Neil Lennon suggested Gary Hooper, unquestionably his favourite son, was Celtic’s best striker since Henrik Larsson. It’s an interesting question.
The list is long: Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Henri Camara, Craig Bellamy, Dion Dublin, Scott McDonald, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Chris Killen, Maciej Zurawski, Kenny Miller, Derek Riordan, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Georgios Samaras, Robbie Keane, Diomansy Kamara, Olivier Kapo, Anthony Stokes, Pawel Brozek, Moh Bangura, Daryl Murphy, Miku and Lassad.
Apologies if I’ve overlooked someone. That’s 22 strikers in nine years (it’s a bit soon to consider Amido Balde), some of whom were loans, but the list doesn’t include the many Celtic youth players who got their shot at first team football, or those, like Tony Watt, who were signed for low fees from lower league Scottish clubs.
Chris Sutton and John Hartson were already at the club when Henrik left, but it quickly became evident they were past their best. Robbie Keane and Craig Bellamy were quality but only played a dozen or so games, so can’t really be considered as competition to Hooper.
Maciej Zurawski arrived a year after Larsson left and had a phenomenal first season at the club. He made his debut after the 5-0 reversal to Artmedia but inspired Celtic to a 4-0 win six days later. Maciej was on fire when he joined and only failed to score in five league games before the league win in April but he never found anything close to that consistency again. Record: 22 goals in 55 games.
Scott McDonald’s YouTube clip of goals in the Champions League and against Rangers will have featured heavily in the portfolio as his agent looked for a new club this year. His goals got us into the Champions League, beat European champions, Milan, and regularly put our (then) nearest rivals to the sword. Record: 51 goals in 88 games.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink arrived in summer 2006 and immediately outshone Zurawski. His debut as a substitute against Hibs transformed Celtic and won the game. His signing was pivotal in Celtic winning the title in 2007. Record: 34 goals in 78 games.
Georgios Samaras arrived 18 months after Vennegoor of Hesselink and alongside Barry Robson pushed Celtic over the line for three in a row. 2008 was a fabulous year for Georgios but although he’s still a forward, he’s not really been a striker since. Record: 41 goals in 138 games.
With 63 goals, 95 games, Gary Hooper’s scoring record is better than anyone else’s, but the challenge to be best since Larsson was simple, just outperform Scott McDonald. With all those strikers as competition, that’s not as high as the bar could be.
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Right, my counting skills have completely let me down there. We don’t have an early morning kick off on Wednesday – just under 61 hours to go.
mustdobetterorjuststicktotheweatherCSC
Macjay1
Everybody has got it wrong. The best we can say is that some are less wrong than others.
As the bould Albert put it:
“Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
Very strange.
Scottish newspapers site.
Every time I click on a provincial newspaper site,I get the Daily Record.
Galloway Gazette.Up comes the Retard.
Now,I`ve heard they`re short of a quid,but that`s desperation.
thebhoywithmcgraininhisside
07:00 on
29 July, 2013
Good stimulating chat.
Cheers.
Macjay1
I like to do what I can do when I do it. But it takes two to tango. So I guess it’s time for you to do the voodoo that you do so well;o)
morning
God bess Non and Ton may you rest in piece YNWA hh
Good morning folks, I’ve lived to meet another dawn.
For a while now I’ve considered the night shift on here to be from a different continent but occasionally it’s a different planet.
Perhaps I’m far too sober of a morning.
Enjoy Monday, golf tie ahead for me.
P
Thbhoywithmcgraininhisside – if you’re going to quote extensively from Kevin Smith’s film Dogma you should at least own up to it. Tssk.
Pod i
Are you calling me an alien?;o)
Weeminger
I put it in quotation marks. If I knew how to indent text on a blog page I would have. However, I’m not going to attribute it, because as my father always told me, if you want to know what it means look it up:o)
MACJAY 0619
“Ghia?In my day,that was an upmarket ford.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aye,right!
In your day,it was an upmarket VW,ya auld git…….
How’s things in Oz,bud? My brother-in-law is over in Melbourne at the moment,says it’s blinkin’ freezing!
Mind,I doubt it is so cold that he’ll be missing Kilwinning very much.
Weeminger
I now see that I didn’t put in quotation marks. I apologise, I meant to. All my other quotes were housed inside inverted commas.
Ineedaproofreadercsc
Nega (tive ) anon 2 where are you when we need you???????????????? Looks like you and Sydney ‘Tim’ will have to use all your business skills to crack this:
Meanwhile, Artjoms Rudnevs last night handed Celtic the most emphatic of knock-backs by insisting he would never move from the Bundesliga to Scotland. The Hamburg striker is on Celtic’s shortlist for a new striker, but manager Neil Lennon has admitted it would be a long-shot if they could land the Latvian international, who has a £4 million price tag on his head.
The Germans have insisted they don’t want to sell and Rudnevs also helped to kill any further speculation on a move to Glasgow stone dead. “Why would I move from the Bundesliga to Scotland? I have established myself in the Bundesliga – the Scottish league is not comparable,” he said.
“I accept there will be striker competition for me – that’s football. But I have not come to Hamburg just to leave again after just one year. I would never consider such a move.”
COME ON YOU GUYS YOU KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THESE SORTS OF PROBLEMS, DON’T YOU?
Weeminger
But to quote Anatole France:
“When a thing has been said and said well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.”
Good morning CQNers,
To this day I find the biggest travesty in the whole Rangers implosion was the Nimmo Smith verdict. Could someone clarify something for me please, has anyone challenged Alexander Bryson’s testimony to Lord Nimmo Smith’s tribunal regarding his interpretation of the rules regarding player registrations?
Also, are Sandy’s interpretation of player registration in line with UEFA/FIFA rules?
As always, I’m signing off now but I’ll catch up with CQN some time later today.
God bless.
Scullybhoy,
Aye, stop winding supporters up, by pretending we could attract players from bigger and better competitions
So, were we no told the UTT would be a very quick decision as no new evidence can be submitted, we are into the second week, no ?
Looks to me like they are trying to find away to say its wrong but rangers had a good excuse so it was ok for them but from now on things will be different
Scully. Indeed. But my question is why are we finding this info on the eve of kick off
We knew and PL knew our only goalscorer was leaving months ago
Why oh why are we scrambling about at the last minute to find a goal scorer
thanks for the well wishes from twist n turns that made me laugh m8 bt,bada bing,borgo 67 and any one i missed,nerves will kick in soon..
petec i hope your right on joe,met him and his dad in the players lounge in his first season after gubbing hertz and he was loving it ,from what i hear he still is and long may he stay h.h
.
Celtic line up hat-trick of transfer moves as £2million-rated Ajax winger jets in for talks
Derk Boerrigter will arrive in Glasgow today for a medicalDerk Boerrigter will arrive in Glasgow today for a medical
Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
CELTIC have launched a £2million raid on Ajax for highly-rated winger Derk Boerrigter.
And that will allow Boerrigter to go straight into Neil Lennon’s squad for Wednesday’s crunch Champions League showdown with Swedish side Elfsborg at Celtic Park.
The lightning move began on Saturday night when Parkhead chief executive Peter Lawwell travelled to Amsterdam to watch Ajax lift the first silverware of the season in Holland with a 3-2 win over AZ Alkmaar in the Johan Cruyff Shield.
Yesterday an initial fee of around £1.8m was agreed between the two clubs for a player who was on the verge of a full international call-up under Bert van Marwijk just two years ago.
And Boerrigter is expected to fly into Glasgow today with agent Soren Lerby, the former Danish international, to go through a medical and rubber stamp his personal terms ahead of tomorrow’s signing deadline for the Elfsborg clash.
Boerrigter is a left winger who can also operate as a central striker and seemed on the brink of a big breakthrough when he was drafted into the Dutch squad in November 2011 for the friendlies against Germany and Switzerland.
But a back injury forced him out of those squads and the same recurring problem has prevented him from reaching his full potential for both club and country.
Now, with Ajax recruiting Bojan Krkic on loan from Barcelona, Boerrigter has been forced to reassess his options. It’s understood Barca have inserted a clause in that deal which demands that Krkic must play when fit, leaving Boerrigter frozen out.
But Celtic have offered him an escape and the chance to kick-start his career in the Champions League. It’s understood, if the player makes an impact in Glasgow, that his total transfer fee including add-ons will rise to just over the £2m mark.
Lennon is scouring the globe for a hitman with Southampton’s Billy Sharp, Evian’s Tunisian ace Saber Khelifa and Wolves star Kevin Doyle in the mix.
Norkopping’s Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson is a possibility although, at 31, does not fall into Celtic’s ideal signing category, despite a potentially cheap transfer tee.
At the other end of the pitch, Celtic have been linked with Millwall skipper Shane Lowry, 24.
The left-sided stopper, who was born in Australia, has a year left on his contract and is available for around £500,000.
Summa
Thebhoywithmcgraininhisproverbial
Forget Einstein.This is genius.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8315FgygAY
Morning all. Damp and overcast but still mild. Our usual constant wind seems to have gone for the moment. Maybe some of the nonsense being spouted on CQN of late is taking it’s place.
Summi
All those players fall into our striker policy of
1. Cheap
2. Don’t score goals
.
Commonwealth Games 2014: How ready is Glasgow?
Most of the venues for Glasgow 2014 are ready for use.
The Emirates Arena and the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, built specially for the games, have been open since last year.
The Tollcross Swimming Centre and the Scotstoun sports centre have been upgraded.
The one major revamp still to take place is at Hampden, Scotland’s national football stadium, which will host its last game in November before it undergoes a conversion into a track and field venue.
It has already had a £3m extension to the north stand and a further £14m of work will be carried out to raise the playing surface by 1.9 metres and create the space to fit in track and field facilities.
This means there will not be any football at Hampden for about a year. The Scottish Cup and League Cup semi-finals and finals will be moved to other venues in 2014, as will Scotland games.
Hampden, whose capacity will be reduced from 52,000 to 44,000 by the track and field work, will also stage the closing ceremony.
Glasgow’s other major football stadiums will also be brought into action for the Commonwealth Games.
Ibrox, the home of Rangers football club, is the venue for the rugby sevens, while the opening ceremony for the 20th Commonwealth Games will be at Celtic Park on Wednesday 23 July.
Impression of the opening ceremony at Celtic Park
Artist’s impression of the opening ceremony at Celtic Park
Over the following 11 days, 17 Commonwealth sports – ranging from athletics and gymnastics to lawn bowls and squash – will be contested at 13 venues around Glasgow and beyond.
The £113m Emirates Arena, which opened in October 2012 opposite Celtic’s stadium in the city’s east end, will host badminton events, as well as the track cycling at the velodrome.
Continue reading the main story
Next door to the new arena is the athletes’ village, which will house up to 6,500 athletes and officials in 700 homes and some flats. It is well on the way to completion and should be ready by the start of next year.
The village will be sold off for housing after the games.
Also in the east of the city are the recently-completed Glasgow Green Hockey Centre and the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
Tollcross opened in May after a 19-month refurbishment costing £13.8m, with a revamped 10-lane 50m competition pool and a completely new six-lane 50m warm-up pool.
It has 2,000 permanent seats, and an extra 3,000 will be put in place during the games.
The venue will host all the swimming competitions except the diving, which will take place 45 miles away in Edinburgh.
The Royal Commonwealth Pool (RCP) in Edinburgh, which has previously hosted the 1970 and 1986 games, reopened to the public in March, following a two-year £37m refurbishment.
The Tollcross swimming centre has been revamped
The shooting competition will take place even further from Glasgow, 95 miles away at the Barry Buddon centre near Carnoustie in Angus.
On the far eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Strathclyde Country Park, near Hamilton, will host the triathlon, with the swimming part of the event taking place in the park’s loch.
The mountain biking will be staged on a specially-built track, which has opened to the public, at Cathkin Braes, on the southern outskirts of the city.
KEY DATES
23 July 2013 – One year to go
19 August 2013 – Tickets set to go on sale
September 2013 – Hydro arena to open
November 2013 – No more football at Hampden as stadium gets ready for games
January 2014 – Athletes’ village to be completed
23 July 2014 – Opening Ceremony at Celtic Park
3 August 2014 – Closing Ceremony at Hampden
Back in Glasgow, the SECC precinct, which includes the exhibition halls, the Clyde Auditorium and the newly-build 12,000-seat Hydro Arena, will host boxing, wrestling, judo, netball, gymnastics, weightlifting and power-lifting.
The Hydro Arena, which is scheduled to open in September as a major concert and entertainment venue, will stage the gymnastics and the final of the netball.
Squash and table tennis will take place at the Scotstoun sports complex, which will have 2,500 temporary seats for the games.
An all-glass centrepiece court, to be constructed on an adjoining piece of land, will be linked to the existing complex by a tunnel.
The temporary structure, complete with 2,000 seats, is to be taken down after the Games, but the west of Glasgow venue will be left with six new permanent courts.
And finally, the lawn bowls will be held in the shadow of Glasgow’s famous Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
In April, the most recent visit by the Commonwealth Games Federation said they were “satisfied” with the progress made by Glasgow 2014.
The CGF said: “The next 14 months are a critical time, but we are confident the teams involved are up for the challenge.”
TICKETING
Games mascot Clyde publicises ticket prices with the McKenzie family
A ticketing guide, which includes an application form, will be available on 23 July.
This will give people time to work out what is on where and when before the first phase of ticket sales opens on 19 August.
Organisers said they had learned much from the criticisms of the ticketing arrangements for London 2012.
Like London, the sales will not be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Requests for tickets can be made until 16 September, when they will allocated through an “independent and computerised draw”.
Organisers say you can apply on the first day or the last and you will still have a chance.
People will be either be successful or unsuccessful – they will not be offered a lower number of tickets than they applied for, or tickets for a different event.
Ticketing firm Ticketmaster will conduct all sales – online or by post – and, unlike London, it will accept a range of different payment methods.
The price of a ticket includes access to public transport in the local area on the day of each event.
Organisers have boasted that two-thirds of all tickets will be on sale for £25 or less.
Prices for the opening ceremony at Celtic Park start at £40, with the closing ceremony available from £30.
Tickets for the men’s 100m final start at £15, rising to a top price of £90.
Glasgow 2014 said at least 70% of all tickets would be available to the public, with just 8% set aside for sponsors, who would also have to pay.
For athletics, there are six price categories, but for most other events there will only be two or three price bands.
SECURITY
The security budget for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games was increased dramatically after the London Olympics.
The budget more than trebled to £90m, with the extra cash being spent on securing the athletes’ village, hotels and training venues, and providing additional CCTV and perimeter fencing.
The athletes’ village, which should be completed and handed over to the Games very early in the New Year, will be secured for six months before the event begins.
Some hotels and training venues will also get round-the clock security provision.
As a result of the problems experienced in London, where security firm G4S failed to recruit enough personnel and the army had to be drafted in to assist, contracts will be given to a number of firms, rather than just one supplier.
This should reduce the risk of one firm failing to deliver.
The chief constable of Police Scotland, Sir Stephen House, has agreed to take on responsibility for delivering security at the games – but he will have to make extensive use of private firms and has not ruled out the possibility that G4S could win one of the contracts.
TRANSPORT
The 2014 Commonwealth Games will be car-free, with no parking anywhere near the venues, organisers have said.
All ticket-holders for Commonwealth Games events will be able to travel free on public transport and there is the promise of extra shuttle buses to help out at some venues.
Extra trains will run to stations near venues, such as Dalmarnock near the main east end sites, Exhibition Centre at the SECC, and Mount Florida for Hampden.
Drivers have been warned that parking restrictions will be extensive and widespread and security cordons will limit access to venues.
Organisers hope the fact that the games are taking place during the school summer holidays will mean there is more capacity on the city’s transport network and that “distractions” such as arts events on routes to venues will encourage people to walk further than they normally would.
This is similar to the approach taken in London for last year’s Olympics, although critics have said that Glasgow’s public transport networks are not as comprehensive.
Organisers admitted there would be a certain amount of “education” involved in getting people used to the idea, but this would be backed up by early and clear information and park-and-ride options.
There will also be games lanes to ensure athletes can get to venues without being stuck in traffic.
These will involve further parking restrictions, right turns being banned and alterations to up to 220 sets of traffic lights to ease traffic flow.
VOLUNTEERS
Organisers were looking for 15,000 games-maker volunteers to help people find their way to venues and offer other assistance.
They were amazed to find that more than 50,000 people applied.
About 1,000 a week are being interviewed at the moment and those selected should be told by October.
OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES
Who is Glasgow’s Danny Boyle?
Responsibility for the opening and closing ceremonies has been given to events agency Jack Morton Worldwide.
Its track record includes the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the Fifa 2010 World Cup in South Africa and some of the celebrations for last year’s Royal Wedding.
The US-based company has been given a budget of £14m for the ceremonies, but details of what they will involve is being kept under wraps for now.
David Zolkwer, director of public events for Jack Morton Worldwide, is the head of ceremonies for the Glasgow 2014 Games.
The ceremonies include the Parade of Nations, during which countries are welcomed to the Games, and the arrival of thousands of athletes.
It will also feature the end of the Queen’s Baton Relay, which will visit every one of the 70 Commonwealth nations and territories before travelling throughout Scotland for the Games.
The handing over of the flag to Gold Coast Tom, host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, will be a highlight of the closing ceremony.
Summa
Bobby Murdoch`s curled up chisels.
http://www.carsguide.com.au/buy-a-car?makes=494&models=4294965350&badges=4294967083
Why would anyone go to Melbourne unless they seek disappointment.
Beautiful day in Sydney.A balmy 70 or so.Well,midwinter.What can you expect?
Sad that we won`t be seeing Gary`s smiling face gracing the hoops any more,but them`s the breaks.
Cheers,Boab.
sydneytim
it wont be any of them hh
Morning,
Jangle Jackson tells you he has been on holiday 2 weeks then goes on to pronounce Balde a dud.
He also wants Celtic to follow the rangers route and blow all our cash on players.
Pathetic journalism.
Can I be first to ask a question that will be on here at least 100 times between now and 7.45 pm on Wednesday:
Is the game on the telly?
.
Sydster..
I Get this Funny Feeling it’s Not just the Celtic Strikers that are NO Scoring this Weather..
It would Explain the Victor Meldrew outlook on Life..:-))))))
Summa of CrankyCelibateCelticIrnBru’Fannis’CSC
Murdochbhoy, yermanfromMK
07:55 on
29 July, 2013
Now if only we had a Charlotte who could expose that political decision
Something for each side
Sevco found guilty, but with no punishment…………….down the middle?
canamalar1
08:02 on 29 July, 2013
Absolutely…..the whole thing stinks
sydneytim
08:07 on 29 July, 2013
Doooooooohhhh….
Stop press
Neil Lennon handed 80% of vic and Gary money
A source close to nobody said
“This patent financial negligence pushes Celtic to bankruptcy. What next asking strikers to score goals” the source later named as Sonofdan. Also went on to say” the whole 1st team eleven must be sold now to balance books “
sydneytim
09:01 on 29 July, 2013
I want some of what you’re drinking…….!!!
BBC Radio 5 live @bbc5live 1h
LISTEN: Boss of Carlisle’s Celtic Nation FC on reports team is ‘trojan horse’ for #Celtic to join Premier League: http://ow.ly/npitR
thebhoywithmcgraininhisside – fair do’s, probably came over a bit snippier than intended
http://www.sunrise.ug/news/national-news/5489-glasgow-and-celtic-fc-donate-to-fishing-communities
MACJAY. 0829
70f,nice for mid-winter!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Karmann_Ghia