Remember Henri Camara? Martin O’Neill paid a significant loan fee to sign him 10 years ago, in the considerable wake of Henrik Larsson. Henri flopped and soon lost his place in the team but the weight of responsibility thrust upon his frame was considerable. No one could come close to filling the gap left in the Celtic team.
Nadir Ciftci would do well to consider whose shoes he’s stepping into at Celtic. Last summer’s striker signings, John Guidetti and Stefan Scepovic could hardly muster a start the second half of the season. Leigh Griffiths, who arrived 18 months ago, got the striker’s gig most weeks, but Leigh came to Celtic with as illustrious a heritage as Nadir.
Never step into a great man’s shoes, but Nadir’s not doing that. This is the perfect time for a striker to join Celtic, I hope he has the appetite.
I see the great and the good in the media are flogging lyrical at the prospect of a prodigy arriving from Madrid. None of this has come from Celtic. The player may become available at some point but I reckon it remains a hard task convincing Real his immediate future should lie in Glasgow.
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Drinks bring wickets
guyfawkesaforeverhero
Its no big deal even if he has asked for the 7 shirt.
Its a number after all no more significant than the rest.
guyfawkesaforeverhero
Juninho wore 7 and he was something else!
Caught this when catching up
Thanks
kitalba
02:38 on 8 July, 2015
Eleven players of Celtic Football Club did more in 90 minutes at Hampden Park on Saturday for the good of football than officialdom, in whose hands the destiny of the game lies, has done in years and years. For with a display of such granduer as has rarely graced the great vast ground, they proved conclusively the value of concentration on a discipline and on the arts and crafts of the game, to the exclusion of the so-called power play which has indeed been a disfiguring weakness in the sport but which has frequently been accredited through the international honours to the “strong”-men.
Briliant Fernie
So devastating and effect had Fernie, the forward turned wing half, on Rangers, who before the rout on Saturday were still considered as difficult opposition as could be found in the length and breadth of the football land, that the Scottish international selectors must surely now be considering whether they should destroy forthwith the impression that certain players are indispensible for future internationals and build their sides around this wonderful footballer who achieves his purpose without the merest suggestion of relying on physique and who suffers the crude, unfair attempts of opponents to stop him without a thought for retaliation.
Though Rangers Football Club may not immediately be in the mood to agree they surely cannot in the near future but to decide to change their policy on the field. I am not one who is going to charge their players of Saturday with the ultimate responsibility for the club’s humiliation, badly as most of them performed. The culprits are those who have, encouraged by results at the expense of method, not discouraged the ‘he-man’ type of game that has become typical of the side in recent years.
I have seen Celtic teams in years gone by no better disciplined and no better equipped for their task from the point of skill than the present Rangers, but Celtic management have long since realised that constructive football will in the end receive the greater reward.
Other McPhail
Not since their brilliant Coronation Cup days at Hampden have Celtic played football of such quality. One recalls that in the 1953 triumph, a slightly corpulent John McPhail played havoc with Arsenal, Manchester United and Hibernian through masterly control and passing of the ball; now the younger, slimmer, Billy McPhail has joined Fernie, Tully, and company in the bewildering of Rangers by the same admirable methods.
Valentine, not long ago a commanding figure on this same ground, was a forlorn, bewitched centre half on Saturday, repeatedly beaten in the air and on the ground in a variety of ways and the disintegration of Rangers defence undoubtedly stemmed from McPhails mastery. But it did not begin with Valentines plight. Celtic reintroduced Mochan to outside left and that player seized his opportunity as if it were his last. His pace and penetrative dribbling and apparently new found zest for the game had Shearer in a dreadful dither almost from the first kick of the ball. So Shearer decided to test Mochan’s physical strength and straightaway was decisively beaten in that respect too. Thereafter McColl was so busily engaged as an extra right back that great gaps appeared on that side of the field.
In the first twenty minutes Celtic might have scored at least four goals and indeed were inordinately unlucky not to score at least two when first Collins and then Tully hit the wood around Niven. Rangers first scoring effort was Murray’s in the 20th minute, but it was blocked by Evans, throughout a centre half of absolute competence.
Three minutes later McPhail headed down to Wilson and the inside left, without waiting for the ball to touch the ground, bulged the back of the net from 12 yards. Before Mochan scored Celtic’s second the frantic leap of Nevin and again the crossbar stopped another 30 yard free kick driven with such power by Collins as a stranger would not associate with one of his stature.
Fierce Shot,
Mochan’s goal in the final minute of the half ended fittingly superb play by McPhail, who after engaging in a heading movement with Wilson, lofted the ball over Shearer to the galloping outside left, Shearer went full length in a desperate attempt to tackle and McColl was also stretched on the ground. Mochan cut in and from near the touchline hurtled his shot into the far corner of the net.
Rangers began the second half with the wind in their favour and with the sun in the eyes of the Celtic defenders but alarmingly for their followers, with Murray a knee bandaged at outside left. Simpson at centre forward and Scott and Hubbarb forming the right wing. Murray, be it noted, had injured himself trying to tackle Evans from behind and been penalised for his pains.
Soon Fernie was travelling half the length of the field again and running his opponents into the ground and it was a demoralised defence who lost the third goal, headed by McPhail when Collins crossed. Five minutes later Simpson with an exhilarating dive and header scored from McColls cross, it was noticeable that that was the first chance permitted by Evans, who minutes earlier had been injured. Of that injury more will follow.
Name Taken
Baird soon afterwards had his name taken by the referee who apparently detected and infringement committed against Wilson, not obvious from the press box, and in the final 23 minutes McPhail (now toying with Valentine) Mochan, McPhail again, and Fernie from a penalty kick completed the humiliation.
During that period, Nevin, Shearer and Valentine were so panic-stricken that any one of them might have joined the list of Celtic Goal scorers.
The advantage of the tall goalkeeper over the short was never more clear than in this match. Beattie, whose chief worry was the harassing of opponents – I cannot recall a Celtic player making contact with Niven – gave his fellow-defenders confidence with perfect handling and timing of his interceptions. Donnelly continues to make a reputation ad the most promising back in Scotland, and Fallon again reduced the ill-supported Scott to a haplass young man, prominent after the firt 10 minutes only for unsuccessful attempts to provoke his stronger, wiser opponent.
Never have I seen a Rangers so outclassed in half-back play, Fernie, Evans and Peacock were each in his own distinguished way tremendous players in everything but brawn and bulk.
Tullys Feat
No one Celt, however, but did not contribute handsomely to the team’s glorious day. The effect of the now restrained but clever as ever Tully should not be minimised. Perhaps only Fernie of all football players in Scotland could have emulated Tully’s first half feat of ball manipulation which enabled him to outwit Baird, Davis, Valentine and Caldow. Then, as his team-mates poised themselves for the chip back from the goal line, Tully struck like lightning with his right foot and the ball cannoned off the very edge of the near post, passed between Nevin and the goal line, and out of play beyond the far post. The goal of the century had been within a fraction of an inch of achievement.
I have mentioned the injury to Evans. It occurred when the score was 3 – 0 and Baird was leading up to his caution. Baird had been admonished earlier for his treatment of Fernie, but when he brought down Evans after the centre half had dribbled round him the whole Celtic team stopped playing. Astonishingly Mr. Mowat waved the game on – one wonders if he had become obsessed with the use of the advantage rule and in a moment of aberration given the advantage to the offender – and Beattie had to make his save of the day as Murray promptly accepted the gift of a scoring chance.
That was Mr. Mowat’s one mistake and he can be pardoned that in view of his excellent refereeing. Without a referee of his power of control we would almost certainly not have seen Celtic’s superb football.
Written by Cyril Horne – The Glasgow Herald Oct. 21st. 1957
Welcome Nadir
Never Fear
Or shed a tear
Over a beer
——————-
If in the your first match
You miss at will
Or give away the ball
Remember Henrik, Hibs and all
————————————
Just goes to show
If you keep the heid
A future bright as snow
Celtic will bestow
———————-
But if you go
Just do it soon
And coin us in
A nifty tune
———————
To bolster up
The empty tin
As Bobby says it oh so well
10 mill has fled and gone to hell
Pish but profound
Ffs Jinky never wore the number 7 shirt, call yourselfs Celtic fans :-).
Anyway now we know how to say his surname what about his first.
Nadir —–is it Nah deer (a phrase never used it the shades household more than once )
Or is it —–Na dir.
Or is it Big Peters fav —-No dear. :-)
No matter what it is I looked forward to seeing you in the hoops big mhan once you’ve served your six month ban :-(
tallybhoy…
Caesar will be going on a diet until he chases the magpies away, they’re flying rats and need sorted one way or another. HH
50 shades
When we were playing in our changed strip -all green top – i am sure the number was on the shirt
50 shades of green
Ffs im still confused about how to spell Biton!
Signings we have made this window are very MON like.
We don;t have the cash to bring in established internationals but in build and style these players are MON type players. Looks like we are beefing up the squad with tall, strong, quick players who can compete and not be bullied in the air.
Looking forward to seeing the team in action.
LB
Aside from the potential attitude problem I’d be happy with Ciftci.
He fits the bill in terms of the attributes we need for the spearhead striker. Not one of the other players come close in that regard. He has a turn of pace, is strong, can hold the ball and bring others into play, he is actually very good on the ball and can find a killer pass. If he can improve on his heading and no doubt mature over time on and off the field he will do very well for us. He hasn’t been hugely prolific but has scored a decent number of goals combined with possibly more importantly a very good return on number of assists.
14/15 Ciftci vs Griffiths
Games 42 vs 41
Goals 16 vs 20
Assists 9 vs 3
13/14 Ciftci vs Griffiths
Games 40 vs 44
Goals 17 vs 20
Assists 12 vs 12
He’ll also make us more dynamic, be more of an outball and add a bit of strength and aggression.
so, if the young norwegian signs, where does he line up? I thought he played the same sort of role as SJ ( but with a bit less fitness perhaps, but more of an eye for a pass). Frankly, we need someone in that role who can see a pass … SJ gets into good positions, but his finishing needs to improve.
So, do we move SJ back into the midfield 2 to accommodate? I didn’t think he looked good when played in that role, but he was playing beside CM as I recall. Perhaps, NB and SJ as midfield engine, with MO lined up in the middle of the 3, might be the way to go.
This means dropping SB, but for the SPL, I think this might work.
This, of course, assumes that MO is as good as the hype… time will tell.
ROBERT88
Re dirty tackles,check some of these.
In a women’s match,btw!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NguWBoCn87A
MIKEINTORONTO
Scott Brown is undroppable these days. Reasons why become apparent any time he is missing.
I hope that Nadir is at his Zenith when he appears on the Celtic horizon.
Malone ..
good post. I would have thought LG would have been further ahead in the goal scoring department …. I have been concerned about losing goals if Ciftci starts ahead of LG, but your post has lessened that..
still think it might be a bit hard on LG if he loses his starting spot, as he has done everything that has been asked of him.
Malone Bhoy
Interesting stats. Are these starts or just appearances?
I would like to see both start up front and see what they do as a pairing.
LB
MiT
You canny drap Broonie!
Remember the start of last season when he was out injured?
1st name on teamsheet
Brooooooooooooooooooooonie
Captain & leader
bobby murdoch’s curled-up winklepickers
Some belters in there!
mike in toronto
12:44
I reckon Griffiths could and would score more in a more traditional 4-4-2, as would most strikers. I think that is one thing we all need to be aware of when we look at our players, you can’t compare the number of goals Hooper scored to the numbers from the past year or two, it’s different systems and in the current one the goals are spread more evenly. It would be great if our main striker scored 20-25 league goals a season but it’s much less likely when he’s up top himself.
Griffiths to be fair played 5 CL matches and 4 Europa games in that 42 game season so I’m sure he’d have got more if he played more games in the league and cups… but the fact he didn’t get a sniff in Europe also says something.
BMCUWP
I know that is the view on here … and I am a lone (crazy?) voice crying out in the wilderness (no, not Ipox!) …
but, we cant be set in our ways …. I was against SJ dropping back, but if it means bringing someone else in to his spot that adds more, we must do it… and if NC adds more than LG, LG will come off the bench …
Thinking about it, for most games, there is more upside with a NB/SJ pairing with MO playing in the old SJ role ….
SB would still have arole …. the pressing game that RD demands is tiring, and we will need a good full squad and for it to be used/rotated properly this season…
and in CL games, I would start SB in a 5 man midfield ….
this year, if we are going to make the step up, I think we have to think outside the box a bit, and keep an open mind ..
including, for me, if the team plays better with SB, then I will be the first to come on here and say so.
I can’t even begin to think what this family are going through.
@BBCScotlandNews Please retweet to help us find John Murphy pic.twitter.com/oybXOISl9z
https://mobile.twitter.com/Danethompson10/status/618740547046514689/photo/1
Malone Bhoy
Not rubbishing your stats but to put it into starts for goals.
Griff has 35 starts in all competitions and 27 goals.
http://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=45956
Ciftci has 73 starts for Dundee United in all competitions and has 33 goals.
http://www.soccerbase.com/players/home.sd?search=Nadir+Ciftci
Both decent records considering that the clubs are very different. Griffiths is a striker that just scores goals if he gets the supply. Bhoy is a goal machine.
LB
Cook and Bell coming up short for England again. Oh dear.
Pressure is all on the young lads like Root.
Here’s hoping Nadir or Big Nad’s as he’ll be known , gets off to a flyer in the hoops.
I’m chuffed that Celtic have a Turk playing for them seeing as i’m married into a Turkish family.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned but Turkish clubs like to bring Turks back to play in the Super lig when they are doing well abroad.
I’m not trying to sell him before he arrives, i hope he has many successful years in the Hoops and pin stripes, but…..Turkish teams have a fair bit of money nowadays.
M i T
Ffs ye cannae drop Broonie!
Down with that sort of thing!
I rest my case your honour!
:-)
HH!!
timaloy29
Should that no be England & Wales?
I was under the impression that the cricket team was England & Wales. That no correct?
Cricket is mental to me. Scottish guys can play for England & Wales and even Irishmen. The one day or T20 or whatever it is called the captain is Irish. Cricket team should be renamed British and Irish lions.
By the way cricket is not my sport!
HH
LB
malone …. that was my sense … that LG is more of a pure finisher, but NC may be better at bringing others into the game… I think both will be important for us this year, and I am looking forward to seeing how RD uses them …
I have to head into the office, but just wanted to say I enjoyed your posts and chatting, and hope to continue another time.
Hail hail
gene
12:37 on 8 July, 2015
50 shades
When we were playing in our changed strip -all green top – i am sure the number was on the shirt
maybe so Gene, but you and I know we where talking the famous Hoops, away tops got a once a season outing when Jinky graced our land, a bit like the 3rd strips these days.
Good try though Gene H.H :-)
LiviBhoy
Aye I agree the nationality things annoy me. England’s biggest wins in the last 10 years have been down to a South African!
LiviBhoy
Griffiths is more of a goalscorer, but Ciftci may well (I think he will) provide a more all-round game. Ciftci creates more goals. I’m a bit shocked at Griffiths lack of assists last term as I don’t think that is like him.
The Budget
An extra £750m will be set aside for HMRC to raise £2bn of extra tax combating tax evaders.
The onto non-domicile tax rules, in place since 1914. He says they have an “important place” and won’t be dumped outright, but “it is not fair for people to be born in the UK” to non-dom parents and then claim to be non-doms themselves. Putting homes in offshore companies is not fair either, nor is permanent use of the status, he says. From 2017, non-doms who’ve spent 15 of the last 20 years in the UK will pay the same tax as everyone else, he says. The new rules will raise £1.5bn
Looks like the clumpany are going back to court if they dodge out of this latest case.
LB
Paul67
I thought Cifti wasn’t on the list(:-).
It seems a long time since we were actually able sign proven players EPL
and La Liga experience.
Players choosing to leave Real Madrid , ignore the EPL , Italy, France, Germany and come to the SPL.
Graveson may not have worked out , but at least we had the means .
TT
livi
it is england, the governing body is the england and wales cricket board, hence glamorgan play in that league structure.
Tally bhoy ….. okay … last post then I really do have to run …
you know I love you like my long lost italian family (hell, you could be!) …. but this is a new season, and I think (hope!!!!) we will see much different and better football from Celtic this season … and just dont think the SB of old adds enough … but, if I am wrong, that is great, as it means he has improved, and is contributing more to the games this year (in areas such as passing, creating chances and finishing chances …. if the team is going to play RD’s way, we need more of that from SB, or whoever plays in that role)..
Malone Bhoy
I think the lack of assists are due to lack of games. In truth he did not start all that many.
When you play up front alone your job is to score goals.
The odd assist is fine but a lone striker assists by keeping defenders busy and making runs to make space.
I am not convinced that Ciftci will better his assist rate. I could be wrong.
I think both would dovetail nicely as a pairing and I would like to see flexibility when required for 2 strikers to take the field in any format people want to speculate. We have to be flexible or have a plan B if the current plan isn;t working. Maybe Ronny has learned that.
LB