Middlesbrough finished a point off the play-offs in the English Championship last season, which was not enough to save manager, Tony Pulis, from the sack. Pulis is an experienced hand with teams fighting relegation from the Premiership or looking for promotion to it, having worked at Stoke, Crystal Palace and West Brom.
A month after the sacking, Middlesbrough gave rookie, Jonathan Woodgate, the job, with former Celtic striker, Robbie Keane his assistant.
Football teams have a tendency to overcompensate for their last perceived mistakes when appointing a manager. Pulis was taken from a regular, if uninspiring, stock. They have not made that ‘mistake’ with Woodgate.
The former Real Madrid defender will bring colour and excitement to the Riverside, at least in the short-term, but his chances of out-performing Pulis next season are open to debate. Middlesbrough have the resources to attract managerial talent from most leagues in Europe or South America. While these territories have worked well for others seeking improvement in England, there are significant risks.
Like Sunderland, who appointed St Mirren manager, Jack Ross, a year ago, they could have looked to less-risky Scotland, but can you name an appropriate candidate who would be up for this one?
Appointing a rookie is a big roll of the dice, to be avoided if possible. But anyone who tells you appointing a sure-fire success is easy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. All you can hope to do is avoid sure-fire failures.
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If Jozo has really become a main man he should be given a new deal.
Sign him up to 2023.
TIMALOY29 on 14TH JUNE 2019 2:11 PM
If Jozo has really become a main man he should be given a new deal.
Sign him up to 2023.
==========================
With the option of an extra year :)
HH
I see a £10m figure being attached to CMcG’s name in various press reports.
Surely to God we would expect, and get, a lot more than that?
A scoring international midfielder should be upwards of £20m. Even in Scotland (nowadays anyway, post Dembele, Virgil etc).
Snake Eyes better no take the pish.
Last info on Bayo,was a torn hamstring about 2 months ago
Anything in the rags about Ashley shutting the hun shop at Poundland? Thought not….
Spanish Air Traffic controllers in Celtic brawl
BSR spot on sometimes you’d need an enigma machine to decipher some of his posts. H H Hebcelt
Sign Johnny Russell he’s desperate to play for us FACT HH
Bobby Madden selected to referee at the euro u21 finals this month. He’ll be assisted by Frank Connor and David Roome, with observer Hugh Dallas available to complete a four-ball at the golf when time allows. Italy and San Marino in June, not a bad life for a bunch of corrupt cheats.
Celtic put young players career at risk by giving him insufficient holiday time.
A Record reporter.
@ STEPHBHOY on 14TH JUNE 2019 2:04 PM
No one is stigmatising LG, but stating the obvious that the club cannot rely on him given that he has/is suffering with these issues.
I would keep Lustig as back up right back and sign a new first team player. Perez and/or Ralston to go out on loan.
We have 4 centre backs on paper but Marvin has not kicked a ball for us. JH hasn’t been seen for a year either. They have been so far out of the picture that we realistically need another 2 CBs (given Jozo’s injury record). Benkovic and Boyata played a combined 57 games last year.
On the wings: it’s crazy to include Okoflex and Dembele as players fighting for a place in our first team. Lewis Morgan, MJ and Arzani as youth players fall into that category. We have 4 senior wingers in Shved, Sinclair, Forrest and Hayes. Of those Hayes is ineffectual and Sinclair is not playing to the level he once did. We need a new first team LW. Shved will create competition for the RW.
We could do with a new first team striker to replace the Dembele-sized hole in the team.
Teenager admitted to Glasgow hospital with early sunburn symptoms blames the sudden ending of his holiday as the cause.
Peter Lawell unavailable for comment
Players union leader Fraser Wishart was today said to be livid at the news of Celtic denying David Turnbull’s statutory holiday entitlement.
“This is unacceptable , and I will be taking this matter all the way to the European court of human rights”.
No one from Celtic was available for comment.
WeeBobbyCollins at 2.00
I see you mention the word “bum” and in the very next sentence “Lawwell”. Hmmmm!
Making this observation for a friend ?
FB- i would take JR in a minute…
FrannyB67
Johnny Russell is going through a purple patch with RSL in the MLS. Hat-trick last week too. He is really setting the heather on fire over in Utah – well, he would be, if there was any heather there.
HH
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 14TH JUNE 2019 2:45 PM
On the wings: it’s crazy to include Okoflex and Dembele as players fighting for a place in our first team.
======
With the wee fella, its anything but crazy. He is that good apparently.
Lots of other factors to consider, of course, but there is a plan there and has been for a long time.
I know Jack Aitchison got a game at a similiar time in his development but this boy is something else altogether.
Wayne Rooney at 16 proved if you have the ability then you can mix it in the first team. The young lad at Hearts, Aaron Hickey, 16 years old and looked like he’d been there for years.
Doesn’t mean Dembele will be a mainstay next season but he is good enough already to stake his claim and it’ll be harder and harder to ignore him as he is driven and wants to play for the first team, and of course, the quality is there in abundance.
HH
Japan 2-0 Scotland at the WWC.
England v Argentina tonight – interesting to see if this is a real grudge match given the historical issues between the nations or if it’ll simply be handbags…
HH
@ TRADITIONALIST88 on 14TH JUNE 2019 3:00 PM
We already have a lot of youth in our team. We need to buy first team players who are able to have an impact now and to supplement and assist the younger players in the team.
Dembele is a great prospect but we cannot go into the season relying on youthful and inexperienced players to fill so many positions.
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 14TH JUNE 2019 3:12 PM
Absolutely, but we can allow for the natural progression to the first team of an exceptionally talented youngster, especially based on merit.
As things stand he has Forrest and Schved who operate in his position who will handle the burden initially, so there is no undue pressure on him.
He is so good he can probably play a couple of other positions equally effectively and as next season progresses I expect him to be increasingly involved.
HH
TEUCHTER ÁR LÁ on 14TH JUNE 2019 2:51 PM
And there was I thinking no one would notice. :-)
Paul67 et al
“will bring colour and excitement to the Riverside”
That is the last thing they want in Middlesbrough Paul. Indeed had the Borough actually got promoted to the EPL the fans reaction would more likely have been “We’ll probably get relegated next season.”
Great town, great people, but with a sense that the ship has sailed. Change of Captain won’t change that.
Paul the Tim spotted at Lennoxtown
Paul the Tim spotted at Lennoxtown
—
Is he a Right back?
‘Celtic only buying Turnbull so that they can sell him’
The Scotsman
Great goal hen
Got to say I’ve written off Bayo already.
The signs are not good and im not buying this it’s because he was injured.
We played our first game after winter break on approx 22 Jan, Brendan Rodgers said he wasn’t up to fitness levels/Match practice.
The last game he played was on 18 Dec, hardly long enough to use that excuse, he also went to Dubai and is young and looks a natural athlete.
My prediction is this guy will never be a first team regular, hope to be proved wrong.
As regards Sinclair, I think the club made a mistake giving him another year.
I keep seeing posters saying he will probably go, i totally disagree.
I hope he does , that will mean the club done the right thing and even 1M would be great. Would be good to fill that position with a top player which might encourage Sinclair to go.
All our really poor away performances had one thing in common, an anonymous Sinclair.
“Celtic made to sweat as Turnbull forced to return from holiday early amid worrying medical emergency”
Sheesh
So Bayo ripped his own hamstring before he was found out as a dud….Ouch…
and
We can replace a 1 goal in 2 games winger with £1m ? Careful what you wish for. Scott’s a terrififc player who needs re-energised.
Indeed.
Sftb,,,
Once more into the breach eh ,,
Who misled me?
Its who misled us and like answered before it was the two guys running this site and the boardroom.
How did they misled us?
By going a useless direction
Was it deliberate?
Aye, say so and many see it that way.
Why didnt I do something?
At the time it seemed I didnt need to as there were many people working on different directions that we were told would do damage. No need for me then.
I now realise that we were failed by our leaders at the time I am determined never to let us trust the wrong people again.
My pitchfork,,,Me and Micks website is my pitchfork and Im happy with how I wield it. Many are.
Evidence of misleading,,,well we arent were we set out to go . Seems misled to me.
“ The reason it comes close to an insult, is that it attributes pliability and inhibition to the misled, BY SOMEONE or SOME PEOPLE. “
No messing Sherlock we got played full stop.
“ Any failures in this regard are all our own “ Never a truer word spoken. Over my dead body will we get played again in such a fashion.
“ Why wait until September? “ Every other day or there abouts I try to sway more souls to the cause of standing up for ourselves and a better Glasgow Celtic. I aint sittin around twiddling thumbs bro.
“ it is the absence of evidence for it that causes me the difficulty in joining you on the “enlightened” side. “
Bro bracketing enlightened isnt nice. Im just calling it how I see and have never ever claimed nor would I to be smarter or better than anyone of the fine people that inhabit Celtic cyberspace.
As for evidence,, evidence of what? Us being misled? Can I prove that someone deliberately set out to stop us reaching a desired course of action?
THe PLCs refusal to back res12 and the subsequent silence of whoever writes the leaders on here is all the evidence I and many need. Would it stand up in a court of law,,no idea.
“ Well, CQN allowed support and views on the Res 12 debate- it did not censor, or shape any sheep-like mass into accepting anything, because there is no sheep-like mass amongst our support. “
They could hardly disallow it. THe blog would have died. And allowing people to talk about a subject on here does not automatically mean support.
“ CQN did allow the platform for fans to inform each other about such things as crc’s fundraising efforts, the Res 12 debate and the efforts of FAC and the Celtic Trust, amongst others. It did not insist anyone take part and it never sought to prevent anyone taking part. If anyone believes they were misled, then as a grown sentient adult, you should accept that you allowed yourself to be misled or even, misled yourself. It is juvenile thinking to say, I went along with it because nobody on CQN showed me an alternative way.”
No it did not insist and never should any blog insist its posters do something as we dont take orders but as the biggest Celtic blog on the internet the people operating the site in my opinion had a moral responsibility to try to the best for the fans and Glasgow Celtic.
If anyone reading this thinks that responsibility was met please explain to me how.
The biggest Celtic site ended up doing jack.
That to me is failure,,of all of us and I am determined to never let it happen again by making sure there are totally independent Celtic fans site who’s patrons will follow their hearts and do what they feel is best for the fans and Club, not what others wish them to do.
“ It was only due to the lack of enthusiasm for pitchfork action. “
Nope,,people thought they were helping and tried. If told we must hit the streets they would have,,I dont doubt that one bit. If I did doubt that I would stop writing articles encouraging people to stand up for themselves and their beliefs.
I recall a very strong lead article years ago that told us plans were being discussed to gateshare and this was the ultimate chop Celtic down at the knees ploy.
Paul blogged if they do this we are hitting the streets and this blog unified behind that sentiment.
Back in the day the sway and pull was there I reckon.
The pen is much mightier than the sword and I realised that at a very young age when regularly we would be handed leaflets or stop and listen to a fella explaining that the Sassenach would never ever crush our spirit and that every dead son’s body they give us is another nail in their coffin and just makes us fight and yearn for freedom that bit harder.
I read words that would make you cry bro. And steel you heart.
The correct words were unsaid. Thats why we didnt hit the streets.
“ Any failures in this regard are all our own”
Yeah true but we all must recognise that we have been failed by those who were considered our leaders and we thought would surely stand up and do whats right.
Happy Friday Cqn and David77 you old git congrats bro. Delighted for you guys.
The Louden Tavern is set to be reopened as The Louden Tavern.
@ BIG WAVY on 14TH JUNE 2019 4:02 PM
Do you really believe that about SS? Fantastic first 18 months but he has been completely off the boil for the last 18, so much so that both Hayes and MJ were selected before him in the last two Glasgow derbies.
If he is unable to hold down a position against Hayes and MJ then we should be looking to get rid, particularly given he will be one of the highest paid players.
Plus, SS was a BR favourite. If he was unable to re-kindle form under BR I doubt Lenny (who seems to prefer Hayes in any event) will be able to help him find it.
The Hands
From our excellent contributor CelticbyNumbers
“Sinclair has a goal scoring record comparable to any striker to play for Celtic in the 21st century. Scorer of 60 goals in his first three seasons, he is behind the likes of Hooper (82), Larsson (70) and Griffiths (67). But he is a wide forward not an out and out striker”
He’s been out of form, as has the team and the system changed which I don’t think suited him.
I fear he’ll leave as Lenny prefers workmanlike Hayes (a fraction of Scott’s talent) and SS is a confidence player.
It brings back my nascent concern about our new boss but I’m taking tablets fot that….
I read earlier that Arzani has told a story of the time Armstrong Oko-Flex, in his first training session with the First Team squad, called ‘nutmeg’ on Scott Brown, before attempting to to put the ball through his legs.
Apparently Brown lost it and went after him and ‘absolutely crunched him… it was bad’
The session was stopped and the manager at the time (I’m assuming Lenny, but could be Rodgers) said:
‘If you do that I cant stop Broony, hes going to break your leg – it’s your choice if you want to do that’
Some saying Brown was out of order
I think the young lad deserved it
@ BIG WAVY on 14TH JUNE 2019 4:31 PM
Yes, a fantastic first 18 months followed by a very average 18 months thereafter.
In the first season he scored 21 league goals, the following seasons have been 10 and 9 respectively.
I think SS has been a huge success but it’s evident that his form has fallen off the cliff. For someone who will be one of the highest paid at the club we need more. MJ is hardly workmanlike but yet he still got the nod ahead of SS.
As noted above, if BR couldn’t give him confidence, I doubt Lenny will, as SS has followed BR for most of his career.
Big Wavy
I can’t legislate for your comprehension of my posts.
You used the word dud for Bayo, not me.
Bayo was fit until end of February, managed one minute on the pitch against Kilmarnock, often not making the squad, wasn’t a fitness issue.
He’ll get his chance if im wrong and he becomes a first team regular, let me know about it, I’ll do likewise if he doesn’t.
I also never said 1M would be enough to replace Sinclair.
I said if we sell Sinclair for even 1M it’s the correct decision from the club because he was leaving for nothing.
My opinion on Sinclair is that if he stays it will prove to be a mistake as his high wage could have been better used elsewhere.
I like to put my kneck on the line, use my football experience and knowledge, see if I’m right or wrong, please feel free to remind me if am wrong.
Hope that explains it for you. HH
In my humble opinion Jozo was our best player during Lenny’s interim reign.
Performed consistently and chipped in with couple significant goals.
I think what surprised me and no doubt many of us, is the big man seemed to embrace everything that was going on. The passing of Lisbon Lion legends, the Treble treble. Through injury in the main, a lot of people I think had a perception towards Jozo. That he was half-hearted, and/or itching for a move away.
In the last 10 games of the season, I saw a guy who was fully committed, playing with confidence and desire.
Pedro… get him signed up please
The Hands
Bit unfair on Scott. You quote league goals and I quote all goals, important given what we’ve won in the last 3 seasons. He scored 5 in the Cup run.
60 goals – 25, 18 and 17.
Downward agreed but none too shoddy and not something we’ll not see from 1 goal in 20 appearances Hayes.