Steven Fletcher has his own place in Celtic folklore. We bid for him in January 2009, the player made a public plea to Hibs to allow the deal to happen, but Rod Petrie rejected the approach. Fletcher would go to Burnley at the end of that season for a deal worth around £4m, which seemed eye-watering at the time for a striker who scored 11 goals the previous 12 months.
As Celtic ran out of steam in the spring of 2009 attention turned to what might have been had Fletcher signed. He was the one that got away. The whats, whys and maybes of that time are irrelevant now, but in short, Celtic didn’t value Fletcher at £4m and Petrie reckoned he could get that kind of money in England if he waited.
Before selling to Burnley he didn’t even put the customary call out to Celtic to entice a higher bid. Petrie wanted Hibs to be known as a team who could produce players for the English Premier League – a Hamilton Accies-Lite, if you like. It’s a legitimate strategy.
The player is 28-years-old and now free of the ankle injury which plagued him for over a year. He’s on an astronomical basic wage at Sunderland, who paid north of £10m for his services. Few Scottish footballers will have higher career earnings than him, but that contract ends in June. This season has brought 4 goals from 11 starts for a Sunderland team who sit in a relegation position.
The injury profile makes him a possibility for Celtic. Without it, as a free agent, he would remain in the English Premier League next season (whether Sunderland do or not). His agent will no doubt be shopping him around right now, as will Sunderland, who at the moment will be asking for a consideration to be paid to release him this month.
We must have signed 20 strikers since January 2009, very few as good as Steven Fletcher. I’d take him in a heartbeat.
I’m pleased Anthony Stokes (16 months younger than Fletcher) has a choice of clubs wanting to loan him this month. All three: Dundee United, Inverness and Hibs, would be good places for him. United are a better team than their abysmal points tally indicates, but they are desperately short of strikers. Stokes could transform them. Hibs and Inverness are both clubs looking purposefully towards the second half of the season.
Charity Q&A Night, Carfin
I’m on the (otherwise excellent) Q&A panel at the Xavier Centre, Carfin, on Saturday 30 January alongside two Libson Lions – John Clark and Bertie Auld, Celtic author and sports academic – Dr Joe Bradley, and Fifa referee – Willie Collum.
The purpose of the night is to raise funds for Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust and the Young Adult Ministry. Tickets will be scarce, so if you’d like to attend, call Mick on 07827 975271 soon.
You know when you look at a line-up and just know it’s going to be a great night…..
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this bhoy never got a chance
http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Fox%2C+Danny
WEEFRATHETIM on 15TH JANUARY 2016 10:42 AM
Morning all, we signed emdy yet? HH
morning weefrathetim….
we are looking at some leicester city player :-)
https://youtu.be/DrQRS40OKNE
‘The unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable’
Oscar Wilde
pheersy
He obviously hasent heard of John Chalmers, or it’s the old Ibrox selective amnesia AGAIN.
BMCUWP
Wasps are paraphyletic.
A state I could be in myself sometime this weekend!
Earl of Leven – another pointless WASP
WEEFRATHETIM
How is your cat doing?
Without the humble fox, the breadth of pub names would be much narrower…
Are there any good pubs with wasp in the name? Naw.
The Wasp and Grapes? Don’t think so…
BLANTYRETIM
I can only imagine how that one must have hit you,mate. Doing your damnedest to help the fella,being told that ‘your input is under consideration’
Meantime,you keep trying. The other lot keep dragging things out.
The poor sod gives up.
Please,mate. Don’t you give up. I mean it. There are,sadly,thousands more caught like your client.
And they NEED expert help. Not hand-wringing from politicians,journos,or even myself.
I don’t envy you,bud. And yet-I do.
Davidopoulos on 15th January 2016 11:07 am
Are there any good pubs with wasp in the name? Naw.
The Wasp and Grapes? Don’t think so…
—————————————————————–
The W.A.S.P. and Goat?
Need to roll up one trouser leg to get in though…
http://whatpub.com/pubs/CLV/15-0475/wasps-nest-stockton-on-tees
NatKnow
I couldn’t possibly comment – my favourite pub at the moment is called The Masons Arms…
Ah now even Oscar Wilde gets to appear on CQN
my favourite is
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.
Thanks ghuys. Just to clear something up, I don’t have a double barrel gun, it’s a three barrel gun, called a trifle. :-))) HH
HailHail.
Or should that be Tally Ho!
Has the judge ring fenced the 300 grand yet?
Empressario is now a non runner
Boo Hoo and Tally Ho
From KDS, we’re interested in three young central defenders, Magnusson (Juve), Bangaard (Mydtjlland), Pennington (Everton) and two strikers from League One down south, Bradshaw (Walsall), Madden (Scunthorpe). I assume we are looking to sign one player for each position this window.
Gary67
Loans or fees involved, do you know please?
There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.
Oscar wIlde was a paranoid tim
Davidopoulos on 15th January 2016 11:14 am
NatKnow
I couldn’t possibly comment – my favourite pub at the moment is called The Masons Arms…
————————————————————-
The Masons get bad press, but they didn’t half open a load of pubs!
Gary67
Paddy Madden (Scunthorpe) was looked at by Celtic a few years back when he played for Bohemians in the League of Ireland,they didn’t think he was good enough then
I would have agreed then as having seen him in the league of Ireland I thought he was ok but a bit a light.
He seems to have improved and bulked up a bit and scored a lot of goals for Yeovil when he left Bohemians but I don’t know if he would improve us,
Better than Cifcti …but then so am I
Samantha Fox roolz!! The big Judith of her day.
Mon the foxes!!
HH
http://etims.net/?p=8453
Ernie
Bravo and the only Fox that wants shootin’ is yon yin on the bingo advert.
Pheersy
I notice that bigot has over 96k posts and probably many of that nature. And he’s not been lifted?
And as I look put the window a beautiful big rusty orange and white fox hobbles past on three legs. I tossed it some leftover fry up.
Is that WASP as in WE ARE SAD PEEPUL ….or is that the wasp which is born to apply a ‘pain in the erse’ to derhun…?
WITS – I always use the OW quote which went something like –
‘Self criticism is self indulgence. Bt criticising yourself, you are hoping to prevent criticism by others’.
I use it at work when somebody says something about a piece of work – ‘Oh, I will make a mess of it. I’m useless at that’.
I reply ‘Don’t be so self indulgent!’.
Makes me popular :-)
WEEFRATHETIM on 15TH JANUARY 2016 10:42 AM
As a matter of interest have you ever managed to kill a fox with a shotgun or is more to scare them off and relieve your frustration?
I’m only asking because everyone I know who kills foxes uses a rifle.
Petethebeat
Oscar said more than his prayers,thats for sure.
Oscar Wilde (on entering USA) ” I have nothing to declare but my genius.”
So the club have allegedly offered Forrest a lower wage.
I think we all want James to shine. But his time is almost up.
Maybe he would suit playing for a team that has opportunities to counter.
And they’re off.
James Doleman @jamesdoleman 1m1 minute ago
Case about to start
tony,just seen there cup tie against kilmarnock is on tv SURPRISE SURPRISE,that is the 49 times in a row at 144000 per game comes to a cool 7,056,000.million pounds
Can anyone clarify this?
TONYDONNELLY67 on 15TH JANUARY 2016 11:47 AM
‘tony,just seen there cup tie against kilmarnock is on tv SURPRISE SURPRISE,’
####
I didn’t realise SURPRISE SURPRISE was still on the telly.
Morning Celts.
No signed Steven Fletcher yet?
Thats a surprise eh.
Paddy Madden or Steven Fletcher.
I wonder who it will be.
HH
ERNIE
Never killed a fox and I don’t own a shotgun. This is the first time in 30 years that foxes have bothered us. There used to be a clay pigeon shoot about a mile away, I always put that down to the reason we never were bothered with them. The problem is, the hens and ducks don’t get out to roam free which costs us more on feed and bedding. Apart fom that, no hassle, just the thought of them dictating when our poultry can or cannot to roam free. HH