Anchoring to a distant geographical base is not intuitively how you would expect a football club to recruit but Celtic are clearly working their contacts in Israel these days. Beram Kayal has worked out well in the two and a half years since joining from Maccabi Haifa, as has Nigeria international, Efe Ambrose, who joined from Israeli club Ashdod in the summer.
Neil Lennon recently mentioned he needed cover for left back (despite right-footed Adam Matthews performing heroics there against Barcelona), so it is no surprise that Israel international Rami Gershon is in town today. Gershon has played less than a dozen games for Standard Liege since leaving Israel three years ago, although he was a regular pick for loan club Kortrijk. Should he sign he will be a low-risk addition to the squad but he has almost certainly received commendation from the same sources who recommended Kayal and Ambrose.
Best of luck to Rabiu Ibrahim, who left for Kilmarnock after promising much but delivering little as a prodigy at Sporting and PSV Eindhoven. He was the low-risk addition of last January. You’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs……
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setting free the bears – Mon the gingers. (thumbsup)
Ahhhh transfer window time. I am (I admit) one of the CQN users who visits mainly during the windows so apologies for this in advance. It’s a credit to Paul67 & everyone who participates on CQN though as to how busy this site gets during the windows. A source of great information and banter. You will find me mostly on twitter using the same name so feel free to contact me on this if you’d like too.
So transfer business – I’d have preferred to see Ibrahim leave on a loan deal however I can see a sell on clause or buy back clause inserted.
I’d love to see a Lubo type player brought in. Someone who can unlock 10 man defences with a simple pass etc
I also hear that yer man Gershon is primarily a LB and can play CB.
jimbob71
12:33 on
4 January, 2013
Tom wasn’t going to be interrupted, was he……LOL…….Brill…!!!!
Sir Paul
Right Foist Time,pal…
jiggin’, is… Ah hiv bin done Tole.. whit Ah dae Best.
Puttin awe that aside ,fur a Moment…
Paddy, should be oor anwer,tae oor “Perrenial” … But..
He hisnae performed tae his undooted Capacity, as a Natural Locksmith
He jist hisnae.
Ah think Ah know Why.
He is a Shy Guy.
Something , like.. Joe Ledley.. who is ,also, anither wan…
whit we in the trade.. ca’
“Faur Too Reticent.. tae let is Awe Hing Oot.”
Tae be a Success at.. well.. Anything..
Ye must be able tae wire in…
and
Let it awe Hing Oot.
Ah hate Shy Fitba’ Players..
They nevah perform tae their.. well.
Full Capacity..
Kojo
Still, Laughin
setting free the bears
I just don’t understand why he was punted off to Aberdeen (good move for him) when Ibrahim and Paddy were kept and they aren’t decent squad players. McCourt is going backwards. I feel for Paddy he has tremendous skills but won’t make it at Celtic. McGinn might not be the answer but I feel in the last year that we have held onto some players too long and signed a real binger in Mo ‘bounce game’ Bangura. They can’t all be gems but sometimes it’s better to have a guy who will run through brick walls for the jersey in your ranks.
LB
Got to hand it to Gary Hooper for banging in the goals. Celtic career stats per below, showing Apprearances (of which Sub) and goals scored.
League 80 (4) 53
Scottish Cup 9 (1) 1
League Cup 10 (0) 8
Europe 15 (3) 7
Total 114 (8) 69
If we were looking to buy him this window, the stats would be mightily impressive.
philvisreturns
Some people would pay good money for some ‘enforcement action’ so you are getting and even bigger bargain. Especially as you are not paying for it. You bad man
The Battered Bunnet
I wonder what his stats are playing with Stokes. The two seem to be on the same wave length in the SPL.
Hooper was a great signing and Lenny deserves all the praise for getting him.
LB
Quick text from DBBIA…
Rami Gershon is 1.89314159265m tall.
If Eremenko showed up, would Roman in the Gloamin get dusted off as a party song?
Oh dear…I can see Alex Salmond intervening on this one…
Celtic_First/TBB –
Sorry Bhoys – had to leave the TV debate for my Friday fish lunch and will now need to exit to attend a meeting for a couple of hours. These world class financial services behemoths don’t run themsleves you know…
The 38 yr old Paul Scholes is a shy guy.
If he weren’t cup tied I’d take him in a minute.
TBB
cheers. o))
TBB footballers’ heights are routinely exaggerated by 2 or more inches.
That’s 5 or more centimetres.
miki 67 @ 12 36 .
Thanks ——- My New Hampshire Christmas [ and New Year ] was mighty fine . Cold and snowy but I liked it [ mid teens at home ]. Family stuff / Next year it will be in Baltimore .
Begin the long trek home tomorrow night —–aim to go choon hunting in NYC tomorrow. A wee time out whilst Mrs S of T buys a coat in the winter sales .
SFSF, I’ll accept your recommendation.
Kraljski, I think it best we let Ibrahim leave. Don’t think he had the constitution for life at Celtic.
Kojo, as you and I know, the game is played with the head, not the feet.
I hope Rami is signed up, we have, as Paul67 says, a very good record scouting there.
What Eremenko from Rubin Kazan?
Definitely Roman?
http://www.futhead.com/fifa/players/compare/2569/2886
Click on the player graphic for more details about the player.
I’m not sure I fancy either player tbh but I trust our structure to produce good results.
TBB
Plathora.
:)
I prefer the ball on the deck
Nuclear Bovril and a Half Munched Pie – I wouldn’t mind so much if I was getting away with not paying for a TV Licence, but sadly that’s not the case.
I’ve had a TV licence for years, and make sure my address is up to date, but they keep sending threatening letters anyway.
They send out letters made to look like household bills, letters warning that I am being “investigated” by their local “enforcement division”, and parcels containing haunted video tapes that will allegedly kill me within seven days if I don’t give them money now.
I once had a very rude clipboard-wielding man from TV Licencing turn up at the door at 9am on a Saturday, demanding to know my name and refusing to identify himself until I repeatedly asked him to do so. (At first I thought the Jehova’s Witnesses had turned feral).
I warned him that he was on my property and suggested he combine sex with travel before I unleashed the hounds, at which point he stormed off in a huff. (thumbsup)
Livi Bhoy
Niall was not punted out to Aberdeen. He was loaned out to Brentford and, though he played regularly, did not do well enough to persuade them or any other English club to pay money for him. Aberdeen took a gamble on him when his Celtic contract ran out and it has worked out for both of them.
This smacks strongly of monday morning quarterbacking. Nobody grieved when Niall left for Brentford. Nobody said it should be James Forrest or Paddy McCourt leaving instead and nobody spoke of him for the whole of the 2011/12 season when he played 37 games for Brentford.
He has had a great start to this year. We have had other flashes in the pan like that. Anyone remember Daryl Duffy at Falkirk , Lukas Jutkiewicz with Motherwell, Chris Porter with Motherwell, Noel Hunt with Dundee United, Fran Sandaza, David Goodwilie, Nick Blackman, Lee Miller, Craig Dargo or Gary O’Connor?
We already have 4 strikers (Hooper, Watt, Lassad and Stokes). We have 6 wide men (Forrest, Commons, McGeouch,Samaras, McCourt & Brown) with Paul George breaking through and Matthews and Izzy used as attacking wing backs. Do we need Niall? Would Niall score for us as he is scoring for Aberdeen these past 3 months or would he revert to Brentford and Celtic form?
I need more sustained evidence. Craig Brown would also be looking for 500k or so. Not for me and I have to get back to work now.
Celtic’s “buy them in pairs” philosophy is working very well:
2 Israelis, 2 Africans, 2 Welshmen, 2 Nottinghamshire lads, 2 Latin Americans, 2 Swedes (including our assistant manager).
I say buy another Greek.
setting free the bears
Great post regarding Niall. I thought he could be a good player but he was too inconsistent.
Found his level at Aberdeen, good luck to him.
Rami Gershon’s feet, at 301.3mm (average of both feet, standing on standard test ceramic 16C ambient temperature) require a size 47 shoe (Continental sizing, British size 12).
At 1.89314159265 tall, his height is his average foot length x 2 x Pi
That is a Fact. That is a Rami Fact.
Chris Hughton has reassured Norwich City supporters that there is plenty of work going on behind the scenes to bolster the Canaries’ squad in the January transfer window.
Hughton’s presence at Celtic Park on Wednesday for the Bhoys’ 1-0 Scottish Premier League win over Motherwell fuelled speculation of an imminent bid for £5m-rated Israeli midfielder Beram Kayal.
Celtic’s English-bred striker Gary Hooper was the match-winner in midweek and inevitably became another in a lengthening list of potential forward additions linked with a New Year switch to Norfolk.
Hughton expects plenty more over the course of the next month, but the experienced Norwich boss aims to retain the element of surprise in his transfer dealings.
Chief executive David McNally told supporters earlier this week the Canaries have yet to lodge any firm bids and Hughton was coy when questioned on his scouting mission north of the border.
“There were 22 players that caught my eye. It was a good game and a wonderful atmosphere, but it is an opportunity to take in a different game – particularly one from outside our division – and also different players and different systems,” he said
I don;t know about facts I only want to know if rami can ?
hairy bikers.com
philvisreturns
I understand your pain.
Everytime I get a letter emblazoned with ‘Pay Up For Glasgow!’ I think…but I do, I always have, on time every time, away and hassle some real tax dodgers.
You can always invert the situation and pretend you are a Jehovah’s Witness. You will not see them for dust.
Ntassoolla
– > Absolutely. particularly those players for african origin if our squad is anything to go by…. Wanyama (‘Big’ Vic) is apparently 6’2″ and Ambrose is allegedly 6’3″.
In that case – a quick look along the line at CL anthem time, and it appears that Samaras must be at least 6’7″ as he is towering over the pair of them. (and Neil Lennon has obviously had a growth spurt, as he is only about 3″ shorter than Wanyama!!)
SFTB,
Never thought Niall McGinn was good enough for Celtic.
However, I did watch him “in the flesh” playing for Brentford in a League 1 match last season and he looked head and shoulders above anyone else on the field (and that wasnt seen through green tinted specs).
I suppose it gets complicated as to where a player will “fit in” with regards to wages, lifestyle, playing position etc. so maybe he has just found his niche at Aberdeen?
79caps
– > Good point – i look forward to us pillaging the airdrie squad for a second tony watt….
Paul
Not sure if this has been mentioned. There was a fascinating programme on last night on RTE. “Jimmy’s winning matches”. It was about Jim McGuinness, the latest recruit to the backroom team. Well worth a look at. If he has a similar impact with our nextgen bhoys, Gods knows where it will take us. Get onto rte player and check it out.
Juve gossip .
Italian fitba media claiming that Juve have an agreement with Llorente and he will be a Juve player [ for free ] in July 2013 ]
However —— Juve are now trying to convince Bilbao to let them have Llorente now in exchange for 6 million euros ..
Drogba to Juve is still being touted as a possibility.
Osvado to Juve is still being touted as a possibility..
Media claiming that if Juve get who they want they will punt Matri and Quagliarella.
We’ll see !
TBB do you think you could find out Paul MsStay’s vital statistics, feed them into your box of tricks and maybe manufacture us another one?
Don’t forget to factor in the big thick eyebrows.
Tim Malone Will Tell
– > also have to give credit to Craig “there are no easy games in international football” Broon. Never a tactical genius IMO, and certainly not noted for his use of flair players, Broon has signed McGinn and hayes – both talented lats with good skills. he has then had the nous to play mcginn through the middle – to very good effect. Celtic never tried him there – perhaps an oversight on our part?
However, i agree – he is not Celtic class – especially if we wish to continue to improve and compete at european level.
LucCelt there are two ex-pros drink in our local.
Both wear built up shoes.
Both insist I’m 5’11”.
Both of the above facts are necessary to maintain them as men of five foot ten.
As quite few CQN’r were showing an interest in economics and a love of deficit spending yesterday here is an interesting expression of the US Fiscal Cliff.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread913130/pg1
oopla ——
Osvaldo !