Nawrocki, good in air, passes through the lines, focussed

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Celtic confirmed the signing of German-born Poland youth international central defender Maik Nawrocki (22) this morning.  The player emerged through the Werder Bremen youth system and featured only seven times before going on loan two weeks after his 20th birthday to Warta Poznan in the Polish topflight.

He spent half a season at Warta where he made only two starts and one substitute appearance before Legia Warsaw made their move and took him on loan for the 2021-22 season.  Still 20, this was his breakthrough season and Legia made the transfer permanent last summer.  The player has made 43 starts and four substitute appearances in senior football, well below our typical harvesting point in the mid-60s.

Zbyszek, our man in Warsaw, firmly endorsed him.  Maik is “great in the air…. Focussed on the game… Good at passing through the lines”.  Legia were fending off bids for him from Galatasaray that were close to double what we paid them for Josip Juranovic two years ago, indicating how much more they value Maik.

And wait for it……….. he’s two footed.

Our settled central defensive pairing has a clear hierarchy.  Cameron Carter-Vickers rivals the great Virgil in status, while Carl Starfelt sits somewhere beneath the clouds.  This is harsh on Carl.  Both players are right footed, but Carl carries the burden of playing on the left, presumably because this suits the pair’s merits and weaknesses.

With Cameron not yet match fit, I would expect to see Maik on the left in the games against Wolves and Athletic Bilbao, allowing Carl to play on his natural side.  Brendan Rodgers has not worked with any of these players.  It will be interesting to see who he selects for the important games in September we discussed earlier.

Virgil was a week shy of his 22nd birthday and had started 50 matches when he joined Celtic.  Maybe the sweet spot for central defenders is a little lower than mid-60s.

Welcome to Celtic, Maik.

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  1. Drambowiecelt on

    @Bada ..jeez he was goin down before the keeper got there…..

     

    Welcome to the new season of cheats and scammers…

  2. Burnley78 @ 9:42pm

     

     

    If that post was written by a new, unknown poster the first question I’d be asking would be the ritualistic “are you a hun” and quite deservedly so, imo.

     

     

    I don’t know where you get your figs from.

     

    Who told you Sevco sold 40k tickets for tonight’s match?

     

    Who told you 32k turned up?

     

     

    What makes you so sure JF “will be lucky to get 30k” at his testimonial next week?

     

     

    More importantly, why are you “bigging up” the Hun support for attending preseason matches whilst being overly keen to criticise our support over how many tickets you predict will be sold for JF’s testimonial??

     

     

    Care to explain?

     

     

    HH

  3. Comment on scum blog after tonights gubbing,

     

    ” Ah well,at least Sinead is dead”.

  4. Drambowiecelt on

    @T.B…There is a sickness within the whole support…Time and time again over the years ..

     

    No class .No morals…

  5. carpe diem 63 on

    Yes indeed they are vile and sick …and there songs confirm this a la their songs about Bobby Sands …Tommy Burns /John Doyle …verminous filth who gloat about tragic deaths…..RIP Sinead a true Irish patriot 🍀

  6. !!Bada Bing!! on

    Large sections at Poundland closed,camera angles all at low levels,to hide the empty seats

  7. Drambowiecelt on

    Mabye on a happier note..Happy bday 80 year old/young.Mick….

     

    Always the Stones before the Beatles…

     

    I remember when my pals were all trying to learn Ticket to ride…

     

    I was working hard to nail Spider and the fly….. i loved B sides…lol…

     

    He keeps us all young….

  8. BADA BING!! on 26TH JULY 2023 10:58 PM

     

     

    ###########

     

     

    Top marks to the big no 5 , haven’t seen anyone in spfl get stuck into that hammer thrower

     

    Hope our new guy is up for it .

  9. Good game,Brentford v Brighton.Two very good football teams,in a fantastic stadium.Wow.

  10. Prestonpans bhoys on

    THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY on 26TH JULY 2023 11:19

     

     

    That doesn’t surprise me, a midweek friendly game, like us their support doesn’t just come fae Glesga!

  11. Beale will be scared to play Barasic, Davies and Lundstram tonight after all three of them were slaughtered on Follow Follow. I’ve never seen criticism like it anywhere from a team’s own fans. Beale didn’t escape either but certainly if he plays Barasic and Lundstram in particular he could be looking at his P45 if they lose.

  12. I had been looking forward to going to Jamesie’s Testimonial for ages. He’s always been one of my favourites. I’ll never forget his goals against Shaktar Kharagandy and Rosenberg to take us into the CL group stages on two different occasions. However, my brother-in- law always kindly invites us to his holiday home at this time of year which I always look forward to as well. I’ll hopefully see the game on CTV and also hope there will be a large crowd in attendance.

  13. Drambowiecelt on

    @TOSB…”i’ve never seen ” care to elaborate old chap??

     

    What were they saying???

  14. I didn’t read every page but several pages during the first half were scathing about Barasic (can’t tackle, can’t defend) and how he should never play for Rangers again. He has cost them goal after goal for the last four seasons etc. Beale got pelters for picking him over Yilmaz. He was slaughtered. However, the main vitriol was reserved for Lundstram. The politest insult was that he can’t play football, he is a donkey and much, much worse epithets included. They know he should have seen red. He can’t control a ball so throws himself into challenges and often endangers the safety of opponents. They think he’ll get a load of red cards. Everybody seemed to want to get rid of McLaughlin, Barasic, Davies and Lundstram. I’ve given you a toned down version. They are not happy bunnies.

  15. McLean made two ridiculous decisions tonight. The first was not booking Cantrell for simulation. The second was not sending off ‘Lungestrom’. But did get it right in not giving a free kick when Cantrell went down, again, in midfield.

  16. Drambowiecelt on

    ooft…TOSB…And i thought war and peace was a hard read..lol

     

    Fair play sir, for stomachin that pish…..

     

    Enjoy wee james testimonial……

     

     

     

     

     

    H.H

  17. Drambowiecelt on

    @hIggie …your composure and restraint shone thru mate..

     

    Your enlightenment to all things The tic shine thru….

     

    great links ..great fotos…. And great history ……

  18. Keep it lit .

     

     

    I was in the port cemetery this afternoon. Ownie wandered away. Something to behold. More people there than I know today.

  19. Drambowiecelt on

    @H..we were up there today…?

     

    i trim 6 graves ….

     

    please let me know when you are up there ??

     

    Me .Kieran.Indie…

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