News that Fraser Forster has signed a long term contract with Celtic, who will pay Newcastle United £2m for his services, adds some welcome stability ahead of the Champions League qualifiers. Buying a new, first-choice, keeper is fraught with the kind of difficulties Neil Lennon would rather avoid.
Last summer we looked at Croatian international Stipe Pletikosa, who performed at the European Championships, but he failed to impress during his trial period at Celtic, including a poor performance against Wolves at Celtic Park.
Last year we also looked at Polish cap, Gregorz Sandomierski, who subsequently went to Belgian club racing Genk for €3m, but he failed to make a competitive appearance for Genk and was shipped back to Poland on loan. By comparison, Forster, who turned 24 on St Patrick’s Day, cemented his place with the champions.
Last year Celtic concluded a provisional deal with Newcastle to sign Fraser on a permanent deal this summer but although player and club were both keen to do business, negotiations took until the end of the players’ summer break, perhaps reflecting a tightening of Celtic’s finances ahead of what could be a period of financial uncertainty in the Scottish game.
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Alasdair MacLean on 2 July, 2012 at 13:04 said:
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hello bud.
I did catch up on your post about Solas.
stunning stunning place, will go there sometime with Mrs H on our own, just not this year for a 2hr ferry trip.
thanks for sharing, it was hugely interesting.
Hector Avocado – I thought they preferred sausages. (thumbsup)
SAAAAVE by the keeper!
Great news for our very own jolly green giant..
HH
Here we go again with the ‘offensive’ song debate.
There is absolutely NOTHING in the words of the BOTOB that should offend any reasonable person. I know this to be the case because I KNOW the words of the song.
The problem is that supporters of other clubs DON’T know these words.
All they hear is… IRA.
They naturally think that this is a song glorifying what to them is a terrorist grouping. They are therefore OFFENDED. It is NOT a question of them wanting to be offended. It is natural that they should be so.
I would be offended if I heard a song with UDA or UVF being sung at me, no matter what the context of its usage happened to be.
We have a hundred songs to choose from. We don’t need to antagonise people simply for the sake of doing it. Songs mentioning the IRA have NO place at a football ground, no matter how valid that song is otherwise.
We are NOT THEMS.
Don’t sell McCourt
timbhoy2 – You stole cans of red bull from a youth centre?
Was this before or after your free trip to Yoker? (thumbsup)
Mornig all, up for the battle
@johnbomberbrown
Hey you lot , nothing wrong with mince.
Kilbowie Kelt – And thankfully we have peace in Ireland now.
Times have changed for the better.
Martin McGuinness and the Queen have moved on, other people should too. (thumbsup)
Minceyheidman – Mince and tatties are braw! (thumbsup)
philvisreturns on 2 July, 2012 at 13:10 said:
Hector Avocado – I thought they preferred sausages. (thumbsup)
Anymore homophobic links like that and i`ll offer you a square go ya banger.
Whit aboot the dough baws?
Son of Gabriel on 2 July, 2012 at 12:19 said:
Try popping the phone in a jar of rice, it will draw a lot, if not all the moisture out of it. Do that before taking it anywhere. 24hours or so should do the trick.
BobbyRussell – Anymore homophobic links like that and i`ll offer you a square go ya banger.
Meaty puns are the wurst. (thumbsup)
Bradford Bulls make 16 redundancies including head coach and chief executive.
Papa Bouba Pre-op – Try popping the phone in a jar of rice, it will draw a lot, if not all the moisture out of it. Do that before taking it anywhere. 24hours or so should do the trick.
Add some fava beans and a nice chianti. (thumbsup)
philvisreturns on 2 July, 2012 at 13:16 said:
BobbyRussell – Anymore homophobic links like that and i`ll offer you a square go ya banger.
Meaty puns are the wurst. (thumbsup)
oh deer
bsr-the first of many spooling mistakes from Bummer.Will start to sound like the big polis from, strangely enough ‘Allo ‘ Allo.
Lennon n Mc….Mjallby on 2 July, 2012 at 12:33 said:
I’ve been advocating it* for ages. Anyone who looks at the pattern of winners since 2000 can see that any more than 3 title wins on a trot and access to CL money dooms the team that fails to stop the run.
Had Celtic won the title in 2009 Rangers would have gone bust then, Heck even when they were allowed into the CL qualifiers last year when it looks as if they should have been denied entry, it was the failure to qulaify for CL and EL that more than any other precipatated the arrival of administration.
Now it was the Big ECA clubs who demanded the lion’s share of UEFA shareouts but it is pretty clear that what is happening in Scotland as regards competitiveness is being replicated throughout Europe.
It is a no brainer that the distribution of UEFA money should be revisited and in a sense, although there is no excuse for Rangers doing what they did, the circumstances that led to their fateful decision in 2007/08 to stop Celtic doing the killer 4iar were created by the distribution of CL money within the country of the club qualifying.
I would argue that UEFA owe it to Scottish football to help us get out of a mess they contributed to making. That and Platini’s Christmas message about how important sporting integrity is makes for a very strong argument for UEFA financial help and I am amazed no msm journo has addressed it. Heres hoping the Ch4 guy wil take an interest, he has the argument.
* it = In football as a whole £16m is peanuts. It is the price of integrity and as UEFA are so strong on it and have a few bob, why not ask them for a loan on soft terms to be repaid over 10 years from the pot Scottish clubs earn from UEFA competition?
In a way UEFA created the circumstances that ruined Rangers and Scottish football with it when they allowed clubs to dictate that winner and top finishers take all.
There is more than enough dosh in UEFA competition to go around and UEFA should be asked for £16M as the price of the integrity Mr Platini, rightly, says is so important to football.
But hey that would wipe away any last vestige of any argument for not applying the rules and their consequences to Rangers as was.
Knoxy – good thoughts going to Oscar.
KK
Totally agree
Think that any mention of the IRA should be banished from our song book
That is the stick they use to beat us
BobbyRussell – oh deer
I know your game. (thumbsup)
Minceyheidman on 2 July, 2012 at 13:12 said:
Hey you lot , nothing wrong with mince.
********
You’re full of it!
I have my hard hat on if Blackpool offer us 1 Million for Paddy McCourt I would bite there hand off to take it.Paddy imo will allways be a fringe player never a regular first team player and 1 Million for a fringe player is good business.H.H.
Timbhoy2
It was a joke FFS! How old are you 90???
Anyway, my wife broke her leg ironing the curtains!!!
How, you ask???
Well, she was standing on the window sill at the time!!!
Timbhoy2….PLEASE don’t phone an ambulance!!!
Paul,
Your article possibly raises a further debate.
Consider it was reported Celtic turned down an offer in excess of £6 million for Ki a couple of weeks ago (Source:SSN. I cannot comment on the credibility), are the finances better than we think? Does the club rate Ki at a higher value? I think Ki is a gem but if we do have to sell a player then I think the loss of a midfielder is where we can most afford to.
RANGERS CAR SPONSOR DRIVES OFF
A source said: “Audi haven’t done walking away, but they have driven away.”
Public transport for those that turn up from now on or can we think of another sponsor for them?……
Timbhoy2
I’m with ye there regarding the workshy wasters, I don’t know how they find the time to spend all day on fitba blogs and the like, podium chasing wasters are the worst kind.
You keep telling it as it is amigo!
HH
Philvisreturns13.13
Can we really have lasting peace,in an occupied country.
Candido Ramirez eh……….sounds like an honest guy
We have the moral high ground-we have practically lived there for many years-I say ditch all IRA stuff -with all that has happened- we can-we can sing till our hearts burst about Eire-it will still annoy them every bit as much-but it would be an impregnable new position-
If I had known that the pies I ate had kept Rangers going for all those years…..I’d be half the man I am now….
JFH-Agree about Paddy and so will PL for a million.
northshorebhoy – Some Ki facts:
Favourite drink: Kia-Ora
Favourite car maker: Kia
Favourite 90’s dance track: The Key: The Secret, by Urban Cookie Collective
Favourite singer: Kiki Dee
Favourite Bible verse: Matthew 16:19
(thumbsup)
joefillipi
i agree re mccourt
he isnt the present or the future and if we get anymore than 300/400k for him i would bite there hands off
fanadpatriot – Can we really have lasting peace,in an occupied country.
The great majority of people in Ireland seem to think so. (thumbsup)
philvisreturns on 2 July, 2012 at 13:26 said:
ye forgot Combine Harvester
Paul67 et al
Great news about Big Fraser, well done Celtic. A centerback and another forward and we will progress as a team this season.