Two players arrived during this transfer window: Rami Gershon and Tom Rogic, with no first team players leaving the club. I don’t know what Neil has planned for Rami but his loan deal and stats at Standard Liege suggests he is here as cover. I expect to see as much of him as we saw of Pawel Brozek last season.
20-year-old Tom Rogic is different. He joins the club on the same runway as Victor Wanyama, Beram Kayal, Adam Matthews, Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre. I’ve refused to watch his YouTube clips but there is every reason to hope he will be as successful a recruit as our other recent acquisitions of a similar profile.
I’ve been banging on about Asset Management for years. The mantra being – they all have their price and if any club fails to grasp this reality they will underachieve. Against this backdrop, Gary Hooper will either sign a new contract in the coming weeks or there is a good chance he will leave for nothing when his contract expires in June 2014.
A fundamental problem prevented a deal being done for Gary last month. His value to Celtic, not necessarily in this season’s Champions League, but in the same tournament’s qualifiers in July and August, is far greater than his value to any suitor. In other words, his value as an asset is not measured by transfer fee alone. This squad should have enough to reach the Champions League group stages next season, worth the best part of £20m to Celtic. Any deals have to be measured against this target.
The kind of transfer decision Celtic made yesterday, a profitable club holding onto a player and at the risk of losing him leaving for free, is so much healthier than the scenario we previously faced, in an arms race with a rival who was prepared to spend money they could not afford in order to beat us. What a mistake that whole ‘Old Firm’ thing was. Glad to see the back of it.
The ‘big clubs’ in England didn’t come looking for Gary. Instead, a well-run club made several attempts to acquire a good player on a price appropriate for their income. No harm in that, you have to give Norwich the respect any yokel deserves trying to hook up with a beauty queen (nothing implied about people from Norwich, or Gary as a queen!).
There is no guarantee the same club will be playing top-flight football when he becomes available, or that a club with a greater income, or with a more flamboyant approach to spending, will move for him, so there is every chance that Gary and his new agent will figure out that an extra year on his Celtic contract for a hefty wage rise is a decent option.
There is an interesting side plot to the Hooper non-transfer. Victor Wanyama is sitting on an offer of a substantial wage increase to extend his contract from 2015 to 2016. Unless someone comes in with an offer greater than his value to Celtic in Champions League campaigns he’ll be here until 2015.
Chances of both players signing new contracts in the coming months has to be a wee bit higher today. All those meaningless scripts about Celtic being a selling club floating around various places will have to be shelved for another time. We are a selling club, but only at the right price and the right time, just as it should be.
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Hi Paul67,
It’s not often you’re wrong…
But you are spot on again “What a mistake that whole ‘Old Firm’ was”
Many westerners get the whole Karma thing wrong, thay look at it as a just desserts or deserved comeuppance.
No Karma is about you as a whole and you action, there is good Karma and bad Karma.
You can support, assist, advise and even inspire folk but you can’t sort out their Karma, that’s for them.
Of course as a rule you don’t have to be concerned about your good Karma, it takes work but that’s fairly sorted.
It’s your bad Karma, now that’s the toughy, identifying your counter productive, negative, corrupting and even debilitating actions is a huge task, sorting them out is so much harder.
Yet the dividends are immense and the unseen, unexpected consequences can be just as rewarding.
I feel Club have moved forward and eliminated some Bad Karma.
I can’t remember the lst time, if it’s ever happened that the Board have rejected a substantial offer for one of our players. The fact that so many things are going right for Celtic is no coincidence.
OOOOOMMMMMmmmmmmmmCSC
as I thought .
Re ———- Juve away tickets .
Torino Plod / Torino City Authorities have classified Juve / Celtic as ” a high security game “.
Amongst other things , that means that the Police and Juve must know the name / address and identity [ passport number / ID Card number ] of everyone in the stadium. For the home support that means not getting a ticket until Juve know and have a record of your identity . For the away support that means having your name and identity printed on the ticket.. .
Italian bureaucracy is wacky — what it says is not necessarily what it does. Same applies to the police and the security at the stadium.
I have a ticket [ a Juve one ] I got it via a Juve season ticket holder who is unable to go. He ” nominated” me to go in his place — Juve have my name / my address and my Italian ID card .
There will be people selling tickets on the day of the game –you might get in . you might not . If I was buying a Juve ticket I’d make sure it wasn’t for an area controlled by Ultras [ typically the areas behind the goals ] I’m too old to be bothered with hassle –
Good luck !
Palacio67 all goal scorers mate, we may need to stretch them though with pace on the flanks and kill a bit of time,hopefully protecting a lead (i can dream) ;) who knows,its good problem to debate thought.; )
KLV
palacio67
11:22 on 1 February, 2013
Forget about Lassad and Sammi, personally I would like to see Hooper, Stokes and Watt play. Anyone who was at the Killie game would agree, they could not handle us the last 15 mins even if Hooper did leave his boots at home.
HH
talkingsensecsc
Agreed…thought they did really well,, and now super hoops has the rumour windae shoite out of the way..his mind should be clear and set on goal.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21292338
The first person to be prosecuted as part of the investigation into payments by journalists to officials has been sentenced to 15 months in prison.
Det Ch Insp April Casburn, 53, from Essex, was convicted last month of misconduct in public office.
SoT
I wonder if I could trouble you for some info re Milan’s two teams
Players seem to be happy to play for both during their careers …is there no great animosity between these teams
Kojo summed up
Noam Chomsky@daily_chomsky
(Neo-conservatives are) radical nationalist extremists, who serve private power with fanatic dedication.
lionroars67,
Several years ago I quoted Chomsky to Kojo.
Didn’t go down well:-)
Lionroars
The defence she ran in that trial was preposterous ….
Hoping we start with the 2 Tony’s on Sunday and we get to see Gershon and Rogic at some stage.
——————Forster——————-
Matthews Lustig Wilson Gershon
——-Kayal Wanyama Ledley——
—————-McGeouch—————-
————–Watt Stokes—————
Subs Hooper Commons Rogic Mulgrew Zaluska
Calm restored in ye olde miki67 noggin…..
” Just like that.”
All I did was think of Tony Watt’s goal v Barça and the incandescent crack of a roar that went up as the crowd expoded in unbridled joy.
I’vw watched the replay many a time, and that actual sound doesn’t come across on the telly.
I’ve never hear anything like it before in my life, and I don’t think I ever will again.
One of the great moments in life. Will live with me forever.
And I am immensely proud of Celtic F.C. Aye, there’s lots of analysis to be had, but what a club. Admired widely, loved far and wide.
You can go anywhere in the world, except Glasgow, sadly, and wear a Celtic top in safety and with honour.
So, I’m havin’ none of it about Barça rolling over for us. A deep insult to both teams.
From FF:
“The problem they face is that Rangers fans just don’t do vindictiveness very well – as a support we get angry but we rarely carry that anger through in the sort of mad campaigns to ruin people’s lives other supports have as their stock in trade. We tend to regard problems in isolation and accept them as an inevitable part of life rather than something to feel sorry for ourselves about. The media image of Rangers fans is one thing – the reality is that we rarely make our persecutors suffer.”
I never had strong views on whether or not mind-altering substances should be proscribed but this is a fairly clear example of the damage they can do.
Miki67,
You’re on fire today.
Sick of non Celtic people trying to convince me that I somehow miss dead club. Give me Euro games any time. Barcelona game, even on TV surpassed anything I’ve experienced at paradise. Atmosphere at Moscow game was superb – no hatred, no fear. This is our present and future.
Maybe we’ve been conditioned, and blocked from Euro success by one clubs cheating, that some have come to believe that his was how things should be.
S
s.o.t.
The reasoned voice of sanity from ‘way down south’. It’saways good to read your posts of daily life in Sicily.
Hope you enjoy the game in Torino, and you stay safe.
Are the Juve Ultras as truly mental as they seem and are portrayed? (I’m probably answering my own question!)
HH!
TinyTim
10:32 on 1 February, 2013
‘I remain very sceptical about the chances of them being stripped of titles.’
To be fair though you have form when it comes to assuming the worst (from our perspective) regarding the death throes of the hun.
Having said that I don’t see us being awarded anything whatever the outcome.
Monaghan1900
In that statement tgat Rangers did not find it appropriate to have side letters registered lies the cause of their demise.
To quote from Chubby Brown Rangers? Rangers? Who the 0000 are Rangers?
It was for the SFA to decide at the time whether the side letters should have been registered, not Rangers.
The SFA authority was usurped then and if that defense is accepted it allows its authority to be destroyed as long as there is a club with Rangers in its name playing at Ibrox.
I cannot think of a construct that LNS could put forward to say not guilty that did not require me to put aside everything I have thought of as “right”. I’m not buying a loan is not a payment especially as it was offered as an inducement to sign.What other purpose could it possibly have?
The arrogance in that statement has been their undoing no matter what LNS produces, but a not guilty verdict will not only leave it intact, it will encourage them to get away with whatever they next think they can.
PFayr..
There is animosity but pragmatism means business is business / money is money etc .Why give someone a hard time for doing something you might have to do yourself?
Italian football is a complicated thing . eg — More than a few Lazio supporters are right wing anti semitic nut jobs but their support includes people who are Jewish and left wing.
Monaghan
I think the Hun support is having a crisis of confidence
They are slowly realising that the are a Div3 club with no league voting rights and despite their large support they are without influence
Monaghan1900
11:39 on 1 February, 2013
From FF:
“The media image of Rangers fans is one thing – the reality is that we rarely make our persecutors suffer.”
I think that’s very unfair on Brothers Muirhead and McKenzie.
HH
Life is purer, cleaner & simpler without them. Not one second do I miss THEM.. I sleep easier and so will my kids.. Enough said.
The future is CelticFC.
HH
shady: 11:39 on1 February, 2013
>>>>>>
HH! shady. Hope all is well, and your plans are moving apace. I’ve had to cancel coming up to Gasgow for the Juve game. (FlyBe have been great, though. Trasferred our flights for later use, because the cancellation was on medical grounds.)
I might drop you a bon voyage email afore ye go way way dahn sahrf, if that’s okay.
I watched the Spartak game the other day. What a tense, exciting affair that was. All to play for, and we did it!
KTF!
….PFayr
– > There is huge animosity between the 2 sets of fans. I work with a number of italian guys – several of whom are Milan fans. They hate Inter almost more than they like Milan (if that makes sense). One guy is happier if Inter loses than if Milan wins. the northern italians can be (not all of them i’m sure) a strange bunch. A lot of them look upon Munich as their ‘spiritual capital’ and love the German lifestyle more than the italian. they consider people from the South of italy as another nationality. No exageration.
….PFayr
11:34 on 1 February, 2013
‘Lionroars
The defence she ran in that trial was preposterous …’
She was going through a divorce and an adoption process at the time of the offence.
Too much multi tasking if you ask me.
snake plissken
10:51 on
1 February, 2013
proudbhoy
Facts:
Bangura cost over 2M (reportedly)
Lassad was a free
Miku is a loan
—–
I was 99% sure these were facts, iv hardly got chance to be on blog last 2 days but the 2 times i got on to scroll abit kev was spouting this 5m nonesense.
And also consider how tight celtic are, we prob are not paying all miku’s wages.
Tim cahill ? Available on loan anyway know ?
Keep the faith
Fact(repotedly)
confused.com…. o))
From a magazine called “Fraud.com”:
‘In the regulatory world, a
“side letter” is perhaps
the most insidious and
destructive weapon in the
white-collar criminal’s
arsenal. With the flick of
a pen, underhanded
executives can cook the
books in enormous
amounts and render a
regulator helpless.’
Auldheid
Re the registration of side letters – the reason they didn’t is because rankers=sfa=rankers
To anyone who asks if you are missing Rangers.
Would you miss anyone who came into your home and dished out abuse to you and then wrecked it on their way out whilst shouting abuse at your neighbours?
Long they may rot in the lower reaches of the game and drag themselves through court case after court case.
The world is a brighter place without them. Our players have not been assulated much on the pitch this season either.
Coincedence? No.
Rangers players got away with murder so the referee’s had to let other teams away with it too and we bore the brunt of it. There has been better football and less thuggery. The longer they are gone the better the standard will get. We don’t want hammer throwersin the league we want football teams who play football.
LB
miki67 .
The Juve support is a very broad church . A truism is that relatively few of them come from Torino . The broad church includes a few hundred we like violence lulus. They are organized , they control parts of the stadium etc . Macho men who are into that violence thing . Tooled up ,likely to be wired on charlie/ wizz / steroids but never drunk . All the relevant traits —–image / ego /power/authority /territory / respect /pumping weight down the gym etc etc
79caps
11:20 on 1 February, 2013
I’m a bit disappointed that Lenny does not seem to have faith in our young goalkeepers. There is a 19-year-old in the England squad, but our young keepers don’t seem to be considered good enough to be our third choice after FF and Lukas. Or does it mean Lukas is leaving in the summer?
……………..
Who was our last great keeper to come through the Development set up???
Thomson is a clown, went down in my estimations now.
Chris Graham and Gri64 discredit him everyday yet Chris Graham tweets him a document about H&M and then Alex ?’s their motives.
The zombies ? everyone’s motives except the corrupt brothers at the SFA, I wonder why that is.
Every rule broken to help them and they have the cheek to ? H&M.
Before I get off the blog and gie it peace, the devil’s advocate in my head is saying: what if LNS allows the klan to wriggle off the hook in the name of public safety and those who pull the srtings politically have been working tirelessy in the orange shadows to ensure this result, and this is why the fat wee gauleiter, Sally, is strutting so smirkingly confident.
And the unrepentant rip-off merchants of sevconia seem bothered little.
I trust in nothing with regard to this saga. The one ray of hope I envisage is financial incompetence on their part again, and ye cannae argue with money or its lack, and that Chawlls runs when he’s accrued sufficient filthy lucre.
Bingo….bust again.
Makes me think of how Dingbat et al will react : y’know the garbled guff from G.W. Bush?…
” You can fool me once, shame on you; you can fool me twice….uh..you can fool me again…..uh…..uh….shame…uh…”….
…..fade to black.
EVEN the exertions of a long and gruelling journey couldn’t diminish Tom Rogic´s excitement at finally getting his Celtic career underway.
The 20-year-old only arrived in Glasgow last night from his native Australia but shook off any tiredness and jet-lag to report for duty this morning at Lennoxtown.
And the attacking midfielder was soon being put through his paces with his new team-mates in his first training session since his four-and-a-half year deal with the club was rubber-stamped.
Although the new Bhoy penned his contract in mid-January, visa requirements meant he had to return home for a period, allowing him to say his farewells and prepare for new life in Scotland as a Celtic player.
It´s been a whirlwind few weeks for Rogic and now all these obstacles have been negotiated he´s looking forward to focusing on football once again. He can´t wait to get started.
“The past few weeks have been pretty rapid for myself so I am looking forward to getting settled and to start playing football,” Rogic told the official website in an exclusive interview.
“I had to get my Visa sorted first and foremost and then I had to pack up my things and say goodbye to family.
“It has been a while since I have played a match but I am just excited about getting settled and concentrating on my football as it´s been a crazy couple of weeks and it´s all happened so fast. So I just want to settle down and to get on with training and playing is what I want to do.
“There was a bit of speculation from other clubs but from the minute I got here with Celtic, it felt right and now I just can´t wait to get started.
“It´s a step up compared to what I´m used to but something I feel I can adapt to and I´m just looking forward to developing and progressing here as a player, and hopefully I can contribute to the club´s success over time.”
Have you noticed that despite his previous confrontations with NL,and his very recent penalty spot screw up,Steven McLean is awarded the Raith game.
I have written to John Fleming asking how the selection of officials is conducted,as unless this is pulled out a bunnet then this appointment is mischievious at best.
We lost out as Euen Norris has the Sevco game,another surprise,then again maybe not.
Anyone else curious?
john.fleming@scottishfa.co.uk
Stewart.Reagan@scottishfa.co.uk
Just dropped back in to sort of reiterate my original
point about the huns. At NO time did I say that I
missed them !
But I did infer that I miss cuffing them. Whats wrong
with that ?
I’ll say it again – “I would rather cuff Sevco 7-0 in a Cup
Final rather than beat Barca !”
Every day of my life I would marvel at us/Celtic fans
latest attempts to strike a blow or the underdog.
Now I can’t do that.
What I do miss is – wrapping it right roon the huns
especially when both the team and the support
F####D the huns on the Hampden pitch in 1980
memories to treasure and take to the grave.
I apologise if I got a bit mixed-up(who me ?) about
the FACT’S of the Barca game. I’m truly sorry.
That game was one of the best nights of my life.
But, give me the choice…
Beat Barca or, cuff the huns 7-0 in a Cup Final…
…well, I would enjoy slaying the beasts more !!!
Hopefully that will clear things up a wee bit.
HH
Off oot.
south of tunis
>>>>>
Ta for that insight. I’m pretty sure you have the smarts to avoid the pumped up Neanderthas.
HH!
Stephbhoy1
More like a heid half empty sort a guy :-)
Wonder how long it is until our new signings are out with hamstring injuries.
Always seems to happen.
Hope we have looked at our training techniques.