Paddy the wizard, Paddy the athlete, he’s going all the way

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We like Patrick Roberts; all of us do. He’s the kind of player who gets fans out of their seats, an entertaining throwback to a time when wing wizards were wanted by all. But Patrick is more than that.

I spent a bit of time with him last year at an Adidas ‘Backed by Messi’ event. He was very chilled for most of the day, before becoming sharply focussed, “I need to eat.” “I need to eat” was said several times. It had an urgency, the time for shooting the breeze was over, within minutes, a meal was needed to keep physiological objectives on plan.

Patrick wasn’t seeing many first team minutes at that time, but focus was complete. This is an athlete who plans to go all the way in the game.

He’s at Celtic because he wanted to be here. Manchester City were looking for an incredible figure for his transfer, well over double Celtic’s previous highest transfer fee, although perhaps not so incredible given the market in England. Without Patrick’s patience, City would have found a buyer, but Patrick knows where he and Celtic are going this season.

Great to have you back, Paddy.  You’re going to love playing centre half.  Ask big Nir, it’s an absolute blast!

———

CQN’s latest Podcast is now available for you to enjoy.

Paul John Dykes recorded Episode 10 of ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ at Andrew Milne’s first ‘Celtic AM’ event of the 2017-18 season.

A Celtic State of Mind offers an insight into the culture of Celtic Football Club, the city of Glasgow, and fans of the reigning invincible Scottish champions.

Each episode includes interviews with ‘Celtic-minded’ figures from the world of sport, music, film, art, broadcasting, literature or politics, and this week’s guests include:

* Aidso Digney from the Éire Go Brách CSC, who discusses his late friend, Kidso Reilly;
* Professional boxer, Gary Murray;
* Centenary hero, Joe Miller;
* Music from Keith Murray.

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70,000 Celtic fans can’t be wrong…

Connect with A Celtic State of Mind @PaulDykes and @CQNMagazine.

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547 Comments

  1. traditionalist88 on

    tonydonnelly67 on 30th August 2017 10:14 am

     

    Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Some are just more qualified that others to assert it.

     

    Aye in your opinion :))

     

    ===============

     

     

    Theres a reason why brain surgeons, NASA or Climate Change experts don’t phone you up to ask your opinion Tony bhoy ;)

  2. Theres a reason why brain surgeons, NASA or Climate Change experts don’t phone you up to ask your opinion Tony bhoy ;)

     

     

    Probably because they constantly in conversation with you daily :))

  3. If the Denayer story is true, we can assume John Kennedy told Brendan he thinks he’s good enough.

  4. THETIMREAPER on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:20 AM

     

    Denayer?

     

     

     

    Oh well, that’s the Boyata song goosed then.

     

     

     

    Dont be hasty.

     

    A hacks view.Celtic looking for a CH.

     

    Denayer was at Celtic before.

     

    Man City link.

     

    Been mentioned on Celtic blogs.

     

    That will do.Run with it.

     

     

    The Dedryck song will be getting laldy next season,I would guess.

  5. South Of Tunis on

    GENE .

     

     

    Thanks for the Marrakesh link

     

     

    Been a long time since I last heard it . Written after a train journey from Casablanca to Marrakesh .. Choon would have been a lot longer if it had been Tangiers to Marrakesh . Nothing is Express in Morocco .That’s one of the good aspects of the country.

  6. TURKEYBHOY on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:26 AM

     

    THETIMREAPER on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:20 AM

     

     

    Denayer?

     

     

     

    Thats either my,Theory,Opinion,Guess,or Fact.Whichever.

  7. THETIMREAPER on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:24 AM

     

    If the Denayer story is true, we can assume John Kennedy told Brendan he thinks he’s good enough.

     

     

     

    If that is the case,he must have been drunk,drugged,or suffering partial blindness when he watched him.

     

    A shadow of the player who played for us.

     

    Not to say he could not become that player again under Brendan,but we dont have the time.

  8. Empty the stadium – get a new Board – start paying top dollar for players – simple

     

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________

     

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/41037621

     

     

    Footballers’ wages: How long would it take you to earn a star player’s salary?

     

     

    The football transfer window means big-money moves and big-money contracts. Neymar’s 222m euro (£198m) world record transfer from Barcelona to PSG will earn the Brazilian 865,000 euros (£775,477) a week. How much do you get paid compared with a top footballer? Use our calculator to find out.

     

     

    Football club owners across Europe still have time to spend big sums before the transfer window closes on Thursday. The total spent by the Premier League this summer has already surpassed last year’s record of £1.165bn.

     

     

    In 2001, when Sol Campbell left Tottenham for London rivals Arsenal, his £100,000-a-week contract made him Britain’s first footballer to earn a six-figure weekly sum. Sixteen years later, Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba both pick up in excess of £200,000 per week.

     

     

    The average wage for Premier League players last season was £2.4m, according to a report from Sporting Intelligence. That equates to £46,000 a week, more than the average UK worker earns in a year.

  9. Awe aye! Nothing like a good family day out at the Orange Walk, read this the lady has class, but it’s all

     

    3rd.daft cow.

     

     

    A GRAN bit two Orangemen on the legs during a row after barging her way to the front of a queue for a bucking bronco ride.

     

     

     

    Drunken Nicola Saunderson, 38, pushed young children out of the way to get on the fairground attraction.

     

     

    Saunderson got into a scuffle with two members of the Young Conquerors Orange Band who tried to stop her.

     

     

    Robert Logan, defending, told Ayr Sheriff Court: “She was pulled to the ground and held there by both men – who were sitting on her.

     

     

     

    “That is how she managed to bite their legs.”

     

     

     

    The court heard she was highly intoxicated at the fun day in Drongan, Ayrshire, on August 3.

     

     

    Saunderson, of New Cumnock, admitted assaulting the two men. She also admitted assaulting her ex Derek McCracken and his brother William in Cumnock on June 1.

     

     

     

    And she admitted driving without insurance, failing to give a breath test and struggling with four police officers after being stopped in New Cumnock on May 22.

     

     

     

    Mr Logan said: “When she is drunk, she gets involved in these situations and gets the worst of it.”

     

     

    Sheriff Desmond Leslie said Saunderson had 16 previous convictions and jailed her for a total of seven months.

  10. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    The court heard she was highly intoxicated at the fun day in Drongan, Ayrshire, on August 3.

     

     

    ===============================================================

     

     

    That`s like a line from Monty Python.

     

    :-)

  11. traditionalist88 on

    tonydonnelly67 on 30th August 2017 10:21 am

     

    Theres a reason why brain surgeons, NASA or Climate Change experts don’t phone you up to ask your opinion Tony bhoy ;)

     

    Probably because they constantly in conversation with you daily :))

     

    ============================

     

     

    Consensus among the experts is more reliable than noise from the masses,

     

     

    HH

  12. Former Celtic player

     

    Jackson Irvine

     

    Has joined Hull City from Burton Albion

     

    3 year deal

  13. macjay1 for Neil Lennon on

    MACJAY1 FOR NEIL LENNON on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:45 AM

     

    TONYDONNELLY67 on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:36 AM

     

     

    Still haven`t stopped laughing.

     

    :-)

  14. traditionalist88 on

    scullybhoy on 30th August 2017 10:36 am

     

     

    The narrative that footballers earn too much is not completely representative of the facts. There was an article in the Guardian recently that stated 45% of footballers earn less than 1k per month.

     

     

    Not sure how reliable the figure is but too many forget that there are thousands of footballers not playing at the top level.

     

     

    For every Ronaldo there are lots of players struggling on low wages and sweating on the next 1 year deal, or thinking about chucking it because they can;t make ends meet.

     

     

    HH

  15. Lots of talk amongst Celtic supporters about lack of signings and money being spent. Let’s look at the reality,

     

     

    The Invincibles squad is still intact.

     

     

    Ntcham has been added.

     

     

    Kouassi now looks ready to step in when fit.

     

     

    Hayes has replaced GMS, an upgrade.

     

     

    Ralston, Ajer, Miller and Mikey Johnston have all been promoted to the first team.

     

     

    Benyu looks a decent addition although still very raw.

     

     

    Ideally we add one or two more, but if we miss our targets then loan signings are fine in the meantime. We can do business in January.

  16. South Of Tunis on

    38 at 11 30 —30 8 17 -way down south.

     

     

    My bags are packed / I’m ready to go .

     

     

    Choon for the road / choon for everywhere anytime . The Lisbon Lions on the park and this on the deck –

     

     

    https://youtu.be/ayUqmladJuo

     

     

    That climate change thing .-

     

    14 of the 15 hottest summers in Sicily are from the 2000s

     

    14 of the 15 wettest winters in Sicily are from the 2000s .

     

    The Med is much warmer than it used to be . It is also getting warmer ,year on year .

     

    There are fish in Sicilian water which used to live in the Red Sea . Water now suits them ,it didn’t use to .

     

    There are insects in Sicily which used to live in the Horn Of Africa .Life now suits them ,it didn’t use to..

     

     

    Off oot -beach time . Holiday tomorrow . Whoopee !!!!

  17. “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social enviroment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.”

  18. Just got my bet on for PSG to win the CL.7 to 1.100 quid .Thats the summer spending spree taken care of next year.

     

    Last time I got the 100 quid bet up at the start of the season was for Van Persie to finish top scorer when he was at Man U.Not exactly a great winning run.Confident this time though.

  19. GREENPINATA on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:14 AM

     

    Can an opinion be wrong?

     

     

    ##

     

     

    If it differs from mine then yes it is by definition wrong.

  20. South Of Tunis on

    TURKEYBHOY @ 10 54

     

     

    ” Just got my bet on for PSG to win ” .

     

     

    Wee item on the Italian equivalent of the Beeb re who will win the CL . Pundits /” experts ” journos / ex players etc .

     

     

    Marco Tardelli said this –

     

     

    ” PSG / Real or Bayern and as we all know UEFA don’t like 2 of those 3 “

  21. TONYDONNELLY67 on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:50 AM

     

     

     

    “Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social enviroment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.”

     

     

    ###

     

     

    De omnibus dubitandum.

  22. With just over 36 hours to go it looks like we’re after a first team ready centre half and another attacking option.

     

    Names in the frame at the moment seem to be

     

     

    CH – Stefano Denswil, Jean Kevin Duverne, Jason Denayer

     

    Forward – Odsonne Eduardo (loan), Valentin Stocker

     

     

    I suspect they’ll be more added to the list and we’ll end up signing someone not yet mentioned

  23. embramike says ” Yer team’s deid…Beat it!” on

    THETIMREAPER on 30TH AUGUST 2017 10:47 AM

     

    Lots of talk amongst Celtic supporters about lack of signings and money being spent. Let’s look at the reality,

     

    As admitted by Paddy, Celtic wanted to sign him permanently which means they had £8-10m ready for transfer fee, signing on fee etc.

     

    Obviously that has not been spent – yet. Still think we will complete a permanent deal by end of his loan period.

     

    The Coetzee deal may be resurrected in January pending successful surgery, and we have Boyata back in training and Simo off with his new Serbian international teammates. Adding another CH for a modest fee would make sense.

     

    Think people are getting hung up about the amount of money paid out – would you rather we carried on as they are doing down south? I think not. Shrewd business dealings are at the core of how we do transfer business.

     

    Lets see where tomorrow night leaves us.

  24. BOBBY MURDOCH'S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on

    EMBRAMIKE

     

     

    I have to agree. I don’t like penny-pinching,but I bliddy hate getting ripped off.

  25. South Of Tunis on

    Historical moment in cricket .

     

     

    Bangladesh beat Australia in a Test match –for the first time ever .

     

     

    Great bowling from Shakib . Be interesting to see how good he is in different conditions.