I think we all like Mikael Lustig. This week the defender spoke to the Norwegian media, expressing frustration at the lack of clarity surrounding his future. Celtic have an option to retain him next season, but in January brought in a hoped-for loan replacement, Jeremy Toljan.
Toljan did not work out but the club are clearly still looking for a new right back. I am not sure when Celtic’s option expires, but If they get a satisfactory replacement, Mikael will be allowed to leave, if not, he will stay.
This is the football business. It is harsh, even more so for young players released before they make a significant living from the game, of for those from an earlier generation, who achieved greatness and found themselves without money or a trade in their 30s.
Players will often talk about their “love” for a club, but that love is invariably wrapped up in a lucrative contract. The love becomes a fondness if offered a wage that would be regarded as spectacular to most fans.
I really like Mikael and I know we need cover for every position, but even the good guys sometimes have to wait under the terms of their contract for a decision, and they all need to move on one day.
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Mahe
Supporter angst in my mind is directly linked to the relative strength of the team.
In my mind the angst is directly linked to the importance of the domestic targets being reached. We were not as anxious during the Deila years nor in the 90’s. Just look at the SC final- a really poor match followed by an explosion of joy (followed by a few frowns at the managerial announcement but that was only a small hiatus in the celebrations).
It felt much different than even the 1995 final when we won an equally poor game but loved winning a trophy after a long absence, and definitely different to the 2004 final where Doumbe scored the winner with 6 minutes to go, a poor game and , even though it got us a Double, we were not as joyous as the Treble Treble
I see your statement as confirmation we arent very good and may get caught.
I can’t stop you seeing it any way you wish but it’s not what I’m saying. Every win was hard earned. I remember Hearts and Aberdeen leading the league for long spells but we triumphed. I will not adopt the hun mantra that it only matters when they are in it to compete.
We should ask why after 8 years we dont have a very good squad with many no where near our class. That should never happen again and whatever changes need made to ensure that should be a priority imo .
I am glad that we re-signed Forrest, Ajer, McGregor, Rogic, Tierney etc. I am glad we got Karamoko to sign his first pro contract, when many mineshafters guessed he wouldn’t. I am glad Ewan Henderson signed on when he was threatening to follow his brother. I am glad that Broony stayed on as we needed him several times this year to get our troops firing. I accept that the likes of Ntcham and Edouard and, maybe even Tierney/Rogic/McGregor/Forrest could all go if big enough offers come in. That’s the way of modern football. Van Dijk left, Wanyama left and even the lesser loved Ki went. We survived, re-grouped and went on. Some want to explain that away by saying PL is actively hawking them. I know that it is just bigger money screaming at us and the players.
We might have kept Boyata if we payed him Larsson level wages but, frankly, first choice though he was, he was not worth that much. Ajer and Simo plus new guys will do until they reach Boyata levels; hell knows it took Dedryck long enough to reach the level of performance he was producing as he left us.
Why our fans never revolted?
This blog was very popular back then and it had a big say in who what when where why as far as action and targets go. However I feel that it was lead by the boardroom to travel the path they wanted travelled.
I mean if Cqn called for a boycott,,gathered the pensmiths and went on a sustained campaign to clean up the game for the good of the cause by withholding until we get proper results then right now I imagine things would look very different in a positive way.
No- I can’t accept that one. You credit CQN with far too much influence and you come close to insulting a lot of the Celtic support in saying they were misled. Most of Paul’s leaders are ignored, many are insulted by suggestion that PL tells him what to write, and the rest insult Paul because he did not write what they wanted said- even though they get the chance to say it themselves on here.
Honestly, this is close to toddler reasoning- “He made me do it!” or “He told me it was ok”
All Paul has tried to do is say that the club needs to live within its means and that the “What happened to the Seville (Van Dijk/Dembele) money?” is just an attempt to re-live the Rangers of the 90s when they were taking English players from big clubs with dubious financing.
We could reduce PL’s wages by more than half tomorrow. We could spend £15-20 million on transfers, maybe more if we have to sell a Tierney, but we would still not be odds on to get into a CL group. We would still not have altered our stars by anywhere near enough. We have enough Professor Harold Hills peddling us surefire quack solutions to get a short cut to the Promised Land of being a Big Club again with a worldwide rep that we enjoyed from the mid 60s to the mid 70s. We are further away now than we were at the turn of the millennium, not because of our penny pinching, but because of the sky rocketing spending of the Big Leagues that attract the free TV money. Erstwhile English Div 4 clubs like Watford, Wigan, Bolton and Sheffield United can out bid us for players if they have one good season and reach the top area of the Championship. The likes of Fulham and Huddersfield, if they get to the Premiership can buy more than one of our good players if they get one lucky season. That is the sea in which we must swim. I wish it was different but I have not heard a compelling case from anyone that they really know the way to turn Base metal into Gold.
It’s tough chasing those important places because of the finances they bring (if you can live with the whippings that the elite squads will give you) but there are many more Celtic-level clubs chasing those few precious spaces
Don’t think Barry Robson played for Celtic in last decade? Sure he left in January window 2010.
Rock Tree Boy
That is a possibility. Admit you obtained a licence under false pretence which is what seems to have happened leaving the Directors at the time, of which DK was one, open to criminal charges and makes a £10k fine risible compared to the misregistration fine of £250 k was it?
On the other hand the SFA might say that licence was obtained under false pretence by Oldco and so Newco cannot be sanctioned.
However to be consistent SFA would have to point out distinction to SPFL would have to reconsider future allocation of titles in their records.
The other difficulty for SFA is did they get the HMRC letter of 20th May 2011 as required by UEFA FFP that had LNS been given it he could not have reached the decision he did on no dishonesty.
If the SFA didnt get it then the SPFL were misled by RFC administrators in 2012 who failed to provide it or LNS brief would have covered 30 Aug 2000 onwards.
What a tangled web. Should rename it Res12Gate.
Dubaibhoy
Good thought provoking post
For me:
Kouassi is in the ‘use or sell’ category. Might still come good
I think Rogic will stay , not suited to EPL and has a good contract
Hendry will only go on loan if we sign 2 more CHs. And after that he is gone
Big gap for me is CF. Shockingly light there and nothing coming through from the youths. I am very worried for Leigh that his best days are behind him even if he gets his personal confidence and stability back
We had more firepower under Brady than we have now!
Rick Tree Bhoy
Most obvious risk to your question is that such a route would leave TRFC open to creditor claims and UEFA sanction for breachin FFP in such a blatant way.
See we’re being linked to young Luca, wouldn’t look out of place in one of those boy bands, could be a hit with some of our younger female fans,
On a more serious note, on the verge of a full Irish International Cap, definitely worth a punt.
Corkcelt
Suzanne Vega knows him well; wonder if she scouted him?
Donald in the White House
Boris heading for No. 10
Rod running the SFA
We’re gonna need a right back…
EMUSANORPHAN
Not that I would ever accuse myself of being a pedant but I just had to get Mr Google’s input and his last game was on 3rd January 2010 against Rangers so he makes my criterion by 3 full days.
Jobo… a happy team indeed.
Wish I had the time and inclination to read those essays above and many beforehand. Started sometimes but lost their plot and will to live.
SFTB vert well written viewpoint. I see it pretty much as you do. We can aim to lunch above our reality but every year is a new challenge. We can’t compete with EPL wages while playing in the Scottish league and we can’t hold player contracts who will inevitably want to leave for more money. No point in blaming the custodians for that reality. Hopefully one day we will be part of a more lucrative euro set up. The maligned PL has been working hard to get that new reality. Like the bunnet, Celtic fans will look back on these years and people who made them, u h more kindly than they do in the heat of the moment. Looking forward to Neil lifting the number 9. What a day that will be. Off to work. Hail Hail.
Captain Ahab eat your heart out ??
Klopp rings stevie g to say there’s a first team kit man job going!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_JX7Vm2JFM&t=11s
“CELTIC MAC on 13TH JUNE 2019 7:42 PM
Donald in the White House
Boris heading for No. 10
Rod running the SFA”
:-)))))
JJ
We’re gonna need a right back…
A wee vid clip of the French bhoy we are ‘hoping to sign’. Difficult to really judge looking at a montage of clips from different games but it looks as if he can pick a pass and stays on his feet more often than not. Worth the reported £9 mill that Toulouse want – that’s the £9 mill question.
Christopher Jullien
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FblESzlmI0
Oops! Put the last line of Celtic Mac`s post too low:
“Donald in the White House
Boris heading for No. 10
Rod running the SFA
We’re gonna need a right back…”
JJ
Just had a wee gander over to FF. There’s a thread about the imminent King v Ashley verdict. Here’s a comment from the Lying King on the day he booted Ashleys men off the Sevco Board:
““What has happened today is something that cannot be understated. This is definitely a turning point for Rangers Football Club, not a turning point in the history of the football club but a turning point in the future, to take it back to the history.”
No, me neither!!
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 13TH JUNE 2019 12:20 PM
Shortbread blank David Turnbull deal
*aye but their signing “andy” stewart is the big headline.
CELTIC MAC on 13TH JUNE 2019 7:42 PM
Donald in the White House
*he tweeted earlier that he had met with the “prince of whales” recently.
Auldheid…
Some very interesting stuff, still catching up.
TRADITIONALIST88 @ 8:48 AM,
CHAIRBHOY on 12TH JUNE 2019 4:20 PM
If a player thinks he is moving it means negotiations have moved forward sufficiently for him to have reason to have that belief.
Fact of the matter is Atalanta bumped up their asking price, as is their right.
Pretty simple stuff and not uncommon.
Toljan was the plan B, so people saying there was no plan B is just drivel. Luckily we didnt purchase him outright.
All a bit easy to say recruitment has been a ‘shambles’ for years, of course if you have unrealistic expectations to start with then your head is in the clouds and you are going to be disappointed whatever happens.
I’m sure most of us would take an ongoing shambles if we keep clearing up the silverware.
HH”
Again not the way I see it. Castagne never said he thought he was in his way to Celtic.
In fact my recollection, at yhat time he said he didn’t want to play in Scotland.
From what he said in that interview I took it to mean, he was not playing regularly for Atalanta so thought he was peripheral and he’d end up moving on.
He was contrasting that low point in his career to how he’s doing now.
It looks like this happened; a bid went in, probably Lee Congerton had got the heads up he wasn’t happy, so Celtic take a punt.
Castagne doesn’t want to go to Scotland, Atalanta don’t want to sell him and anyways if he did go it would be for €12M.
Was it worth a punt – sure, Plan A – Seriously, what a joke.
By the way, we’d been after a right back for over two seasons, so how about Plan J
BTW: There was no negotiations from what I can make out.
So we have been looking for a right back for ages, the closest we came was a left field punt on a Belgium Internationalist, that failed. We took a loan punt on a German lad whose career had failed to kick on after a promising youth career, that failed.
We will try to get a right back in again during this window – failing that we go to Plan B++ and extend the contract of the right back we’ve been trying to replace, only on a much reduced contract and after mucking him about during the contract negotiations.
Hoping I suppose he’s not taking too much of the hump and can be professional enough to motivate himself for some swansong performances, barring fitness and injury issues of course.
This does not constitute a shambles!?
Also, head in the clouds…
There are hundreds of professional football clubs in Europe, all with right backs. Is it airy, fairy nonsense to think Celtic should be capable of signing one.
Also, I was one who stated that we should show more ambition, if Celtic aimed to be a UCL Pot 3 side they would sweep up domestically, have better players and make more money. Folk thought I’d my heads in the Clouds, I got it right, it is now proven.
During Lenny’s first tenure, I stated (not uniquely;) that the claim by the Board that all the money made would gi into the Club was nonsense, it is now proven.
I stated unless Brendan Rodgers was backed he’d move on. Folk thought I had my head in the clouds, they mocked the body language ghuys, it is now proven.
When folk insisted it was the manager that bought and sold players at Celtic, I said the executive pulled the strings, it is now proven.
Lots of examples…
“I’m sure most of us would take an ongoing shambles if we keep clearing up the silverware.”
Maybees but I wouldn’t and our days of “clearing up” in the silverware department are over.
If you don’t understand that you’ve got your head in the clouds;)
Hail Hail
AULDHEID on 13TH JUNE 2019 4:49 PM
Common factor is Mark Daly on the Men Who Sold the Jerseys and also the guy who gave prominence to the child abuse at CBC.
________________________________-____
I think you may be on to something here. But first you’ve got to establish the brute fact that
abuse is in a category of its own. Even murder can seem a lesser crime.
That said, the media’s absorption with CBC may be less than pure. Their focus is almost exclusively on Celtic and there’s a big market for bad Celtic stories. Apart from anything else, they keep the msm in a job.
Daly’s right to investigate is unarguable. But remember: his masters at the BBC don’t have clean hands. The BBC wants to bury their own role in long running scandals. And, some suggest that there was clear collusion with large scale abuse and high profile abusers. Deflection?
Even if we sign turnbull we still need a first choice rightback and centreback asap. Despite all the departures and noise i dont think we need a massive rebuild. Reckon the sale of ntcham and BR comp will be used to offset the cost of new players.
gordon, compper, mulumbu, bitton, hayes, miller, sinclair and azieri (loan ends) are all out of contract at end of next season so any decent offers will be accepted. Sinclair would be the only significant loss in That group.
You dont hear it much but we are actually in a very good position because all our better players are tied down on longish contracts and almost all of our fringe players wil be departing by the end of 2019/20 season.
The future should be very bright for the hoops, hh
Auldheid,
If you’re around, can you advise me where Resolution 12 is – as the SFA appear to have mislaid it!
You said earlier that the SFA have not yet forwarded it to the CAS however today Maxwell of the SFA said:
“I would expect that to come back to the SFA Noard in the not too distant future.”
So, if it’s not currently with either the SFA or the CAS where the hell is it currently???
Could you have a look under your bed and see if it’s maybe there?
Sftb,,,
About the fan revolt and your response
“No- I can’t accept that one. You credit CQN with far too much influence and you come close to insulting a lot of the Celtic support in saying they were misled. Most of Paul’s leaders are ignored, many are insulted by suggestion that PL tells him what to write, and the rest insult Paul because he did not write what they wanted said- even though they get the chance to say it themselves on here.
Honestly, this is close to toddler reasoning- “He made me do it!” or “He told me it was ok”
All Paul has tried to do is say that the club needs to live within its means and that the “What happened to the Seville (Van Dijk/Dembele) money?” is just an attempt to re-live the Rangers of the 90s when they were taking English players from big clubs with dubious financing.”
I aint going for that nearly insult ,, not one bit at all.
I will state clearly right now we were mislead and I firmly believe that. I assure you theres no insults anywhere as far as I am concerned .
Credit Cqn with too much influence? Thats subjective and can never be proved but I think it had the sway and pull back in the day to direct quite a number of fans in any actions undertaken and if you dont fair enough , we will disagree on that.
I wont be discussing Paul but I agree theres unpleasant stuff and allegations all the time that I would be hard pressed keeping my temper dealing with .
I wish Paul all the best , genuinely sincerely.
If you recall when the liquidation and league allocation process was going on for those that play out of Ibrox the numbers on here were much better. I again assert many looked to this blog for guidance being the biggest blog at the time and maybe still I dont know or have the figures to check.
Now Im not saying they hung on Pauls every word but maybe checked how the general feeling of the posters was and which line of attack was favoured.
If we look at what emerged from this site we had,,,
Persistence beats Resistance tshirts
Res12
Newspaper ads
Res12 was / is independent and not cqns so that leaves the ad’s and the tshirts.
One brought money in and one paid it out.
Both did jack for us.
We still cling to the hope a few fans will sort this out ( res12)
So in my eyes we ( the members of this blog ) were wasted as a resource.
I would have had us on the streets with pitchforks. The front page should have been opened up and the pensmiths should have went full steam ahead and moved the masses into action.
Many were actually happy thinking we were going the right direction and the phrase playing a blinder was very very commonly used on here and sums up the feeling that our line of attacks would succeed or at least cause damage.
You surely would agree that on this blog the posters thought their actions would help?
But they didnt . What good did a tshirt and a newspaper page somewhere do us?
Not laying blame or stirring the pot , just stating plain facts.
Thousand of pounds and lots of man hours could have went somewhere it actually made a difference .
Theres no point crying over spilled milk as the old saying goes but did we all learn the lesson that this blog and its members backed the wrong horses whether intended or not and could easily again ?
Dont think we did tbh.
Hail Hail
HRVATSKI JIM on 13TH JUNE 2019 5:56 PM
Nae Nakamura?
GG
he left in 2009 so not eligible
Mahe..,
your bang on IMO, throughout Res12 I have no memory of a single article by P67 raising Res12, all discussion and initiatives were made by blog contributors. The only contribution I can remember from P67 was his silence and not banning discussion of the subject.
He most certainly could have played a greater role by publicly supporting us, P67 knew far more about the Plc’s strategy than we ever did yet we were supposed to be partnering the Plc, so while we had to abide to the agreement with the Plc regarding secrecy they were keeping people not involve abreast of their strategy and us in the dark, being told that P67 had passed on information regarding Res12 to Auldheid and BRTH from PL was when I begun making information public on here, it became apparent we were not in it together.
More recently P67 was shushed by PL when he let slip that as far as the Plc are concerned Res12 is dead in the water.
You do not get into such a trusted position without returning the favour, regardless of SFTB propensity for offering the benefit of the doubt.
Canamalar ,,
Cheers . Just calling it as I see it. Sometimes even that gets you flak.
Ah well.
Hope all is good with you and yours.
Respect and Hail Hail
Toronto Raptors win the NBA Championship
Well done Toronto.
Raptors is such a cool name, how could you not want them to win.
Good morning CQN from a dreich Garngad
But who cares about that today.
My Daughter gave birth to our 2nd Grandchild (a wee girl this time) last night at 11.03pm.
Welcome wee Leyla to the Celtic family, mother and daughter doing fine.
Grandparents as proud as punch, now to spoil them all rotten. If it’s up to her 7 year old brother she will be at the first game of the season with him.
??????
HH
D. :)
Here’s one for all the Celtic haters on here. Top of the morn ;-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=260&v=_xYddChWFrw
Congratulations David66
Toor a loo- thanks
D. :)
DAVID66
CONGRATULATIONS I.m sure her Celtic mad big brother will have her singing the tunes in no time
Welcome to the CELTIC FAMILY wee Leyla
HAIL HAIL
FSTB- cheers Stevie
D. :)
David66…
Congratulations to your daughter and your family on the birth of your grandaughter…
Think BSR needs to get the message back out to the MSSM…
“Rangers ‘fought off’ by English minnows for midfield signing – The Scotsman”
This is way short of swoopmeter standars:))
Hail Hail
David66 – congratulations to you and your family all the way from a dry, bright and sunny but breezy East Kilbride.