The largest part of our rebuilding exercise in the summer will be along the back line. The departures of Jeremie Frimpong and Hatem Elhamed leave a requirement for two right backs, while Diego Laxalt’s loan will not be renewed.
Christopher Jullien will miss the start of the campaign and with no signs of Kristoffer Ajer extending his deal beyond next year I expect him to leave in the summer. Shane Duffy will return to Brighton, leaving Stephen Welsh as the only recognised central defender ready to start the campaign.
We need two right backs and one left back, the latter to compete with Greg Taylor, and at least two central defenders. Recruiting all these players in time for the qualifiers is a huge undertaking. We could do worse than to put extending the deal for Jonjoe Kenny high on the new manager’s agenda.
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Where is everyone?
Has Stevie Clarke actually said the Celtic job isn’t for him ?.
I accept that I know very little re standards in professional football but is Kenny really worth anything more than, say, a million?
I am no fan of Ralston, but why is he not even quoted as a squad member Paul?
5 minutes in the gorbals of 1971
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2021/0212/1196797-the-gorbals-in-glasgow/
Paul.
Who do you suggest is responsible for the utter shambles which you outlined???
Sorry Paul…in my very humble opinion we need two new first choice full-backs. Taylor’s done ok but I haven’t been convinced by Kenny. We have been exploited in these areas this season…
Lustig and Tierney are the benchmarks…
“WEEBOBBYCOLLINS on 3RD MARCH 2021 12:37 PM
Why have these covid hun players not been suspended yet? ”
Indeed. Has ANYTHING been said about them since Nicoal Sturgeon said she didn`t have all the facts yet?
I haven`t heard anyone talking of the incident. I can understand Sevco fans keeping quiet but why Celtic fans? Are we too busy criticising our own Club to bother about the SFA ?
HS- agree,Welsh is a RB,if he had a run there,would there be a £5 million difference in them,and 3 times the wages? I don’t think so…
This is a tad worrying a) that P67 thinks Kenny is good enough and b) that the new manager should be deciding on team affairs and we haven’t got one yet
Hot Smoked…indeed! I think Nicola has her mind on other things at the moment, however, this young lad Patterson looks like will play for thems tonight. It’s not right! And no comments from our footballing authorities either. Stinks!
Opening SPFL game 2021-22
Bain
New signing/Welsh/New Signing/Bolingoli
McGregor Soro
Forrest Turnbull Johnston
Ajeti
Hmmmm
adi_dassler not for 2nd best
Steve Clarke said a lot of things without actually answering the question.
Compare to Paul Lambert who said he does not want the job, Clarke said
“When you have been in football as long as me, you tend not to look too far ahead.”
That part of what he said is not being universally reported and for me leaves the door open.
If Scotland Bomb at the Euros he might be looking for a job anyway.
Problem with Clarke is the timing. He would have to be running the club remotely.
Is Kenny any better than Ralston or Shaun Rooney ,and if Welsh is a right back,then why isn’t being played in that position,also on the managerial postion
No to Steve Clarke ,Michael O’Neil ,Paul Lambert,
Weebobbycollins
It’s a total joke. Why have Celtic got nothing to say about it?
Bolingoli got a 3 match ban, whoever the 2 Huns were got 7 match bans.
What is the difference? As usual our people are at the back of the bus.
Kenny hasn’t stood out in any way for me.
He’ll maybe do a job but only at the right price.
He’s better than our last right back loanee in that he hasn’t stood out as being absolutely dire.
I think we need a new goal keeper to go alongside our 2 new CBs, LB and RB.
I had hoped to see more of Barkas between now and the end of the season so I can only guess we’ve already made our mind up to move him on.
In which case Bain should not be our number one if we’ve any serious ambition to qualify for the CL or even Europa group stage.
Every day it seems we get more evidence, or at the very least a reminder, of how badly run we are as a club, this article https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/five-problems-for-new-boss-to-solve/
is a prime example and has seriously put me on a downer.
The thought of those 5 (maybe except the CH since we don’t have any) to join the weak squad we have is seriously depressing. If the article is correct we start next season with four first team players, Turnbull, Soro, Taylor, Mcgregor.
What a mess we are in. Maybe getting a management team in place before the Euro play offs would help? What do you think?
Two things:
1. I like Kenny. I agree we should try to retain his services.
2. What a shambolic inheritance you describe for the incoming leadership. An absolute disgrace. Yet not one cheep of criticism of Lawwell. Ever.
Amazing.
Our defensive record is much better with Kenny in the team, 3 in 7 since he came compared to 6 in 7 before.
If we’re playing a four at the back in future, rather than needing wing backs he would be a very solid long term solution
In relation to S Clarke
Having checked up on this, Scotland play 3 World Cup qualifiers inside a week in 3 weeks time.
It would not be inconceivable for Scotland to get 7 out the available 9 points ( Austria h, Israel a, Faroes h)
It may be that if they do so, it makes any idea of landing SC as manager that bit more difficult. The flip side of the argument also applies.
Good for Europe as well
The good news is extending the Kenny loan, God help us.
celtic40me on 3rd March 2021 1:13 pm
I would suggest the improvement in our defensive record is the removal of Duffy
Go get Raffa Celtic.
Make a statement of content.
Go on I dare yeez.
D :)
Paul67
Paul67
Johnjo Kenny on loan………….meh.
We don’t need no loans, we need permanent Celtic players, here for the long haul.
Loans haven’t helped Celtic this season, and the loss of one in Fraser Forster was particularly damaging. The new man has got a clear deck especially at full back and patching it with loans is not the way ahead for Celtic.
CelticQuickOpinions CSC
If JJ Kenny is available at a decent price, it’s a no-brainer.
He’s done well since he’s come in, and particularly from a defensive perspective – pacy, can tackle and is decent in the air.
At the very least, he should be in competition for a place with a new addition.
We need to be much less parochial in our potential pool of targets.
Markiebhoy…I’m not so sure it’s Celtic’s job to speak publicly about the hun 5, although I do believe Peter Lawwell should already have spoken to the relevant people at hampden. Somehow the huns seem to have an intimidatory hold over the rest of Scottish football…and always have done. I wonder why?
Come back Fergus and sort these people out!
if we have forrest and mikey in our starting 11 for the first game of next season im taking up drinking
and ive been off it since sunday
Was There a Break-in?
Wednesday evening, March 24, 1943
Mother, Father, Margot and I were sitting quite pleasantly together when Peter suddenly came in and whispered in Father’s ear. I caught the words “a barrel falling over in the warehouse” and “someone fiddling with the door.”
Margot heard it too, but was trying to calm me down, since I’d turned white as chalk and was extremely nervous. The three of us waited. In the meantime Father and Peter went downstairs, and a minute or two later Mrs. van Daan came up from where she’d been listening to the radio. She told us that Pim had asked her to switch it off and tiptoe upstairs. But you know what happens when you’re trying to be quiet–the old stairs creaked twice as loud. Five minutes later Peter and Pim, the color drained from their faces, appeared again to relate their experiences.
They had positioned themselves under the staircase and waited. Nothing happened. Then all of a sudden they heard a couple of bangs, as if two doors had been slammed shut inside the house. Pim bounded up the stairs, while Peter went to warn Dussel, who finally presented himself upstairs, though not without kicking up a fuss and making a lot of noise. Then we all tiptoed in our stockinged feet to the van Daan family on the next floor. Mr. van D. had a bad cold and had already gone to bed, so we gathered around his bedside and discussed our suspicions in a whisper.
Every time Mr. van D. coughed loudly, Mrs. van D. and I nearly had a nervous fit. He kept coughing until someone came up with the bright idea of giving him codeine. His cough subsided immediately.
Once again we waited and waited, but heard nothing. Finally we came to the conclusion that the burglars had fled when they heard footsteps in an otherwise quiet building. The problem now was that the chairs in the private office were neatly grouped round the radio, which was tuned to England. If the burglars had forced the door and the air-raid wardens were to notice it and call the police, that would get the ball rolling, and there could be very serious repercussions. So Mr. van Daan got up, pulled on his coat and pants, put on his hat and cautiously followed Father down the stairs, with Peter (armed with a heavy hammer, to be on the safe side) right behind him. The ladies (including Margot and me) waited in suspense until the men returned five minutes later and told us that there was no sign of any activity in the building. We agreed not to run any water or flush the toilet; but since everyone’s stomach was churning from all the tension, you can imagine the stench after we’d each had a turn in the bathroom.
Incidents like these are always accompanied by other disasters, and this was no exception. Number one: the Westertoren bells stopped chiming, and they were always so comforting. Plus Mr. Voskuijl left early last night, and we weren’t sure if he’d given Bep the key and she’d forgotten to lock the door.
Well, the night had just begun, and we still weren’t sure what to expect. We were somewhat reassured by the fact that between eight-fifteen–when the burglar had first entered the building–and ten-thirty, we hadn’t heard a sound. The more we thought about it, the less likely it seemed that a burglar would have forced a door so early in the evening, when there were still people out on the streets. Besides that, it occurred to us that the warehouse manager at the Keg Company next door might still have been at work. What with the excitement and the thin walls, it’s easy to mistake the sounds. Besides, your imagination often plays tricks on you in moments of danger.
So we lay down on our beds, though not to sleep. Father and Mother and Mr. Dussel were awake most of the night, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that I hardly got a wink of sleep. This morning the men went downstairs to see if the outside door was still locked, but all was well!
Of course, we gave the entire office staff a blow-by-blow account of the incident, which had been far from pleasant. It’s much easier to laugh at these kinds of things after they’ve happened, and Bep was the only one who took us seriously.
Note: The next morning the toilet was clogged, and Father had to stick in a long wooden pole and fish out several pounds of excrement and strawberry recipes (which is what we use for toilet paper these days). Afterward we burned the pole.
The Dentist
Wednesday, December 8, 1942
The nicest spectacle I’ve ever seen here took place today: Mother was ironing and Mrs. van Daan was scheduled for a dental appointment. Dussel began unpacking his case with an air of importance (it was the first time he’d worked on anyone here), and he needed some eau de cologne, which could be used as a disinfectant, and vaseline, which would have to do for wax. Mrs. van D. sat down, and he started looking in her mouth, but every time he touched a tooth, the poor woman flinched and uttered incoherent cries. After a lengthy examination (lengthy as far as Mrs. van D. was concerned, since it actually took no longer than two minutes), Dussel began to scrape out a cavity. But Mrs. van D. had no intention of letting him. She flailed her arms and legs until Dussel finally let go of his probe and . . . it remained stuck in Mrs. van D.’s tooth. That really did it! Mrs. van D. lashed out wildly in all directions, cried (as much as you can with an instrument like that in your mouth), tried to remove it, but only managed to push it in even farther. Mr. Dussel calmly observed the scene, his hands on his hips, while the rest of the audience roared with laughter. Of course, that was very mean of us. If it’d been me, I’m sure I would have yelled even louder. After a great deal of squirming, kicking, screaming and shouting, she finally managed to yank the thing out, and Mr. Dussel calmly went on with his work as if nothing had happened. He was so quick that Mrs. van D. didn’t have time to pull any more shenanigans. But then, he had more help than he’s ever had before: no fewer than two assistants; Mr. van D. and I performed our job well. The whole scene resembled one of those engravings from the Middle Ages, the kind showing a quack at work. In the meantime, however, the patient was getting restless, since she had to keep an eye on “her” soup and “her” food. One thing is certain: Mrs. van D. will never make another dental appointment!
Sausage Day
Friday, December 10, 1942
Mr. van Daan had a large amount of meat. Today he wanted to make bratwurst and sausages, and tomorrow mettwurst. It’s fun watching him put the meat through the grinder: once, twice, three times. Then he adds all kinds of ingredients to the meat and uses a long pipe, which he attaches to the grinder, to force it into the casings. We ate the bratwurst with sauerkraut (served with onions and potatoes) for lunch, but the sausages were hung to dry over a pole suspended from the ceiling. Everyone who came into the room burst into laughter when they saw those dangling sausages. It was such a comical sight.
The place was a shambles. Mr. van Daan, clad in his wife’s apron and looking fatter than ever, was concentrating his hefty form on the meat. What with his bloody hands, red face and apron, he really looked like a butcher. Mrs. van D. was trying to do everything at once: learn Dutch, cook, watch, sigh, moan–she claims to have broken a rib. That’s what happens when you do such stupid physical exercises. Dussel had an eye infection and was sitting next to the stove dabbing his eye with camomile tea. Pim, seated in the sunshine, kept having to move his chair this way and that to stay out of the way. His back must have been bothering him, because he was sitting slightly hunched over with an agonized expression on his face. He reminded me of those aged invalids you see in the poorhouse. Peter was romping around the room with the cat, holding out a piece of meat and then running off with the meat still in his hands. Mother, Margot and I were peeling potatoes. When you get right down to it, none of us were doing our work properly, because we were all so busy watching Mr. van Daan.
The Flea
Wednesday, July 7, 1943
We’re being plagued with yet another problem: Mouschi’s fleas. We didn’t know that people could be bitten by cat fleas, but they can.
Yesterday when I was upstairs I found a flea on my leg, ten minutes later when I was downstairs I nabbed another one, and last night when I was sitting on Dussel’s bed, I felt another one crawling down my leg, but the little critter slipped through my fingers–they’re incredibly fast. This morning I was getting dressed over by the closet when I saw another one of those wondrous creatures, walking along as pretty as you please. A flea that walks as well as jumps is a new experience for me. I picked it up and squeezed as hard as I could, but Mr. Flea hopped away again. Sighing, I got undressed and subjected my naked body and my clothes to a thorough examination until I finally found the flea in my panties. A second later, it was off with his head.
Do You Remember?
Memories of my schooldays at the Jewish Lyceum
Do you remember? I’ve spent many a delightful hour talking about school, teachers, adventures and boys. Back when our lives were still normal, everything was so wonderful. That one year of Lyceum was heaven to me: the teachers, the things I learned, the jokes, the prestige, the crushes, the admirers.
Do you remember? When I came back from town that afternoon and found a package in the mailbox from “un ami, R.” It could only have come from Rob Cohen. Inside there was a brooch worth at least two and a half guilders. Ultra-modern. Rob’s father sold that kind of stuff. I wore it for two days, and then it broke.
Do you remember? How Lies and I told on the class. We had a French test. I wasn’t having too much trouble with it, but Lies was. She copied my answers and I went over them to make corrections (on her test, I mean). She got a C+ and I got a C-, since thanks to my help she had gotten some things right, but both grades had been crossed out and replaced with a big fat F. Great indignation. We went to Mr. Premsela to explain what had happened, and at the end Lies said, “Yes, but the entire class had their books open under their desks!” Mr. Premsela promised the class that nobody would be punished if all those who had cheated would raise their hands. About ten hands went up–less than half the class, of course. A few days later Mr. Premsela sprang the test on us again. Nobody would talk to Lies and me, and we were branded as snitches. I soon caved in under the pressure and wrote a long letter of apology to Class 1 L II, begging their forgiveness. Two weeks later all had been forgotten.
The letter went something like this:
To the students in Class 1 L II,
Anne Frank and Lies Goslar hereby offer their sincere apologies to the students in Class 1 L II for their cowardly act of betrayal in the matter of the French test.
However, the deed was done before we had time to think, and we freely admit that we alone should have been punished. We believe that everyone is liable to let a word or sentence slip out in anger from time to time, and this can result in an unpleasant situation, even though it wasn’t meant to. We hope that Class 1 L II will see the incident in this light and will repay evil with good. There’s nothing more to be gained by it, and the two guilty parties can’t undo what’s been done.
We wouldn’t be writing this letter if we weren’t genuinely sorry for what happened. Furthermore, we ask those of you who have been ignoring us to please stop, since what we did wasn’t so bad as to justify being looked upon as criminals for all eternity.
Anyone who is unable to put this matter behind them should come to us and either give us a good scolding or ask us for a favor, which we will gladly grant, if at all possible.
We trust that everyone in Class 1 L II will now be able to forget the affair.
Anne Frank and
Lies Goslar
Do you remember? How C.N. told Rob Cohen in the streetcar, within earshot of Sanne Ledermann who passed it on to me, that Anne had a much prettier face than J.R., especially when she smiled. Rob’s answer was, “Boy, have you ever got big nostrils, C.!”
Do you remember? How Maurice Coster was planning to present himself to Pim to ask his permission to see his daughter.
Do you remember? How Rob Cohen and Anne Frank exchanged a flurry of letters when Rob was in the hospital.
Do you remember? How Sam Solomon always followed me on his bicycle and wanted to walk arm in arm with me.
Do you remember? How A.W. kissed me on the cheek when I promised not to tell a soul about E.G. and him.
I hope that such happy, carefree schooldays will come again.
The Best Little Table
Tuesday, July 13, 1943
Yesterday afternoon Father gave me permission to ask Dussel whether he would please be so good as to allow me (see how polite I am?) to use the table in our room two afternoons a week, from four to five-thirty. I already sit there every day from two-thirty to four while Dussel takes a nap, but the rest of the time the room and table are off-limits to me. It’s impossible to study next door in the afternoon, because there’s too much going on. Besides, Father sometimes likes to sit at the desk during the afternoon.
So it seemed like a reasonable request, and I asked Dussel very politely. What do you think the learned gentleman’s reply was? “No.” Just plain “No!”
I was incensed and wasn’t about to let myself be put off like that. I asked him the reason for his “No,” but this didn’t get me anywhere. The gist of his reply was: “I have to study too, you know, and if I can’t do that in the afternoons, I won’t be able to fit it in at all. I have to finish the task I’ve set for myself; otherwise there’s no point in starting. Besides, you aren’t serious about your studies. Mythology–what kind of work is that? Reading and knitting don’t count either. I use that table and I’m not going to give it up!”
“Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate,”
Wee Dolly Parton
Bain
Taylor Welsh Jules Ralston
Forrest Soro Turnbull Mj
Klim Ajeti/Griff
I’d assumed that would be our team for the qualifiers
The midfield change will be as big, the difference is the number of bodies we have in that area
As others have said before Ajeti and klim need game time before new season to get a full weight of their measure
We essentially need a whole team plus a few squad players, at least 2 attackers will be gone (Ed n elyon), guess least 3 midfield (brown, Christie, calmac) will be gone/linked elsewhere, we’ve already discussed the defence my only concern is this idea of having pure lb/rb’s, Taylor is an OK lb but he’s small in a small squad, I thought he was professing OK in spl as a lwb but seems in n out in that regard, jjk is same size and again OK as a rb but still early to see as a rwb, I’m not sure we can have 4 players who can only play in 2 positions.. Maybe if we could decide more on if we’re 352 or 442, maybe jjk and gt and 2 larger guys who are more lcb/rcb who can then play in a 3 or a 4, sorta like elhamed at the start..
I don’t read long posts.
TIMMY7_NOTED on 3RD MARCH 2021 1:20 PM
celtic40me on 3rd March 2021 1:13 pm
I would suggest the improvement in our defensive record is the removal of Duffy
No doubt also a contributory factor but not the sole reason. Frimpong was never a defender
Kenny doesn’t solve all our problems but he would solve one, which is a start.
saint stivs
Great little film of the Gorbals area from back in the day. Still not convinced that the solution to Glasgow’s inner city problems was demolishing much of the whole area, I still believe refurbishment of the buildings would have improved the living standards of many of those that lived there or thereabouts. The high rise buildings shown there and elsewhere did have immediate advantages, and no one should discount the importance of light at a higher level, but the Priest narrating was right to question if they offered the same sense of Community as shared in the buildings they replaced. And no doubt as at Red Row, the highest of those have long been demolished themselves. ‘High Living’ indeed.
celtic40me
Frimpong was never a defender – correct and left us vulnerable on the right side.
Frequently exploited by other teams. One of many issues this season.
Kenny seems decent. Whether there is better value out there – probably.
Issue is who is looking at players now, and who are they reporting their findings too? Is the bold Pedro still having a few last hurrahs at squad building on the way out of the door? Heaven’s help us if so.
Anything we do now – IF we actually are going to be making widespread, structural changes – is just throwing money away. I worry that the signs – if Paul’s leaders are signs – seem to indicate the same scouting operation is ongoing, the same non-football decision makers are continuing their grip on the football squad.
I’d rather there were no decisions made on squad building or sales until the new structure and personnel are in place.
If you are in a hole, chuck the bliddy shovel away!
HH
BGFC