The No. 1 rule of the transfer window is: get your first choices, and there is no doubt that Ronny Deila wanted Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven. We’ve tracked them for months, Ronny will have watched both players many times, John Collins will have watched them more often, and the entire scouting team will have watched them dozens of times, so on that basis alone, I’m happy.
I spoke to someone at the club early last month and there was some concern that some of our key players would ‘Do a Kelvin’, and present as not in the right frame of mind to play, unless we agreed to a transfer. While we are still competing in four competitions this was a major worry, but those players who were wanted elsewhere were happy to get their heads down and work to the spirit as well as the letter of their contracts. Happy at this too.
Stuart Armstrong is every inch a Ronny Deila player. He can run all day, gets into the box to support – or go beyond – strikers, and closes space in front of the defence. He will allow us to play to plan a lot oftener.
Last summer’s window was characterised by the signing of wingers. Wakaso, Inge Berget and Tonev all arrived on loan, while Callum McGregor emerged as a first team contender on his return from loan, and during the early season outshone all of them. None of these players are now considered as first choice, nor is Derk Boerrigter, who was recruited from Ajax 18 months ago and has proven every adage that ever existed for oft-injured players.
So we’re not short of wingers, but we need good ones, and Gary Mackay-Steven is another known quantity. He is fast, skilful, and will lend a creative hand to Kris Commons, who had shouldered those duties alone for years.
I’ve no proper information on Michael Duffy, who joined the development squad from Derry City.
To paraphrase Neil Lennon, this is only the beginning. Of the 10 outfield players who started at Hampden on Sunday, only one was a Ronny Deila signing, the rest were recruited by one of his predecessors. The summer transfer window was overwhelmingly misconceived, as the regime change cast a shadow over processes. As well as the wasteful wingers, two strikers were signed, neither of whom could dislodge last January’s late stocking filler, Leigh Griffiths.
Mackay-Steven and Armstrong will both make an impact at Celtic, but it will take more than a couple of players to craft the squad into the image of Ronny. More work will be needed in the summer.
Hibs, Hearts, Queen of the South, Ross County, St Mirren, Motherwell, and the SFA will all be alarmed at the flagrant influence Mike Ashley exercised at newco Rangers yesterday, despite his written agreement not to get involved. While the SFA must react accordingly, I’m not sure five players whose appearances are measured in minutes, not games, are ready for a promotion fight. It can take good player months to settle into a new team, and the potential for disruption, especially if the ‘manager’ didn’t play an active role in the process, is considerable.
The upside for newco is that these players settle quickly, take a Premiership place off Hibs, Queens, Motherwell or St Mirren, and leave a lot of clubs wondering what the point of having rules in the first place is. The only appropriate sanction the SFA can levy is a player registration ban, which would be the club’s second in their short history. Clearly a one year ban is not long enough to teach them a lesson.
Whatever you think of Ashley, you have to admire him:
On the last day of the window, he has 5 unwanted Newcastle players he is unable to loan to anyone else.
Realising he had no takers, he sends them to Ibrox, easing the Newcastle payroll.
Newco pay the players with Ashley’s loan, which they still have to pay back. If his men are kicked out at an EGM, these loans mean the new regime have even more money to find. It’s almost as though he wants to burn through the entire £10m loan before the EGM, leaving a new regime with an empty bank account and crippling debt.
It is a thing of Machiavellian beauty. Hibs and the rest are right to be upset, and Stewart Regan will feel humiliated, but I find the whole episode hilarious.
Welcome to Celtic, Gary, Stuart and Michael.
Well done Celtic on a productive transfer window. As always, it’s too early to tell how well we’ve done, but the perennial adage of leaving the window stronger than we went into it seems assured. Well done Mike too, keep up the good work.
Start your League Cup final weekend at the CQN11 St Patrick’s Dinner, at the Kerrydale Suite, Celtic Park, on Friday 11 March. Email me for details, celticquicknews@gmail.com
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Alfie,
did you read the name of this blog when you signed?…I couldnay give a monkeys on your political leanings, just as mine are feck all to do with you, I ome on here to try and find out whats happening at my club…no reading you from your high horse,do us a favour and cut the noisng up down eh?
ome= come
jg,
What about the wingers, we’ve only got 24, we are in desperate need of wingers
Jim (sorry Alfie mr Blah blah blah)
Why do you support The Labour Group of Westminster cover up and cash happy lordies?
MWD said AYE
It’s not often you get oftener and lots oftener in the same article.
Alfie
Actually I take it back.
You have really won me over with the erudition of your argument there.
I do not suppose you are actually of capable of understanding that I and thousands of others main reason for voting in favour of independence or anything else for that matter does not have anything to do with football or Rangers. But as I say you are a real bore and I have no doubt you will reply with some half-witted comment.
Which I will not bother reading you cretin
Jimbo67
Denaibhoy,
Come on, it’s, merther oftener
Masty +1.
canamalar
25 now
And given there are 2 wings on most pitches can you ever really have too many?!?
HH jamesgang
Paul67
You could be right ..but then neither of us know.
We’ll soon see if their results and performances pick up.
Hopefully not.
canamalar
Mike needs to pay those boys wages anyway. So why not ship them up to the zombies to burn some cash and make them useful in the process. The net difference to him is nil.
In terms of SPFL rules, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a Scottish club taking 5,6, heck 20 players on loan from a club outside of Scotland.
Transfers – including Temporary – of players moving from one national association to the other, from Wales to Scotland for example, require a FIFA mandated International Transfer Certificate.
SPFL rules set restrictions on the loaning of SFA registered players between SPFL clubs, but players loaned via the ITC system are explicitly excluded these restrictions.
Dundee for example could have taken the entire Arsenal reserve team on loan for the rest of the season, and it would be within the rules.
The current issue is not about the validity of the transfers, but the more opaque and slippery subject of the ‘undue influence’ one club owner has over another club, a subject I’m quite sure SFA will deal with in their usual efficient, even-handed and pedantic manner.
I am Spartacus McMasty on this one too.
HH jamesgang
I know I shouldn’t , but I found this hilarious…
A Manchester City football hooligan already banned from stadiums in England and Wales has admitted calling a Scottish policeman a “jock c***” ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm Derby between Celtic and Rangers.
Alexander Blood, 21, was one of 16 fans who appeared in court yesterday after sectarian chanting returned to the clash on 1 February, which Celtic won 2-0.
Blood, already banned from all stadiums in England and Wales, admitted racially abusing PC Graham Adams when he was told to move from outside a pub on Eglinton Street.
Appearing at Glasgow Sheriff Court, Blood, from Salford, was bailed to await sentence after he admitted confronting Adams with clenched fists and saying: “I can’t f****** understand you Jock c***,” the Manchester Evening News reported.
My friends in Celtic,
On a personal level I fail to get worked up about the songs from the dark side ( and dark ages )
It says more about them than a flurry of Holyrood summits.
If they want to sing songs to idolise Billy Fullerton, a fascist and a medal holder ( For breaking the general strike ) then I think it suits them perfectly.
Damned by their own mouth.
HH.
proudbhoy. I believe Hibernian play the Rangers on Friday night now they are battling with the tribute act for the play off spot.Now I would have fancied that Hibernian could win the match but with 5 new players who knows. I wonder what the Hibernian board think ot this happening I have a good idea that they and there supporters will not be happy and for me its another sham between those at hamdump and those at Ibrokes. H.H.
Delighted we are signing potential Scottish talent however can Celtic justify the money being spent on the academy at Lennoxtown and our Scottish scouting system if these players are slipping through our fingers at an early age
the pub was the star bar btw, they phoned the brazen a couple of times…they were invited down, but never took up the offer…not until after the game when there were 3/400 of them..coppers spied them and re-routed them…ffs there were that many waiting in line just to get into the brazen with the same again inside..
“I call upon the [FFin’] SFA to mount a full enquiry into those signings.
There is a very real danger that these five players have been foisted onto [Sevco’s] wage bill to save Ashley money at Newcastle.
That this is a decision made for Machiavellian financial reasons to benefit Mike Ashley at the cost to [Sevco] Football Club.
If there is any evidence of this, surely it is incumbent of the SFA to mount a full inquiry into the strategic decision making around this extremely suspicious manoeuvre
Surely Kenny McDowall hasn’t individually scouted those players as the ideal players to be fitted into his plans for the rest of the season?
Maybe he has, but at least if he isn’t going to say anything publically, the SFA should make some inquiries.
If there is evidence of financial impropriety to financially disadvantage a Scottish club in order to benefit a club in the EPL, then surely the SFA should lodge a complaint with the FA, UEFA and even FIFA?
Scottish football supporters deserve protection from this type of financial scheming, lest it was to become more common place to the detriment of a weaker neighbour.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAEJyuReWQ
TBB,
The rules posted yesterday identified a maximum of 3 players can be taken on loan, there was no mention of source.
Though there was another that said a max of 5 between certain dates which I think allowed a max of three but two changes within the same year, if you get my drift.
Happy with the business done.
The squad is bloated as usual so we will need to offload.
Will go: Tonev, Wakaso, Rogic, Derk, Frindjonsson, Pukki, Balde, Irvine, McGeouch
Can go: Scepovic, McGregor, Matthews
Without getting into the politics too deep. I will be voting Labour and likely volunteering.
I voted yes in the referendum but will be more pragmatic for Westminster elections. This Tory government have set about finishing what Thatcher started. This cannot go on.
Labour are the only viable opposition. It may not be the Labour party of old but they are all we got. The best we can do is support them and try to change things from the inside.
I will be becoming a labour member because I want to be part of the movement within the party.
canamalar
From previous thread…
Normally in dispute with fellow Tims I try to see things from their perspective and agree a middle ground. I might even concede the point.
This time round I refuse to differentiate between bottled / hit by a bottle.
An innocent ten year old boy was the victim of a mindless act by an idiot.
We can safely assume it was someone who considers himself a Celtic supporter given the context of the attack. I don’t consider whoever did it to be a true Celtic supporter.
Until we are completely rid of all bampots we remain unclean.
Again I urge any true Celtic fans with any knowledge of this event to out the culprit.
This mindless act renders us as a collective in no position to cast derision on the worst element of Sevco. That seriously annoys me.
timaloy29
You see, that kind of personal political news……I find that genuinely interesting. And while I won’t be doing the same as you our underpinning principles are probably very similar. And I respect you for that. 100%
HH jamesgang
shocking tweets accredited to the boy muirhead at killie (now utd)…..bullet dodged if its his account..
Right… Celtic!
Looking at our squad now I think RD is going to have a challenge keeping everybody happy!
(Those with asterisks are IMO the first choices for each position.)
GK:
*Gordon
Zaluska
LB:
*Izzie
Mulgrew
CB:
*Van Dijk (probably leaving in the summer)
*Denayer (loan)
Ambrose
O’Connell
(Mulgrew)
RB:
*Lustig
Matthews
Fisher
(Ambrose)
MF:
*Brown
*Johansen
*Bitton
*Armstrong
Mackay-Steven
Forrest
McGregor
Henderson
Wakaso (loan)
Tonev (loan)
(Commons)
FW:
*Commons
*Griffiths
Guidetti (loan)
Stokes
Scepovic
We seem to be somewhat over stocked in midfield, with left back lacking support and centre back potentially being very short going into the CL qualifiers if VVD leaves (as expected) and Denayer returns to his host club. And how Boerrigter and Rogic are still on the books is a complete mystery!
For the CL qualifiers, based on this list, we could be lining up thus:
Gordon
Izzie
Mulgrew
Ambrose
Lustig
Armstrong
Brown
Bitton
Johansen
Commons
Griffiths
…with the likes of Matthews, Mackay-Steven, Forrest, McGregor, Stokes & Scepovic having to make do with warming the bench. Will they be happy with that?
Just watched the 2 videos with GMS & SA, GMS is like a wean in a sweetie shop and bouncing about in his seat, looks really excited to be here. SA looks a more refined character, talking deliberately and a little more measured. I think he’s studying for a law degree which with the composure he showed comes across as an intelligent guy.
I watched the game again when I got home on Sunday. The gap between the 2 teams is about right from the league positions. At the game I couldn’t really hear what they were singing but it does come across on the TV, TBH, I couldn’t care less what they sang, I’m not that easily offended.
It will be a long time before they are anywhere near us on the pitch, even with Newcastle reserves…
Celtic sign the law man Jim Spence BBC Sport Big day ahead for @StuArmstrong16 tomorrow. He’s got an employment law essay to hand in. Not your average footballer.
LB
Canamalar
There are a numner of restrictions on player loans between SPFL side.
Definitively, there is no such restriction on the loaning of players across national FA boundaries. to whit:
“Nothing in these Regulations shall have the effect of imposing any limit on the number of Players a Club shall be permitted to have Scottish FA Registered and/or League Registered with that Club at any time or over any period of time on the basis of a temporary transfer where such temporary transfer has required, in order for it to take place, the issue of an International Transfer Certificate in accordance with the FIFA Regulations for the Status and Transfer of Players for the time being and all such Players for whom such certificate was so required shall not count towards any of the limits specified in these Regulations on the numbers of Players who may be Scottish FA Registered and/or Registered with a Club on the basis of a temporary transfer at any time or over any period of time.”
Young fella, and his mates,who plays for Buncrana Harps, in Donegal tweeted yesterday that he had signed for Exeter City.
As happens with Twitter, the twee was retweeted and was picked up in Exeter, where it caused much excitement amongs City fans.
One of the lads photoshopped, Keiran Mc.Daid’s ( as that is his name) he’d onto the togged out picture of an Exeter player.
True to form, Sky Sports picked up on the news of the ” transfer” and put it on their website.
Many red faces today.
PAUL67,
I think you have posted the wrong date for the CQN11.
Friday’s the 13th of March.
masty
Saw them myself. I think Celtic may have been playing a little hard ball with United on that one.
No danger was that boy coming to us.
LB
timaloy
This Labour is not Labour at all.
How do you plan to change things in Labour from the inside by just voting for them?
MWD said AYE
Going back to the Henderson V Jinky scottish cap debate.
I think Henderson was the established right winger for Scotland for a couple of years before Jinky burst on the scene. And Henderson had starred in his international role. I remember footage of him skinning Ray Wison? to set up a goal at Wembley. He was a speedy and effective winger but he didnt have anything like the full repotoire of JJ.
The hun school of thought was that the direct running style of Henderson had more end product than the mesmerising Jinky skills.
WITS,
You are correct.No way condoning anything.What I was saying is that this was probably a fight.Carried on onto the bus,when the incident with the kid happened.I have seen,and been involved in similar.Coming from the Celtic club,with wife,my kid,and 5 or 6 others,wearing no colours,we were attacked at Springfield Road by a mob coming off a bus.Dont ask how they knew we were Tims.Glasgows finest saved us that day from serious harm.There were probably hundreds of fights all over Glasgow.Anyone who ever had the misfortune to be on a bus leaving Celtic Park,when the stupid police directed all the buses up past The Louden,and The Bristol Bar,will remember the hail of bottles and stones thrown at every bus.
As I said,I was not there,but I wont just take the MSMs word for what occurred.I am sure it would be the complete opposite.
How did you like the signings?.
Sevco did have an attack on Sunday…..apparently, according to rm, hutton attacked mcdowall before the game ……don’t know why, but probably because he told him he was playing. :). :)
Here’s another scenario to wind you up. What if a number of The Rangers players are non appearance fee based contracts?
5 players in with wages being played by Newcastle. The Rangers wage bill reduced by no longer having to pay appearance fees.
LIVIBHOY
totally agree, there were a couple of really sad ones from a young girl in our ladies development squad aswel…sacked on the spot apparently.
joe filippis haircut
13:09 on 3 February, 2015
—
No doubt it is.
In a long long line of shams
Dont really expect any better of them nor do i expect sfa to step in.
Gotta feel for hibs.. they missed out on good chance at the weekend aswel to move above the zombies.
Now if I was a “paris bun ” , after Sundays game I would be asking mash why only 5 bloody players geese mair .
Anyway welcome to Celtic Michael Gary and Stuart.
Hope the last 2 mentioned hit the ground running and I also hope Michael nets a few and gets a crack at the first team.
H.H.