When Celtic sign young players, we discuss how many games they have played, and by implication, how many times we could possibly have watched them. There was a sweet spot (think Virgil and Moussa) of around 60 appearances, where you and I suspected we would likely have watched the players around a dozen times. Had we waited longer for Virgil or Moussa it is likely both would have been out of reach, you snooze, you lose. That window of opportunity has been growing ever shorter.
Last night we signed a pre-contract with Sheffield Wednesdays’ Liam Shaw, who will be 20 next month and joins Celtic in the summer. Liam made his debut from the bench in July and has made 10 starts since his first in November. Scouting opportunities have been rare, but as we know, snooze/lose. At £300k this has to be the model going forward. More, please.
I discussed crowd sourcing knowledge with a friend this week. Brighton fans knew things about Shane Duffy that Celtic did not before we signed him. The same is true of Jeremie Frimpong, not one of us would pay anything near the money Leverkusen parted with for his deceptively flattering lack of service into the box. By that rule of thumb, Wednesday fans’ considerable upset at losing Liam Shaw is encouraging.
At 6’3” his profile is similar to Kristofer Ajer’s when he arrived in Glasgow from Start, both tall central midfielders with a potential to move to central defence. Some of us remember big Billy bequeathing us 19-year-old Brian McClair a few weeks before he resigned in 1983. Lenny has a lot on his plate before the end of the season.
Don’t get caught out with the early kick off tonight, 6pm against a team who have not scored in 463 minutes of Scottish Premiership ‘action’, so what can go wrong?
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I hope tonight we play with 2 x Centre forwards and not a midfielder partnering Eddie.
D :)
David 66
I’m sure Neil said Ajeti would start tonight – but it could be a mis-memory
No Nay Never
GENE on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 1:53 PM
Again – the lack of competitive games in a proper reserve league cannot be good for player development.
========
I agree
BFTB- Deila was meant to be another arranged marriage by Lawwell, assistant manager to Keane or Lennon, take your pick,stumbled into the manager’s office, an insult to the Celtic support IMO, no harm to the guy but….
!!BADA BING!! @ 1:35 PM,
Indeed, Ipswich Town supporters were equally upset to lose Benyu…
… “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
For all those slating Lennoxtown; it is a first team squad training ground.
It was never developed as an Academy; Celtic youth squads are based at Barrowfield as has been the case for many, many a long year.
Hopefully the new CEO will understand the importance of developing youth from his Rugby experience… Scottish world class players… and develop a School of Excellence
He should find the blueprint very dusty at the bottom of Big Pedro’s “in box”
Aff oot
Hail Hail
Bada Bing,
Yep I recall Deila saying he was offered the no.2 position under Keane, who wasn’t having it.
If I recall Deila, he talked a great game but team never showed it. I blamed him at the time but wondered over the years whether he was undermined by the senior pro’s who were hostile to his changes.
Chips and all that :-0
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 2:14 PM
You say Duffy and Welsh are marginal calls but with one big exception. One of them is a Celtic player and the other a loanee. Let’s start playing those who’ll be here next season and giving them game time.
BHOY FROM THE BOYNE on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 2:45 PM
I will allows wonder what was the true potential of Deila. Was he undermined by the senior players and in turn by the club by lack of financial backing.
——
Agree 100%
Prime culprits Commons, Stokes and Mulgrew.
Lennon men one and all. Some on here never tired in telling us what legends they all were.
Undermined Deila from day 1 and ran squealing to their media contacts how their pie and chips and rolls and sausage had been stopped.
BFTB- Deila was well out of his depth, and should never have been near the manager’s job at CP HH
When the 10 in a Row is celebrated, R Deila will maybe get a welcome as the winner of two of them
Haud oan a minute………
Size matters .
The average Scottish player is too wee to make it in the EPL.
Celtic should aspire to have players that are good enough for the EPL.
Yes there are exceptions to the rule .
Xavi , Jinky , Iniesta , Messi .Lino.
But these players had world class technique, vision and genius footballing brains.
We need to be recruiting players that have the physicality to play in the EPL.
TT
SQUIRE DANAHER on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 3:04 PM
Deila is a man of both honesty and integrity unlike some at the very top of the club at present.
Lubo not Lino
TT
BB
That’s as maybe, and he’s hardly set the world on fire over the past 5 years after leaving but he was badly let down by some of the playing staff.
Funny enough, you would think that the three mentioned being among the first ones to get chased by B Rodgers was not a coincidence.
GEEBEE 1978
“You say Duffy and Welsh are marginal calls but with one big exception. One of them is a Celtic player and the other a loanee. Let’s start playing those who’ll be here next season and giving them game time.”
Fair point but I was making it from the point of view of Welsh’s player development. Playing him in every game till season’s end is not the way to introduce him. Yes, give him the majority of time to prove he is a potential player but, he’s just back from injury, and could sit out tonight, if needed.
Who knows about Duffy?
We know Brighton don’t see a future for him- maybe he will want to come to Celtic next year on a cut price deal :-)
But seriously, Shane Duffy has had a terrible time with form up here and many of his weaknesses were known when he came. But he also had some strengths and was not and , I believe, is not, the player we have seen so far. Whether it is Duffy or not- we need to recruit two or three CBs this summer- I am certainly not convinced by Porteous as yet and I see few other options around Scotland. Let’s hope Ross County can give Hjelde more game time than they have given to Ross Doohan, whose development is being wasted up there, just as Alofabi’s is at Dundeee, through lack of game time to develop.
Ronny Deila- I don’t mean to disrespect the guy,my anger is at the role he attained, and to the guy who appointed him, and if we don’t get this appointment right,the covers for the top tiers will need sanitizing.
Sitting here thinking….only 9 games left of French Eddie in a Celtic shirt at best. What a talent on his day that we’ll find hard to replace.
On the upside….only 9 more games left of Shane Duffy in a Celtic shirt at worst…..you can fill in your own punchline…
HH
SFTB- agree ,and said same about Duffy, he’s in the wrong movie here,another faux pas of not checking if he plays with a sweeper,2 attacking full backs etc,same as signing strikers without knowing how to play them in a certain system.
Just saw these figures on the Celts Are Here website:-
Barkas has played 31 games and conceded 29 goals.
Bain has played 14 games and conceded 21 goals.
Hazard has played 11 games and conceded 6.
Does this mean Hazard is our best bet?
On the incoming CEO guy Dominic McKay.
I have little interest in rugby but I have heard his name mentioned over the years on OTB podcasts in relation to the pro 14’s and part of wider discussions on the future of rugby.
Hopefully he can be the guy to maximise this clubs full potential. I said earlier that Celtic should be turning over £140-150m annual revenue if the club had been managed properly this past decade. I would expect the new guy will want to make his own mark and I expect NL to be gone too.
Tellingly NL said yesterday he hasn’t spoken to McKay yet. He could just be saying this to avoid public embarresement to McKay for discussing Celtic while still employed by SRU. Or NL has indeed not yet spoken to DMcK yet as he won’t be in charge next season. I would be surprised if DMcK is not already having off the record discussions with DD to plan ahead for next season.
SFTB,
Interesting. My eyes say a firm ‘no’ and my bias says a) give Barkas the gloves and b) build some decent defensive unit in front of him.
He fits the profile but sadly we’ll all be consumed in another chapter of the Fraser Forster unrequited love story during the summer…
Again.
HH
Another reason to be thankful to Deila……the introduction of Cal McGregor!
BFTB,
Do not listen to a word Neil Lennon says at the moment. It bears no reflection to reality or plans for the summer and is merely playing out Neil’s endgame and pay out (which nobody should begrudge him).
Sadly, this is what happens when the guy is left hanging out to dry and has now become the official spokesman for a pretty dysfunctional board and club.
HH
Forget the players who won’t be here next term. Give our own a chance. I agree with BSR a wee while ago, Neil can be a wee bit selfish when it comes to picking the team; something he picked up from Martin?
BIG WAVY on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 3:22 PM
‘Sitting here thinking….only 9 games left of French Eddie in a Celtic shirt at best.’
###
Far better players have come and gone.
When he’s on form he’s great, the rest of the time (ie most of it) he’s nothing special.
I wouldn’t ever be sending him for more ammunition.
Big Wavy
I agree that Conor did not impress as confident or cool when given the chance. Bain seems to be the less mentally troubled keeper but the one with least attributes.
I hoped Barkas , like Duffy would eventually show some form but he was given plenty of chances to do so. A few weeks back, I checked out the highlights of our match vs AEK and wondered if he had really shone against us, to earn his move, but I did not see that. I saw a keeper making a few fluky saves with his feet, was all. I was more impresed by the energy levels of his back 4 than with the keeper.
Rumour is we are getting Davie Marshall back next year
And play Barkas…Welsh…Soro every game.
Neil Lennon should settle on his best 11 and play them.
Neil Lennon should play the youths
Neil Lennon should not play Scott Brown
Neil Lennon should play Soro
Neil Lennon is gibbering in those pressers
Neil Lennon doesnt tell the truth in these pressers
Neil Lennon is defying us now, he should just go.
Neil Lennon is Peters Puppet
Neil Lennon is Dermos parrot.
Neil Lennon wont work in football when he leaves Celtic
Neil Lennons trophies won in his second term are a legacy of Rodgers
Neil Lennon is an embarrassment.
Neil Lennon picks his favourites.
Neil Lennon makes rubbish subs in games, and too long to make them.
I hope the early kick off throws some off the blog for a while,
now as for John Kennedy …………….
SFTB @ 3.20
SW is 21 — no use in handling him with kidd gloves.
He needs to be tested / he needs to be stretched / he needs time on the park.
He has a year to make it with us either as a CB or a RB or he needs to get lucky.
CMcG lucky with a transformational loan move.
We are not bringing through young players because we are not a welcoming team.
If we had a settled side playing well with good coaching we could introduce new players one by one.
At the moment we are picking names out a hat and hoping for the best.
Then to add in more misery we have no strategy regarding the subs — more chaos.
SW is a great example — he has enough not to collapse on the park.
Consequently he should be on the park learning his trade.
If it works out then we have a player — if it doesn’t he has the chance to move on knowing he is a better player no matter how many mistakes he has made.
Gene – Hope so.
I would also play Soro and Brown and let both fulbacks/wingbacks/right back/left back/ auch you know what I mean and Cal mac Bomb forward.
D:)
EL @ 3.37
OE — far better players have come and gone …
Well you must have a great memory.
Only a CFC “10iar” shambles could reduce a player of his quality to insignificance.
He has done a lot for us and their is plenty more to come.
We have not handled his career progression well.
He will get his move but we will only get half of his true worth.
Another PL inspired shambles.
BSR
Agree, play our Bhoys.
Vasilis Barkas has come second in the Greek national Goalkeeper of the Year awards. The Celtic goalkeeper has been ousted from the team on multiple occasions this season since joining from AEK Athens in a £5m deal last summer. However, he has failed to settle and has struggled behind a makeshift defence, resulting in the Greek goalie being made a scapegoat for the poor results.
Despite this poor season, Barkas’ qualities are still recognised in his homeland with him falling behind Olympiacos goalie Jose Sa as The Greek Union of Professional Football Players selected their winners for the last year, as reported by The Sun.
Barkas hasn’t played since the 2-2 draw versus Livingston with Scott Bain coming back into the fold. Barkas has played 20 games this season and has endured scathing criticisms from supporters and pundits but he has been unfortunate in the fact he has been playing in front of defences that are hastily strung together.
Who would win in a fight between a defence ‘hastily strung together’ and the sieve?
“Scouting opportunities have been rare, but as we know, snooze/lose. At £300k this has to be the model going forward. More, please”
Agree in principle.
But only one (albeit big) part of the equation.
Progression from callow 19 year old to dependable (not necessarily star) 22 year old professional seems to one of the hardest journeys in Scottish football.
Incoming environment needs to be right.
A clear development framework – defined by the manager – which can be patiently overlaid on to the raw recruit and delivers steady performance improvement.
Now the natural stars – e.g. Virgil, Victor, Moussa, Jeremie – will always bypass all that guff and fast track to the first team.
It’s the others we need to get more value from.
Kris is a good example of a recent success.
Can’t think of too many others off hand?
Hail hail
Keep The Faith
Looking forward to the game tonight.The latest reasonable results have come against lesser opposition, so we’ll see tonight how much progress has been made.
Heard a rumour that Hunbigots ate to be deducted 15 points for the Covid scandal – – -Aye right!!!
Tongs ya bass
SCHUMMI
MADMITCH on 17TH FEBRUARY 2021 1:45 PM
SB @ 1.29
The academy is working?
In what context / in what timeframe?
……………
Thought I made it clear that we have produced many good player and we have gained with some of those players becoming first teamers, others moving on to better leagues/ more money and others moving to lower levels.
Lots of very rich clubs have over a number of years paid compensation to take our young players from us aged 16 years old which would suggest we are producing a good level of player or at least comparable to other clubs our size.
I said we have issues providing the pathway to the first team is needed and i suggested how this could be done.
I have seen youth football and every level of football in scotland and it is disrespectful to suggest there is something wrong with the academy because some kids out on loan struggle to play at scottish championships levels, those teams are full of fulltime players who may not be world betters but they are physically strong, mentally strong, understand the game and all the tricks of the trade that come with years of game knowledge. The kids may have higher potential but they are still kids and just learning.
Between18 to 21 years of age the kids would learn a hell of a lot from playing at a competitive level. They dont need to be world beaters at 16, 18 or 21 they just need to have some good experience.
To often it looks like academy kids against men when they make a debut for our team because that is often the case.
HH