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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Just had a text from a friend in Newcastle.Quote,All of them players have had their chance.All sh–e.Unquote.
Bawsman,
This is beyond dirty politics this is slavery perpetrated by the British establishment.
IMO it should be top of everyone’s agenda especially with an election coming up, hard questions need to be answered now and allowing it to be kicked into the long grass highlights how compromised all Westminster parties are. How can we expect any kind of decent governance if they are allowed to get away with ignoring it ?
Celtic FC Foundation@FoundationCFC · 21 mins21 minutes ago
We’re delighted to be able to support Chelsea and her family http://www.celticfc.net/news/7594
Old Firm arrests A total of 56 people have been reported to the Crown Office for football-related offences following Sunday’s Old Firm match, the Justice Secretary has confirmed.
Michael Matheson said nine of those were for offences covered by the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act , brought in to stamp out religious sectarian abuse at football matches.
There was a heightened police presence in and around Hampden Park when Celtic and Rangers met for the first time in nearly three years for the Scottish League Cup semi-final. Celtic won the match 2-0.
LB
Bawsman,
It was a question put before the European Parliament demanding they investigate the British forced adoption policy, all part of the same vile scandal.
Hard to believe some on here.The manager gets his first transfer window,brings in a couple of very good footballers,and some are complaining that we are not CL class yet!!!!!!!!.
The more sensible and less hysterical,I hope are prepared to give the guy,another window,to see what we can find.There is a “Real world”out there.In this world,Chelsea sell a bench warmer(A very good one)for well over £20 million.Look how much Milan have spent assembling the team we have to face.RD has already said he has been on to Man City,to keep Denayer another season.If not,I am sure the next few months will be spent hunting a CH.At worst we will have VVD until the end of August.Mulgrew is a good CH.
Give RD time.Considering past windows,this has been a good one.Maybe the next will be better.Maybe.At least try and be a bit positive.If we get the treble this year,I will be delighted.Others may be in the Sutton camp.
Watching the footage of the game on the weekend brought to mind a couple of things.
A) Broonie’s blocking of Elbows to allow Kris an unimpeded shot a goal. Would have been worthy of a place in the Super Bowl later that day.
B) Griffith almost latching on to the long ball. Firstly, he was pulled back, outside the box. Foul and red card. Secondly, he is clattered late inside the box. Penalty but no red as not an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
After ageing footballers play Palmerston it is the turn of ageing rockers.
Status Quo to play a gig at QoTS.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-31118107
I suspect that they would give QoTS more of a challenge than Sevco did.
LB
Stuart Armstrong – somehow I can’t quite picture him nipping out for a swift pint with Leigh Griffiths …
@Bawsman
Totally agree. We can all sit on the fence and point fingers.
If enough of us got involved, Labour would be a different party.
Supersutton…,
If you look back at Broonys block you’ll see elbows stamping on the back of broonys leg after he goes down. Wish broony had taken him out big time.
leftclicktic
15:28 on
3 February, 2015
PS :((
Barrach Obampot
12:16 on 3 February, 2015
ps I’m away back to painting the ceiling. If anyone has any, can you give to leftclicktic, Lennybhoy or CRC
Ceiling, eh? You’re not Michelangelo by any chance?
any one with any memory of what it means to be working class,or any hint thereof would have to be insane to vote Labour.They are a betrayal to their routes.They are a fleck of sh**e in the face of feral capatilism and as their last government proved they do nothing but rollback the state…’marketization’ i think was the vomit coming our their mouths.
Labour will not get in at the next general election.They are purveyors of poverty,claiming to better life for the poor whilst deregulating city controls on capital and currencies.
if you want to vote for a party of the left..do so…but the party who manufactured our banking crisis are not the party of the poor weak and needy.Thats why the 2 Eds Milliband and Boz already follow and are aligned to Gideon and his set of Eton fags.
use your vote wisely,dont use it to just keep the tories out cos with Labour its same sweety different wrapper.
HH
Hail Hail CQNers
It’s good being a Tim.
I haven’t posted for a good while……..enjoy lurkin’ mostly.
The little debate from earlier, and I only caught the late comments, Willie Henderson v Wee Jinky.
No doubt the Masonic glove was at work at that time.
Willie Henderson was a fine right winger. Very direct with good pace and not a little trickery. He also produced some fine crosses. Very good player. He had succeeded Alex Scott at Ibrox who was also a very good player and regular in the Scotland team at the time.
However while those 2 guys were typical wide line-huggers and direct the wee genius at Celtic Park was a non-conformist winger who went inside and outside and went back again. He just loved beating Provan, Greig, Provan again and then chip the ball forward to create panic all over the place. He loved it and so did we. The great Terry Cooper was mesmerised at Elland Road and Hampden. Couldnae catch the wee man. What a player. But he played for Celtic so Scotland caps were fewer than they should have been.
It was the same scenario with Billy McNeill and Ronnie McKinnon. McKinnon was a journeyman centre=half while McNeill was imperious as Celtic’s centre half and captain. Use anybody to keep him out of the team. Ron Yeats, Ian Ure but my memory recalls (maybe erroneously) it was Rangers’ McKinnon that benefitted most from the SFA bias.
Memory Lane………It’s still a great place to visit.
Hail Hail
timaloy29,
In fact we can’t all sit on a fence and point fingers because this particular scandal is kept well under wraps and requires a bit of digging to even know it’s going on.
Will say Tom Watson (Labour) seems to be the only politician really trying to bring it into the light. But he is getting zero help from his party executive which is my point.
Human rights are way way below cheap spin.
Addressing this issue would win any election easy IMO, it’s beyond party politics.
Willie Henderson was a terrific player (and a great pal of Wee Jimmy) and deserved to be Scotland right wing until 1967. Wee Jimmy was very inconsistent until Jock’s influence helped him. By 1967 Jimmy was one of the best players in the world.
Also Willie’s praise for Jimmy was lavish in the Jimmy Johnstone video.
From the beeb…
“A young Rangers fan has been speaking about getting hit in the face by a bottle on the way to the Old Firm game.
Kieran Duffy, 10, said he saw the bottle come flying towards him from the corner of his eye. He swallowed one tooth on impact and another was removed.
His father Robert said one guy in the crowd on Sunday had “shamed everyone”.
Kieran, who was going to his first game away from Ibrox, was also treated for a hairline fracture to his face.
He was in a minibus of Rangers fans sitting in traffic at Cathcart Road, near Hampden Stadium, when a group of Celtic fans surrounded the bus and hurled abuse at the occupants.
Mr Duffy said the fans passed the bus and a couple of them decided to attack the driver. The door was opened and a bottle was thrown.
Police Scotland’s Det Con Kenneth MacEwan said: “This was an appalling assault on the boy who was with his dad and fellow supporters going to his first Celtic v Rangers game.
“He never got to the match but instead was detained overnight in hospital and has a facial injury and teeth missing.”
Det Con MacEwan said it appeared that the bottle was deliberately thrown at the minibus but the boy was not specifically targeted.
The man who threw the bottle was described as white, 5ft 11in tall and of heavy build. He was wearing green clothing and possibly a white beanie hat.”
Just read the article, Paul you said you find the whole MA loan newcastle players hilarious, with all due respect I think this is a huge danger to the whole of scottish football . What is the point of teams living by their means when, just for talking sake “the rangers” are mounting a challenge for the title next year( dont laugh ) and they draft in unpaid players at this stage in the season and pip Celtic to the title or do Aberdeen or Dundee Utd out a euro spot . Whats the point of fans buying season tickets. I feel gutted for the likes of Hibs , QOS , Falkirk etc this season . All Clubs including us should put pressure on the SFA to stop this . We are (scottish football) finally showing signs of coming out the dark place we are in but to me this is up there with the EBTs and hidden contract only this time its in our faces. Time to grow a set Especially our Club , time for us to flex our muscles and not before time or we wont have a meaningful Scottish league at all
So interesting to see our new signing , Stuart Armstrong, is a law student.
Before he plays for us, how about he get stuck into the oldco/newco cheating scandal and get a legal letter sent to the SFA/SPFL pronto?
Makes sense to me.
My friends in Celtic,
It really is very simple if Labour want to win the next election. Change their leader.
Unfortunately being clever or hardworking is not enough, perception is everything and the electorate do not perceive him to be a PM.
It should also be remembered that Celtic supporters are a broad church and many feel alienated by all the main parties, most certainly in Scotland.
HH.
burghbhoy,
Maybe that’s why we were so keen to get him, free legal advice :)
Westies/Cyrenean
I remember Willie Henderson on Scotsport years ago,with jinky i think,it was nothing but laughs.
Willie told story of how him and big Tommy Gemmel,squared up to each other,face to face,,pointing and shouting in each others face in an aggressive manner,or so it looked to the baying crowd who thought the 2 were about to square go,
willie laughed as he was saying him and big T were arranging a beer that night and arguing over which pub to meet in,of course the crowd thought differently :-)
HH
Seen some talking about Wullie Henderson….wee Wullie is a gem of a guy and even he would tell anyone who wanted to listen that he couldnt lace Wee Jinky’s boots.
Sad to see his daughter died a few years back.
Another young victim of cancer
Burghbhoy
Leigh Griffiths has probably been quizzing him all morning about his charge!
GMS will be quizzing Stokes and Griffiths about their hair weave. I believe he is booked in for one this summer.
LB
To be honest, the boys father seems to be more level headed than a lot of those on here who declared the boy was targeted.
An Tearmann,
I share many peoples frustrations and downright disappointment with the Labour party.
However, with all due respect, your post of 16:03 is a load of guff. Deregulation of the financial markets was implemented by Margaret Thatcher off the back of similar policy implemented by Ronny Reagan in the US – not enacted or introduced by the Labour Party at all. In fact it would be around 10 years later before Labour would come to power after a 20 year period in opposition.
Have Labour or anyone else for that matter done enough to prevent the damage of unbridled capitalism – absolutely not.
But to say that Labour instigated derugalation and were responsible for the financial crash is just ignorant drivel that should not go unchallenged.
canamalar
16:16 on 3 February, 2015
burghbhoy,
Maybe that’s why we were so keen to get him, free legal advice :)
Exactly bud.
If he could do that he’d be a prized asset!!
Livibhoy,
He’s probably still wondering why the new bhoy says he cany help it no his speciality, but yer a lawyer ken ?
Bawsman – can you ask why Jim Murphy and several other Labour MPs continue to be involved with the right wing think tank The Henry Jackson Society?
Good afternoon all.
Feeling good since yesterday with our new signings. I hope you are all well. KTF.
Weefra HH praying to Wee Oscar.
Westies/Cyrenean,
A further point from my memory. Henderson could not get into the Scotland team at one stage. It wasn’t Jinky who kept him out but Alex Scott who was in the Huns reserve team!!!
Hail! Hail!
Yogi
Canamalar
With all these Bhoys from the east we may have to move our training ground!
LB
Burghbhoy
16:15 on
3 February, 2015
So interesting to see our new signing , Stuart Armstrong, is a law student.
Before he plays for us, how about he get stuck into the oldco/newco cheating scandal and get a legal letter sent to the SFA/SPFL pronto?
Makes sense to me.
That’s jist typical of that Tightfisted CEO of ours. He wants a midfielder AND a club lawyer for one fee :)
Tim malone…,
Good point, they are not the source of all our problems but they could have done more.
Me I believe Blair and his spin master were a Machiavellian plant to destroy and socialist allegiance labour had. Specifically to create the current distrust.
So Stuart Amstrong was signed so that PL can get free legal advice??
FFS, more blatant penny-pinching.
Sack the board.
Just in, and haven’t yet had the chance to read back.. so, apologies if this has already been asked/answered…
I am interested in our two new players…. assuming that they both start on the weekend, how/where would they fit in?
I am assuming that the back four (five if you include CG) remains unchanged. Dont see how RD can leave out SB or NB, and he seems to favour SJ …. so that leaves 3 spots open….
Where do SA and GMS fit? Who sits?.
And = any
mike in toronto
Our new Bhoys are cup tied but it will be interesting to see how long they take to get up to Ronny’s fitness levels.
LB