,is ” A Board Lover,A PLlover,A Happy Clapper”.

     

    I asked you your answers about recruitment,you answered.My return answers to you ,seem to have riled you.

     

    So only conversation that agrees with you.Is that what a blg s for.Only for Sycophants?.

     

    .

  9. 31003 on

    …….and I’d have Johnston and Bernabei either side in the five. Get early crosses in and give our wingers a day off

  13. 31003 on

    RC

     

     

    Early crosses from half way up the opposition half are easier!

     

    Worth trying in my book

     

    Also aiming for the big man….cant fail

     

    4-0 to the ‘tic if we do it…guaranteed

  15. Burnley78 on

    So the window slammed shut and now the body language sleuths are reading whatever they want to show they were right into Brendan Rodgers press conference utterances.

  16. Turkeybhoy on

    ONIL,

     

     

    Irony,WHOOSH.You have got a neck boy.You have been pumping out your agenda for 12 years non stop.Anyone with a different oplnion derided as Board lover..

     

    Comical.

  18. David66 on

    OMG there are 2 on now.

     

     

    2 know alls.

     

     

    The 3rd will be on shorty Road tell us to mobilise and get fans together and board can do no wrong.

     

     

    Blah blah blah

     

     

    D. :)

  19. Burnley78 on

    With all the angst about board room / football management rifts I am a wee bit surprised no one has me ruined the role of our most senior and currently best rewarded board member.

     

     

    Folk seem frozen on a historic name to blame and fellow who rattles around rent free in their heads but who is not even working at the club 1 day a week, rather than considering who is currently in the key operational role and who is ultimately the one who should be running the show.

     

     

    A few sensible balanced posts on here today. The need to align from now until the end of May is clear now. No amount of moaning about Greg Taylor is going to help us but to me I have never know a player so abused, who has become so missed in the space of a week, in my entire Celtic supporting life.

  20. Turkeybhoy on

    King Lubo,

     

    I try to be a bit light hearted in the majority of posts.I won’t let anyone spout incessant crap,which a few do.

     

    Anyway,you said I could call you mad.

     

    Thing is,in that post I commented on,I was not joking.

     

    Too many too bitter in their views to see any humour.Their problem.

  21. setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox on

    I see posters stating Turkeybhoy is bullying and intolerant because he disagrees with their reading of events and is shutting down debate.

     

     

    Meanwhile they disagree vehemently with Turkeybhoy’s point of view and expresssions like Deudemol, board lover and balance sheet worshipper are bandied about. But they’re not bullying or intolerant or shutting down debate???

     

     

    For what it’s worth, I think we’re too quick to adopt the “I’m offended and direspected” position; it’s just debnate with some overblown rhetoric in the main.

     

     

    There is no doubt that there are a few more posters on CQN, than there are on other sites, who do not buy wholesale the majority view of the Celtic support that Lawwell(s) is/are the baddy(ies). But I would assert that even on CQN they are probably in the minority.

     

     

    Why would a majority feel threatened by a strongly expressed minority view. Many people just adopt a middle ground that accepts the view that this was a poor window but don’t believe in the waaring Soap Opera narrative about the Game of Thrones battle between the Houses of Lawwell and Rodgers.

     

     

    So long as we don’t indulge in racist language, or over-personal insult, we should be ok with disagreement

  29. Tom McLaughlin on

    TURKEY BHOY

     

     

    About 10 days ago I posted a comment in which I criticised the board on a specific issue — the Green Brigade.

     

     

    Two days later I ridiculed someone for accusing the board of deliberately dropping points to let Rangers back into the chase. I was called a board-lover.

     

     

    You just can’t win with these cuckoos.

  31. Turkeybhoy on

    Fantastic game.Harry Soutar has been immense.Magnificent defending..Dodgy penalty.Korea,so entertaining going forward.

  32. yorkbhoy on

    Boondocks Saint another good post…

     

     

    I remember being at a Celtic Motherwell game (possibly) and a lad behind me gave Henrik Larrson abuse for the first hour.. including the claim that Shaun Maloney was a far better player. When Henrik scored his third goal an old lad turned and said to him “give it a rest he’s just scored a hat-trick” Well Shaun would have scored 4…was the reply…

  35. Hot Smoked on

    TOM MCLAUGHLIN

     

    Did you see this post of mine from earlier:

     

     

    “Didn`t Neil Mochan score five in a second replay against St Mirren?

     

    If my memory serves me correctly, in the first game at Love St, St M went one up and we equalised within seconds. In the second game, we were 1-3 down, back to 3-3 , down 3-4 then back to 4-4. In the final game, we won 5-2 and Neily scored all five.

     

    This is all from memory (although I was at all three games) so might be a tad inaccurate :-))”

     

     

    ?

  38. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    Burnley – no need to analyse 13 minutes or so of body language when you can major on one word/sentence (“brave”).

     

     

    Make no mistake, I’m as disappointed as the next Celtic supporter about the window, but the hysteria has been taken to a new level over the past few weeks: the more the better. I’ve found it incredulous.

     

     

    I tune in to CQN every day and took to the Celtic News Now site during this transfer window. If these are genuine Celtic sites, run by Celtic supporters, they should be ashamed. None covered themselves in glory.

     

     

    Indeed, with friends like these who needs enemies?

     

     

    If I were a cynical person I’d say clicks and views are more important to them than Celtic.

     

     

    Fortunately I’m not cynical😉

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