When you and I discussed Kelechi Iheanacho on Thursday, I suggested “to retain a player who was not trusted to start games would be an admission of failure on the part of the recruitment and management staff.” It would be an admission that we do not have the resources to replace a player who by our own standards was not good enough to start games last season.
One day later, Celtic signed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Alex turns 33 next month. He did not make it off the bench in any of our last four league games (unlike Kelechi, who made crucial contributions) and he came on for a 15 minute cameo against Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup Final.
It does not worry me that Alex is our only signing so far this window, better to get it right than get it early, but it is enormously concerning that the recruitment team is so clearly unprepared to kick on from last season’s squad, that we have signed a player who was deemed not good enough to come off the bench during the fraught final few fixtures of the season.
This is a huge red flag but it is not a surprise. Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham were only added to the management team a week before Alex was signed. Martin O’Neill was in place earlier, but no one was in place to make the necessary decisions. We now have to hope we can play catch-up.
I don’t know the nature of Alex’s deal. It might involve a significant pay-as-you-play element, or some other circumstance that makes this a palatable decision. But what I do know is how to communicate a vision to the Celtic support. The vision we are being offered is not attractive.
Fifa
Not since the Heysel Disaster have I felt as concerned about the future of football than when I heard Fifa bowed to political pressure to reinstate suspended USA player Balogun.
Fifa has long been corrupt, but it largely conducted illicit matters behind closed doors. The game held its nose as Fifa awarded a ridiculous Peace Prize last year. Other sides did nothing when Iran was denied sporting equality at the World Cup.
If the body which appoints referees can act in this manner, the outcome of the tournament itself is invalid. The greatest tournament in sport has been reduced to a choreographed wrestling bout.
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Spain playing a dangerous game here, fannying around hoping to nick a goal.
I can see them being beaten 1-0.
‘….but he’s our best player….’
‘ …nobody except me has ever done anything like this before….’
The gangster Trump…..
Pay as you play type deals just do not happen in modern pro football.
Even having any payment related to minutes on the pitch, goals scored etc just doesn’t happen today in top flight football.
I’ve always liked Callum Wilson.
Really good player.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ckg00p0vwgro
Signing for Brentford as is Jaidon Anthony apparently.
Two forwards.
I wonder what that means for alleged interest in Maeda.
Plus, they’ll need to find an unplanned short term replacement for Jordan Henderson.
Whoopsie !
Personally, I’m surprised more footballers aren’t injured in some of the stupid celebrations they do these days.
PS – footnote to the Callum Wilson signing story has Brentford looking to send striker Kaye Furo (no, me neither) out on loan.
According to Wiki he signed for Brentford earlier this year as an 18-year old for £8.7m (€10m?)
.. having made EIGHT appearances for Bruge
https://www.givemesport.com/breaking-liverpool-sign-celtic-defender-dara-jikiemi-romano-update/
Mrs TT popped intae my bhoys cave to see how the game was going, my response “scheidt” she asks “why are they all diving”, my response “naw it just looks as if they know its a forgone conclusion”
Best of Luck Dara.
Sad you cant stay
https://x.com/i/status/2074180226813235631
HH
These folks seem incapable of grasping the concept of rules.
They would go down well with the huns:
https://x.com/clashreport/status/2074228377561534614?s=46&t=sv-Pdy_Omy4gHWjIzzeiwA
These folks seem incapable of grasping the concept of rules.
They would go down well with the huns:
https://x.com/clashreport/status/2074228377561534614?s=46&t=sv-Pdy_Omy4gHWjIzzeiwA
Spain through to quarter finals.
Some talk over the years of Roberto Martinez for Celtic?
No thanks.
Never mind tactics, what about spine?
Doesn’t have the guts to drop that egotistical old man
… who was a MILE off the pace tonight.
Performed like a guy who’d won a prize to have a kick about with the national team.
To the team trying least not to lose go the spoils.
Neither deserved to win.
When does the trophy for the best ever fans in the world get presented ?
Martinez done with Portugal as he did with Belgium, useless
Back to Basics – Glass Half Full on 6th July 2026 10:04 pm
Spain through to quarter finals. Some talk over the years of Roberto Martinez for Celtic? No thanks. Never mind tactics, what about spine? Doesn’t have the guts to drop that egotistical old man … who was a MILE off the pace tonight. Performed like a guy who’d won a prize to have a kick about with the national team.
*aboslutely, he said its his last WC, should be his last game period, looks like the Saudi league is a reincarnation of the old NASL which was a retirement home for aged players.
Balogun, the guy that Trump doesn’t even want in the USA.
Infantino should be oot on his erchie for this but he has so many ‘allies’ he’ll live to fight another day.
Football, from top to bottom is now completely corrupt with players diving and cheating, managers only ‘seeing’ what goes against their own teams and fans condoning all this.
What has become of the so called beautiful game?
Frankly my dear I don’t give a damn.
End Gable 1916.
How ironic…. via Reuters:
‘Accidental American’ Balogun at crossroads of US, soccer politics at World Cup –
https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/accidental-american-balogun-crossroads-us-soccer-politics-world-cup-2026-07-06/
Is it just me or does “Quinny “ on ACSOM seem like a bit of an insincere prick !? 💚
“What has become of the so called beautiful game?”
It’s now in the hands of people who appear to give more importance to peripheral issues such as status, fame, money, influence, etc. rather than the actual game itself. Look around you…people checking their phones, waving flags, banging drums, some with their backs to the pitch conducting the singing. The game is what matters above all else, atmosphere is an add-on. I remember games with a lot fewer than twenty-thousand fans, when we won nothing but still managed to enjoy the game. At least that’s how I see it, but I’m a grumpy old git now.
Former slayer of the Hun 10 in a row during Wim & Murdo Legenday season.
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/sport/26257416.ex-celtic-midfielder-takes-aim-fifa-donald-trump/
Madra Rua and An T earlier – cheers.
I’ve never heard of the lad …
… but, instinctively, I always feel a wee bit both sad and hacked off when we lose one of ours to another club.
THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 6TH JULY 2026 10:34 PM
How ironic…. via Reuters: ‘Accidental American’ Balogun at crossroads of US, soccer politics at World Cup –
‘Accidental American’ Balogun at crossroads of US, soccer politics at World Cup
Bumping this around the paywall….
Kristina CookeJuly 6, 202611:13 AM PDTUpdated 23 mins ago
FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round of 32 – United States v Bosnia and Herzegovina
NEW YORK, July 6 (Reuters) – Folarin Balogun plays the biggest game of his life on Monday caught in a complex intersection of soccer, identity and U.S. politics, with an intervention from President Donald Trump helping propel him to the centre of one of the World Cup’s biggest controversies.
Balogun was never supposed to feature in Monday’s round of 16 game against Belgium, after earning a red card during the United States’ previous match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
FIFA on Sunday stunningly said it would suspend the World Cup ban.
The twist carried a striking irony. Trump, who has repeatedly called for ending birthright citizenship, had publicly urged FIFA President Gianni Infantino to review Balogun’s case. Balogun acquired U.S. citizenship by birth after his Nigerian mother was unable to return home from a trip to New York because she was too far advanced in her pregnancy to fly. She took her newborn son back to Britain when he was one month old, where he would grow up before eventually choosing to represent the United States.
After initially competing for England at youth level, he opted to join the U.S. Soccer programme in 2023.
Balogun’s origin story added another layer of interest to an already charmed World Cup turn, his career blossoming on sport’s biggest stage as U.S. Soccer sheds its decades-old image as an incubator for overwhelmingly white talent.
Supporters of birthright citizenship cheered on his performances at a time when citizenship, immigration and American identity have come to the fore in U.S. politics.
Balogun “prove(s) birthright citizenship isn’t a loophole — it’s America,” declared a headline from a Miami Herald editorial on Thursday.
“Mr. Balogun’s case is an extraordinary example of the good that is made available to us by things like birthright citizenship, giving people an opportunity that they would not have otherwise, to be their best and to contribute to the United States in ways that benefit all of us,” said Jorge Loweree, the managing director of programs at the American Immigration Council.
The United States is one of 33 countries, most of them in the Western Hemisphere, that allow unconditional birthright, after an 1898 Supreme Court ruling affirmed that the 14th Amendment allows for birthright citizenship.
‘EXTRAORDINARY TO WITNESS’
Christian Pulisic had been the charismatic front man for the United States team for years, a rare genuine celebrity in the men’s game for a country so often ambivalent towards it.
But while “Captain America” Pulisic still has the most affection from sponsors, it was Balogun who became the United States’ breakout star, netting three goals to get fans dreaming of a deep run in the tournament.
A year and a half after Pulisic raised eyebrows with his “Trump dance” goal celebration, Balogun earned shoutouts from America’s biggest sports star, LeBron James, as he mimicked the NBA legend’s “Silencer” celebration on the pitch.
But the dream turned into a nightmare when he was shown a red card on Wednesday after a Video Assistant Referee review for planting his boot on the ankle of Bosnia defender Tarik Muharemovic, which appeared to be inadvertent.
Pulisic wrapped his arm around Balogun as the 25-year-old striker took the moment in stride. Days later, he pledged to put all his energy into supporting his teammates off the pitch in their clash with Belgium.
But less than a week after the Supreme Court handed Trump a stinging defeat in his central policy goal of ending birthright citizenship, the president dialled up FIFA boss Gianni Infantino in search of a reprieve.
“The timing and the development of the story has been extraordinary to witness,” said Loweree.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this year found that most Americans opposed ending birthright citizenship.
While Infantino confirmed that he had heard from Trump, he denied that the U.S. president had any impact on the suspension of the red card.
‘I’M AT HOME’
Balogun was raised in London and came up through the Arsenal academy, with England, Nigeria and the United States all possible landing spots for the prolific scorer.
“It feels like I’m at home here,” Balogun explained in U.S. Soccer’s announcement that he would play for the Stars and Stripes.
He said he made the decision with his family but was also swayed by a vacation to Orlando.
“I think that’s when I really saw the full force of the U.S. fans,” he said at the time. “It’s just something I’m really happy that I’ve decided to do.”
Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Kristina Cooke, Steve Holland, Bo Erickson and Fernando Kallas; editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Ed Osmond
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Kristina Cooke is an investigative reporter at Reuters focused on immigration. In 2025, she was part of a team of reporters who were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for coverage of the fentanyl supply chain. In 2023, she and colleagues were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for an investigation into migrant child labor in the United States. Originally from Germany, she joined Reuters in London in 2005 and is now based in San Francisco.
Who we wanting to win tonight?
Agree with posters who see Paul’s article as an ‘It would never have happened under Peter’s watch’ piece.
P67 was afraid we’d buy Marcelo at 28 or Kelechi at 29 (both solid contributors in key games)
Now we’ve signed AOC who, at 33, has proved a big signing mostly in name alone.
If MoN sanctioned the sign, does that put him in BR territory in Paul’s eyes.
As club bigwigs seem wedded to a ‘Sell before you buy’ model, I’d guess AOC’s resign is costing them nowt.
So it could be a ‘look we’re doing something’ fig leaf of sorts.
Balogun’s just been named in the US starting line-up.
Re the auld Sporting Integrity I remember working at the 88 Cup Final and was in the room where Thatcher was due to meet the players. I wondered which of my Celtic heroes would refuse to shake her hand but, of all those who lined up under the stand, I remember being deflated that all shook her mitt (including big Roy).
Another story says Mick McCarthy refused to do so but I cant recall seeing that.
Asked to leave the pub at midnight. Damned impertinence.
LAXALT on 6TH JULY 2026 9:21 PM
[Ref. Alex Oxlade Chamberlain] Pay as you play type deals just do not happen in modern pro football.
Even having any payment related to minutes on the pitch, goals scored etc just doesn’t happen today in top flight football.
___________________________________
I’ve no idea, but I know enough to say that I don’t know. You’re apparently suggesting that he will NOT have been offered a contract based on minutes played or other measurable contributions.
It was widely reported that he was getting £30,000 to £34,000 per week when he joined us for the few months in the second half of last season.
Two questions for you;
1) versus what he was being paid, is he going to be paid (A) more this year because at least now we know he should be fully fit, or (B) less because he’s older and might offer less?
2) based on your answer to #1, would you consider this good value and “just what Celtic need”?
Bonus question – which of the 27 minutes he played during the course of the last 6-games of the season was the highlight and sealed his new deal?
Gedinte on 7th July 2026 12:24 am
*Mibbees the question should be is he better value than James McCarthy
carpe diem.
not as much as paul john dykes himself.
or son of celts john hughes
or the trinity tims
all insufferable.
TONTINE TIM on 7TH JULY 2026 1:13 AM
*Mibbees the question should be is he better value than James McCarthy
Completely fair, though I don’t think it serves us well going down the road of examining all the signings that didn’t work out, unless it was to confirm how we learnt from them so that we avoided repeating them.
In the here and now, I’m just worried that at 33 he is at best going to be a marginal contributor when there is so much that needs done with the squad. We spent 4-months working with him, but having eventually found fitness he still only played just a handful of minutes, yet am I now to believe was enough to convince us he was worth another year? This is not to mention it took us 5-6 weeks to get it done. Not that we have a clear recruitment strategy of any kind, but if we did, doesn’t it leave you wondering how on earth this would fit into it?
Watching the US v Belgium game and had to smile when the US scored – Ratskin got the best view as he was the draft excluder in their wall 😂
I’d love to know how they decide who gets to lie down with their back to the ball – the player who has least to contribute?
Ra Buns will get good money for wee Monsewer Trashcan.
Sad to say, but he has been tidy in possession, positionally sound, combative and setup Belgium’s first goal.
Will he transact for more moolah than our Arne ?
Belgium’s passing is crisp and creative. The Yankees look leaden-footed in comparison.
PS: Ragtop rumours say ra Buns are set to get a big slice of Tillman’s WC appearance money !
QUADROPHENIAN on 7TH JULY 2026 1:59 AM
Will he transact for more moolah than our Arne ?
Belgium’s passing is crisp and creative. The Yankees look leaden-footed in comparison.
PS: Ragtop rumours say ra Buns are set to get a big slice of Tillman’s WC appearance money !
______________________________
Ratskin is a tidy wee player. Nothing special and lacking physicality (he plays angry, but he’s “wee”) in a world where midfield players are often rated because they are, big ahead of good.
They’ll offload him for £15M+ which might be half of what Engels goes for. Arne has size and youth in his favor, but he is also a footballer as we’ve seen in important spells.
The rags are way off with their Tillman stories. He was a loan player, and at no point did Sevco control his registration (even if they had an option which they did not exercise), so it’s just BS.
Good Morning Celts – Grand Day To Be A Tim
Well – we are all off to Dublin in the green… looking forward to perusing the game later this evening…
The good aul’ USofA out the world cup, no hosts left…
Quadrophenian @ 12:10 am,
“Agree with posters who see Paul’s article as an ‘It would never have happened under Peter’s watch’ piece.
Yes, as far as CQN was concerned, it seemed that the Board, C-suite etc were far beyond any criticism during the Allison – Lawwell era…
…not only could they do no wrong, they were responsible for everything that went right.
In fact, CQN even stopped updating the League table when Tom went…
A kinda homage to his grandfather’s clock 🎵 It stopp’d short—never to go again—When the old man went…🎶
Interestingly Tom Allison had a 25 year association with Celtic FC and was the PLC Board’s SID (Senior Independent Director)
Peter Lawwell, who was employed by Celtic as a financial controller in the very early ninties, in the 21st century he had a 22 year association as a Director of the PLC and Celtic Football and Athletic Club Ltd, taken on initially as head of operations, he was CEO for sixteen years and Chairman for three.
There is some disquiet around the goings on in and around the hierarchy and larger shareholders at Celtic, at present…
No idea what is going on, yet here is some ill-informed speculation…
Auldheid as you are no doubt aware is a stalwart of Celtic social media among other things.
The last few years and until recently he has been posting mainly on sentinel celts (SC)
Now, he was very insistent some forty five months or so ago, that, despite the conventional wisdom, he was sure Peter was not coming back as Chairman…
Now, he tends to take umbridge at me bringing this up – yet, he misses my point, all be it, it is probably the way I’ve expressed it.
See, AH states, he had it on good authority from the Dublin offices back then, that PL wasn’t coming back.
As we now know, that was incorrect and “the worst kept secret in Scottish football” was confirmed in Dec ’22, when it was announced that big Pedro was, in fact, returning in the role of Chairman.
Now here was my point after considering speculation and events then, that AH seems to take the wrong way…
What if the info that AH and others were hearing from Dublin wasn’t wrong? That in fact, as far as Dublin was concerned, PL wasn’t coming back as Chairman.
Yet, the Celtic PLC Board did appointed him!?
My speculation some three years ago was; there is a schism within the Celtic PLC hierarchy – that the Scots based guys wanted PL in position and that our principal shareholder didn’t.
Well, if that was the case, and the Scot’s based guys got their way what could that mean?
Dublin’s nose out of joint, a need for Dublin to reassert itself…
Well, like I said, guesswork and speculation…
Yet consider this…
Could that explain why…
BR was brought back despite obvious hostility from a powerful PLC Board faction.
The Board’s less than full backing (to say the least) of BR&Co despite obvious promises made.
The schizophrenic utterings from the Board…
World class club
The Executive appointing BR
Up a level in Europe
The Board not supporting BR
The selling of HVPs
The “hierarchy” going to the Sun
The PLC 6th Sept statement
BR&Co emptied
DD’s character assination
We can’t compete in Europe
AGM carcrash
Wilfried Nancy appointment
PL gone
Engels stays
Another carcrash recruitment window
TA gone
Total leadership paralysis
Scratching the surface and all very odd and if there has been a schism in the Celtic hierarchy, significant shareholders, it may go some way to explain this madness…
Anyways…
The small matter of the Celtic Glasgow kicking a football around…
🎶this is the day, this is the day, this is the day when we win away…🎵
Hail Hail
CHAIRBHOY on 7TH JULY 2026 5:10 AM
Thank you for taking the time to spill your stream of consciousness.
I don’t think that you are far off with much of this, but I’ll continue to state that there has to be more to the story – there is no way that a Plc board can be this incompetent and dysfunctional all in-a-oner.
My suspicion, and speculation, continues to be that there is a deal afoot.
Otherwise, I have o accept that this is how our club intends to function? WTF?
Very noble of Balogun not to turn up for the game…..
Another carcrash recruitment window
—
i disagree.
it is going exactly as they have planned it to go.
Morning lhads,
GEDINTE; re Nico v Arne – yes, a good big yin will always beat a good wee yin, but the wee hun has scored and setup more goals than Arne of late. More, he cost them less than Arne cost us; So, as far as wee nyaffs go, he’s a category leader and may help them realise a tidy profit.
CHAIRBHOY; yes, there may be trouble ahead. But shirley if the Moustachioed magnate felt his will was not being done, he’d simply have the usurper bulleted ? HH
#worldclassineverythingwedon’t
#keepthefaithorheid