I’ve been looking for signs for an inflationary bounce in English football. The next Premier League TV deal is still 12 months away but at this stage before previous TV deals kicked in, clubs started spending ahead of themselves as they looked to secure a piece of the lucrative new deal. In particular, I’m keen to see how central defenders are valued.
Today news broke that West Brom agreed a deal with newly-relegated Hull City to sign central defender, James Chester (26) for £8m. Chester has 11 months left on his contract at Hull. Three years in the English Championship and 45 Premier League games over two seasons was enough evidence to induce modest West Brom to pay the asking price.
It would have helped that three other Premier League clubs, Southampton, Aston Villa and Newcastle, were also reportedly interested, but no one is making false claims for a lad who has not troubled the scouts of England’s top clubs. He’s a modest player who is able to sign a pre-contract in January. This is a spectacular fee, passing between two modest clubs, for a central defender.
Consequences for us? We’ll see.
I’m doing a State of the Club article for Friday, as we do the day before the league campaign starts. So far there’s a flow to the words. A solid result on Wednesday will reaffirm that, whereas a reversal would, frankly, deem a satisfactory assessment inappropriate.
So much turns on these next few games, Champions League qualification, squillions of pounds, and sure, the State of the Club. We’ve come through a few iterations of acceptable levels of performance over the last 20 years, since winning our first trophy in six years. Younger readers will never appreciate how precious a 1-0 Scottish Cup win over Airdrie could be.
These days it’s all about the treble and Champions League group stage qualification. The loss of a cup would be an annoyance, but Celtic need to be part of the Champions League.
Our friends at Magners have offered a pair of Premium seat tickets for the Jock Stein Stand at the opening league game of the season on Saturday. To enter, all you need to do is email me with the name [IN THE SUBJECT LINE] of who we play that day, celticquicknews@gmail.com
If you’d like to donate £1 to the CQN Mary’s Meals school kitchen appeal, help towards what would be our fifth kitchen in Malawi, you can do so here:
Entries close at 6pm this evening, so not much time.
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zico-maltese bhoy
Hi pal
Never took you for a booler
HH
celtic bhoy,
A well thought out post.
Well Done,
Clogher
Evening Celtic people, I don’t include negenoon and Mr patsy in my welcome BTW as they’re a couple of fannies.
St. Stivs 22:47
Great story.
Typical of Luggy and the Lions in general.
And later today I take my wee Bhoy to Paradise.
Perfect.
Night Timdom
HH jamesgang
a ceiler….
In my experience some fannies are….erm……quite nice :-)
HH
Cuchiallinn
Glad you enjoyed Liam Clancy s version he was a great ballad singer.
Celtic Bhoy great post I was 11 my first time at parkhead immediately becoming a regular 66/67 season. We travelled 100 miles round trip and you are so right the people who we travelled with are friends forever in Celtic . Clogher hope you are well HH
Justafan
I ain’t came across one that I haven’t enjoyed the company of.
jamesgang, I’ll be there with my auld hing aun (CQN’s own Lance Armstrong, but withoot the drugs, which is a pity cos I’d like to drug the auld bassa) see you tomorrow.
b-c-w…
Now ain’t that the truth!
FrakieHowerdCSC
justafan, as long as we’re not talking about my lovely Annanel there will be no dispute between us bruv…………….hubba ding!!!!
Papajoe,
Yep I’m 100 per cent. Did you manage to get that book?
Michael buerke told funny story on countdown the other day about Scottish presenter who was working on pebble mill at 1.
The baking part was being done by Fanny Craddock who was being obnoxious eventually getting through programme he done final farewell to camera relaxing said to viewers I hope all your donuts turn out like fannies. Aff oot
ACGR
Seems a lifetime since we last spoke. See you ramorra bro.
Mon The Leather Belts!
ACGR
Imagine auld Jim with a wee EPO chaser with his water of life!!!
See you pal
HH jamesgang
Clogher
Not yet my older brother and i planning trip next month to try to find out more in Donegal. ACGR intro tonight calling 2 posters as fannies reminded me of the above story so his fault. H H
James
How’s ma big pal?
See you ramorra.
DD, hope you had a great time with your boy in Spain and eft some bevy for me when I get back.
Have you changed your moby? tried to text you but got a bounceback. Nae bother bruv ffffffffffffffffffffffttt.
PapaJoe
ACGR had the Irn Bru advert in mind. :)
ACGR
Interpol are playing with me. ;))
Text you wi ma new moby no. Shortly.
It was sad to see fat colin the hun let a two shot lead slip and him end up finish third in the old sclaffers open last week. Tragic, I was pure rootin for the fat hun bastard, so I was.
Typical hun though. Never finished first when it mattered, just like the hun runner, she’ll always be the bridesmaid. hope her dodgy foot falls off.
Papajoe,
When you are coming over?
Give me a shout at dublin2016@mail.com.
I will try and help.
HH,
Clogher
Second try.
Re, the fat grumpy hun Colin.
good interview by English and sandy Lyle last week.
He really dislikes him.
What’s the story.
Clogher
Will do maybe on weekend of international games end of sept or start of October. My brother although he’s 74 still works part time so depends on him. H H
stivs
00:52 on 29 July, 2015
Second try.
Re, the fat grumpy hun Colin.
good interview by English and sandy Lyle last week.
He really dislikes him.
What’s the story.
Sandy called him out for cheating when he placed his ball in the wrong area, after a competition was abandoned mid round in a lightning storm….he didn’t place a marker where his ball was on the fairway before leaving the course..
Like most Huns in denial,he refuses to discuss it these days….and refuses to talk to Sandy.
It’s in the fat bastard’s DNA…..cheating Hun
Regardless of the press reports and the fact that our opponents have beaten teams x, y and z in previous European competitions, we should have no fear of them at CP tomorrow. We should destroy them and finish it at paradise.
We Are Celtic, they will be afraid in meeting us, it’s a foreign and hostile place. They should be afraid, very afraid..
Hail Hail Celtic Men and wmmin
Rudi, ta.
It really is zombie hun monkey DNA.
Not a handsome gene found yet.
Mrs . Doubtfire…..
Cheating Hun Bassa…
Just like his dead football club / company
The Open: Colin Montgomerie is a cheat, says Sandy Lyle
European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has been labelled a cheat by his fellow Scot Sandy Lyle.
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In happier times: Sandy Lyle (l) has fallen out with Colin Montgomerie after his fellow Scot was named Ryder Cup captain Photo: PA
By Telegraph staff8:43AM BST 14 Jul 2009Comment
Lyle, the former Open champion is still furious that he was overlooked for the Ryder Cup captaincy in favour of the younger Montgomerie.
And on the eve of The Open at Turnberry, Lyle has claimed Montgomerie’s infamous actions at a tournament in Indonesia in 2004 were a “form of cheating”.
Lyle was heavily criticised for pulling out of last year’s Open after struggling for nine holes in wet and windy conditions. But he insists Montgomerie was guilty of a far greater crime in Jakarta, when he replaced his ball in an advantageous position following a rain break.
“That is far worse than someone pulling out [of the Open] because of sore knuckles,” said the 51-year-old Lyle. “You have Monty dropping the ball badly – that’s what you would call a form of cheating.
“If anything was going to be held against Monty, you would think, ‘Yeah, well that’s a case where he was breaking the rules.’ And there have been other times where he has been called in to see videos.”
St stivs, see my post at the top of the page. rudicantfail, elaborates on why the hun golfer was never right to represent our country.
I.e. A typical hun cheat.
They should be made to play golfie
In onesinise
rudicantfail, the sore knuckles referred to in the fat hun pulling out of the open, do you know what that was all about?
If you don’t, I do and its a belter.
I was looking at the consice English dictionary for my scabble during vacations,
Cheatinhun
Descripive noun,
Like monty or McCann.
A person with ability to chest on a sporting result.
Stivs, you should be making yourself available at a hootenannie, wear a big sunderland rosette, just so we recognise you…………………………:_)
papajoe.
Bill Tennant famously lost his job on the STV 6:00 magazine programmer when he finished up Fanny and Johnny’s presentation with those remarks
“I hope your doughnuts turn out like Fanny’s”
The crew erupted into gales of laughter and the cameras were shaking.
St…………………………………….:_)
Missing from my last post.
Celtic
Sandy Lyle….
Hawkestone Park legend
What a beautiful course,where it all started for him,and what a lovely and approachableguy to talk to.
Sevvy described him as the best golfer in the world at his peak…….unfortunately his flame only flickered at this level for a couple of years.
More dignity and integrity in his little finger than Fatboy Montgomery has in his whole 20 stone body.
Sandy the Shropshire Scot…..tells the Hun golfers what they don’t want to hear.
ACGF..
I don’t know the story mate..
I am assuming a punch was thrown by Sandy ?
Please tell me it was .
GG
The look on Rachel Riley’s face was priceless she obviously got it quickly but the host guy got all flustered, anyway cmon the bhoys give us a night to remember H H