There was a bit of chat last week that Celtic were ‘at it’ by signing Scott Allan. Sticking it large to an aspiring Championship club. Tempting, though it is to let that notion roll, it’s simply not true. Scott was right on plan to be a Celtic signing, and as I’m sure he’ll explain at this afternoon’s press conference, Celtic is the perfect move for him.
He is a young Scottish player with talent and enough potential to become a top player. Like them all, he is a financial risk, but not a major risk, neither his transfer fee nor his wages will significantly alter the budget.
The need for reinforcements for other positions is more pressing. Midfield is not an area where we are short, but signing Scott will have no impact on the search to reinforce those other positions. He will immediately enhance the squad and force everyone else to up their game. If you want a place in that Celtic midfield, you will need to be on the absolute top of your game.
I expect to see more deals like this. If there’s a player who the coaches reckon has potential, and he looks undervalued, Celtic will try to sign him. We want the best players in Scotland at every age group and in every position. We want to develop a culture of self-improvement. This signing will ask questions not just of Scott, but there isn’t a midfield player at the club who will not consider the threat to his position this morning.
For the best part of an hour Celtic were a joy on Saturday. Having read so much about what the player went through in recent months, he must have been pinching himself as he watched fast-flowing, incisive, football. They were a team full of swagger and confidence.
Ronny Deila would have been animated at what happened after he made the decision to rest some legs. Two goals were lost as a result of Dedryck Boyata twice losing concentration. This was an alarming sign but Ronny knows Dedryck has played very little football, less than two dozen games before joining Celtic this summer.
How to deal with mistakes is one of the attributes which comes form experience, a qualify which makes it less likely your nerve will be affected, resulting in the second mistake. I expect the big man to be back at his Qarabag form for Wednesday’s Cup Final.
Jane Maguire from the Celtic FC Foundation was in touch after receiving a £1,200, from money raised at last month’s CQN Golf Open:
“I just wanted to thank CQN so much for the wonderful donation of £1,200, as a result of your Golf Day. The spirit and compassion of the Celtic Family is unique and unsurpassed and your gesture is a perfect example of that.
“Your support is invaluable to Celtic FC Foundation as we strive to honour the founding principles of our Football Club and help those who need it most. We deliver a host of projects in our local communities for children, young people and adults around the four key themes of Health, Equality, Learning and Poverty. The CQN input will make a huge difference.”
I know we talk about the bigger aspects of the club, like this, often, but it’s incredible how deep the links the modern Celtic support have with the founding ethos of the club. It’s no idle boast to suggest we are the world’s most ethical football club.
The trajectory is also impressive. Links from practically every area of the support, and the club itself, to the Foundation, and to individual projects, like our own Mary’s Meals appeals, are more frequent and increasingly more successful. You are part of a long story. Keep it up.
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Hope our PR guys are on the ball when Scott Allan faces the Lapdogs later,there will be more questions on Sevco than Celtic.
Zico-tried to phone you on FBM HH
Great piece again Paul…
Football Clubs now have to apply all kinds of strategy into the running of the Club.. Football, particularly Good Football, doesnt just happen, its concieved and planned and worked on, and if everyone involved gets their bit right, then we have success, Financially and in Footballing terms.
We are doing it Right!!!
Also great to read, (we dont read about it often enough) the work of the Foundation and all the contributions that go into, as you describe it Paul.. The most Ethical Football Club in the World…
Thank God I support my Team and am part of it!!! Hail Hail and God Bless every single one of you.. You are All Special!!
Whilst I’m on.. Can I repost this..
Over 35’s Five a Side Footy on a Friday Nights at Eastfield Leisure Centre in Cambuslang, (next to Trinity High School.. behind the County Inn).. great fun Ghuys, Good exercise and only £2.50 for the game and £5.00 if you want a swim and a Sauna as well.
Friday Nights, 6.00 pm till 7.00 pm. (Although its aimed at over 35’s, theres no real age limit over or under.. Me? I’m 62 still playin, an just love the footy!!!).
Gimmie an email if you want more info.. andyr53@btinternet.com.
STEPHBHOY
You’ll be delighted to hear that Dylan has left the building!
Shame,tbh. He was progressing great till his jaw got broken. He impressed at Hibs last year,having finally got a run of games. I expect his improvement to continue there.
I doubt it would have done at Celtic,so a good move for all parties,and I wish him every success.
And a Championship medal!
Kevj
I can only imagine what you are going through.
My very best wishes go to you and yours.
TT
andyR53
You can run around all Friday night, but couldn’t make it up to the Kerrydale bar on Saturday afternoon, as the legs were gone. … More fool me.
Kev J. I hope things work out well for you.
HH
Afternoon.
Here’s my short piece about how Scott Allan joining Celtic may have helped Sevco (according to Gordon Smith!).
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/the-day-peter-lawwell-saved-sevco/
I just popped into wish KEVJ and his loved ones peace of mind and a healthy diagnosis.
TheClumpany
Was that not a cringeworthy piece that clown wrote yesterday.. There was bitterness in every sentence.
And to think he was shoehorned into the top job at the SFA. Makes you wonder what we are constantly up against.
glasgowdave on 17th August 2015 2:17 pm
Thats a Lie… I was breaking in new shoes for the Wife an they were pinching a bit at the toe, thats the ONLY reason I could nmake the bar!!!
I’ve already written to the Club saying there should be table service for situations like that… (havent heard back yet, ).
H H & COYBIG on Wednesday!!!
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 17TH AUGUST 2015 1:02 PM
Good article, Paul. I hope we are keeping an eye on Greg Stewart.
Wonder if Charlie at CB might be a better bet on Wednesday? Boyata will develop into a good defender in time, but his lapses are becoming a bit of a worry. These two games are no place for mistakes.
—–
Charlie has proven form at CB. Proven that he is not a CB, certainly not in CL.
If RD is genuinely concerned about DB at CB, the answer must be Lustig beside VVD.
Big hun at my work isnt taking Scott Allans choice too well :)
Little twisted b aparantly.
I explained to him that the lad wanted to play a better standard of football and to also possibly play in The Champions League, which is a dream for probably every footballer.
As well as that theres the chance to play in front of 60,000 fans in Paradise with better players than he would have done if he chose Ibrox as a new workplace and he will be making much more than he would have got there as well.
As the lad said….no brainer really.
His mood didnt seem to improve as he stomped off.
I need to go and see if he understands now.
THECLUMPANY
I read that earlier,and well up to your usual standards,if I may say so.
In a sycophantic manner…
I think Smith’s piece,along with others from the usual suspects-and even Spiers,from whom I expect better-is rather worrying.
They all seem to be criticising the player for not joining Rangers,and whipping up a level of hatred against a young man who has taken a head over heart decision.
Indeed,he is being hammered more than those former Rangers players who,worth millions,TUPE’d for free to other clubs.
I’m well known as no great fan of PL,but I genuinely think it’s time he fired the big guns on every single one of these fans wi typewriters who are inflaming a bunch of idiots.
By that,I mean that we should not sit back and allow OUR player to be placed in the firing line,scared to go out at night.
Mmmm. How can we be the most ethical club I the world while not paying the living wage and accepting (I am being kind here) the open corruption in Scottish football without saying a word?
Answers on a postcard to…….
Best wishes Kevjungle. Sorry to hear of your troubles. Stay strong.
ANDYR53
Did you remember to put a stamp on it?
Kev J………….to your good self and those around you ,my very best wishes….
you have a lot of braw bhoys and ghirls rooting for you…
braw
Pmg has just posted this …http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/rifc-auditor-search-continues/#more-6709
why do the Zombies no get married ,wifes mak the best bookie watchers !
braw
KevJ – Keep it lit
Viva the bampots
Very best wishes to Kevin and thoughts with his family.
It is not good enough for a consultant physician to fail to deal with a cancerous biopsy for 3-4 months. Whilst the pressures of the NHS are appreciated this is an individual and system failure that a positive finding was wrongly dealt with and not followed up during such a long time period.
Build up for Wednesday has started for me. Nerves are getting a bit tenser by the hour.
I saw Sportscene last night – started our match with a reprise of a game between us and ICT many years ago. I did not see a reprise of a game between Dundee and Hearts many years ago.
Answers on a postcard please? Naw…just forget it and laugh.
NEGANON
Pretty sure we do pay it now,mate.
Yes,should have been done earlier,no hiding behind excuses of affecting benefits.
I recall working with a huge company at the turn of the century,found out people were on working families tax credits.
Because our company realised that they could pay rubbish,and the taxpayer would make up the difference.
I was well impressed. Little I could do about it. But I brought it up at every meeting.
glasgowbhoy
Have you tried vdubt25 ?
Bobby …your monikers bday the day…..must be braw to think the best manager that ever managed thought you were about the best footballer he had ever signed…
braw
BOBBY MURDOCH’S CURLED-UP WINKLEPICKERS on 17th August 2015 2:35 pm
Ermmmm, do we no huv Freepost at Parkeid??
NEGANON
100% sure we agreed at last years AGM, to PAY the living wage to all full time employees, but declined to SIGN UP to the Agreement.
Dont know why we wouldnt commit to formally signing it, but I’m sure we pay it after the petitions and lobbying by the Supporters.
Bit worried about Malmo. Think they are a better side than the Elfsborg and Helsinborg sides we beat.
Neganon2 can you point me to where Celtic have said they are the most ethical club in the world. If not the club then who? If in fact they have stated that then I’m right with you. Hail Hail Hebcelt
NEUSTADT-BRAW
Aw,hell. I thought that was tomorrow. I know it’s in the same week as my Mum has her birthday.
I can only apologise to the lovely lady Kath who inspired my moniker,and the rest of the family.
A great player,and a great man. And a legend at two different clubs.
Now,that’s some doing,innit?
Sorry best wishes to KevJ Patricia and Dominic, hope it all works out for you. Hail Hail Hebcelt
ANDYR53
FREEPOST at Parkheid?
Reminds me of the Derek and Clive sketch when Peter Cook decided to complain to the Director General of the BBC.
But heyho,kids read this. So you’ll have to Google it…
Hrvatski Jim 2.44
Not one to defend the BBC, but I think they are doing some old games as part of the Sportscene at 40 thing. Of course there was only one game they would go for this week!
Last week for the Motherwell-Dundee Utd game they commemorated the 7 goal thriller from the ’91 cup final by showing only the four Motherwell goals!
My main beef yesterday was Rob McLean at our fourth goal saying the ICT player had given the ball away under “no great pressure” when we had our four forwards all pressing in their box! No idea how they can let someone with no understanding of the game commentate!
We missed a player when Shinnie went to Aberdeen!!
Scott Allan is laughing all the way to the bank, with a 4 year contract safely tucked up in his back pooch.
Because he’s clearly a footballer (or a money grabber) if your’e a hurting honey, what they don’t get, is either way he rose above the bigots and put his career first,
The predictable SMSM reaction is of a wounded ‘animal’ and ‘the people’ some of them with bona fide main stream media platforms, are truly animals . The reception provided at Celtic Park for ‘just another footballer’ was ‘a right showing up’ for biased media coverage, who’ve nowhere to turn, other than South Africa, for a new sequence of glib shameless lies.
It may be difficult for Keech Jackson and his ilk to raise themselves from knee level bias, but professional sportsman always find it easier as the Celtic story has taught us.
It’s such a good time in life to be a Celtic fan, you might kick yourelf if you didn’t get involved in unending CL League contention, Scott Allan knows it.
Looking at the overall squad situation at Celtic – the obvious gaps and weaknesses – the less than convincing form and the after match pronouncements – I am having to wonder:
Is Ronny actually Chauncey Gardiner?
Don’t know if it has been mentioned already, but on this day in 1944 Bobby Murdoch was born.
A true Celtic legend and one of the all-time greats.
His memory lives on.
HH!!
Just reading back ….
Not sure what has happened with KevJ, but thought and prayers for him.
As for the article, two issues:
I think Neganon has raised a legitimate concern. How do we claim to be the most ethical club without a discussion about the criteria? From the emails I received from the Celtic Trust, I understand that the club agreed to pay the wage, but then sought to cut the lowest paid employees from the bonus scheme. For me, this needs to be clarified by the club, and I understand that there are efforts to see that this is dealt with at the AGM.
If other clubs are paying the living wage, and we aren’t, that would be a factor in P67’s claim. If we knew of/didn’t oppose the 5 way agreement, that would also be a factor.
On what basis are we claiming to be the most ethical club?
I would like Celtic to be that, but if we are going to make that claim, I would like us to be able to back it up. Is it based on the actions of fans/shareholders… if so, does that make the Club more ethical (back to the issue of what is the club). If it is based on how much money the club donates, has anyone done a comparison? What is the value of, for example, Barca’s putting unicef on their shirts? I dont know, but I suspect it is considerable? Does Barca do any charitable work? If so, what is its worth/value?
Also, it was an entertaining game on Saturday, and better than last Wednesday, but hardly what I would call fast-flowing incisive football. Without Denayer, we are less fluent at bringing the ball out from the back than we were (although, Boyata needs time to settle, and I have hopes for him) ….
And, we are still far from fluent and fast paced in the final third. I watched some EPL, Spanish and German football on the weekend (yes, the better half is away!) …. the EPL stuff is similar to the style we see in Scotland, but has moments of real skill (usually, not from English players) but is generally a much higher standard than what we see in the SPL. The Spanish and German games were night and day, however …. the players all over the park moved continuously, were comfortable with, and passed the ball. It was good football to watch., and closer to what I would consider fast flowing incisive football.
anyways, just my thoughts, and pretty trivial stuff really, certainly when compared to the apparent real troubles of our fellow poster KJ.
HH
KevJ
You, Patricia and Dominic will be in my prayers.
Mr Flakey no he’s not
“For every Scott Allan Celtic sign, we’ll sign two guys called Scott and two guys called Allan”
GLIB