One of the things you hope for when a player leaves for a richer league is that they perform well. It reflects on whatever value you will get the next time someone leaves. Joe Ledley has gotten off to a flier with Crystal Palace, although there is still a long way to go there, but our two big summer sales are finding it tough.
Gary Hooper hadn’t scored in his last nine starts for Norwich. His season tally stands at five league goals and two assists, which is still four goals more than Ricky van Wolfswinkel, who cost more than twice Hooper’s price but has scored only once in the league. Norwich other two strikers have yet to get off the blocks.
Bizarrely, Norwich are flooded with expensive strikers but their fans will bemoan the fact that they don’t have a goal-scorer, which Hooper was at Celtic and van Wolfswinkel was at Utrecht, where he scored a hat-trick against Celtic, and at Sporting. There is a good chance they will be relegated as a consequence, which will probably have them back on the hunt for a Leigh Griffiths-type striker.
Gary had his dips in form at Celtic, which included a meagre last four months of his final season, Cup Final apart, but Victor Wanyama is one of the best central midfielders we have seen at Celtic in a considerable time. He was a solid performer for Southampton before injury side-lined him for two months. Now back, he has a seat alongside Jos Hooiveld on the bench, due to the form of Jack Cork, one of Southampton’s many current stars.
Hooper and Wanyama were among the stars of the Celtic team last season but I suspect their new clubs’ fans are wondering what all the fuss is about. Form is fickle. It’s hard to tell when a career is about to turn all Liam Miller on a bright young prospect (and let’s be honest, Miller was every bit as lauded here as Hooper or Wanyama), or what consequences the new club, the move, or other distractions are having on performance.
There are also a couple of ex-Celtic goalkeepers doing a star turn in the FA Premier League, David Marshall at Cardiff and Artur Boruc at Southampon. After dazzling in his early months Marshall sipped well down the pecking order at Celtic, who eventually offloaded him. He was replaced as first choice by Boruc, who could claim to be the top rated keeper in Europe 8 years ago but completely lost ‘it’, before finding it again, recently.
My prediction is that Hooper, Wanyama, Balde, Boerrigter and Pukki will not fulfil their potential at their current clubs, although I considered Wanyama’s place on the list for a while. This does not make them bad players, ‘it’ just doesn’t always happen when it should. By contrast, some players look born to play for Celtic, including Kris Commons, who does not fit the profile of top-flight English clubs but is a rare gem in the Champions League for Celtic.
Really enjoyed reading the questions to and comments about Tommy Gemmell yesterday, as did Tommy, who spent the afternoon reading CQN and was “delighted” at the response. He’s not got a login yet but we’ll get him sorted and do a live event on the blog after we have the book out of the way.
I’m attending a meeting next Wednesday with Supporters’ Liaison Officer, John Paul Taylor. Let me know if there are any questions you’d like raised.
If you would like to read the new CQN Magazine, GO HERE to read properly, and for FREE, the graphic below is just a taster.
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Bobby m..,
Whit kind a drugs ?
Kin a come?
Margaret McGill
Thinking caps now there is a thing we could do with more of :)
Still I see your point there are so many subjects covered on here jumping from A to Z is hard work at times
CANAMALAR
Masonic ones.
You’re welcome along,but the venue is a secret.
Meet you at Boots Corner,but we’ll have to blindfold you.
There may be some hardcore porn involving a goat later on,but it won’t hurt,honest.
Fair point BobM. I had a wee correspondence from our friend across the water last night. He will be there for the next hootenanny. I told our pal it was in early May but I might have made that bit up as couldn’t remember the date.
A dram and few good songs will help with my memory.
Did yer da get his birthday dram yet or did them evil winkle pickle sisters keep it to themselves, get wide and have a big party. Nae problem if they did, I’ll get the auld yin another.
Do any of you remember “SHOOT” ? ..where you could keep tabs on the league..well here is the modern version for CL qualifiers. Bookmark it
http://www.footballseeding.com/european-cups/champions-league-14-15/
A CEILER GONOF RUST
That stuff is too precious to waste on the oul’ blighter,much as I love him!
I’ll be loving him a whole lot less if he’s drunk it aw before I get back in April,mind (aye,ya lurker,yer telt!)
ACGR
Which will be when I square you up for it…..
canamalar, don’t believe him. Never mind the goat stuff, getting stood up at boots corner does hurt. Well it does / did for about ten minutes then the Maxwell Plums came into play. Hee hee hee haw:-)
Nae goats in there bhoy!!
A great boozer and emporium of ra poontang back in the eighties but I’ve no idea what’s there now. Maybe make a visit at the next hootenanny to see if it’s still there.
Acgrst,
He knows I only get disseys from fortunes favour and if he’s no comin the yae can poke yer wackey
In fact wheres FFM ?
This is a shite revolution, am gone hame tae ma bed
ACGR
Boots Corner is a wee standing joke wi FFM,Canamalar and myself.
Nothing personal.
As I always said back in the day….
Hey faithir winklepicker, Don’t you be consuming that all by yourself. Have a party and finish it before that reprobate boy of yours comes home. And watch them lassies too, baith them had a glint in their eye when they cast their beadies on yer boatil.
Check the colour regularly and use a marker pen.
Above all, keep an eye on yer dram.
BobM, boots corner was the meeting / standing up in Glasgow place for decades. The mere mention of it brings a smile………………….quickly followed by a grimace to my coupon.
I met many a young lady there and some of them wurnie ladies. All before, I might add that I met the current incumbent of ACGR towers. Just for clarity like.
Bobby m..,
No the gay stories again, get over it FFS mhan, you got yer victim claim, no need to shove it down our throats
Agcr,
Aye right :o)
Honest they turned up
Jungle Jim, I know you read back the night shift so if your coming down on the acgr CSC bus on sunday we’ll be setting off at 08.45. Text me if you’re coming for a pre-match brekky n beer at Coia’s. I’ll book the table in the morning.
HH
CANAMALAR
Shhhh,that’s a secret anaw!
Canamalar, most of them did, but ye never hung about there unless there was a stray one that took yer fancy or the urge furra dram got the better of ye.
Aye, the Gelsga whit a toon.
Ac..,
Or unless you were waiting for FFM
I keep getting asked ideas for an App
A copulatin lighter, I. Mean ffs
Ayrshire bhoy’s, FFS by the time they got to boots corner after missing their train there was nothing but double baggers left waiting in the wind and rain.
Boots corner has a lot to answer for in relation to the Ayrshire gene pool, as does the old BR timetable.
Right,
Baw baws, tomorrow I will be a better person, today I burned down an orphanage, was thinking of working my way up the ranks slowly, cat n dug home made of wood just round the corner, or the straw nursery school across the road ?
I mean come on give an evil villain a break, obviously the nursery is getting it, I mean who could hurt them little puppys aaawww
Thindime
Vote ‘Yes’ to ‘honour our ancestors’? I don’t think so, not mine anyway.
Think about it. Do you really want the likes of Trump and Murdoch calling the shots for you? Can you trust a man who believes RFC to be part of the fabric of our nation? Can you trust a man who believes that the Protestant Ascendancy in Ulster are ‘Blood of our blood and bone of our bone’?
Vote as you see fit. But I warn you, if you think it’s bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Morning all
Got a fair bit on my mind and nobody else is around.
Right. Two years ago today Rangers went into Administration. Euphoria . Bottom lines about the Big House having to stay open , that being the Bottom Line. Craig Whyte’s Fenian Army.
But it’s not been such a great two years has it? I got fed up with that story sometime after they went into Liquidation and just carried on anyway.
Celtic has had its good times since and when we beat Barcelona then Spartak – well that was real , proper euphoria.
Since those heady nights we’ve stuck a bit. We still lose cup ties against teams we beat in league games. Our
performances in Europe have been pretty ordinary. The first three Champions’ League games this year we played quite well but didn’t get great results. The next three we were awful. We get good results in the league usually and play well in patches. Neil Lennon our manager has made mistakes in team selection and in formation. He seems to rely on his old favourites much as his mentor did. But I won’t write him off. There is something about the guy I like.
The PLC board I am less keen on . Two years on from Big House Day their Report Card isn’t so great. Around these parts we talk about it often. Some disagree with me and think Peter L and his chums are doing a wonderful job. As Big Fat Derek used to say ‘it’s all about opinions.’
Scottish Football at professional level is , I think, in terminal decline. People just don’t care about it enough. Youngsters follow teams from Lancashire, Merseyside, London, Dortmund, Munich, Milan, Turin, Madrid and Barcelona. Middle aged men go to the pub and watch Chelsea whilst the Scottish teams they nominally support play to half empty stadia less than a mile away. It’s called progress.
It’s time I take my leave of this blog. I have made friends through it and have liked anyone I’ve met at the various shindigs I’ve attended. There are posters I prefer and some I scroll past but only one I truly dislike and he doesn’t post as much as he used to. I wish more women posted.
But it’s close to being an addiction now and it’s time I went Cold Turkey. Time I just got back to going to seeing the Celts and not overanalysing everything to do with them. I still love the Celts but I worry where we are headed more than I did two years ago. I’ll laugh if Rangers # 2 go into administration but unless and until the gates of that reputedly crumbling Big House are padlocked I’ll be staying off the Jelly and Ice Cream.
I’ll read the articles, buy the books and after big events lurk. Hopefully I’ll still be invited to Hootenannies. And like Arnie and Johaan Sebastian ‘I’ll be Bach’
Mon the Hoops
Jimbo 67 supporting Oscar Knox
jimbo67
06:20 on 14 February, 2014
Morning allGot a fair bit on my mind and nobody else is around.
————————————————
Morning, that looked awfully long to read at this time of the morning, but since am nearly finished my shift…. been a dawdle, let me be the first to say farewell for now…
Ayrshire won’t be the same without you
Ayrshire is Green and White
HH
Jimbo. It’s all about balance sheets now and we have no superstars anymore. PL just does not get it
Anyway off this train in 1 minute at circular quay and short walk to fortune of war bar for Friday cold one
Good morning all from a drizzly but improving by the minute East Kilbride. And may I wish you all a Big Happy Valentines Day Administration Anniversary Friday!
Anyway, picket line awaits. Honestly….
timbhoy2
00:15 on 14 February, 2014
When did anybody say a £6m player was signing for Celtic ?
If your that good a supporter you would go to the game no matter what it’s about being there supporting the 11 players on the park playing for Celtic HH
Morning all.
Happy hun admin day.
BMCUW
Boots corner?
What about under the clock at Central Station?
Met a few wallopers there in my time!
HH!!
Jimbo67
It’s said apathy sets in when you forget what you want. I don’t think I’ve quite reached that stage , fully, as yet, but I’m certainly having trouble remaining as passionate about Celtic as I once did.
So what is it I want? Not certain if I can put it into words that will accurately describe my feelings. I want to feel the same way about Celtic as I did back in the 60’s when I first went along. It was great winning everything, but it wasn’t just that, not purely about the winning. It was the whole experience of feeling part of something special.
I took my cues from my elders, both family members and CSC supporters club members that travelled on the bus. I learned my songs from them, I witnessed respect for each other, and I saw passion for the hoops and all things CFC. To be honest, all 50 odd people on our bus were like aunts and uncles to me. Kindly people, looking out for me and each other.
I lived and breathed Celtic. Into the late 70’s and the success on the park had diminished somewhat, but my passion had grown. I was as entrenched in the club as much as ever. It still felt as much a part of my life as my family. That was the thing I suppose, it was just one big happy family to me.
Late 80’s and I had 3 sons and a daughter by now, and 4 season books. The family had grown! For them, it was family, school, church and Celtic all interwoven to become the fabric if their lives. The passion remained, regardless of success on the playing field. Through the Ferguson years, into a new millennium, Martin O’Neill, and some European success followed some barren times, in the shape of Seville. We were all lucky enough to secure tickets for the final.
In Seville, I was probably as happy as I’d ever been in respect of Celtic. We lost on the field, but at 45 years old, my passion was getting stronger.
Did Seville spoil me? I didn’t think so, and some wonderful times were still being had, win or lose. WGS seemed to catch Celtic fever too, which surprised and pleased me in equal measures. From the lows of Artmedia to the highs of Naka’s pearler v Man Utd, it was all good for me.
Now to the hard part. When and why did I suddenly start to lose that intensity of feeling? I can’t put my finger on it for definite, but my gut feeling is that it coincides with the events across the city. As they started to struggle, and it became apparent that they were on the slippery slope to oblivion, it felt as though whilst I was inwardly celebrating them facing their bleak period in the wilderness, our custodians decided we should take our foot of the gas. Are we waiting for them? I honestly believe we are. We should be so far out if sight they’d need a telescope to see us, yet, I have a gnawing feeling that just around the corner, is an old firm” encounter that Scottish football, MSM and Celtic FC can’t wait to happen. It’s eating me. It’s eating me because had the roles been reversed, that lot would have danced on our graves. Why does it feel line we arekeeing them a place at the table?
The day they appear back at our sacred home will be a sad day indeed. We needed the board to take action in the name of everything that is fair and just to ensure the dead club were indeed declared dead. Now that they are almost back, a few murmurings from Celtic Park boardroom seems to me to be crumbs to appease an increasingly anxious support and to ensure the financial well being of a few.
This ethos of money being the be all and end all for our power brokers does not sit well with me. The living wage, the offensive behaviour act, and most recently, the misleading statements about Celtics charitable actions ( misleading for the reason that it’s the fans who are doing the fundraising, most recently the green brigade). Are in fact shameful in my opinion.
So, that’s whats probably done for me. Reflecting back to that bus load of good Celtic men who initiated me into the Celtic way, I can’t think if one who would approve if the direction our custodians are taking.
All personal opinion of course and good luck to those who are happy with the current situation. It’s just not for me.
Sorry about the typos. Was rushing! Ferguson should read Fergus! If , should read off, several times!!
DjYNWA67 at 23:59,
Sorry had to hit the hay. I don’t doubt what you say for a second, they are desperate enough.
fritzsong
05:58 on
14 February, 2014
Think about it. Do you really want the likes of Trump and Murdoch calling the shots for you?
Yep News International and big business have no influence at Westminster…………….
Laughable nonsense
It takes Sevconian journo Roddy Forsyth to tell it like it really is re Neil Lennon’s life in Scotland.
One day NL will return to England and write a best selling biography about his time in the ‘best wee country in the world’. This book will contain more bombshells than Fergie’s and Keano’s put together.
Many in the msm and beyond will be running for cover. Perhaps Roddy is washing his hands in advance.
I cant wait.
There is an excellent article on Neil Lennon above Paul67`s :”Fulfilling potential after a move”
today. I would C & P but I think the article (from the Telegraph) deserves as many hits as possible to encourage honest reporting on our manager.
Off to the golf, cheerio for now,
JJ
Marrakesh Express
07:44 on
14 February, 2014
It certainly was a start, but it fell way short of naming and shaming that section of his beloved clubs support who carry out the majority of the crap Neil Lennon has to put up with, of course one is as bad as the other ? the big lie which underpins SMSM output
So who found it necessary to express their love for a loved one by purchasing a 6 by 8 piece of cardboard today :).
Commercialbullshitdaycfc
tnt 7.15
The day they appear back at our sacred home will be a sad day indeed. We needed the board to take action in the name of everything that is fair and just to ensure the dead club were indeed declared dead.
—————————————————————————————————————–
Heartfelt stuff.
I have to ask you:
Do you ever ask yourself why you assume that the “board” have the power to “ensure”
that “the dead club were indeed declared dead.”
Be assured.
They don`t.