With the arrival of Dedryck Boyata, Jozo Simunovic and Erki Sviatchenko over the last 12 months, Charlie Mulgrew must have wondered if he would be offered a new contract which his current deal expires next month. Especially so considering how little football he’s played in recent years.
An incoming manager would be excused for looking at his squad and thinking Charlie was surplus to requirements, but, as we have touched on in recent weeks, the story of Celtic’s defence is more complicated.
Erik has been an unqualified success, but Jozo missed most of the season through injury, while Dedryck and Efe Ambrose suffered unfortunate (cough) spells of form. Charlie is a few years past his Player of the Year prime, but he’s a reliable consistent defender, who I’d have in the team before Efe or (Euros bound) Dedryck.
We have a bloated squad and need to move players on, but it’s no surprise Brendan Rodgers let Charlie know he wanted him to stay. He’s the right player to occupy third or fourth spot in the central defensive roster. We’ll wait and see if Jozo can grab second spot.
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JFH
Papers know nothing I would say – putting 2 and 2 = 5…
Graham worked under Brendan in the past. That’ll be the theme as they throw mud to sell papers in the next few months…
Ex-Liverpool, ex-Swansea and ex-Watford-related will feature highly….
JFH
If you don’t like the rumours, make up your own.
Personally, I love the one about Luca Modric
Delighted Charlie is staying.
Charlie/Erik should be our CBs going into the qualifiers. Even if Jozo is fit he has yet to play with Erik. Charlie and Erik have formed a decent partnership.
Boyata – although he has improved, still worries me a bit. Ambrose worries me a lot and should be moved on.
Charlie also gives you cover in other positions.
Maybe some upset from Dumbarton with that draw. I know there are natural difficulties with the split, but ending up in the ‘North’ section with an enormous amount of travel when really the split is ‘north and east’ and they are way out west.
Like the idea of the November final and that draws go straight to penalties. The 5 team leagues are skewed but difficult to do anything else. Happy we’re not in it at this stage to be brutally honest.
Coutinho, Suarez and Ramires seem top of the list from what I heard…
Paid for by the selling of the terrible turkish twosome….
FACT….
We’re more likely to sign Danny Graham’s former Sunderland teammate Steven Fletcher.
Are we still signing from John Park 20th century up to date Celtic scouting book???
TR — Exceptional talent, needs coaching, boot up the erse then more coaching.
PR — Exceptional talent, needs coaching, more experience and more vision — then a boot up the erse followed by an arm around the shoulder.
ScA– Interesting talent, needs more coaching …
JF — Exceptional talent, the thrill has gone so he can go. Waste of his time and everybody else’s. He is poorer player now than 5 years ago. Potential to be a more complete player than AMcG but chose to coast. Pudding boy physique did not help. File under waster. Time to move on with two boots up the erse for wasting his and our time.
RC — Interesting, seems to have a second and third gear that is not often needed in the SPL.
GMS — Get rid of the JF vibe and remember that a season is not 6 weeks long.
StA — Six months to do something, fitness and strength needs work. Another with a gear beyond the SPL norm, seldom seen though.
KT — Exceptional talent, needs lots of coaching, some support and some rest.
LG — interesting talent that needs a lot of work. Can look a complete waste of space until he scores a goal. However when he doesn’t score a goal he looks a complete waste of space. However he is learning and hopefully will learn some more.
AS — Huge talent, horrible attitude. Beyond my ken …
?H — Not sure, JMcG looks to have more potential but he has grown up over the past 9 months. Another 12 months in Auld Reekie might be the making of him.
6’5″ Norwegian bloke — He must be good as the SMSM have already had a go at him.
This is the core of the squad to work with.
Only half will make it but it is where the improvement will come from.
Get that lot sifted, sorted and into shape and we will be well on our way.
Then comes the nuggets to fill in some of the gaps.
Good point Starry Plough
Has Brendan phoned or texted John Park ?
We demand to know….
JFH
The important phrase is “…if this is true…”.
It is time-honored MSM kite-flying.
They have no more idea of what Brendan’s thinking is than you or me. We’ll find out who he is interested in when the words come out of Brendan’s own lips, or when the player signs.
Anything else is made up rubbish to unsettle Hoops fans or sell advertising space
I do agree in one respect, though – they could make up more positive and exciting rumours.
How about – The Zlatan to Celtic “…Henrik is my Hero, I’m following his footsteps to Paradise…”
That’s a much more impressive rumour :-)
Stay cool pal, give him time – he knows what he’s doing…
HH
BGFC
Geordie Munro
Heard a rumour that Celtic are interested in an brilliant but unstable veteran from Maryhill.
Seemingly, Brendan has Pathe news footage of said veteran, scoring an magnificent overhead kick on a red gravel pitch v the Summerston Loyal.
Granted, there was a massive scrap after that goal went in…..but, hey…its a man’s game after all.
Brendan was impressed that the No 1 target, scored the winner, then knocked the Hun captain out, with a sweet left hook:)
But…Shhhhh
HH
I love it when Madmitch posts. Saves me doing the times crossword or sudoko.
IKI you forgot”don’t Panic”
KLV
Tallybhoy,
It may be because there is a direct route, through merit, for non league teams to gain entry to the league system. A pyramid system.
Tgm,
I’m in.
Is there a song about him? :)
HH
“Stroang, stroang rumours that Chompers is eftir yon Randy Benchwarmir fae
the Saskatoon Sherbet Sookers……….”
ForTheRecordIt’sAwPish CSC
BigW @ 1.08
I thought we struggled over the summer.
We were in a much better place in April / May than we were in August.
The pressure of the qualifiers just became too much for RD, the squad and the club.
You are right that the last 6 months have generated some positives.
However we really did hit rock bottom in ET vs TFOD2 — cannot get over players on the park physically giving up in the face of a one goal deficit.
That was how bad things got.
Some of the players were behaving in a manner that suggested that they had given up the game and the only agenda they had was to get RD sacked.
To me that is Ground Zero.
A Wee 7 goal cameo against a team with half an eye on the beach is not enough.
Dead cat bounce more like.
BIG WAVY
JP is blowing’ the dust of his folders as we speak and searching his office for a betamax video player to show Brendan his latest targets:))
Geordie Munro
Well…went like this.
There’s only one Green Man.
Scores for Fun then Gubs the Hun, walking in a Green Man Wonderland:)
HH
“Personally, I love the one about Luca Modric”
Tbb,
Lucas Modric surely?
Galaxyfarfaraway csc
I think we have a fair few good players in our squad and as many that can go. Let Brendan assess what he needs before we write anyone off. Mulgrew makes sense for cover. I think we will be a while out yet before we see anyone coming in. I would rather that than splruge the money and add more heads to the squad. Trim it down and see what we need from there.
Makessense.csc
KLV
“cannot get over players on the park physically giving up in the face of a one goal deficit.”
Mad mitch,
Something clearly wasn’t right in the minds of the players.
But seeing as the game went to penalties I wouldn’t quite say they gave up in the face of a 1 goal deficit.
A bit of work to do but not even close to ground zero imo, of course.
HH
GEORDIE MUNRO on 26TH MAY 2016 1:38 PM
“Personally, I love the one about Luca Modric”
Tbb,
Lucas Modric surely?
Galaxyfarfaraway csc
———————————————————–
Luca’s his brother. Got an ice cream van….
Trying not to be a cynic but the SLC set up looks very TFOD2 friendly.
Lots of home games early in the season to keep the cash flowing.
Plus never been a fan of SLC finals in Nov.
Not since 1971 anyway.
Geordie Munro
Strong rumour that Maryhill’s voice of the people…Michael Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Clark, McNeil, Murdoch, Johnstone, Wallace, Chalmers, Auld, Lennox, has offered Joey Barton a philosophic square go on Twitter.
Q: So Joey, David Hume and Moral Philosophy…Thoughts?:)
A: When the seagull follows the trawler…er, er, er…aye, sevco, ah mean R******, ah naw….ah mean Everton.
HH
How might Brendan effect change?
Let’s look at what Martin did in 4 key games in 2000.
It can been argued that MON was fortunate in the quality of players he inherited. More fortunate than Brendan will be.
In the first league match of season 2000/1, a 2-1 win at Dundee United, Martin had only added Joos and Chris Sutton to the group already at Paradise.
Gould, Stubbs, Valgaeren, Boyd, Mahe, McNamara, Lambert, Berkovic (Johnson 64), Petrov, Larsson, Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Petta, Tebily, Burchill.
Goals: Larsson 37, Sutton 66.
Note: Mjallby and Moravcik already at CP, did not feature!
By Demolition Derby (6-2) at end of August, MON still only used Joos and Chris Sutton as new faces in the team.
Gould, Valgaeren, Stubbs, Mahe, McNamara, Petrov, Lambert (Mjallby 36), Moravcik (Boyd 54), Petta, Larsson (Burchill 87), Sutton.
Subs Not Used: Kerr, Berkovic.
Goals: Sutton 1, Petrov 8, Lambert 11, Larsson 50, 62,Sutton 90.
By the end of November when the currants saved a little face in the awful 1-5 reverse at poundland, Rab Douglas, Didier Agathe & Allan Thomson had joined Chris & Joos.
Douglas, Boyd, Valgaeren, Mjallby (Mahe 46), Agathe, Thompson, Petrov, Moravcik (McNamara 46), Petta, Larsson, Sutton (Johnson 86).
Subs Not Used: Gould, Healy.
Note: no Lambert in team!!
45% of the team were Martin’s additions and he must have had a significant shock that day. I know I did…
By Saint Stephen’s Day, the last game of 2000 we were back up to Dundee United for an excellent 4 nil romp, Lenny and Vega now in the team and 6/11 or 55% are Martin signings.
Douglas, Mjallby, Valgaeren, Vega, Petta (Smith 80), McNamara, Petrov (Johnston 80), Lennon, Agathe, Larsson (Moravcik 80), Sutton.
It seems Martin intended to transition the team slowly, but spurred on by the reverse at poundland in late November, he quickly shored up the defense with Vega and bolstered central mid with Lenny. He also bought John Hartson to strengthen his attack.
More than half a team in less than 5 months. With a strong rankers(IL) in or around and challenging, he built up a decent advantage by the turn of the year.
What will Brendan do, something similar?
It should be remembered that Martin had the advantage of changing his team ‘in-flight’ in 2000. Brendan won’t have that luxury, restricted to players already signed by the close of the transfer window this.
He doesn’t have much room for error.
Although he does have the significant advantage of already having a league winning team and a much reduced threat from his nearest rivals. They will still offer a challenge and be ready to take advantage of any transitional problems as his team welds together.
I see ready-made strength in the existing squad: Craig, Erik, Kieran, Patrick and Sparky. Easily first team picks in the short to medium term.
Depending on how he plans to set up, he can count on Mick Lustig and Broony if they can both present fit and ready. My view is that these two guys have a short shelf life.
Around the squad we have Jozo, Calum McGregor,Nir Bitton & Tom Rogic who can do a job and be relied on in SPL.
Too early to comment on the new Norwegian lad and we have some promising loanees plus some right good prospects emerging from development squad(s) but they are only ‘squad’ at the moment
I no longer see a real future for Charlie, Kris, Jo Hanson, Efe, Dedryck, Stokesy and Jamesie. Thanks for some really great memories guys.
Where does that leave Brendan now?
5 strong bankers ( sic) and 2 solid reliable experienced pros that can slot straight into the team. The others mentioned only as available back up to the squad.
i see we need 4 maybe 5 straight into first team pros. Not projects!:
1 Quick central defender with minimum 50/80 senior games
2. Sitting mid, teak-tough and seasoned leader and winner, minimum 150/200 senior games.
3. Classic number 10 pick a pass and chip in 15 goals, minimum 100/150 senior games.
4. Striker with existing average of 15/20 goals and minimum 150 senior games.
5. Wide player for either flank, two feet, pacey ( ex Bayern :-)
Not factored in back up for both full backs, but expect that existing squad can cover in short-medium term!
I expect Brendan’s first competitive game to see 2 new faces introduced and 4 maybe 5 phased in by end of September.
Nae bother Eh? :-)
StrawmanCSC
GM @ 1.43
One half of the team gave up.
The “Outlaw” half of the team gave up.
Not sure if it was playing with an injury.
Or a very small heart in a very tall body.
But some gave up.
Absolutely shameful.
“DOWNFORSAM on 26TH MAY 2016 1:27 PM
I love it when Madmitch posts. Saves me doing the times crossword or sudoko.”
Excellent!! Made me laugh. I couldnt get RC at first.
Then remembered: RC from ICT .
JJ
Madmitch,
I find your posts highly entertaining.
It’s 2 for the price of 1. First you get the enigma machine out to decipher the code then you are able to read the insightful post.
I had heard the 6 ft 5 Norwegian was being converted to a striker at our request. Remains to be seen if BR agrees.
Stuart Armstrong for me is a keeper. Not a Goalkeeper you understand but play him further back and tell him when where to run and we have a player. I don’t know if Stuart believes in himself though.
Forrest is rumoured to be wanted by Rangers as part of their ‘ get it right up em lets get back to lording it’
Punt Bitton, Johansen and Rogic keep the rest and loan the ones that we would give a second chance to.
Stokes who knows what to do with him. Maybe big Yogi will take him to Aberdeen on loan for 6 months when he gets that job.
Danny Graham would do as a sometime target man btw, good player. I’d also take back Tony Watt as a good foil for Griffiths but don’t know if we could cope with him and Stokes in the same room.
Centre half, centre mid and a striker before the qualifiers and I’ll have no complaints.
We need a centre half to partner Erik, a sitting, defensive midfielder to let our full backs and creative midfielders licence to attack and a striker. No projects.
Sell, release at least a dozen.
Saltires en savilla 1:51
Braw post
JFH
Good God, Joe, Brendan’s only in the door and you’re not impressed (with him) because of transfer rumours started by other people.
I’ll wait to see how the players Brendan signs actually perform on the pitch before I make a judgement.
Give the man a chance!
Madmitch
Interesting analysis on those players. Any thoughts on CMc? Think he could be the real deal.
Twitter…Question 2 to Joey Barton.
Q: Salt or Sauce, and the wide variation of fish in chip shops in Aberdeen,….what’s your take on it?
A: Well, thats not too difficult, because i had the same dilemma in Liverpool……chips or rice, or both, or half and half….not an easy choice, im sure you will agree.
Q3: Do you think the sevco players are real people….and have you ever read David Icke.
A: Real people….as far as im aware, they are human…..but to be honest, only just.
As for David Icke…where do you think he gets all his ideas eh.
HH
Bring back Tony Watt?
Brendan may be able to sort him out!
Or maybe not!
HH!!
JJHS @ 1.54
Just for you and the fact that I managed a couple of grey moments …
LH — Putting in some huge shifts over in Auld Reekie. To the extent that in a couple of game he seemed to be doing everything including driving the team bus. However not sure if he has that extra little bit of quality that he will need to make a name for himself in BR’s new team with new expectations.
That is the point about Hibbee JMcG having that little bit extra quality, nowhere near the quantity of LH but that extra gear that makes him stand out — inspiration instead of perspiration if you like. However I would keep him in Auld Reekie to develop as a player.
CMcG — Not really a huge fan but he has shown some improvement over the past couple of months. Not sure what his best position is exactly — youths / U20’s he seemingly played as the holding mid ?!? Consequently I do not think he has what we need, however he should get the chance to show what he can do in a properly set up team with a full squad of fully engaged players around him. Plus he can score goals.
Therefore a boot up the erse, lots of coaching, another boot up the erse to keep him focused and then some game time.
All adds up to a squad that needs lots of work.
Plus a couple of nuggets to fill in the gaps.
RB — ML’s elastic is going to snap in August.
CB — Currently lacking something in height and physicality. JD was an answer but not the answer.
DM — Clogger / mentalist required to sit on the bench and scare the opposition.
CF — Physical target man required, CKR will do for now but there must be better.
Loans, Bosman’s, this will do for now.
Main thing is get the existing squad up to,speed.
Rumours, eh?
If you knew the one I’ve heard you’d have a wee tingle in your tummy, and be offering to strip away the banners on the Lisbon Lions upper.
Gary67 on 26th May 2016 1:58 pm
We need a centre half to partner Erik, a sitting, defensive midfielder to let our full backs and creative midfielders licence to attack and a striker. No projects.
Sell, release at least a dozen.
=================
The problem with ‘projects’ is we have had so many failures, the word terrifies us. Our instant reaction is…money down the drain.
It doesn;t have to be that way. We just need to raise the bar, across the board. David Moyes comments 2/3 months ago were telling. There are players there with nowhere near the required quality for where we want to be(this includes guys like GMS and Allan).
A real project is a guy like Wanyama, who has all the essentials but required to fine tune a few things(rashness etc).
We have been signing ‘projects’ with maybe only one or two of the essentials and convinced ourselves we can work on the rest – not at this level. If they don’t have all the basics at 18-21 there is generally a limit to how far they will go.
By all accounts Ajer ticks the right boxes.
But you’re right – for the spine of the team, experience wins. Thats why we struggled vs the huns in the semi final – the guy formerly known as magic hat built a team(albeit limited), whilst we were building, well who knows.
HH