It’s probably rash to suggest Neil Lennon dismisses the inflated English market when trying to sign a striker in preference for the Continent. Europe has plenty of quality leagues, and gifted players, but it also has plenty of scouts.
The tops leagues enjoy blanket analysis, which has consequences. Our experience of Lassad and Miku suggests that if we can tempt a striker to move from the likes of Spain to Scotland there’s maybe a reason why. Even the secondary leagues, such as Slovakia and Poland, are scouted extensively by German clubs, who are the most desired destination for most East European players. The success rate in bringing targeted strikers to the club from Europe has been low, which had real consequences for this season.
So where does that leave us? Second tier teams in second tier (but still good) leagues, like Vitoria Guimaraes, who we bought Amido Balde from (strikers at top Portuguese clubs are aiming for the sky), go back to the English Championship, or maybe a peripheral league, like Sweden or Israel, again, or Iceland.
Celtic proposition is not without merit, we will now be touting Champions League football under the noses of every prospect, but finding a player capable of delivering the talent for that stage is the central challenge to the club.
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Sipsini.
That’s a big opportunity missed there. Celtic could have had an extra £2.50 in the coffers.
Sometimes you’ve got to speculate to accumulate.
What happened to the superstar poster money?
There is a source of striker that we haven’t scouted for sometime ( 20 years by my reckoning).
It is of ten scourned upon but rarely given a chance…
Its our own Youth System!!!!
Why don’t we give some of these talented youngster a run in the team, a real run, Jan – May to prove what they are worth. If they can’t cut it then fine at least we gave them a shot. But whats the point of having a system that only produces talent for our SPFL rivals.
Specifically get Atajic in the starting 11.
We have nothing to lose, we will win the League. so use this time to blood new players before we start the CL qualifiers again.
sipsini
12:06 on 4 December, 2013
Sydneytim,
My nephew went into the Celtic shop last week with his dad
His dad wanted to buy him a poster of a superstar to put in his bedroom
He left without one as there are none at Celtic park Nuff said.
Peter lawell ;-))
Money Spinner!
Carrigan- that might be difficult. The Fir Park surface isn’t fit for sheep dog trials, never mind footballing pyrotechnics.
Big Nan
11:34 on
4 December, 2013
============================
Done
I’m liking your crusades sir.
“Well the world and their wean on line knows that they were. Lord Nimmo Smith and the SPL were cheated when vital evidence was not supplied by D&P as administrators of Rangers.
Lord Nimmo Smith was misled by Campbell Ogilvie when giving testimony on ebts. Yet the guy is still there because no one was prepared to oppose and clubs were not pressured by their supporters who were either ignorant of COs role or mini huns.
Do not underestimate what Celtic are up against here and do not underestimate the impact of what we are up against on those lost millions.”
So what’s the deal?
Celtic boardroom management, the SFA and the SPFL know that if the truth is told the game is up and not only the leagues will implode but all the companies / clubs will go bust?
Or what?
Auldheid,
Thank you for your latest contribution to the blog. I wish each and every Celtic supporter had the opportunity to read it. The sad thing is most of them never will and far too many of them get their information from the SMSM, which will never even broach the subject.
Auldheid
Why not post in on CQN ?
HH
Big Nan,
Petition signed.
Livi Agree with you there
Pukki was a panic but last minute
Pukki was a schalke project that failed
For his money we could have indeed bought scottish with far better value
Who ever is recommending these non scoring foreign strikers within Celtic park should be shown door
Sipsini. Aye right
Auld heid. I know where you are coming from. But in Gordon’s last season the team was on its knees at Xmas and just needed that extra boast Gordon admitted he got no funds and hence poor wilo arrived
We should not be looking across the city to improve our team. We should be doing on our own backs
Massive failure mate :((
This pursuit of yet another striker seems daft to me. We have:
Stokes
Pukki
Balde
Watt
Bangura
Icelandic bhoy
Young prospect Denny Johnstone
as well as Sammi.
How many strikers does a team need? The game against Hearts showed that if the midfield improves, the goals will come. For once we had midfielders passing the ball forwards and making runs into the box.
Buy a playmaker, not a striker.
“Bobos Gonnay Get ye”
He signed for Celtic on 21 July 2001,
He made 232 appearances (51 as a sub)
He scored 9 goals including three against rangers.
He won five League Title medals
He won three Scottish Cups medal
He won two Scottish League Cups
He played in 12 of Celtic’s 13 UEFA Cup games 2003–04 season.
He was voted the Celtic Player of The Year for 2003 by the Celtic fans, in which 40,000 Celtic fans voted.
A very decent Roll of Honour for a very decent and popular Celtic Player. Not a silky ball player by any means, but Martin O Neill already had Lubo Moravcik and Henrik Larsson for that, Bobo was a no nonsense defender, who did what all good defenders did. He defended. He let the new signing from Leicester City do the thinking. Bobo was a mainstay of a Celtic defence who conceded a miserly 18 league goals in a season. The fact that fans voted him player of the year shows how highly he was thought of by the Celtic support who turned in 60,000 at a time for every home game.
Yet we all know football is all about opinions and despite being an integral part of the Seville side, Bobo had his critics, apparently, according to his detractors, big Bobo was “found out” against Porto in Seville. Even if you agree with them, which I don’t, it was not a bad level to get to, before being found out. I wonder how many of Celtic centre halves got to that level before being found out? Not too many in the past 125 years I suspect.
But Bobos detractors really got wound up and vociferous soon after he signed a new contract under MON in 2005 after Bobo refused to walk away from that contract when Peter Lawell decided that he was surplus to requirements. That contract was not the first contract that he signed with Celtic but it was the most lucrative contract, rumoured to be around 40,000 pounds per week. Martin O Neill was heavily criticised for giving Bobo that contract, but in reality Peter Lawell had arrived at Celtic with a brief to cut costs at Celtic and had already indicated that there was to be no more signings. Therefore if Bobo walked on a Bosman Celtic would have been without a centre half and may have needed to pay a transfer free for a decent centre half plus a decent salary. It cost Celtic 8 million quid to give Bobo a new four year contract. It may have cost them 4 million plus four years wages to replace him anyway.
We would do well to remember that at that time Celtic were a Club with high ambitions and a wage bill to match. The thought of letting a pivotal member of the Seville side walk out the door on a Bosman was not universally popular.
However players such as Thompson, Sutton MacNamara and eventually Hartson were soon on the way out at Celtic as part of that same cost cutting exercise, and despite having a new contract signed by Celtic safely in his hip pocket, Bobo was on the hitlist too.
Folk forget that Bobo balde, the man, had honoured and completed every contract that he ever had. Celtic expected to pay 90,000 pounds when they signed Balde, but Big Bobo challenged this explaining that he had completed his contract at Toulouse and Celtic got him free of charge. No transfer fee was paid. If he had a 3 year contract he stayed for 3 years.
Balde was then dropped from the Celtic first team in an effort to force him out the door. He was made to train with the reserves, then with the Under 19s in shameful attempts by Celtic to go back on their contract agreement.
Peter Lawwell, appeared to have met his match in Balde. When Birmingham City declared themselves ready to sign Balde and match his wages, Lawwell summoned Bobo to his office to convince him to accept. Balde though, refused to budge. “You,” he told Lawwell, “are chief executive of Celtic Football Club, I am the chief executive of Bobo Balde.”
Fans can debate who dropped Bobo Balde, if it was Gordon Strachan or Peter Lawell or both. Depending on what conclusion they come to, will probably influence their thoughts on whether Bobo was dropped for footballing or for financial reasons.
During this standoff period when Balde was dropped Bobo made his first start of the 2007/08 season exactly one year since his previous appearance, in a 2–0 away win to Dundee United. His presence also helped Celtic to their first away clean sheet in almost 15 months. He was awarded Man of the Match.
On 8 September 2013, Balde returned to Celtic to play for Celtic during their Stiliyan Petrov charity match.
“Bobos Gonnay Get ye, just ask Peter Lawell”
I’ve only met Peter Lawell on one occasion. He came across that Celtic meant as much to him being successful as it did me.
He is definitely not just in it for his wage and bonus, though I’m sure it helps.
As for the poster, why not, I know a few huns I’d send it to, plus one in the workplace would go down well with the huns;-)
Tongue in cheek re: poster.
79caps. With the best midfielders in the world , your list has the words of “coos ass” and “banjo” in a sentence somewhere I have seen before
Tamrabam.
Bobo’s gonnay get it right up them, just ask David dowling.
Him = us
Auldheid
12:10 on 4 December, 2013
Would Fergus have been more tenacious?
On the subject of Peter Lawell
i guess if you are an optimist then the park is half Full every week
if you are a pessimist then its half empty every week
If you are a idealist, it was full every week when he arrived
if you are a realist we had debt when he arrived
ernie lynch
12:31 on 4 December, 2013
Auldheid
12:10 on 4 December, 2013
Would Fergus have been more tenacious?
Question is – would the Fergus poster have sold more? ;-)
ole Ernie – I was talking to a mate about the ‘Scottish Labour’ banner at Palmerston. he says it has ‘been there for years’ but was taken down for the visit of Los Zombies.
Just co-incidence, I expect.
Bawsman
12:15 on 4 December, 2013
Big Nan
11:34 on
4 December, 2013
============================
Done
I’m liking your crusades sir.
……………………….
I wouldn’t say this was a crusade but someone put the mother and the best pal on to me and I did what I could to help them without getting involved in the official procedures.
I tried to make them feel that people in Scotland cared about such things happening and then the authorities doing the easy thing and just saying suicide! Nothing to see here. Of course that may be the case but there is a responsibility, a duty that the police/PF/autopsy staff etc have to do the job with care, dilligence, and compassion and it seems that not one of these qualities was shown.
By contrast ordinary people in Scotland were kind to Guje (Mother) and Maria (Best friend) and they are not slow to say this.
There are of course Scots who have the same problems as these Swedish citizens and in fact the petition was raised by the step father of one such case, Colin Marr who was said to have committed suicide by stabbling himself in the chest after a row with his former partner.
We try.
Parkheadcumsalford who is supporting the Amsterdam 5
Many thanks.
Tamrabam
Celtic Park is as busy today on matchdays, as it was in the mid 70s to mid 90s period.
Big Nan.
name added.
Delaney
I would argue that with current attendances around 30,000 that CP is probably even busier
nowadays than it was in the mid 70s when average attendances were around 20,000.
However im not sure what your point is caller.
For any antipodeans still around. (probably old hat to them)
Australian ventriloquist visiting New Zealand walks into a Small village
and sees a local sitting on his veranda patting his dog.
He figures he’ll have a little fun, so he says to the Kiwi
‘G’day, mind if I talk to your dog?’
Villager: ‘The dog doesn’t talk, you stupid
Aussie.’
Ventriloquist: ‘Hello dog, how’s it going mate?’
Dog: Yeah, doin’ all right.’
Kiwi: (look of extreme shock)
Ventriloquist: ‘Is this villager your owner?’ (pointing at the Villager)
Dog: ‘Yep’
Ventriloquist: ‘How does he treat you?’
Dog: ‘Yeah, real good. He walks me twice a day,
feeds me great food and takes me to the lake once a week to play.’
Kiwi: (look of utter disbelief)
Ventriloquist: ‘Mind if I talk to your horse?’
Kiwi: ‘Uh, the horse doesn’t talk either…I think.’
Ventriloquist: ‘Hey horse, how’s it going?’
Horse: ‘Cool’
Kiwi: (absolutely dumbfounded)
Ventriloquist: ‘Is this your owner?’ (Pointing at the
villager)
Horse: ‘Yep’
Ventriloquist: How does he treat you?
Horse: ‘Pretty good, thanks for asking. He rides me
regularly, brushes me down often and keeps me in the shed
to protect me from the elements.’
Kiwi: (total look of amazement)
Ventriloquist: ‘Mind if I talk to your sheep?’
Kiwi: (in a panic)
‘The sheep’s a f*****’ liar…..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
oldtim67
12:47 on 4 December, 2013
Big Nan.
name added.
……………
Many thanks oldtim67 I should have added that the petitioner wanted to put the names of his son Colin Marr and Annie Borjesson on the e-petiton page but the clerks wouldn’t allow this. The same clerks that allowed Grand Lodge to put two spurious Italian cases and a 10 page counter-petition on my e-petition page!
Cover up comes naturally, for them.
NatKnow – Supporting Wee Oscar.
Are you saying there was no posters at all, or, was it that there weren’t any that your nephew liked. I’ve bought a few posters in Celtic Super Store, but not for a couple of years.
DBBIA
Why would a Labour party advert upset them. Every zombie I know or work with are New Labour Unionists.
weeminger Cheers Sir…..I can now confidently tell the Sevconians in my work to “gies piece”
i’m neil lennon (tamrabam)
12:27 on 4 December, 2013
“Balde was then dropped from the Celtic first team in an effort to force him out the door.”
———-
I’m more inclined to believe, based on what I’ve been told, that he was dropped because WGS didn’t think he was a good enough footballer.
Hamiltontim is praying for Oscar
12:59 on 4 December, 2013
I think it was more to do with avoiding paying appearance money.
Regards, PE01501 by Stuart Graham. I enclose a link for the English translation of a site set up for Annie Borjesson.
As I said earlier I don’t know how she died and don’t concern myself too much with that, but what I do know is that her mother and best friend are certain that Annie’s death was not investigated and they were treated badly and with a partonising contempt by the Scottish authorities.
That is just not on.
http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://www.annierockstar.com/infosvenska.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dannie%2Brockstar%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DgbD%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official
Hamiltontim is praying for Oscar.
I don’t think Gordon thought that of Balde, he was just doing his masters bidding.
Big Nan
I remember reading about Annie Borjesson and I assumed it was resolved, obviously not. I read your post with astonishment and I’m ashamed at the appalling treatment meted out to Annie’s mother and friend by our powers at be.
Well done for highlighting their plight and I’ll forward the petition on to family and friends, (I’ve got into the habit of signing and passing on your petitions!)
DelaneysDunkey- I don’t know; the boy who told me is a dyed- in -the -wool Trotskyist.
If the war in Iraq wasn’t enough it gives fholk another reason to hate New Labour.
Tamrabam
You are correct. It used to be great being in the jungle, when Aberdeen or Hearts visited, quiet for most other games apart from one.
My point, badly put, was about the crowd pessimists of today.
The spirit of Mr Sanderson lives on :)
Hamiltontim
his medal tally prior to that might suggest that he was a good enough player
however I agree that is subjective and open to debate
i was no WGS fan however i do recall that he responded to media questions about Balde by saying ” he was not available for selection” incorrectly or otherwise, this is my reason for suggesting that his high salary was the reason he was dropped rather than his ability
Delaney
Sanderson indeed! dont sit on the fence!
hence my point about the stadium being half full or half empty
Albeit in the mid 70s it was more likley half jaked, or half canned by half time !