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.
[calameo code=0003901710a55b5798f06 lang=en page=1 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
795 Comments- Pages:
- «
- 1
- ...
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- ...
- 21
- »
Robert88.
A better tv deal vs champions league football. It’s a difficult choice.
The honest mistake
No
Ianbhoy929.
That’s unacceptable treatment.
Did celtic move the game?
Ianbhoy
Shocking that
IanBhoy929
premier inn City Centre £121
Is that for the full hotel?
Katanga
Pfayr.
What do you reckon is different now apart from the winning that’s driving them away?
The honest mistake:
money ?
The Honest Mistake loves being first
I said that tongue in cheek! there is no reason, except maybe the increased competition and the crowds would definetly surge upwards.
however i’d happily have Europe either Champs league or Europa league soon to be merged with champs league over a few old firm games, never experienced one myself, but don’t feel the tag has done us any good or the bile that comes with it is worth it
PF
Underestimating your customers….a dangerous game. Often when they go, they don’t come back.
Robert88.
If we can develop a team that can grow in the cl over the next few seasons then I’ll be made up.
I asked PL on the opening day of the season if we were going to buy quality and add it to our strongest squad , he said in an ideal world that’s what should happen , but some players make it clear their intentions to move and some are moved if the money is right I only got to speak with for about 5 / 10 minutes but came across as a very nice guy .
Mongolian Bhoy.
It’s not brewsters millions. The aim is not to lose money.
The honest mistake
Lack of support from CFC for the fans and against open SFA cheating
Crap football and hoarding money rather than spending it on the team
Enlightened times have highlighted the problems …..they have also highlighted the fact that we are acquiescing and not tackling the problems
Twists n turns.
I can understand that argument if it was a discussion a bout tesco but I don’t think we’re talking about customers, we’re talking about celtic supporters.
marspapa
So he never answered your question then?
Love
The honest mistake
I think we would all be made up if that were the case, but I’d be surprised if Van Dijk, Foster, Lustig to name but 3, will be there for ” the next few seasons”. Therein lies part of the problem.
Jimmy Jones a true Legend
RIP
Sad day as our last links to the great Belfast Celtic slowly slip away
The Honest Mistake loves being first
That’s the main thing, the league and dare i say cups we’ll be going for and be in finals etc.
Champs league is the big one, however we are the minnows and any progress should be built upon, the problem we have is that we cant hold onto players to continue to progress and i think that will always be our struggle building a team, we will find new players to replace the Wanyamas, hoopers etc, whether they gel and work for qualifiers and then group stages is the next thing.
Pfayr.
Sounds like the nineties to me but remember that we’ve won. It’s a strange time to quit.
The honest mistake
The number of empty seats would suggest you are wrong.
Twisty
Correct
Treat fans like customers ….they become customers
It’s amazing how quickly and easily people can find alternative interests
That’s not to mention those who have ST and don’t go anyway
….and there are enough supporters on here stating they won’t renew next season.
The honest mistake
Strange for you ….not for many
Twists n turns.
One things for sure, they won’t hang around if we can’t convince pfayr’s pals and the rest of the departing that they are making the wrong choice. The club is the fans.
twists n turns
But will they renew if Sevco come back or if and when the club offer the 3 game match package for the champs league?
Fans can be very fickle!
The Honest Mistake loves being first
pfayr’s pals
Name them
Love
Specially for CowieBhoy
“CQteN Dream Team”
Now is your chance to select your CQteN dream from the last decade
Rules are very simple:
Select 11 players from the list below, forming either a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation
So you will need:
1 goalkeeper
2 full backs
2 centre backs
3 or 4 midfielders
2 or 3 forwards
and of course….
1 manager.
Each player on the list below has made at least 10 starting appearances from July 2004 to date during the CQteN decade.
So no Henrik, then!
When you are selecting the players, you should ideally base your selection on their performances during the CQteN decade, but then again that is your choice.
Send your selection to us by email to doccqten@gmail.com with your CQN blog name (if you do not have one, then you need to get thinking as well)
Anybody can enter: bloggers, lurkers, friends and family, but you can only enter ONCE.
The closing date for entries is 3pm Sunday 9th March 2014
The CQteN dream team will be announced at the CQteN night on Friday 14th March and there will be a couple of prizes for the closest teams selected to the winning team.
Over the coming weeks, to assist you in your selection, we will select a category and list the players relevant appearances and goals. So watch out for these on CQN.
Good luck and get selecting.
HH
CRC
doccqten@gmail.com
——————————————-
Goalkeepers
Artur Boruc
David Marshall
Fraser Forster
Lukasz Zaluska
Mark Brown
Rab Douglas
————————————–
Full Backs
Adam Matthews
Andreas Hinkel
Cha Du-Ri
Charlie Mulgrew
Daniel Fox
Darnell Fisher
Edson Braafheid
Emilio Izaguirre
Jackie McNamara
Lee Naylor
Mark Wilson
Mikael Lustig
Mo Camara
Paul Caddis
Paul Telfer
Ulrik Laursen
————————————————-
Centre Backs
Bobo Balde
Daniel Majstorovic
Darren O’Dea
Efe Ambrose
Gary Caldwell
Glenn Loovens
John Kennedy
Joos Valgaeren
Josh Thompson
Kelvin Wilson
Stanislav Varga
Stephen McManus
Steven Pressley
Thomas Rogne
Virgil van Dijk
——————————————
Midfielders
Aiden McGeady
Alan Thompson
Baram Kayal
Barry Robson
Didier Agathe
Evander Sno
Efrain Juarez
Jiri Jarosik
Joe Ledley
Juninho Paulista
Kris Commons
Landry N’Guemo
Marc Crosas
Massimo Donati
Neil Lennon
Niall McGinn
Pat McCourt
Paul Hartley
Ross Wallace
Roy Keane
Scott Brown
Shaun Maloney
Shunsuke Nakamura
Stephen Pearson
Stiliyan Petrov
Sung-Yong Ki
Thomas Gravesen
Victor Wanyama
Zheng Zhi
————————————————
Forwards
Anthony Stokes
Chris Sutton
Craig Beattie
Craig Bellamy
Derek Riordan
Gary Hooper
Georgios Samaras
Henri Camara
James Forrest
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
John Hartson
Kenny Miller
Lassad Nouioui
Maciej Zurawski
Marc-Antoine Fortune
Robbie Keane
Scott McDonald
Teemu Pukki
Tony Watt
—————————————–
Managers
Neil Lennon
Tony Mowbray
Gordon Strachan
Martin O’Neill
Twists n turns,
We’re all celtic customers faithful through and through.
If I am in a competition and I become aware of one of my fellow competitors cheating I am unlikely not to say something to the judges or the authorities and anyone else whose ear I can grab.. This is normal. The SILENCE from Celtic is abnormal. Can someone explain ? and please I’ve heard the one before about “Don’t interrupt your competition when they are in the process of harming themselves” Tired of that and it doesn’t wash.
The Spirit Of Athur LEE
He stopped and spoke to me , he could’ve just strolled on by
Or scrolled on by like most on here lol , I appreciated it anyway
Why do you think they are hoarding money ? Because they expect to take a hit. They will then rebrand it to a new customer base and improve the domestic deal.
Celtic are not supporting the Celtic supporters.
In many ways lest we forget.
HH
Tsoal.
:)
Rumpole of the bailey and judge Judy?
The honest mistake/ Robert
I’ve no doubt the ground will still sell out for CL matches, but if the current feeling of apathy amongst a number of supporters may impact on our ability to generate the revenue necessary to stay competitive. 10,000 missing customers is about £5m in lost revenue. That impacts spending, which impacts our aspirations. Vicious circle really.
marspapa
You asked PL about buying quality and he answered that if the price is right we will sell
Sounds right mucker
take care
Mungolian Bhoy.
Tell the judges or authorities.
Ha. That’s a good one.
The thunder is going..going………..
Marspapa
PL gives a decent impression to most who meet him
Never met him …but …I believe he is working to orders from on high
….PFayr supports WeeOscar
RC Ogilvie?