An away trip to St Johnstone on the back of an away trip to Fenerbahce was a challenging one on paper. Teams drop more points away from home after an away European game than under any other circumstances, but yesterday went as well as we could have hoped for.
Nadir Ciftci has failed to set imaginations alight since arriving in the summer but the support were delighted for the player and his prospects, after two excellently taken goals. The first, controlling a corner on his thigh before turning and thrashing the ball into the corner of the net, was top drawer. More please.
Our other summer signing who has recently pulled some form together is Dedryck Boyata. Dedryck was the proverbial bag of nerves earlier this season. He looked clumsy with the ball at his feet, was wasteful when passing and was part of a defence which could not defend corner kicks. The arrival of Jozo Simunovic in the team coincided with Dedryck looking more like a Celtic player.
Without European football the second half of the season has an anti-climactic feel to it but it’s important for both these players. They, like many others in the squad, have a lot to prove after some indifferent performances. Not all will make it. Several, who are teetering on the brink of the first team, will find their opportunities limited, so there is no such thing as an unimportant game. Every game is important when you are trying to improve your reputation, every corner is important as is every chance.
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Boyd scored 125 of his goals against Hamilton Accies.
I’d also like to point out that “moneyball” has nothing to do with selling players for profit.
Moneyball was a statistics based scouting system as opposed to the old fashioned scouting system.
TimAloy29-
I am certain that Southampton would have signed van dijk had he been offered to them in January.
Van dijk was their preferred choice of centre half in summer 2014. They only signed alderweireld on loan on 1 sept 2014 when it became clear Celtic were not for selling van dijk at that time.
They had no commitment to alderweireld beyond his loan at the end of 14/15. They could easily have signed van dijk and terminated the alderweireld loan deal.
Now it may be that we might have got a bit less for selling van dijk in January, who knows but maybe it’s not worth playing Russian roulette with £15m of CL money for the sake of £1 million on a transfer fee.
Who knows, maybe by selling in January you might make more money through triggering a Dutch auction amongst clubs prepared to pay over the odds as they try to cover for injuries, chase European places, fight for EPL survival etc
aburntoutcase on 14th December 2015 1:25 am Hi/morning all. The fact that our Chairman/Board were complicit in drawing up the “Five-Way Agreement” should have set the alarm bells ringing for all real Celtic fans.
*says who, seriously says who.
FYI, from the late lamented PMcC:
The “Holy Grail” of Scottish football is, for now anyway, the famous 5-way Agreement. This notorious document was agreed between the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Football Association, Scottish Football League, RFC 2012 PLC (in liquidation) and Rangers Football Club Ltd. Like the Holy Grail, it has been much spoken of, but never seen, except by a select few.
Whit part of CFC was involved in that. Seemingly when our absentee landlord heard about this he went ballistic, hence the moves tae propel CFC employees intae positions of decision making.
FFS, whit some people don’t know on here they make up.
MWD 2.32
hi mate interesting read :-)
few wee things
“This is not simply about the economics of the game in Scotland”
What is it about then? Celtic imo must first and foremost match the infinite wants and aspirations of our support against the scarce resources(money) to do it, say become a regular CL competitorIt must always be here in Scotland first and then reap the rewards from Europe as a result.
The economics of the game in scotland includes operating in a market where our biggest competitor self harmed and liquidated.That has impacted us,we are stable and have been thro some pretty volcanic economic times,but we carry on as we have done since 1887.The plan and strategy imo is for future generations to see that identity.
your right to aspire and hope for the best for Celtic,we all want that,its how we recalibrate all the cogs for a better Celtic.
HH
Last weekend about 35,000 attended all the spfl games with 2 games having under 3,000.
The Glorious Balance Sheet
Some info on BATE.
Seem to have the best footballers in Belarus in their side.
Not sure about quality of clubs they qualified against. Some I recognise some I don’t.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_BATE_Borisov
However given my comment about Celtic going Scottish maybe there is something to be said for that based on BATE?
Gene – which is still proportionally higher than the EPL. Fans are the SPFL’s greatest asset. Treated like monkeys by the authorities
The Glorious Balance Sheet & 15.32 hrs,
I too know people who follow teams in the EPL and travel down on a fairly regular basis. This is an era of relatively cheap,fast and comfortable travel. It is also an era of super fast media communication.
Whether we like it or not we are compared to the best football that we can all watch at the flick of a switch.
Never in the history of Scottish football have we faced this threat to our club. We cannot compare today’s choice to what was on offer years ago. No manager or CEO of Celtic has ever been faced with this challenge. Through no fault of our own Scottish football is broken, broken by cheats and by those who could not face up to the cheats. Can Scottish Football ever truely recover ? Only time will tell, but one fact remains :- if Celtic were playing Sevco yesterday ,the ground would be full and you would be fighting your way to the bar in many, many pubs.
Some of us will never accept Sevco back in any shape or form, but it’s the only show in town as far as intrest is concerned.
For that reason alone we must find an exit strategy from this small pond that is shrinking, the alternative is perpetually downsizing.
HH to you and all tims.
Why have Celtic struggled to move forward on the European stage?
Lack of competitive league? A bit.
Lack of tactical nous? A bit.
Lack of application? A bit.
Individual errors? A bit.
Poor recruitment policy? A bit
Playing teams that are already well into their season? Maybe a bit.
Poor pre-season preparation? Maybe a bit.
Some bits are bigger than others, as Morrissey might not have said, but experiment with the quantities above* and you have the recipe for our European woes. It’s too easy to point out just one contributing factor because….well…it’s easier to have an argument with someone about one thing at a time, however there are many factors that contributed to our failures.
*Not all measurements are metric…
When Fergus finally finished the stadium, the uptake in seats was almost entirely from guys in their 20s with disposable income.
There’s a big drop-off from those guys reaching an age where they have kids/other interests/ but I doubt there’s as much disposable income in the groups that would normally fill in behind.
A large part of what kept me going, up to the point my kids decided they wanted to come, was habit. I’ve considered giving up the ST many times. If they stop wanting to come I’m not certain I’d stick with it. I still enjoy the games and the atmosphere (probably as much now as any time in the last decade). but there’s other things I could do with the £500.
Well done Ronny and Celtic on our victory.
Craig Gordon solid last man,goalkeeping well,
izzi-good beltin forward,leavin a wee bit at back
Lustig- playin well,more games for you the better.
Simo,good turn of pace,playin high line,
Bhoyata Bhoyata Bhoyata, motm for me,improvin with every game
Mc Gregor- worth his place,linking up play well steppin out well
Armstrong,would have liked to have seem him get a run in the middle
Rogic,good feet,good prospect
johansen,think your goin thro a wee phase o thinking yir better than you are,you’ll work thro it
Forrest,good game,
Cifti.Congratulations on scoring 2 goals for our club,roll on next game and 2 more:-)
HH
Gene,
That’s still kinda decent considering the biggest and most successful club in Scotland weren’t at home.
And it’s a rubbidge time of year to be attending football. More than just the weather I may add.
2 la liga games has crowds of 5.5k ish or less.
HH
Davidopoulos,
I agree with more than a bit of that post.
HH
Geordie Munro on 14th December 2015 4:09 pm
Davidopoulos,
I agree with more than a bit of that post.
HH
————————————————————————
Which bits? Please provide weights and measures…
;)
Geordie
Man City at home at the weekend on the telly.
There was loads of empty seats.
Davidopoulos,
Oh ffs. You are just sooooo needy.
Ok. All of it. Happy now?
;)
HH
Auldheid
I’m not sure I’d advocate going to a predominantly Scottish squad just as yet; pickings remain very slim at I’ve maybe been a bit jaundiced by the lack of success to date by Stuart Armstrong and GMS who were being touted as the country’s biggest prospects this time a year ago.
I think it maybe helps to recruit players who have tasted rejection in their career. It seems to instil a bit more hunger. Look at hooper- binned by Spurs, had to work his way back up through non-league football and the lower leagues. Wanyama had gone back to Africa after a non-productive spell at Helsingborgs, Fraser Forster had been told not good enough for Newcastle.
The trouble we get when we go mainly Scottish is we don’t generally get guys with hunger like that, we get guys coming through the ranks who maybe get complacent at being at such a big club (Forrest?) or guys like Armstrong or gms who get bummed up by the press for playing well once every two weeks for Dundee utd
Greenpinata 3.59pm
You’re spot on, these are unprecedented times for Celtic. Technology and cheap travel are a threat to the club’s fan base.
Geordie Munro
A bit…
I posted this link before on CQN.
The author of it mentions he might add to it in the Dr Future, nice stylie.
Enjoy the Silence.
What are we really arguing about?
I have nae worries at all about Ronny D becoming a Celtic Legend.
The Time paramedics (predictive text) may disagree.
16 Roads is enjoying Celtic.
FFS
I’m gonnae join him again, in doing that.
Yes
Would you like a Brew?
Homebrew?
the glorious balance sheet
I disagree.
Southampton were absolutely delighted with Alderweireld at that point and had the option to buy in the deal.
They believed that they had a binding option to buy on the loan deal.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/05/southampton-toby-alderweireld-atletico-madrid
“Southampton will consider legal action if they fail to sign Toby Alderweireld from Atlético Madrid on a permanent deal after the Spanish club failed to cancel the Belgium defender’s buy-out clause in time. The club believe they are entitled to purchase the Belgium defender, who impressed during his loan spell at St Mary’s last season, for £6.8m due to Atlético not availing of the option to cancel the clause for £1.5m.”
I’d also point out that we had VVD in our team for the qualifiers. A player who had plenty of experience in the same team as Biton, Brown, Lustig, Izzy, Gordon etc.
I don’t think that holding on to your best player who required no time to fit in, was playing Russian roulette.
Auldheid on 14th December 2015 3:40 pm
My point about the ‘spine’ players we have sold is precisely that.
Are we focussing on spine prospects because they are more saleable, with the clear intention of selling them on as soon as an EPL club comes sniffing and to hang with team stability?
As for developing Scottish talent ,I think you are right to believe they are more likely to want to stay.
What I would worry about is PL saying ‘right son, I know you’re happy here but Southampton are waving a cheque for £10m at us so get your bags packed.’
Philbhoy,
Aye I know.
I blame female emancipation and santa claus.
HH
Philbhoy on 14th December 2015 4:11 pm
Geordie
Man City at home at the weekend on the telly.
There was loads of empty seats.
*Mrs. TT noticed that, she blamed the weather. It’s Manchester I told her, almost as wet as Greenock.
Without European football the second half of the season has an anti-climactic feel to it
Thought those comments just came from the MSM. Not for me Mr 67 going for a treble in case you have forgot
Oxford City Director quits amid fraud charges
Do you think it will catch on?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/35093335
HH
glendalystonsils
What I would worry about is PL saying ‘right son, I know you’re happy here but Southampton are waving a cheque for £10m at us so get your bags packed.’
—————-
PL does that after that player has refused to sign a contract. Celtic always try to resign good players and if they refuse to sign, the clock starts ticking and Celtic will usually sell around 18 months to go.
Timaloy29
All about opinions and I think ours differ greatly on this. Van dijk was clear, he wanted to leave Celtic.
I’d rather not go into CL qualifiers with players who want away. If that means punting them in January so be it.
Southampton were keen on him for over a year, everyone knew he was going there. They probably still have a vacancy for another centre half in any case with the hopeless yoshida getting a game at the moment.
TIMALOY29
PL does that after that player has refused to sign a contract.
Nir Bitton has just signed a new contract. If an EPL club came in for him in January with a juicy offer do you think PL would tell them where to go?
Have a great night Celts,
be good
we are Celtic
HH
Glendalys,
Possibly, Every player has his price.
Decent offer….no chance.
Silly money offer….every chance.
HH
MWD.
When you wrote to Peter Lawwell regarding your points that you have articulated here, what was his reply, and could you be kind enough to post Peter Lawwell’s reply. Thanks
the glorious balance sheet
Van Dijk wasn’t the reason we lost to Malmo. He actually had a solid game as an individual. As a unit we didn’t look prepared tactically or physically.
Yoshida isn’t their first choice. He’s a backup for Fonte who has started the majority of games and formed a fairly formidable partnership with VVD.
Southampton don’t sign players for the sake of it. They have a set budget and employ a “one in one out” policy.
We would sell Biton if we were offered something well over his valuation.
I’d sell him for 15 million if we were offered. I don’t think he’s irreplaceable.
Geordie
Agreed. Every club is a selling club to a greater or lesser extent, especially now that greedy agents see it as a safer bet than the lottery.
I just wish Celtic would try to prioritise in keeping a bit more continuity in key areas of the team, like central defence.
We’ve become too much of a revolving door IMHO.
Auld Bertie is an anagram of Bertie Auld.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 14TH DECEMBER 2015 5:03 PM
Auld Bertie is an anagram of Bertie Auld.
It’s also an anagram of ….A duel biter…….which describes Bertie Auld.
TONTINE TIM on 14TH DECEMBER 2015 3:47 PM
aburntoutcase on 14th December 2015 1:25 am Hi/morning all. The fact that our Chairman/Board were complicit in drawing up the “Five-Way Agreement” should have set the alarm bells ringing for all real Celtic fans.
*says who, seriously says who.
FYI, from the late lamented PMcC:
The “Holy Grail” of Scottish football is, for now anyway, the famous 5-way Agreement. This notorious document was agreed between the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Football Association, Scottish Football League, RFC 2012 PLC (in liquidation) and Rangers Football Club Ltd. Like the Holy Grail, it has been much spoken of, but never seen, except by a select few.
Whit part of CFC was involved in that. Seemingly when our absentee landlord heard about this he went ballistic, hence the moves tae propel CFC employees intae positions of decision making.
FFS, whit some people don’t know on here they make up.reputation/comment-page-2/#comments
****
tontine
How ya doing today?
A few thoughts:
1. A party (such as Celtic) effected by an administrative decision (such as the 5 way agreement) has the right to the have the courts review such decision. If it was not given notice or the right to be heard, or its interests were unfairly disregarded, or internal procedures were not followed (or a host of other reasons), the decision can be set aside by the courts.
I know there is the issue of not suing your own federation, but I can assure you …. the Courts do not let such federations trod on the Court’s authority.*
* admittedly, as we have seen, the legal (even LNS… which is only quasi-legal) decisions in Scotland concerning Sevco may not always follow the ‘normal’ rules.
2. You mention PMcC’s response to the 5WA. Could you (or anyone) kindly point me to Celtic PLC’s response to same?
3. What is the old saw? ‘in the absence of information, speculation fills the vaccuum’.