It’s good to be back. A power outage at our datacentre on Saturday caused servers to crash and subsequent database problems. Our thanks to Andrew in Belfast for his invaluable help, again…
Trying hard to ignore speculation of various players coming our way, plenty of time for that later in the month, although I will add a note of caution. The fact that a journalist gets confirmation from Neil Lennon that he is able to sign a £6m player does not constitute a promise to do so. It’s little more than bait, for those who still read such sources.
I’ve heard nothing but good things over the years about Georgios Samaras. He is a player who flourishes on confidence, and support, and does so most often at the highest level. In Europe he is Celtic’s out-ball, a player capable of bringing others into the game, turning defence into attack. It is at this rarefied atmosphere that his goal-scoring has also been most effective. Ironically his style is less effective in the SPFL, where Celtic spend far less time 80 yards from goal.
A considerable reason for the low return in the Champions League this season was that everyone knew how reliant we’d become on Georgios. He was heavily marked; by the time the ball got to his feet, three opponents triangulated around him.
It’s no surprise he has offers from Spain, and no doubt elsewhere, to consider. If he leaves I hope his lasting memories will be cheers of support, not his harsher experiences.
Definition of poor IT planning: datacentres who host their Status page at their own datacentre. “We’re down, but you can’t read this, because we’re down.”
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I like Sammi a lot…. no buts.
Gutted if he leaves….. we have no-one like him for European games. He’s done his best work in the past 2 years.
Good luck if you are off Sammi, all the best to you
STARRY PLOUGH 1327
Not at all,bud!
For me,SAMMI,Kris Commons and a proper goal-scoring centre-forward is the way forward.
SAMMI holds it up,plays it back to Kris,CF makes the run as does GS. Defenders don’t know whether to stick or twist.
It’s the lack of that CF which has been the ruination of SAMMI this year. Nothing to do with contracts.
IMO,of course…..
Kilbowie kelt
That it’s my opinion, I respect yours,
Any lurking Huns GIRUY.
I love Sammi, but I think it is time for him to move on. If he is given a little bit of space with the ball at his feet then he can cause the opposition problems – that’s why he is great in situations where we have to defend (so more space in opposition half), but in the last few months we have been set up so that he doesn’t get any space (he always has two markers, or has a high ball punted from FF). Neil Lennon, having found a way to get the most of Sammi by playing him wide on the left, has changed the way we play, and will not change back to a system just to suit Sammi. He is not a CF or a target man. NL now has us set up so that Commons finds the space behind the front man, so it he KC who is thriving (the same is true of young Mr Forrest who plays well when we are set up for him). Stokes is putting in shifts so that space is made for Commons, which is why KC is scoring so many goals, although it makes Stokes look ineffectual (I’m not a big AS fan, but he’s trying). I suspect that Sammi is also making space for the others by attracting markers. He will cost a lot to replace.
Many on here will comment that X or Y has had a lousy game, but they forget that it is a team game. Eric Cantona once described Deschamps as a “water carrier”, but you need people to work to create things for others.
SeagullsfollowingtrawlersCSC
LARRYBHOY
Pass on my best wishes,please,for The New Year to Viv,TGLFW.
And also to yourself,of course. I hope it went well.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS ………FC not PLC
Aye that’s what I posted first, the lack of a centre forward has affected the way our best players and indeed the whole team, every team needs a focus and a fulcrum!!
The bike joke was a wee Tory leg pull Mate!!
Now that you are the Podium Champ of CQN replacing our much missed Philvis!!
Hail Hail
I cannot remember a single malcontent, not a single one, demand that Celtic spend big on a striker, most malcontents just wanted Celtic to buy an orthodox striker, no malcontent ,to my memory, ever put a price on said strikers head. The price tag is an add on by the apologists.
But six months later, for some reason, a definitive price is now being stapled to a new striker by those who six months ago were happy, and gloated, with the transfer window of the summer past.
It failed.
We failed.
Would a proven SPL striker have made the difference… would we have scored more in the Champions league? Well each and every one of us is going to our graves not knowing the answer to that particular question.
But know this, six months after we never bought a striker, we still don’t have a striker. Everybody is allowed to make a mistake, we’re only human after all, but make such a mistake twice… somebody, somewhere, needs a cup of coffee.
And people actually gloated how we got to the group stages without a striker….
BTW, after that recent blog about how Spurs were going into the slow lane… are they?
Kilbowie Kelt
12:20 on
7 January, 2014
CQN has been responsible for an amazing amount of charitable fund raising, to such an extent that I would be reluctant to name any individuals for fear of leaving out equally generous, motivated & hard working philanthropists.
On a political front, Resolution 12 is probably the most important achievement of this site.
The dedication in the face of scepticism of Canamalar, Morrissey23, Auldheid & others should be recognised & lauded. Their efforts WILL break down the defences of those who have corrupted our game for far too long & who thought they were secure in their misdeeds.
Well done & THANK YOU.
I totally agree with both your thoughts my friend in Celtic.
Georgios Samaras, the man who flushed out the Green Huns among us.
If Sammi leaves because we looked for a pay cut then our European ambition is truly shot.
Shaktar Karagandy eventually yeilded to his mercurial persistence last August when their legs gave out trying to combat his relentless onslaught.
Had he been absent that night we woul have failed. Peter Lawwell wouldn’t have received his £10 mill CL cash and his own fat bonus.
Samaras was recognised by Barcelona supporters as the player most desired from their CL opponents after his magnificent performance in the Broon 0-1 home defeat.
He will take part in the world’s most glamorous top-level sporting event this summer, he will be a name of caution on the lips of Greece’s opponents.
We are prepared to let him go for want of cutting a few grand a week? Relative chicken feed in football contract terms.
How much do we suppose it will take to sign and keep a player who can deliver like he does where it REALLY counts – the peak of our ambition, that Champions League?
Players like Samaras, you KEEP if you have CL ambitions. Influence, experience, ability – worth MILLIONS, Peter.
Who really cares if he struggles against the cloggers of Ross County when you know that with the ball at his feet and 60,000 behind him, Barcelona worry?
I mean, has the world gone mad? Or are we bumbling along in blind acceptance of glaring mistakes?
Keep Samaras.
Add some quality.
Give us some hope in Europe.
Don’t call me names but it’s acceptable for me to post on a public forum the salary of an individual who works tirelessly for the good of Celtic supporters.
Oh deary me……
A wee tune for Dallas jnr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uj9sduV3k8
OT67
I’ll get my money to you in the next couple of weeks auld yin.
TONYDONNELLY
The board had asked as many questions as they could about it at the time,as far as I am aware. Maybe not to any forensic level,but let’s not quibble.
They were rebuffed,shown documentation which proved that the SFA had acted properly. And UEFA agreed (working from information supplied by the SFA!)
Celtic then felt-quite rightly-that they had taken the matter as far as they could.
The resolution aimed to prove that there was information now available which had previously not been. And which showed that the SFA had acted wrongly.
The only way to push this was via the resolution. It forced the club to consider it. And then to agree to follow it up.
Now,nothing may come of it. But I am grateful for the efforts of everyone who drove this forward.
I think the vast majority of Celtic fans are too.
And I genuinely cannot understand why you aren’t,and continue to insult everyone else about it.
I’m in the time for Sammi to move on camp. Overall he’s been a good Celt in his 6 years but his inconsistency has made him one of the most frustrating players I’ve seen in the hoops. A purple patch in last season’s CL was predictably followed up by a poor campaign this season. He should go with every supporters best wishes for the future.
Tonydonnelly67
You are leaving yourself open, and are being offered the opportunity not to do so but that is up to you.
Anybody interested in finding out the detail and there is LOTS of detail, which is one of the reasons for brevity, can get it if they e mail me via Paul.
KINGLUBO
There are times that Sammi has given a fair impression of someone not giving 100%.
This could never have been applied to Henrik.
Hamiltontim
Like it was a secret? Like resolution 12? Shhhhhhhh don’t say any thing about Jeanette? aye right, gimmi a break, she got personal with the board and forgot what she was at the podium for, teaches at the Uni. As well, ah well there yi go, all hail Jeanette, phfffff, lurking Huns GIRUY.
tonydonnelly67
13:38 on 7 January, 2014
One is defeating one’s own argument…….Res 12 was necessary……why the hostility towards it……..and anyone who doesn’t agree with you…….that’s what I objected to by one of the resolutionists ……. lighten up, or oil be asking “are you a hunlurker” …..hahahahahaha (I know you’re not…….)
That was to help with his memory loss btw. Must be worry for the Dallas family and UEFA of coarse!!!
STARRY PLOUGH
Got it,mate. I lived in Streatham for a few years.
There were a lot of people in nearby areas who failed the cricket test!
You know,it’s only thirty years ago that Tebbitt came out with those two crackers. He’d be out of office in hours if he came out with it nowadays.
Times change,as the e-Tims fella earlier pointed out. I would struggle to recognise a politician nowadays,much less heckle her.
Just maybe, now is actually the time to sell big Sammi.
Don’t get me wrong I love the big fella and some of hios performances, particularly last season in Europe, have been breathtaking.
However, as Paul highlights, this season Sammi was much less effective either at home or away in the CL simply because the opposition had identified him as our most significant threat. Often he’d find himself isolated and quickly surrounded.
That isn’t going to change, other European teams aren’t simply going to forget his qualities as a result of one poor CL campaign. Next season I’d expect the opposition to apply the exact same tactics that Ajax, Barca and Milan did this year.
Soooooo just maybe it’s time to say a fond farewell and replace our Greek God with a different type of player.
Big sammy as much as I like him doesn’t do enough in the hoops to justify a new contract, on his day he’s unplayable but they days are far to apart HH
Is game on TV on Thursday?
JUDE
Intrigued.
Expand?
Bmcw
If as you say, me saying that they dropped the ball is insulting them, then ok, to me it’s my opinion on there performance, I noticed you left out the bit me being called ignorant, hmmmmm, strange I found that insulting, but then again like Auldheid that could be your opinion about me, fine.
the honest mistake loves being first
09:58 on 7 January, 2014Badabing.I doubt they’d be on the bench if he was sending out a message.
The massage is,we are crying out to freshen the team up but we have £8 mil worth of new signings making very little impact on the first 11.HH
Hamiltontim.
No sweat, I know your good for the money.
TD
You’re missing my point.
You posted on a public forum what JF earns as a lecturer. That has absolutely nothing to do with anything that she does as a mamber of the Celtic Trust. It is an entirely personal piece of information that you willfully divulged without any thought or consideration for a fellow Celtic supporter.
In my opinion it was a disgraceful thing to do.
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS:
The question that I keep asking myself is… did Celtic, by proxy, or by silent proxy, sign up to the five way agreement?
Resolution 12 v Celtic endorsement of the five way agreement, which one stinks to the heavens the most?
Resolution 12 is about the authorities giving the hun a greased ride, the five way agreement is every supporter of Scottish football being ridden with a barbed wired toilet brush.
Absolute academic if the huns go to their second grave (for that time being) but if the huns come back in eighteen months time… I hope Celtic don’t dare charge you more for the game or your season ticket. If Celtic are true to their silence they can never again in the history of Celtic Football Club that is yet to be lived, ever charge a penny more for a game against the huns.
Errrra sevco shares. Three furrrra pound.
(32.25p to be exact).
TONY DONNELLY
Come now,old boy. No need to make things up.
Where did I put in print that you were ignorant?
tamrabam @11.24
Had to do some stuff earlier so I have just read your reply and will try to answer your points.
“do you think the policy of signing 3 small for every 1 big player will help us to build a squad that can make a consistent CL challenge”
Yes, it has and it does. Since instituting the policy we have reached CL last 16 on 3 occasions and the group stages 5 times. In the MON era, the nearest comparison to your strategy, we managed 3 CL group stages and a beaten Uefa final. We have clearly done better in Europe post 2005.
“do you think the policy of 3 small signings is likely to have at least 1 dud and maybe even 3 duds? if so does that cancel out the benefits (a bit like the injury to the star player)”
It is, in fact, more likely, not, at least as likely, to produce a dud, I would accept. But with 3 chances at hitting the jackpot, your odds are increased, as opposed to making one pick. You could try lots of analogies here- would you make more money if you were allowed to be bet only on the favourite or have 3 bets on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th favourites? But no analogy equates directly to the football transfer world. My point was that the strategy has brought us rewards, not just good players who stayed a couple of seasons or more, but bigger sell on fees when they departed. The contrasting MON spend brought us three players at £6m, none of whom we made a penny on. In fact the only money MON made on sales was from his reluctant sale of Viduka just after he arrived as we took a bath on Berkovic a year later. Petrov was bought before MON got here and sold after he left.
“You also mention we have the luxury of selling our small players who came good, vic and hoops. It might be the case that we could also sell our big signings too?”
Of course it is true but I have to point out that we have a poor track record there. Looking at our biggest money signings, we have made no sell-on return at all on Rafael, Sutton, Lennon, Hartson, Gravesen or Scott Brown. We have made our biggest money returns on cheaper buys like Wanyama, Hooper, Ki and Petrov. So, while theoretically plausible, there is not a lot of empiric evidence that Celtic do this well. Lyon and Porto and Shaktar Donetsk do seem to be better at it.
“for me if we hadn’t sold our best players we wouldn’t have had much cash in the bank
so im not really cheering the policy of selling our best players and then not re investing it. (whether in 1 big or 3 small players)”
There is no getting away from the fact that the last transfer window is, if you evaluate it today, not a success. Yet the same strategy brought us the previous year’s success (both on the field and in the transfer sales). If next year’s buys are of the Hooper/Ki/Wanyama/Forster type then the strategy is looking healthy again but never fully vindicated. Another bad window, however and I mean the summer window not the January panic, and your side of the argument will be strengthened but not fully vindicated.
Hooper and Wanyama were leaving anyway, I do not cheer their loss but I am comforted by the fact that, at long last, Celtic get transfer fees commensurate with the talent we are selling. For too long we lost Dalglish, Hay and others for much less than their worth.
“I do have a fear that our stadium is getting emptier season after season for the past 10 years and I feel that our policy of searching for the lucky midgie doesn’t help”
Well, the revival of 2000/2001, following on from years of relative non achievement (1 title out of 12 contested with more than half spent out of the top 2 spots) was a high water mark for attendances. We had sell out crowds of 60k within a short period of becoming credible again. Without a stadium extension of capacity, we could only go down from that point. The attendance rates are not as directly related to sporting success as you might think. Our attendances during the 9iar era were not huge, except for big European games and we experienced big crowds (137k at the 1937 final when we had finished only 3rd in the league) at less successful times. This table, albeit based on Season Book sales, gives a flavour of the attendance pattern:-
Celtic attendance stats
I think we are seeing the same lack of edge that we showed in our attendance pattern towards the end of Jock’s 9iar period. It is human nature to get bored with a procession to a title. It is also human nature to attribute your own motives to those who are behaving similarly and assert that if we had bigger stars or spent bigger money we could wish away this “lack of edge” and get the same size of crowds that MON got when we were excited to be credible contenders, not only with our old benchmark rivals, but on the European stage again.
I have always said the mineshafters are more optimistic (unrealitically I’d say) about the future whilst the Polyanna happyclappers are in fact, natural pessimists, who have decided to make the best of a bad lot and be grateful for what we’ve got, until better turns up. It is not a great slogan for rallying behind so I’ll try and be a bit more bombastic:-
This is a good time to be a Tim. We are walking the league, our old rivals are dead and soon to be proven crooked, we have been back participating, but not winning yet, at Europe’s top table, and there is an outside chance of a change of league scenery ahead. That should be enough to allow you to crack a smile if you can’t yet laugh uproariously.
Hamiltontim
Hey! She wants in the public domain, goes with the territory, oh and by the way, everyone knew, unless except you, so now you know, but I think you knew, your just doing a wee Ally McCoist stint for attention, oh and p.s. It’s not disgraceful, it’s a fact she earns big money.
To do otherwise is to shame those who supported our club through the lean years and who now are gone. Do we homage their devotion to Celtic, the devotion that gave the club the global status that it enjoys, by desecrating their morals and sacrifices for the sake of a few dollars more on the books and a few cents more on the annual dividends?
Is that what Celtic means to you?
Is that what the great hunger means to you?
Glory or culture… what means more to you?
Based on the current RFC market cap of £21.8M we could just about buy them with last year’s CL money.
TD
How did you know what she earns?
tonydonnelly, We have a few things in common, my first name is Tony, my first Celtic Pub in Glasgow was The Brazen Head, still love it. I’m about the same age as you, my Free Travel Pass arrived this morning (2 days early) will be 66 this coming Thursday. Finally I am a life long Tim.
Why is it then that I find you the most annoying Tim on the site. What is it with you and the resolution. Good Tims are trying to acieve something. They may or may not be ultimately successful but they are doing their best and their motives are beyond approach. Why on earth are you continuing to slag them off and belittle them. If you don’t agree with their approach that is OK, just say so and leave it at that. We don’t need hundreds of posts from you repeating what you have already told us.
Rant Over, I’ll expect your normal GIRUY or why don’t you go a step further and send me a GIRFUY.
KITALBA
In my own honest opinion……
Celtic would quite happily have seen Rangers consigned to their own ignominious history.
They were advised of the consequences go this by various authorities,and the compromise of a parachuting hun was agreed.
I don’t think they were happy about it,but I can understand the rationale behind their neutral acquiescence.
And I hope I have been as diplomatic as possible about that. Get me in a pub,ten pints down,ask me again.