Our midfield squad shuffle. Leigh, the panto misfit

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I know what you are thinking, Ewan Henderson looked the part.  Even more so than his brother, Liam, who also left Celtic for a loan spell at Hibs, before moving to Italy.  That laser-precise pass at Tynecastle which set Celtic on their way to an important victory when Neil Lennon picked up the pieces left by Brendan Rodgers pointed to riches ahead.

Unlike many apparent teenage prodigies, Ewan never disappointed, trouble was, he did not play often enough to disappoint.  All we know for sure is that Lennon did not rely on him and after six months at Lennoxtown, Ange Postecoglou has moved him on.

Hibs, managed by Shaun Maloney, who worked with the player as a Celtic youth coach, is a good move.  He has a realistic chance of commanding a regular first team place in an aspirational side.  Celtic released him permanently for little more than an initial loan agreement that will prevent Ewan from facing them for the remainder of this season.

With two midfielders already signed this month, it is no surprise that Ismaila Soro is set to follow Ewan out the door.  For reasons that continue to perplex, MLS clubs continue to swoon around the edges of the Celtic squad, with New York Red Bulls reportedly hoping to add Ismaila to a list of former Celtic misfits that includes Patryk Klimala, Cameron Harper and Lewis Morgan, the latter moving from Inter Miami last month.

Another midfielder on the move is 20-year-old summer recruit from Sheffield Wednesday, Liam Shaw, who will spend the remainder of the season on loan at Motherwell.  Liam was one of the success stories in the win over Real Betis in December.  The move to Fir Park will hopefully give him an opportunity for first team football, it should also give you and me a better chance to assess his potential.

The Dundee pantomime season officially ends this week (oh yes it does) and Dundee are wondering what use they have for our on-loan panto act, Leigh Griffiths.  We are short of striker talent and Ange is still new to Scotland, so may be unfamiliar with how things work.  The panto season is also over in Glasgow, Leigh’s time at Celtic must also be over.

10 sleeps ’til Hibs.

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550 Comments

  1. Late to the party here about gotm.

     

     

    TR for shear pleasure but TR goal against United was Maradona esq.

     

     

    Absoloute total football.

     

     

    D :)

  2. Just turned on the Forest v Arsenal FA cup game, McCoist is on co commentary, his agent is a genius!

  3. MCPHAIL BHOY

     

    Arsenal game in the US on ESPN+ and Hesgoal. Thankfully, McCoist is not commentator on either. He does my nut in.

  4. Youth / talent development — look at what we could have won …

     

     

    WHU vs LU — LH getting his first start for LU @ 18.

     

    Seemingly he had a very good game up against MA.

     

    The same MA that gave him / us the run-round in August.

     

     

    Fair enough — 5 months older but does the jump in performance provides more evidence that we were not firing on all cylinders last season.

     

     

    The issue is — have we left last season’s shambles behind us or is the youth set up still struggling to meet the needs of the good 15/16 year olds we are signing but not seemingly properly developing?

     

     

    One for the future — the 18 year old CB steeplechase:

     

     

    DM + BL @ L/town vs LM @ Bayern + LH @ LU — should be some race.

     

    The early favourite is LH but plenty of time for things to change.

     

     

    Also we need a B team stadium close to P/head — hopefully the new CEO will put in some effort regarding our much needed growth agenda.

     

     

    Orr Street / Crownpoint / London Road @ Springfield Road — surely a deal could be made.

     

    Helenvale would have been a great location — history — before the house builders got it.

     

    Greenock and Airdrie are not where our youths should be playing their home games.

     

     

    Local stadium with 12pm kick offs on home matchdays would generate more interest.

     

    Plus stick it on CTV freeview — investment in the future at every level.

  5. Will be interesting to see how big lumps McKenna and ex-Sevco Worrall cope with Arsenal B team.

     

    KT now coming on.

  6. INIQUITOUSIV

     

    Lucky you, I’ve no idea how people like McCoist get these jobs, he has nothing of interest to offer and his attempts at humour embarrassing. But then the co commentary/punditry on offer across multiple channels is universally poor. It seems to me that football is poorly served by countless extremely well paid numpties. I could be wrong of course but my impression is that others sports, GAA, rugby etc. have a much better offering from pundits not just telling us what is happening which we can all see but also explaining why x or y has happened etc. Andy Walker, McCoist, Craigan and after the league cup final Stewart, need I say more?

  7. “MCPHAIL BHOY on 9TH JANUARY 2022 5:50 PM

     

    It seems to me that football is poorly served by countless extremely well paid numpties.”

     

     

    My view as well yet I find the cricket and rugby commentators excellent.

     

    I have not concluded why that is so but, when I think about it,it is the same at supporter level. Football fans differ greatly from cricket and rugby fans when discussing their respective sports in pubs etc.

     

    I think the football team we support is more of a sociological totem pole than are the others and that, naturally enough, leads to a more emotive response.

  8. MCPHAIL BHOY

     

    Totally agree. The interest in fitba or they say over here, ‘Sawker’, has exploded in the U.S. For example the apps ESPN+ and Paramount Plus show all of the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference games live. This means a lot of games on simultaneously and requires a lot of commentators. They do not have enough to have 2 per game. This means that any numpty who claims to know anything about fitba, or better yet, has played at any level, and better yet again if he has any kind of accent, can be commentator.

     

     

    If you watch the games, it is patently obvious that many commentators do not even know the rules. They are instructed to read out statistics to avoid any ‘dead time’ and just blather endlessly. I often select the Spanish language option because they seem genuinely excited and generate some atmosphere during the games.

  9. MCPHAIL BHOY

     

    Forgot to mention, that guys like Stevie Nicol, Craig Burley and some Glaswegian with the surname Joy, make an easy living bleating absolute nonsense on US TV.

  10. !!BADA BING!! on 9TH JANUARY 2022 5:02 PM

     

    Shouldn’t be giving Airdrie money, or playing on a plastic pitch

     

     

     

    Correct on both.

  11. glendalystonsils on

    McCoist FFS , Scotland is crying out for a pundit /commentator in the Jermaine Jenas (sp) category , knowledgeable, objective and articulate . All the things McCoist is NOT.

  12. MCPHAIL BHOY

     

    Just looked him up. Ian Joy, played left back for Stirling Albion and Montrose, Tranmere, and a host of others. Peddled CV into career on US TV yapping complete nonsense in sound bites about fitba loudly and at 100 mph. Impossible to listen to without muting.

     

     

    These guys are instructed to yak at super speed before and after the game and at half time to allow for adverts. Sounds really unnatural.

  13. Tom McLaughlin on

    With the Scottish Media and various pundits so united and vociferous in “warning” Celtic not to even think of requesting the postponement of games where more than 2 players are called-up for international duty, it seems they are overlooking one very important fact.

     

     

    The rule that allows Celtic, or any other club for that matter, to call for a postponement under such circumstances is not an SFA or SPFL rule. It is a FIFA edict that applies to every member country.

     

     

    The SPFL is in no position to refuse any such request from Celtic.

     

     

    This really could get interesting and I for one want Celtic to request postponements where necessary.

  14. Sevco had a game postponed due to International call ups a few years ago on ‘the journey’.

     

     

    Forfar were the opponents, and their was no criticism of Sevco from the media.

  15. Pellegrini with absolute rocket free kick from 25 yards into top corner for Roma to make it Roma 3 – Juventus 1. Check it out. Just superb. We need someone who can do this.

  16. Same guy who rocketed a free kick into postage stamp misses from the spot. Now incurs serious head injury.

  17. I still find it amazing that I can sit in my armchair in the US of A with a beverage, switch on the TV, and watch live from Cameroon a game between Ethiopia and Cape Verde.

     

    Cape Verde up 1-0 at halftime against a 10 man Ethiopia.

     

    I will probably switch to Lyon – PSG or Inter – Lazio.