18 months from the end of his contract, it’s good to read Brendan Rodgers talk about securing Liam Scales on a long-term deal. The player is unrecognisable from the man who struggled against St Johnstone in August and is a testament to what happens when you develop a player properly.
Successive Aberdeen managers, Jim Goodwin and Barry Robson saw his potential, as did the Celtic scouts who recruited him from Shamrock Rovers in 2021 for little more than £500k. However, his career upwards trajectory could have been lost were it not for Celtic’s central defensive injury crisis at the start of the season.
Carter-Vickers, Lagerbielke, Nawrocki, Phillips and Welsh were all unavailable at various stages during the first half of the season, leaving Liam as the permanent feature Celtic built their central defence on.
One of the main reasons I’m keen we retain Liam’s services for years to come is his preferred foot and second position. As a left footer, he gives a more natural balance to central defence than is possible with two right footers. He can also play left back, a position pretty much every club in the world struggles to recruit for.
Lefties are 10% of the population and are considered a mandatory requirement to play at left back, even more so than having a engine to get up and down the field or an ability to cross.
Celtic have had remarkable consistency at left back since 2010. Emilio Izaguirre, then Kieran Tierney, then Greg Taylor made the position their own. Taylor has seen off a few competitors for the spot and is approaching his peak years. I’d like to see if Liam can be an option there, in the event we need one.
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Ah, Monday.
You always appear a little too soon for my liking.
HH!
I was a left back Paul.
Left back in the changing rooms.
#OldOnesAreTheOldest
So that’s our left back sorted.
Keep up the great work, Mark Lawwell.
The RAngers are coming.
One of our finest left backs was right footed.
Big Tam!
AN DÚN on 8TH JANUARY 2024 12:11 PM
So that’s our left back sorted.
Keep up the great work, Mark Lawwell.
Management of expectations in full flow.
TURKEYBHOY @ 8:58 AM
Just read Jacksons take on the Scum uproar.
——
Nae luck TB.
You have my sympathy.
Two paracetamol, five Hail Mary’s and a pledge never to do it again ought to do the trick.
Very old Tommy Cooper joke.
“Doctor, my arm hurts when I do this”
(Lifts arm above head)
“Well don’t do that then”
Full time 2-1.
Well played Bhoys.
Job done.
3 points.
Paul67
Greg smashing wee player and an ever present this season. Not the biggest or best defender but a perfect fit for NL, Ange Postecoglu or BR’s system of inverted full/back or wing half. Alistair Johnston the same type, on the right flank. Seen off some ‘pure kwality’ in Bolingoli, Bernabei, and Laxalt.
transfers
I’d be quite happy if Kieran and Jota came back, even on loan , plus a goalkeeper. All we need I think.
KINGLuBo
Re Post Office Scandal.
Like many, I followed it for years via Private Eye.
“Scandal” is an overused word, maybe.
This was a Scandal.
Perfect storm of old (Post office) in bed with new (Fujitsu)
Strip it all back and follow the money.
Fujitsu doubled down on the lie for profit.
Members of their own software test teams knew the coding was crap.
Feedback up the food chain ignored.
Then there is the client ! …..
Where the function providing the spec and signing off the product are NOT the constituency who will actually use the damn thing.
(I’ve lived that sketch several times. It doesn’t end well)
But the kicker ?
The British establishment ….
… which still lingers to the mentality we are “subjects”
And empowers institutions (out with the legal system) – just because they have the “HM” name plate – to put people in jail.
No doubting Scales’ contribution, although I’d like to see an improvement in his awareness.
Could probably do a job at LB for a few games but shouldn’t be second choice in that position.
If we had been serious about doing some damage in Europe we should have upgraded in the summer window, but after Eindhoven that was never likely.
KINGLUBO
Were need another striker too.
Although Abada could be used through the middle short term.
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 8TH JANUARY 2024 12:50 PM
Re Post Office Scandal.
Like many, I followed it for years via Private Eye.
Yes me too. The thing is, as the drama makes clear that they only would get about £20,000. Some lost a livelihood/house which went to the 100s of thousands
For every day we dither ..the psychological pendulum swings away from us …..problem is our “custodians “ simply don’t care 🤔
BACKTO BASICS
Post Office scandal. It is just that , but the enquiry will drag on and on with no result. Same as happened with the awful Grenfell disgrace, forgotten now , who would have thunk it, eh
KINGLubO
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 8TH JANUARY 2024 12:50 PM
I’m retired now but spent over 25 years in the land of IT. Working on financial systems, payroll systems etc etc.
I have no idea how this was not identified from a IT angle, your suggestion that they knew and ignored it makes more sense to me@
The Post Office, Windrush HIllsborough, Hollie Greig, Contaminated Blood etc etc.
Everyone of us on here could add to the list. Conspiracy theories and scandal is why you must always question the establishment.
The next one up will be the AstraZeneca Vaccine which is currently ongoing.
Maybe in 20 years time a TV show of some description will uncover some unpalatable truths.
I see the big Serbian striker Radulovic has gone to Huddersfield. Reckoned he might have been worth a punt. Looked pretty useful against Aberdeen in the ECL.
When wee GT was struggling for form earlier in the season and Lager and CCV were both fit I was hoping Scales would get a run out at LB. Thankfully I don’t manage the team, GT has found a bit of form and Liam has nailed down the CB spot.
Agree we should look to keep him – he’s a useful guy to have about who would coat more to replace than he would bring in transfer fee wise.
He is also a lesson in not writing people off and an example to other strugglers in the squad.
PRESTONPANS BHOYS on 8TH JANUARY 2024 1:21 PM
“I have no idea how this was not identified from a IT angle, your suggestion that they knew and ignored it makes more sense to me@”
I think the faults were discovered by the dev/test team in the IT system supplier company. They would have reported this upwards to Product / PMs (depending on how they worked), possible in a RAID log or by creating a bug ticket or similar.
I think these people then lifted the carpet and swept furiously so the ppl they were supplying the systems to may have been unaware?
It makes no sense to anyone really but it always remind me of Fight Club story where they balance the (financial) cost of the potential accidents against the cost of a car recall (“A + B = C”). Perhaps some bean counter somewhere has decided it would be too costly to fix or even to advise of the fault (SLA penalties) so ignored it and hoped it would not be discovered?
I’ve not watched the series yet – it’s on my list – so the above may be nonsense but I have experienced things like this IRL sadly.
QB
Sorry, that should be A x B x C = X
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=fight+club+car+recall+scene&mid=F97FAD6E0EC6684EE5E6F97FAD6E0EC6684EE5E6&FORM=VIRE
Fourstonecoppi and Kinglubo – cheers.
PrestonpansBhoy – yip.
My wife and I both worked IT for donks.
Re this scandal – we sometimes put on our “propeller heads” and, like you, try to figure out how this happened.
No Test Manager I have encountered would EVER have let something like this pass UAT.
And, from my experience they are a tough, resolute species.
Trying to bully them into silence (and I’ve seen it attempted) usually backfires.
Just assessing the queue of clubs for Shankland and Miovski…….
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 8TH JANUARY 2024 2:04 PM
You’ve just taken me back in time ‘test managers’ in UAT 🙃
Remember one test manager, now what she did was always important and her clones were always urgent. So she asked for a urgent clone, I said my troops are all tied up however since it’s so so urgent I’ll do it myself.
The clone was delivered on the Tuesday and credentials and URL passed to her. On the Friday she says I can’t access the database. So you are just starting today, I said. Oh no been using it since Tuesday, she said. My reply was that’s remarkable because I never started apache so you can’t go front end moreover I didn’t start the listener so you can’t sqlplus either.
We never got a urgent request again…. lesson learnt never bull shi$e the DBA’s especially the old grumpy git 🧐
Said it before, but a big no to Shankland. Lazy, unfit, we can and must do better than that if progress is our wish
KINGLuBO
The only criteria I have for a striker is that he’ll score goals for us. We make soooooo many chances that are crying out for a clinical finisher.
HH.
Anyone remember the striker we had in the bad days, Andy Payton, Was always very good at attacking the near post and making great timed runs for crosses coming in. We very rarely have anyone attacking the near post. Frank McGarvey was absolutely wonderful at that, especially inthe 85 cup final. We put so many dangerous crosses into the box, except from our corner kcks. I know we are only a week or so into the transfer window, but I always feel it makes sense to get people in early. We tend to put ourselves through the wringer on the last day, hoping for Riquelme all over again. I know I know, call me a bedwetter, well I’m sitting here wearing my depens diapers and hoping for the best.
Hope all are well and in the best of health and happiness.
Hail Hail
Sean
PRESTONPANS BHOYS re: mess with the DBA
Funny stuff!
King Lugo,
” Lazy and unfit”.Pardon my bluntness,but that is one load of Bollox.
How many goals does the guy have to score before some people get rid of their ridiculous notions.
Aka,how many good game s does Greg Taylor have to play before same.
Good afternoon all from wherever the hell I am.
TURKEYBHOY on 8TH JANUARY 2024 4:06 PM
“How many goals does the guy have to score before some people get rid of their ridiculous notions.”
To be fair it is possible to be pretty lazy and relatively unfit and still score a fair amount of goals if you are a natural finisher; case in point Mr Monster Munch himself, Kris Boyd?
QB
Bada Bing,
Might have been a few clubs in for them,probably Championship,wanting them for buttons,as usual,or most clubs just scared off by the price quoted by their clubs.Don’t see anyon battering on our door for Kyogo.
Dont really care what anyone says,and not saying we sign either,but both are excellent at scoring goals.
Anyone denying that fact is a lunkhead.
Post Office systems
Any large system back in mid 90s would have been riddled with bugs so any sort of UAT would likely have uncovered a significant defect list. Volume testing with realistic scenarios across a significant number of postmasters would likely have got squeezed for time ; the old favourite of we just need to make it live ( as we have a working product) and any wrinkles with specific postmasters can be monitored and fixed post go-live.
Above scenario very often happens when the senior management of the end users are on hefty bonuses for the ‘success’ of the system.
Retirementisblisscfc
Quadbhoy,
Naming one does not prove the point.Boyd was a predator,a very good one.Only put the timber on at Killie.
Neither Shankland nor Miovski are lazy or unfit.Ridiculous to say so.
Re Shankland.
Trying to assess how he would do in our team is very difficult. Hearts don`t have to face ten-man defenses.
I am sure he would score for us if he got the space. I am not so sure he would get that space.
As with all transfers, we simply don`t know if they will be successful or not. We just have to decide if any player is worth the gamble and that gamble aspect is likely to be lessened by the level in which the player has been performing.
Franz Beckenbauer RIP
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Gelhardt
Linked with this guy,not impressed by these stats