January window – the fundamental problem with Hooper transfer

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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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  1. chasbhoy

     

     

    13:04 on 1 February, 2013

     

     

    Stephebhoy1

     

    11:23 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

     

    ‘I reiterate..feck the huns, they are nothing other than a shower of oraxxx barstewards that we never will forget. Thank god etc,,,,,,

     

    —————————————————————————————————————–

     

     

    What does that foul, semi-literate post bring to CQN?’

     

     

    ###

     

     

     

    Colour and vibrancy against a musical background.

  2. TwoMacaroons

     

     

    – Signed the slovak keeper in that window, on loan. but he has now returned to nantes. Currently we only have zaluska plus age group players. (unless Viktor the Swede has signed). STV claim he has signed, but they aren’t the most reliable…

  3. The boy Jinky-I watched a game on the sausage last week on Fox Sports America,you know who was on the panel….

  4. Cometh the hour, cometh the

     

    man

     

    Posted by Phil Mac Giolla Bhain

     

    Leadership cannot be taught,

     

    but some men just have it

     

    naturally.

     

    Clearly Alistair McCoist is

     

    such a man, as was Margaret

     

    Thatcher, but I digress.

     

    Today at Hampden park

     

    representatives of the 30

     

    Scottish Football League (SFL)

     

    clubs gathered to formulate their

     

    collective view of the SPL’s restructuring

     

    plans.

     

    New Rangers were represented by none

     

    other than Mr Alistair McCoist and

     

    another club employee.

     

    All eyes were on the ex-striker as he

     

    stood to speak at the start of the

     

    meeting.

     

    He was positively Churchillian as he called

     

    on the assembled representatives to

     

    reject the SPL proposals out of hand.

     

    Moreover he wanted it put to a vote

     

    without further delay.

     

    He reminded them that the clubs in the

     

    Scottish Football League were in a great

     

    position.

     

    The rallying cry from Mr New Rangers was

     

    ‘one club, one vote!’

     

    Mr McCoist was supported in his plea by

     

    East Stirlingshire chairman Tony Ford.

     

    The Royal Navy ex-submariner fired a

     

    torpedo loaded with passion at the top

     

    table, saying that ‘Rangers’ were the

     

    biggest club in Scotland and, ipso facto,

     

    should have a vote in these proceedings.

     

    As it was not an EGM, then it was no

     

    problem to give the new club ‘a courtesy

     

    vote’ for the day.

     

    Now that’s nice.

     

    When the McCoist proposal was put to a

     

    vote it didn’t quite go to plan.

     

    After the votes were counted they

     

    revealed that 28 out of 30 did not accept

     

    Super Ally’s motion, with one abstention

     

    from Livingston.

     

    That club seems to be keeping their

     

    options open despite Livi Chairman

     

    Gordon McDougall being on the SFL

     

    management team that has been looking

     

    into the proposals.

     

    Only East Stirlingshire voted in favour of

     

    McCoist’s clarion call to reject the SPL

     

    proposal with everyone else voting

     

    against, including the other chap from

     

    New Rangers.

     

    It is a bad day when your own guy doesn’t

     

    vote for your proposal.

     

    Shome mishtake shurely…

     

    The meeting then broke up for a convivial

     

    lunch, but Mr McCoist was nowhere to be

     

    seen.

     

    He obviously had other important matters

     

    to attend to and had no time for idle chit

     

    chat.

     

    Leadership can be a lonely place.

  5. The boy Jinky.

     

     

    I’ve been through that procedure there was a green box which I pressed but nothing happened,I can’t imagine what I’m doing wrong,I’ll try again,then I’ll wait on you coming back from holiday and see you before the next game.

     

    I’m probably doing something wrong,but I don’t know what?.

  6. GlassTwoThirdsFull on

    Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon 13:02 on 1 February, 2013

     

    Think about the logic – if any ineligible player was played then the result is changed to a 3 – 0 defeat. That means recalculating league tables from past years.

     

     

    Motherwell will do pretty well out of that!

  7. “No Bobby Does It Petta

     

    13:59 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

    I look forward to The Rangers’ return to the SPL”

     

     

    When were The Rangers in the SPL?

     

     

    JJ

  8. Gordon j

     

     

    As time passes … Folk are slipping up… Falling for the media campaign …

     

     

    We need to ensure its never forgotten that they have no history… Don’t ever let them live the lie

  9. Gordon j

     

     

    Pretty straightforward …. Not rocket science… Dead means dead.

     

     

    And as for missing them … I miss my mum.. my dad… My son ….. not that demented vile mob and their team of cheats and cloggers .

  10. The Boy Jinky.

     

     

    No problem,I’m definitely on the net,I get Mails ,and read the news,so I’m there,I probably won’t use the mobile as the letters when you mail someone are too small for my arthritic fingers.see you when you get back anyway.

  11. Kilbowie Kelt

     

     

    Great post. My developing view is that supporters of the successor club to Rangers FC are in a very near danger of forming what could be described as a sub-culture, whose identification and manifestation is far closer to East Belfast than to mainstream Scotland. That is not a healthy place to be, rooted as it is in bigotry, hatred and sectarianism. Even the British Army, or more accurately the Royal Regiment of Scotland, have realised that their obsession with appearing at Ibrox, (re their recent shambolic behaviour during Remembrance Day) shows them in a dark light, and are publicly retreating from it, and not before time.

  12. Por Cierto

     

     

    God ye get away with nothing on CQN :)

     

     

    I was on the mobile and its not so easy typing so I thought och leave it there.

     

     

    My thinking is not based on any inside info but on the various forces at work that will change thinking and with it the landscape.

     

     

    One of the changes currently underway is the realisation amongst supporters of all clubs, hammered home by reality itself, is that the football business is truly an interdependent one and that if it is to survive as a competitive sport its integrity must be protected and what is bad for one club is bad for all clubs and so the game itself. This is already evident in agreements to share revenue more equitably and that force will continue.

     

     

    I think that the distribution of CL money has done more than any other factor to skew competition in European football never mind Scotland. That skew, whilst it will be in Celtic’s favour for the foreseeable future is not good for Scottish football within the confines of Scotland. Celtic either get out or the confines are removed. UEFA themselves are softening on borders because they see the damage concentration of wealth is causing.

     

     

    In that respect i will be interesting to see how The Rangers get on using EU competition rules to challenge the EPL cartel. It is particularly ironic that we might have what was the establishment club whose basis was union wanting the full benefts of that union flowing to them in that if they succedd those benefits would apply to all the other Scottish clubs including Celtic.

     

     

    The UK is one country at present and it strikes me as ironic that whilst politicians argue for an independent Scotland, Scottish football suggests that if football were an example, the country would struggle working from a smaller market and population base.

     

     

    A lot will depend on the result of the referendum of course but if I were making a case for retaining the union I would use the football business angle and would be promising Scottish football clubs and supporters access to the full UK football market and through it the global one that watches worldwide and does not know how far Aberdeen is from Bolton as both clubs, fuelled from the same income sources compete to enter the top flight.

     

     

    Before I retired I was involved in some large value IT purchasing and became passingly familiar with EU competition law and was convinced then the EPL constituted a cartel and a case against them to either be allowed the opportunity to enter or be compensated for being excluded could be made.

     

     

    I concluded that Celtic were unwilling to pursue because UEFA and Scottish football were agin it. The fear of reprisal for going to court was also there.

     

     

    However attitudes are changing at UEFA because of the plight some clubs find themselves in (partially caused by Uefa’ mal distribution of wealth) and in The Rangers there is the perfect stalking horse since they are out of Europe for a while and have less to lose.

     

     

    The consequences of a succesful challenge would open the doors to a UK National league with large clubs playing across the country and smaller ones in regional leagues with promotion to the national ones.

     

     

    And not before time imo.

  13. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    miki67

     

    11:35 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

    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.

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

     

     

    Monaghan1900

     

    11:39 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

    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.

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    With respect to all other posters,a dead-heat for

     

     

    POST OF THE DAY

     

     

    imo,and there have been some worthy contenders.

     

     

    Keep telling it like it is,fellas.

  14. Glendalystonsils likes a mr whippy with his lime green jelly on

    There’s a job waiting for Burley at R*ngers T.V.

     

    The downside for him will not being able to slag Celtic as we will be operating several divisions higher than the crud he’ll be commentating on.

  15. Latest article from Mark Dingwall with Quotes in Latin (will that not earn him a ban from FF?) :-

     

     

     

     

     

    “Eppur si muove said the brave scientific pioneer as he appeared in front of the Inquisition.

     

     

     

     

    In 1633 he was forced to recant his belief that the earth moves around the sun. Under heavy pressure he recanted his heresy against Church orthodoxy and saved himself from death by torture, burning or some other ecclesiastical nicety. He would spend the rest of his life under house arrest.

     

     

     

     

    Yet, as he left the tribunal it is said – “The moment he was set at liberty, he looked up to the sky and down to the ground, and, stamping with his foot, in a contemplative mood, said, Eppur si move.”

     

     

     

     

    And so it is with Rangers.

     

     

     

     

    Assorted haters, in various guises, have sought to denigrate the club and it’s fans. Hence, the Scottish media has been replete with references to “the new club” or “newco Rangers” and such bitter nonsense.

     

     

     

     

    Such wretches, having failed to see the club destroyed, are now reduced to a public bar style discussion on the metaphysics of the nature, form and existence of a football club in a desperate attempt to rationalise their hatred.

     

     

     

     

    Yet, for all the pseudo-intellectual chicanery their deceit runs aground on a large rock – the simple fact that Rangers exist.

     

     

     

     

    If it looks like a duck, walk like a duck, and quacks like a duck – then it’s a duck.

     

     

     

     

    You’ve got the bizarre spectacle of many of the Scottish media’s self-styled football gurus trying to cope with the fact that they believe 50,000 people part with hard cash turn up every other Saturday to sit for 90 minutes in an empty stadium not to see a club that doesn’t exist. Not only do the Rangers fans do this but visiting fans, players and officials all play their part in this elaborate charade.

     

     

     

     

    Rangers exist – and they move on.

     

     

     

     

    Hateful thinking will not change that.”

     

     

     

     

    As for- “If it looks like a duck, walk like a duck, and quacks like a duck – then it’s a duck. “

     

     

    Has he never heard of CGI, cloning, or zombiefication? Maybe he needs it explained to him in Latin.

     

     

     

    Amo Amas Amat

     

    Yir clubs deid and that’s that

  16. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    KevJungle – Murdo Macleod – 4-2 – Cheerio 10 iar :o)

     

    12:23 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

    FAVOURITE UNCLE

     

     

    12:17 on 1 February, 2013

     

    ________________________________

     

    Well I’m all broken up.

     

    Us Jungle guys don’t join cliques

     

    anyway. So there.

     

    TFOOH

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    So who wants to tell him The Jungle has gone since he last attended Celtic Park?

     

     

    The Louden is still open,though……….

  17. johann murdoch on

    Craig Burley educates me actually!…everytime I hear his voice,I switch off and go into another room and read a book.

  18. Neil canamalar Lennon hunskelper extrordinaire on

    Looks like he’s been reading Tinkerbell FC stories and has confused derision whit hate :oD)))

  19. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    The Token Tim

     

    12:52 on

     

    1 February, 2013

     

    TT/Ernie Lynch/TheOriginalSadie’s Bhoy,

     

     

    Have to admit, I couldn’t really care less whether we receive any stripped titles or not (albeit they are our due).

     

    If and i stress IF, they actually are stripped of any titles, that will do for me!

     

     

    HAIL! HAIL!

     

    Token

     

     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     

     

    I largely agree,the only reason to have those titles is to have us going for squillions in a row.

     

     

    We’ll overtake them anyway,same as has happened in NI.

     

     

    Superiority got the better of them both sides of the water,tough titty.

     

     

    Although,since it was OUR titles they stole,it’s a bit like knocking a guy out and getting a draw…….

  20. Money is everything in football. For Sevco to have any chance of competing against Celtic they must generate income , especially to compete in Europe.

     

    European money has kept them going in the past, however their massive problem when they do eventually qualify for Europe is their seeding points will be zero.Consequently they will always have to play a seeded team in order to qualify for the group stages. It’s hard enough qualifying as a seeded team never mind as an unseeded team. So they need a run in Europe to generate enough points to be seeded but can’t get that run because they will be unseeded. Perfect storm!

  21. I don’t understand how so much weight is being put on the FTT majority decision of Mure QC & Rae, which favoured Rangers and the decision that Lord Nimmo Smith will make regarding the improper registration/payment of players.

     

     

    The FTT is under appeal by HMRC and as such has yet to be determined.

     

     

    If leave to appeal is granted to HMRC and the FTT is overturned the minority view of Dr Poon would be the correct position in law.

     

     

    As I see it Nimmo Smith & Co can look at productions and the decision of the FTT but they would be unwise to come to anything other than his own decision.

     

     

    Does anyone know if leave to appeal has been granted by Mure QC?

  22. So in Dingwall’s analogy The Rangers are Galileo? Well, I suppose he was standing against the Pope which is a point in his favour. And I suppose they think that the sun revolves around their dead club, which is the centre of the earth.