Our man Zbyszek joined a Krasnodar fan website last night to ask about Celtic signing target, Kouassi Eboue, from Ivory Coast. Here are some of the comments he got back:
“He has good technical skills, is fast and is good in the air. He’s shown to be comfortable in hard, dirty, games. At 19-years-old, he needs a good coach for his next step forward. I think the guy has a wonderful future ahead of him (or I know nothing about the game).”
Zbyszek asked why Krasnodar are selling Eboue:
“Krasnodar have a Financial Fair Play axe hanging over their heads. They have no money to strengthen the team and are in debt. They are also limited in the number of foreigners they have have in the squad.”
Eboue gave a recent interview to a Russian newspaper where he said:
“I’m always ready to play whichever position the coach things best, whether as a defensive midfielder or in the attacking zone. I feel I can grow as a player by becoming more involved in the attacking game, my coaching now concentrates more on this part of play.”
Kouassi grew up in a poor village near Dabou, in Ivory Coast. He first kicked a football at 5 and was invited to a local academy at 10. By 15 he received his first invitation abroad – Armenia, where he moved three years ago.
Krasnodar coach, Oleg Kononov, took an interest in Eboue, who trained with the club for a few weeks before making the move ro Russia formal in May 2014.
The player turned 19 less than a month ago, so his rise to an established first-team player in the Russian Premier League has been rapid. This has been a challenging deal for Celtic, a lot more so than scouting the best breaking through at Tannadice.
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***Fat Bhoys Slim (but only in their minds really) 2017***
Evening fholks, each year we run a Fat Bhoys Slim for a period of 20 weeks to try and shed that excess weight gained over the festive period and beyond.
This year the Fat Bhoys re-assemble bigger and better (fatter) and look to start this weekend (Sat 7th Jan).
Does it work? Probably for most, no, but it gives a chance for additional banter, fatbhoy grief and original fatbhoy sin and guilt to at least make you make an effort for the first 6-7 weeks.
If you want to join us this year, send me an email at celticrollercoaster@yahoo.co.uk
HH
CRC
Bateen Bhoy
I noticed how Vic strolled it.
Just like we stood up against the billionairs of citeh, they can hype the stuff all they want, it’s pish imo, a total lack of passion, as you say over hyped to the enth degree, it will be some time afore I will watch another one.
HH
Lennybhoy on 4th January 2017 9:54 pm
BIGBONES8867 SUPPORTS MO’N AND IRELAND on 4TH JANUARY 2017 9:50 PM
I have BSR and Pogmathonyahun’s contact details if you want to pass yours to anyone else you can send your details to lennybhoycfc@gmail.com
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
Dia duit Lennybhoy
Looking to share email addresses with Mighty Tim if you can facilitate us I would be most grateful.
I’ll email you shortly
HH BB
Much lauding of Victor Wanyama after he strolled it tonight.
Brown/Wanyama/Ledley – best ever central midfield I’ve seen at Celtic. Will we see its like again?
But away with such pointless nostalgia. Food for thought, or meaningless stat? Current points percentages from starts in all competitions (players with over 50 starts):
Izaguirre 77.02% 543/705
Forrest 76.29% 341/447
Commons 75.33% 400/531
Gordon 74.07% 300/405
Armstrong 73.74% 146/198
Brown 73.61% 837/1137
Griffiths 72.57% 209/288
Ambrose 70.40% 302/429
Bitton 68.30% 209/306
Lustig 67.99% 308/453
Tierney 67.92% 108/159
Rogic 66.67% 108/162
Mcgregor 65.00% 117/180
BIGBONES8867 SUPPORTS MO’N AND IRELAND on 4TH JANUARY 2017 10:08 PM
I’ve passed your e-mail addy to Mighty Tim who has confirmed receipt. I’ve also e-maile you his e-mail and moby details.
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
The rags have Bitton possibly going to Fulham……makes sense if Eboue coming in
Loads of chat on here today about ins and outs (understandably), however, Brendan has done the job 100% so far as that is concerned, so it would be a fine idea to let him get on with it. I’m confident that he will do the Biz.
Onwardandupward CSC
I’ve always been interested in the variuos saints names around here and their history.
Quite hard to find out .maybe partly due to neglect and politics and religious leaders from the reformation onwards.
Hhhmmm
However. I read this just last night (exciting drying oot night)
NS46NE 12 49471 67830.
(NS 4947 6782) Argyll Stone (NR)
OS 1:10000 map (1974)
Two stones, one the pediment and the other the base of a cross said to have been erected to the memory of St Conval, (said by Fordun to be buried at Inchinnan: NS46NE 7) were moved to Blythswood policies before 1836, where they were surrounded by an ornamental fence. The whereabouts of the remainder of the cross are not known. The pediment stone is now called the Argyle Stone, as it is said that the Earl of Argyle rested here after his capture in 1685. Water from the hollow in the cross- base, St Conval’s Chariot, was said to have healing and medicinal properties.
J A Dunn 1971; New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845 (D MacFarlan); R McClelland 1905
The two stones, surrounded by iron railings, occupy a site now overgrown with trees and bushes. They are approximately 1.0m in length, 0.5m in width and 0.7m in height; “the hollow in ‘St Conval’s Stone’ is approximately 9 ins in diameter and 7 ins deep”.
JUDITH GOT A STAG IN SIGHTS!!!
HER
!!BADA BING!! on 4TH JANUARY 2017 10:27 PM
The rags have Bitton possibly going to Fulham……makes sense if Eboue coming in
—–
He’s best mates with Johansen.
All our transfers are punts.
All our signings are projects.
None come with a guarantee of success.
Lljunberg, Wright, Jarosik, Juninho, Dublin, Carlton Cole and Gravesen were relative failures but they had all been recent established Premiership stars.
Even those who knew of Moravcik and Larsson never predicted how good they would be.
Some players look good with one team and hapless with the next team they play for. Any manager buying such a player does not know if he is getting a Sutton, someone determined to prove himself, or a Ljunberg, tired and out of love with football just earning himself a final unjustified transfer fee slice.
We really need to see Eboue in action within our squad in our playing environment before we can categorise him.
I accept that it is a strange one- a big-ish fee for a not fully established player, and from a league that can usually out-bid us. In that sense he can be compared with both Moussa and Amido Balde- similar provenance – vastly different outcomes.
Then, there’s his age. He is 6 months younger than Kieran, 10 months younger than Patrick Roberts, 18 months younger than Moussa, but he is 5 months older than Kristofer Ajer.
For the next 5 months he will be playing only domestic SPL games, if chosen, to make his mark or fail to establish. By the time the CL qualifiers roll around he will be of a similar age as Kieran and Moussa were when they played in Barcelona this season.
So who knows where Kouassi will be for us? A nearly man like N’Guemo and Wakaso or one who will be fully established – anywhere in the range from Wanyama to Ki to Bitton (all of whom were called prospects and punts at one time).
My bet is he will be one for the future but the very near future as opposed to 2 years time. Look how long it took Tom Rogic to get established.
Half the players we swear by this season are players we were swearing at in recent seasons (Forrest, Armstrong, Brown and Gordon). Whose to say that Nir Bitton or Cristian Gamboa will kick on to new levels or one of the young boys take their chance in a similar way to Kieran?
I’m willing to let the guys who see these players 5 or 6 days a week judge this. We only get to see a 90 minute fraction of what these guys bring to the club.
We do have a very good control group for determining how effective this punt was. We can compare Eboue’s progress with that of Darlington Nagbe, who was also under consideration, for a similar price, and judge whether the right selection was made.
Even if Kouassi comes out at the wrong end of this comparison, we can still say that both players were punts at this stage in their development. All players, apart from Messi and Ronaldo & co would be.
TTR- i think Bitton’s chance has come and gone, time to move on, we could get £3-4 mil from Fulham…
Who is to say? not Whose to say?
Eejit
!!BADA BING!! on 4TH JANUARY 2017 10:48 PM
TTR- i think Bitton’s chance has come and gone, time to move on, we could get £3-4 mil from Fulham…
——
I would be happy with £2m to be honest.
2M with a 15% sell on ;)
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 4TH JANUARY 2017 10:46 PM
Completely agree with your assessment.
In my view , Brendan can afford to make miscalculations / mistakes in his choice of future imports .
He`s already got the runs on the board .
And how.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 4TH JANUARY 2017 10:46 PM
I would like to think we have now moved up a level in terms of the quality of player we are trying to recruit. The level of risk should be reduced to an extent in terms of scouting and background research. I believe we are now recruiting players for the first team in the immediate future rather than projects who may or may not make it in two of three years from now. I genuinely expect to see Eboue in the first team regularly before seasons end. Whether it’s Kolo Toure through his Ivorian connections or someone else, we must have carried out due diligence to the extent that we have a high level of certainly that this lad will make it.
THETIMREAPER on 4TH JANUARY 2017 11:01 PM
Re . Kolo Toure.
Good point.
Bitton could well thrive at a club like Fulham.
The new lad, if he signs, well, like everyone else we wait and see.
I’m just surprised no one has ‘snubbed’ us yet. It’s only a matter of time. And I’m sure by now someone has usually turned us down to join Sevco.
Oh look, a squirrel…….
Parallel universes.
Watching scot squad which I do find a wee bit funny while timternetting celtic church saints.
This wee gem.
Kilblain in Greenock refers to a cell or church of saint Blane that once stood there.
SFTB
Scottish fitba.
Some just cannae hack it here and I’d say they have to be willing to either do a bit of that themselves or be tough enough to take it on a regular basis.
Always remember Henrik sticking his napper intae a Motherwell players chest not long into his career here because he was streetwise enough to know what was needed at times!
Macjay
Agreed- more hits than misses at present.
TTR
“I believe we are now recruiting players for the first team in the immediate future rather than projects ”
We are recruiting players we believe could be first team ready.
We are also recruiting players we believe will beef up the squad.
And we are also continuing to recruit development level youth who will take 2 or 3 or 4 years to be first team ready.
From memory, I think Brendan made 5 signings at the start of his tenure with us- Sinclair, Toure, Dembele, De Vries and Gamboa.
Most of us expected Toure to be a regular pick.
Most of us hoped Sinky would recover his Swansea form rather than show his Villa form, if so he would be a first team pick.
Most of us thought that Dembele would supplant Ciftci as the back up striker because we did not see a 40 goal man being dropped.
The view on De Vries was mixed. Those who remembered his time in Scotland saw nothing other than back up possibilities. But those who saw him in England, including Brendan, saw him as a potential number one.
Finally, the view on Gamboa was that he was a WC scouting signing. A guy who did not make it at West Brom and was unlikely to make it here. Someone to reduce Tony Ralston’s chances , at best.
As it turned out- only 2 of these 5 are crowd-majority starters (Dembele & Sinclair). Only 40% of Brendan;s signings fit your categorisation as immediate future “picks”.
I would categorise 40% of them as clear back up (Gamboa and De Vries) with Toure’s classification open to speculation.
In any case, I doubt very much that Brendan has promised Eboue a regular starting role nut, just as Craig Gordon did, Brendan is open to being persuaded by Eboue’s performance when he gets here.
I think the days of a regular tight 11 to 18 players is long gone. It’s a squad game nowadays. We need players at all levels.
First team ready
Squad ready
Back up Ready
& Development Team ready
Thunder Road
Very fair point about being able to cope with the Lasley, McCullough, and Goodwin type players who thrive here.
I think Jarosik, in particular, did not cope well with this and was only really trusted in European ties.
Mind you, he one us 2 great and historic free kicks with his, ahem, European wiles.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 4TH JANUARY 2017 11:16 PM
De Vries was brought in with a view to being No1 without a doubt, he stated his first half dozen or so matches. I think we would have seen more of Kolo if it hadn’t been for the emergence of Jozo. Regardless, having a player of Kolo’s pedigree and experience in the dressing room has been invaluable. As for Gamboa, i think Janko had such a nightmare over in Beer Sheva that we just had to get a better back up to Lustig. I don’t think it will inhibit Ralston’s development to a great degree.
Brendan’s first transfer window was as much about trying to fill gaps more than anything. Now, 6 months down the line, things have moved up a notch. He knows where he stands and will recruit accordingly, imo.
St Stivs
St Blanes was also a major early Christian site near Kilchattan Bay on BUTE – very close to where I had a helluva lot to drink on two days earlier this week :-)
Macjay
Met up with Rab L on the island – he has very fond memories of your time at Uni and sends his best wishes. Misses you at reunions.
Cheers
TTR
Well, the next few signings will prove one of us right.
I expect to see more than just “first team ready” signings. I also expect some of the signings will not make it with us.
I’ve never yet seen a manager and scouting set up with a 100% record on transfers. Brendan bought a few duds with Liverpool- they come with the territory and the responsibility.
I think there’s been less of a revolution than you are seeing. I think we just have a more experienced and confident manager in the post.
As Macjay said, Brendan has earned the right to get it wrong a few times. So long as the overall direction remains upwardly competitive, we can let a lot slide.
I will be as much interested in how we move players on as in who we buy as we still have an over-large squad.
Leader.
“He has good technical skills, is fast and is good in the air. He’s shown to be comfortable in hard, dirty, games. .”
Possibly this is the ” enforcer ” ( ” hatchet man ” in my day ) that some feel is needed to cope with the demands of the more agricultural aspects of the Scottish game.
I hope so.
Also she since we are on saints with a Celtic Connection!
Natives of BUTE are referred to as ‘Brandanes’ from St Brendan who drove the hunnites into the Kyles of BUTE on a dark an stormy night :-)
JINKYREDSTAR on 4TH JANUARY 2017 11:36 PM
Great to hear that , Jinky.
I was pleased he was able to identify me from the description.
:-)
Rab was an amazing character whose company I always enjoyed .
God willing I`ll get over there at some stage and share a yarn or two with him .
And perhaps with your good self.
Hail Hail
I am just reading about saint Brendan now an a visit to an island in Argyll.
Bute it must have been.
Several other saints connection as well
Fascinating.
http://www.history.com/news/did-an-irish-monk-discover-america
SFTB
Lol, yeah some were sharp enough in other ways!
Lubo was the cherry on the cake as far as I’m concerned because he went against the grain, with few of the boxes Czeched that we probably look for nowadays.
The wee guy was at the twighlight of his career with no sell on value, didn’t have much pace and as far as I can remember wasn’t one to get involved in any of the darker sides of the game, but he was so clever, had the ability to back it up and as wee Gordon Strachan likes to say about players………He was brave on the ball and such were those attributes that he is wee legend here.
Who knows who’s gonna work out?
Anyways baw baws.
HH
Macjay – I look forward to sharing a arm and a glass
St Stivs – BUTE has a fascinating history – stone circles and all
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 4TH JANUARY 2017 11:38 PM
I would like to see 2 more quality signings in addition to Eboue. We have enough squad players to win the SPFL with a bit to spare. If Europe is the benchmark we will need genuine quality to enable progress.
As for players leaving, the writing is on the wall for Bitton. I think McGregor has a future. Allan, Boyata, Ciftci, Efe and Kris are all out of the picture. GMS has the remainder of this season to convince. As for Henderson and Christie, we shall see.
Huns are contesting Kiernan 2 match ban….in fairness its their best chance of winning something this season…
CULTSBHOY
Maybe they are hoping their appeal works and they can have a new record for most successful appeals?
Keep him penalty free so he can sign for a champions league contender and earn them a massive war chest.