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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kevinlasvegas
16:09 on 2 February, 2013
It was nothing Raven, he said it wasnt his story to break, It could have been stock market related. Who knows.
KLV
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Ok kev, thanks anyway
Today is Sally’s Groundhog Day, getting gubbed in the cup again and again and again…
And to think how often we were getting told that Celtic were struggling to win in the SPL because they didn’t have “Rangers” pushing them. Good grief (as Paul might say)!
Welcome back!
Where did everybody go?
Only saw about 20 mins of the Arabs skelpin’ the zombies, and missed all the goals!
Great result!
McCoist’s record of being pumped out of every cup competition remains intact!
Comfort eating for him tonight – 4 take aways – pizza, a Chinese, an Indian and a fish supper! … but not necessarily in that order!
Fat useless chancer!
Give him that 25 year contract!
HH!!
Some blood letting on the zombie sites. They cant decide who they hate more Black or Sally.
Oh! and penny finally dropped Chuck has not put a bean into the club and they are running at a loss.
After I stopped laughing at the ‘join the Army’ advert on rm, i noticed this….LOL
Disgusting language edited
“Are you for real, wake up and smell the coffee mate, McCoist will always be a legend at the club but don’t let that mask the fact that he is not the man to take us forward. We have been shoite all season, the last two games at ibrox have been shocking. Another performance where no-one had a fouking clue and as for perry and cribari. Thats the worst centre half pairing I’ve witnessed in my 33 years on this planet. IM not kidding when i say id do a better job. Id certainly not be letting wee cunnts like that Russell waltz through me every two minutes challenge free”
Was saying to my hun mate that he should feel more positive about todays result
as I thought it was a close game up to the first goal.He seemed to take it well.
The Huddleboard @huddleboard
from johnnymcd1888 http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo284/johnnymcd76/IanBlack_zps560cfdcc.jpg …
£20 on Utd to win half time.full time at 2.25/1. Ker-ching! Thank you very much fat Sally.
HH
CRC
HH
I think the extra time failure IS something that should be raised. Was like a Sat morning under 7’s match, when you stop it early . Moreover fholks were shortchanged at the bookies..
And PLEASE will someone, ANYONE, on the MSM , call them Sevco!!!!
I m sick of this conspiracy that nothing has changed.. Rankers died. End of.
The tribute act today were a bitter , angry unruly mob..have a look at Black again Mr Compliance officer…
I may buy the Herald on Sun/Mon to see Messrs Wilson & Grant spin this for their friend Sally…
My goodness… Today has turned out well..
HH
PETE THE BEAT…………Yea, sweated through the second half but what terrific game of rugby. great win considering we played 20 mins of the second half with fourteen men against the Welsh bruisers. Sean O’Brien and O’Driscoll were brilliant. Bring on the English chaps next week. Could be our Championship year.
FFs, at least 4-5 mins of added time due. Scum, Norris.