Living so close to England it’s easy for us to get drawn into the ways and processes which prove effective south of the border. SPL clubs all scout there, more often than not trying to pick up physically robust scraps discarded by the lower leagues, or troubled souls looking for a sixth chance. Scottish clubs are full of players who have failed to make the grade in England.
When Motherwell were looking for a manager a year ago I heard one of their directors say they hoped to get someone with experience of the English lower leagues, as this has proven to be an effective place for them to network in the past.
Problems with the neighbours works both ways. It’s too easy for English clubs to use the loose change part of their budget to scoop up anything that looks like promising talent from the SPL. While most players will earn well in England, few enjoy the career progression they hoped for.
They do things differently elsewhere. When was the last time teams from Cyprus or Switzerland badgered an English League Two side for their surplus talent? Developing football teams is difficult but a good top level plan helps. One of the most encouraging aspects of Celtic’s top level plan is that it meets criteria that match our place in the world. Recruit talent from the right markets, at the right age and price. Some money has been spent in England, but not much, and those who have arrived from there look decent value.
If Celtic are to match the recent Champions League achievements of Basel or Apoel Nicosia, players like Izaguirre, Kayal, Wanyama and Ki, who pitch up in Glasgow from what appears to be beyond the horizon of the English, will be crucial. Just as those players at Basel and Apoel, they arrived here within an affordable budget and appear to have the talent required to compete at the level Celtic aspires to.
11 years ago we bought Chris Sutton from Chelsea against competition from other FA Premier League clubs. He was soon joined by others at the peak of their ability and reputation, all relatively low-risk signings. We had a few years in the sun but it was neither affordable nor sustainable.
We’ll know soon enough if the current crop of players trying to establish a reputation for themselves have what it takes to win the league and compete in Europe. Good top level plans can still fail in execution, but I’d rather this strategy than send my cash down the M6.
Issue 5 of CQN Magazine is due out next week, let me know if you would like to advertise, celticquicknews@gmail.com.
Read CQN Magazine for free online here. Subscriptions to the online copy are discretionary but you can contribute here. Old-school hard copies are available here from Magcloud.
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jackie mac says:
8 December, 2011 at 21:41
Hey, JackieMac.
Thanks for the post. Hopefully you can enjoy the game on Saturday, I have 6 Norwegian teenagers going, I’ll tell them to look out for a flipflop wearing kiwi – could be a difficult spot though.
Take it easy.
hh
bjmac
CRC – I’ve not read Kojo’s posts but have the responses to him, he rarely does anything else other than bring this blog down but everyone has a choice to read or ignore his offerings, I made my decision on that one a while back – looks like it was the right one and many others should follow in my footsteps ;-)
Goodnight Bhoys from a windy Manchester.
SOAL
Especially Kojo….
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:23
‘ernie
I wouldn’t like to argue with you on that. It was in the media at the time – about 30 years ago. I have no facts or statistics. It is just a memory from the past.’
I don’t deny it was widely reported. I remember it well enough.
I found this piece.
http://homepage.mac.com/jrc/contrib/sweden_suicide.html
The Eisenhower quote seems to be the source of the myth.
‘This country has a tremendous record for socialistic operation, following a socialistic philosophy, and the record shows that their rate of suicide has gone up almost unbelievably and I think they were almost the lowest nation in the world for that. Now, they have more than twice our rate. Drunkenness has gone up. Lack of ambition is discernible on all sides. Therefore, with that kind of example, let’s always remember Lincoln’s admonition. Let’s do in the federal Government only those things that people themselves cannot do at all, or cannot so well do in their individual capacities.’
Rashers Tierney says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:15
I usually scroll by his posts are they are mind numbingly boring and devoid of intelligent thought. It’s difficult to ignore him completely though when he is upsetting people with his nonsense. He speaks as if he is a world renowned Psychiatrist and a expert speaker on the workings of anti-depressants at conferences. Of course, he is not.
He is a silly man who courts controversy.
Attention seekers like him are usually deeply unhappy and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone but he really should learn when to stop.
I’m glad that you sought treatment and hope you take comfort from the fact that this condition is talked about more openly now and people are becoming more aware of it.
We shouldn’t let the half-baked, ignorant views of one man who has nothing interesting to say upset us.
hail hail
happy birthday to CRC !! well done fella !!
Dorothy and Todo just went passed the window there
hope you have been havin a great day
:)
The Spirit of Kano 1000 Lee says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:31
just checked. Not my wig, as mine is pollycelled on:-)
CRC
Not a problem Barrach. Glad to hear things aren’t so bad out there. It’s been as bad as I’ve seen it in Dalgety Bay today but nothing like what I have witnessed in South Uist over the years. Nights like tonight make me remember my late friend Archie MacPherson and his family. Hopefully it will be many many years before we have a repeat of that.
depression? nane of you know what that is. i will tell you about depression. depression is being laughed at by a bunch of aberdeen fans because some mental foreign bird tattoos some scouse guitar player on your leg in saloo rather than our club hero because she said i “talk funny” when i am steamboats. naw, i talk proper she just didnt understand. you guys have nae idea. sitting there, raging hangover, pushing a weetabix round a bowl of that minging foreign milk whilst 3 sheep botherers sing instant korma to you. why that boy wrote a song about curry i dont know. he looks like a korma eater though that john lennon, so i wasnae too surprised. haha
kojo i think you are right by the way. my cousin went to lourdes and was cured of her toothache. the church is the cure for all stuff, nae need for science or anything like that. that is all guff.
Mon the hoops!
Zbyszek, Gordon_J and everyone,
Anyone who pours any kind of scorn on mental illness is not worth debating with. They are way beneath contempt.
From RTC today…..!!!!
Following on from the previous blog post- which illustrated the willingness of a Rangers supporting journalist to subject himself to ridicule and to pass blatant disinformation off as fact- today we head into the sewers to take a look at how The Sun does it.
Our national tabloids have never been taken too seriously. However, at their best, the red-tops have used sensationalism to attract large audiences to stories involving fraud and hypocrisy among the famous and the powerful. How strange then to read this morning’s article “Whyte’s putting off AGM”. When has a down-market trash-tabloid like The Sun ever worked so hard at de-sensationalising a story? I would not argue for any paper to do anything other than print the facts, but this is The Sun. Making stories sexier than they really are has been their stock in trade for generations.
Taxes? No worries. ”…Whyte has been in detailed negotiations with HMRC to sort out the problems he inherited at Ibrox“
No audit? No problem. Rangers are just waiting on a wee letter from their busy lawyer who must just be swamped with other, more serious, issues.
Losing the tax case? Relax. Andrew Thornhill QC “expected the ruling to go in Gers’ favour and the club have had no suggestion that has changed“.
Rather odd to see a tabloid working so hard to take the heat out of a scandal!
Regular readers of this blog will know that this article in The Sun is riddled with disinformation and outright fabrications. The especially astute would wonder if a Sun hack had even penned a single word of this article. It is smeared with the fingerprints and DNA of the professional PR rep. (If Rangers’ PR gurus were any good at their trade, it would be a little less obvious). This article looks like it is a straight copy & paste from an email sent by the likes of Jack Irvine.
Negotiations with HMRC? Over which of the three cases is “The Sun” article referring? The Big Case? No- Whyte did try to engage in some discussions recently but those fell flat. The Wee Case which Whyte has recently opened an application for a belated appeal (despite the bill having been previously agreed). No. I don’t think so either. Or maybe most of Whyte’s recent discussions with HMRC have been “negotiating” the fact that Rangers have not been remitting the tax which they have been withholding from players’ salaries? Yes- that could be it.
Or Andrew Thornhill’s letter from last year? Is it this one mentioned by Rangers’ board of directors internal management communications from the middle of May? (Whyte was already in charge when this internal report was prepared).
Not exactly what “The Sun” has reported. Is it? This opinion amounts to “you are up for sale, and you need me to use my lawyerly skill to provide an empty and meaningless statement that sounds promising at first blush“. It looks like for the second time in a week, Rangers’ PR reps have been feeding untruths and disinformation to their friends in the media. In the case of The Telegraph’s Roddy Forsyth and The Sun’s Iain King, both have well known loyalties to Rangers.
Whether it is lack of intelligence, an absence of professional pride, or both that makes these journalists serve as willing channels for PR-guff does not really matter. The sad part is that even with the exposure of the failure of so many hacks to defend their beloved club from fraudsters and charlatans, they are still willing to wag their tails and wait for some scraps of succulent lamb to be thrown from their master’s table. Have they learned nothing?
If anyone was ever in any doubt as to how serious the crisis is within Scottish sports journalism, they need look no further than today’s The Sun. Not only are they hosing water on the seriousness of Rangers’ myriad legal and financial problems, but we are treated to a headline pumping the notion that Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool are ready to make their move for Rangers’ prime sellable asset, Nikica Jelavic. Let us hope that Whyte does not fluff the negotiations like he did in the summer. Contrary to the comical hype of the time, it is well accepted within Ibrox that not a single formal offer was received for Jelavic. A telephone enquiry was made by Leicester and a price of about £6m was discussed. However, Leicester did not follow through with an actual binding offer. At the time, it seemed that if Rangers FC were content to inflame the rage of HMRC staff with talk of being in a position to reject such princely sums, then it was not my job to intervene!
Whether Dalglish has any interest in Jelavic or not, I have no idea. What is clear is that Rangers are pulling in their markers in a big way to generate favourable press just now. Any sensible observer would be entitled to wonder why it is so important now.
ernie lynch says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:40
Ernie, thanks for shedding some light on this matter and pointing out the error of my ways. The figures for Lithuania which I think has a relatively small populaton are staggering.
Paddy Gallagher 1000
Many happy returns CRC – fine Celtic man that you are…:-))
Parkheadcumsalford,
You’re probably right. I just hate to let dangerous notions sit unchallenged – the stigma associated with mental illness is still a massive issue and a major reason for many people who delay seeking the help the desperately need.
Enough from me now.
Sorry celticrollercoaster…….
Happy birthday ♣ Kano
Lets not be kidded that jelly is going like we were abt Boyd leaving a few years ago. Ps where is he btw??
Dec Eff oFF!!
CRC
happy birthday mate…
How.many times can I make this mistake………….♣ kano
♣ Kano
Prediction for the weekend…………Glasgow and Edinburgh will both be green and white.
Ceaser67 says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:50
Ths was the guy who could score for fun v the wee teams in Scotland, look at him now.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spl/tom_english_few_at_ibrox_will_shed_tears_over_this_boydian_tragedy_1_1997161
Gordon_J backing Neil Lennon says:
8 December, 2011 at 22:49
I think the ad campaign that was run on television a couple of years ago has helped a lot. So have you and many other posters on here tonight. I hope that the levels of understanding of the illness and sympathy towards sufferers and their families have greatly increased from what they were some years ago.
Ok ok ♥ …. kano
Ceaser67 – why have i to eff off? what have i done? the board will be fooled again and the rangers masterplan for domination will continue. at least some celtic fans have woken up to how the rangers are operating. more need to. boyd returned to turkey so he could eat more monster munch
Hoooi Edinburgh
Can we get oooor wheely bins back?
Celtforlife & Gordon J-sobering posts,i agree with TTTT,it is a subject that needs experience of,to comment properly on it.Good luck to you and yours. HH.
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy,
Thanks. It is getting bettter, but slowly.
Kojo……you really shouldn’t pontificate on serious matters you know nothing about……
Hearing rumours that the rangers game at the weekend could be cancelled as the wind is so high there are fears that it might not keep their players upright for the 90 minutes
Now I am confused.
How many people on the blog is Kojo posting as ?
Kojo, whoever you are you are a smart bloke, there is no doubt about that, but on ocassion you seem to rile the blog for a laff. I can understand that when it is meaningless, but you have a habit of picking on others weaknesses, why would a fellow Tim do that to another Tim I ask myself.
I think you need to ask yourself the same question Kojo.
No idea what you know about clinical depression, but I would wager I have probably forgotten more about it than you will ever know going by your posts about it tonight.
Yer pal who thinks you are out of order this time.
SNP Voted in to Hamilton West and Earnock, good to see.
THE KANO FOUNDATION
Guests of The Kano Foundation this weekend are the JT all stars. These are kids who played in a charity football tournament organised by the John Thompson Memorial Committee earlier this year.
Secondly, Whiteleas Lions who hail (hail) from South Shields will also be coming along. It is no coincidence that they are called the ‘Lions’! They also play in the hoops. If anyone is interested they have a game on Saturday morning at Hamilton Palace about 11.30 .
Otherwise look out for us behind the goal in the Lisbon Lion stand.
Hail hail to the Bringing Martin Home bhoys as Kano’s second anniversary back home with his family looms. Make no mistake. Without CQN, that would never have happened. Paul67 has achieved great things over the years with this site. BMH still remains it’s greatest achievement.
My dear,dear,dear,friend.. Sadie’s Bhoy
Pal.
Since you have shown me.. that You do have more than a Passing Belief..in that, Confessions. Catholic Style..
Ur…
Indeed, Good For the soul..
Let me give you a piece of Advice…
Which..as You well know.. is up to your good self.. if you wish to follow.. or.. No.. tae follow..
Right??
Right.
Look.. Every Practising Catholic, has .at wan time or another
gone tae Confession..
However..
There is a Practise,Concerning the Penitential Rite.. oot here in Never Never Land.. that is beginning Tae Find New Adherents by the Day..
it is NO Available in Maist Churches.. but.. like Ah said
the Practise is Growing by leaps and Mair Leaps.
and
That is..
FACE TO FACE CONFESSION…in a Confessional Room..
Between the Priest and The Penitent…
Believe me..ye hiv never hid such a worthwhile experience, in the Unburdening Process, that ye wull receive.. from
wan of them THINGMYS!
Face to Face.. Jist YOU and the Priest…in a Well Lighted Room..
Ah wiz Seated, Comfortably …in My particular First Experience with the Subject.. in na Easy Chair..
With A side Table.. wi Floors and Ornaments.. and the Priest
sitting.. well within… Spittingi Distance , in front of ye.. also..
at Ease, In An Armchair..
The only thing Missing wis.. Whisky and Cigars!
Ah wull never go back tae the Old.. Confessional.. Darkened.. Broom Closet wi the Gridden Windae..
Pal..
Ah wiz so unburdened .. when Ah left.. that Particular Confessional .. Well…. ‘LIVING ROOM”..
Ah wiz so High wi Good Feelin’s…
that Ah found oot that Ah could still dae a Cart Wheel!
In fact, Ah did TWO!
Ah felt so Darned Good!!
You should Try it. fur yersel .. and See whit Ah mean.
It is awe Psychological.. Ah know that..
But..
Heck..
It sure. WOIKS!
Kojo
yer pal.. who likes ye aloater
Tha
New Aluko night club opened in St Helier tonight – not going back – pure dive.
THE EXILED TIM says:
8 December, 2011 at 23:01
‘Now I am confused.
How many people on the blog is Kojo posting as ?’
He quite often has conversations with himself.
It’s quite sad really when you think about it.
More to be pitied than scorned, but better still ignored altogether.
Mick- thanks for kind reply earlier mate.
Dec
Your LOYAL pals over on ff are needing you. Thats why you should EFF OFF!!!
Estadio Nacional says:
8 December, 2011 at 23:01
‘SNP Voted in to Hamilton West and Earnock, good to see.’
I’m sure Christine Grahame and her ilk will be delighted.