When rumours of Carl Starfelt going to Russia first surfaced last week few of us believed them. Russia? Not right now. But we all had the debate, would you sell him? He has been part of an incredibly successful Celtic central defensive partnership: won five from six trophies, never lost a domestic game in 90 minutes, plays on the left, the list goes on.
But you know the mantra, manage your assets or fail to manage your assets. We should always be ready to trade a 28-year-old player who is second of two central defenders. You and I have seen too often the consequences of failing to manage our assets.
We are now first and foremost a trading club. Wish Carl all the very best at Celta Vigo and trade up.
Given this article of faith in how business should be done, the only remaining question is price. Despite that glorious record in the last two years, Carl’s value ceiling has been set by performances when hundreds of scouts watched games he played in throughout his career.
Like Josip Juranovic in this sense, keeping the likes of Naymar in your pocket at the World Cup will not move the dial much. We paid £1.5m two years ago for the player because Rubin Kazan had no other takers. £5m today is very much his ceiling.
We hear lots about how difficult it is to settle into a new club, few had as difficult a challenge as Carl joining Celtic. He signed during a 2021 lockdown but was not permitted to travel to Scotland until 31 July that year – the day Celtic were due to play their opening league game against Hearts at Tynecastle and Ange Postecoglou wanted him in the team.
To stay the right side of the law (we are Celtic, after all), on 30 July Carl and a driver sat at a service station south of the border until midnight. The driver took a photo of Carl, with metadata confirming location and time, before travelling to Celtic’s hotel.
He arrived in the early hours, had some sleep before rising to meet his new teammates at breakfast. On 31 July he travelled from Southwaite, met dozens of new faces, a new manager, new tactics, all in a new country. He played 90 minutes and offered no excuses for his rustiness, just got on with the job. Quite heroic.
Tonight it’s the turn of Hibs and Hearts to try to contribute some Uefa coefficient points to the Scottish clubs’ cause in the Uefa Conference League.
Hearts are in Trondheim to face Rosenborg. The Norwegians are 18 games into their league season so will be miles sharper than Hearts, but this is not the Rosenborg we remember. They are eight in the table; memories of 13 titles in a row and regular Champions League football are a fading memory.
Hearts are capable of progressing to the playoff round, where they would face either Hajduk Split or PAOK. They can be hopeful.
Hibs are home to Luzern tonight, who finished fourth in Switzerland last term. Swiss football is now a toy thing for Young Boys, so this tie is certainly winnable, but Hibs will surely Hibs it, denying Aston Villa a trip to the Festival later this month.
The additional Champions League monies we talked about yesterday looked in jeopardy 20 minutes into a scintillating performance by Newco last night. Around that time, the scintillating part ended as a dour Servette settled in for the night.
Having sat through the whole game, I feel a bit foolish for putting our league title chances as low as 67% on Friday. Newco have a lead to take to Switzerland on Tuesday, there remains every chance they will progress against a team that did not create a single chance in the first leg and will need to score at least once to stay in the competition. But goodness, the early signs from across the city are heartening.
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BADA
Guessing there is an airport BUT
guessing every 10k per week equals £500,000 year for the boy in his last big contract he gets before he reaches the decline that all footballers reach
Reading between the lines, he got more cash
The fact he is closer to his burd is a story for the daily rectum and the sun
And as celtic fans we choose to highlight it lol
He was an escaped goat for the majority of his time here
And it was undeserved
He played out of position
Injured
and unfit
He was a great centre half
He gave his all for us
If he looked on these pages (and I know for a FACT that the players, their families and representatives do…..)
Shame on us if we played a part in him leaving
GENE
One hour time difference.
It could be 3023, it makes not a jot of difference, it is what it is, if you want to put me down, carry on, but at least think about what the eff you are saying.
Good goal 1-0 Hibs
Tom
That’s a different time zone 😁
Great goal by Hibs.
🍀 The Kerrydale Bar is now sold-out for the screening of September’s Glasgow derby, so due to phenomenal demand, we have opened other opportunities to watch the game live from Celtic Park in the North Stand Lounges and the Sports Bar – tickets for both are on sale now!
Thank you, Carl Starfelt. You gave your all in the Celtic jersey. Can’t ask anymore.
Good luck in the rest of your career.
TET
My comment was not aimed at bringing you down. But why is everyone getting worked up about a newspaper article that was a dig at Celtic supporters?
GENE
My point about the one hour time defference — How will they manage?
Old retired soldier in care home to his pal:
“So when was the last time you had sex?”
Pal thinks and says: “1943”.
“Good God, that’s a long time ago”.
Oh, I dunno, it’s only 20:15 now”.
Tom
Ok, accepted, but my point is that IF and that’s how I started my post, IF he did move to be closer to his gorgeous lady, he made a bollix of it, he is literally further away time wise, a half way point is a 4 hour commute for them daily, that won’t last, trust me on that.
The best course of action would have been paying her more and keeping Carl, problem solved >:)
TET
It wasn’t about money. Jacynta wasn’t settled in Glasgow. She hated the weather and the playing conditions. She’s half Indian and Australian.
Anyway,the whole purpose of the article was that the Celtic support were fools to think that Carl went to Vigo to be near her.
TOM
Thats a huge leap mate
A huge leap
Tom
I never read the article, but I understand their agenda.
My info was from what Brendan hinted at, maybes I picked him up wrong, I do have a habit of getting things wrong.
………………………………………….
If anyone gets the chance, watch the movie The Jones Plantation
Observation – a lot of chat around 2 players who aren’t currently Celtic players.
Praying that Brendan is more focused
MOD188
I have an IPTV box watched season three Guilt a few months ago.
TIMHORTON
WHich one mate?
Incredulous stuff how some are still banging on about John McGinn.
Sad and bitter doesn’t come close to describing them.
Move on. You’ll be glad you did.
Go on the Hibees!
3-1 up now and in with a great chance of going through.
Reckon Villa will put them out, but good to win a tie.
MODERATOR88
It’s only a huge leap if I made it up.
Hibs v Lucerne was best game ive seen for a while,2 well matched teams,going for it for 90 mins
Moderator- seems the transfer has been in the making since February
!!BADA BING!!
been hearing rumours for longer
He was a great servant
And his strength will be missed
MODERATOR1888 @ 6:08 PM,
Yes, that was interesting, he has intimated it a few times since, including yesterday’s presser.
We are pretty much playing the same players in the same formation. So it will be interesting when we see these changes coming through.
Personally I thought he’d change from a 4-3-3 straight away.
Hail Hail
Chairboy
Flag day game was a fair representation of a squad/first team making the transition from one managers style to another
We normally have the euro qualifiers to get thru this
Be few more ropey games before the old style blends into the new style
It’s a transition season
New style trying to break nearly 3 years of old
And with that, turning over the spine of our squad
New GK
2 x new Centre halves
New left back
Feck knows how many wingers (LOL)
And we need a new centre mid and striker
Anyone thinks this season is anything other than a transition is nuts
It’s the spine of our team
And there still be a few weeks of transfer madness to go
Spurs have a hefty load in their pocket……….sure some of it may come our way
Moderator- disappeared if it’s €5 million as reported
I wish Carl all the very best, him & CCV had some domestic record and leaves with 5 medals & plenty of good memories …
We can all make our own minds up but in my opinion players like Dembelle (ligue 1) Edouard & co (EPL) Frimpong & Juranovic (Bundesliga) now Starfelt (la liga) all moving to a far better standard of league than our own is another great selling point to get future superstars …
It’s these guys careers not a “board” decision or anything else…. am still delighted that Callum & Kyogo extended their contracts and just hope the rest, Hatate included, are still here come September … but every player is up for sale for the right price, am just glad the spurs fans never rated CCV or I think Ange would have came for him in a second :-)
MODERATOR1888 @ 9:45 PM,
Yes, good point, Saturday wasn’t a Rodgers’ set up and it certainly wasn’t Angeball.
Agreed on the players we need, busy three weeks when you put it like that.
If we can get Haksa up to speed and Yang’s development on track, push Bernabei further forward, promote Rocco to the first team and get Mikey and Tolio fit, we’ll only need a couple more wingers to support Meada and Abada:)
Hail Hail
Chairboy
Will take the best pat of the first 6 months of the season to get it right
Get it balanced
And more importantly get it consistent and repeatable
By which time europe has passed us by
The league and only the league is our goal this year
Next year
I expect us to spend the cash, develop the players
And have a stable system
To have a good go at europe
TONTINE TIM on 10TH AUGUST 2023 6:20 PM
WESTCRAIGS on 10TH AUGUST 2023 4:04 PM
Desmond White wrote the playbook on how to get rid of successful and popular players and managers and make sure that they were the villains of the piece. The Celtic support turned on Charlie. If the internet had been around in 1983 charlie would have been snake eyes and rat face. Charlie would have been a judas and a traitor.
*hmmm Charlie the spoofer, well the much loved Davie Hay once said that for all his alleged faults Desmond White always had Celtic’s interest at heart.
______
I’m sure Davie was right. By his own lights Desmond White personified Celtic and he did defend its good name. I think he may have disliked Billy McNeill and he may have forced Billy to resign. Robert Kelly also had Celtic’s best interests at heart. He was unswerving on the Tricolour issue and in his pursuit of the SFA’s Sir George Graham – and he was vindicated.
On the other hand, those of us who followed Celtic in the late ’50s and early ’60s Robert Kelly was blind and an impediment to success. Because Celtic was Celtic the club had no problem recruiting young talent. But Celtic was paying no more than provincial clubs with a fraction of its resources. That’s why so many talented players left.
Of the cast of thousands in the old Celtic board Michael Kelly surprised me most – a successful businessman in his own right and shrewd enough to survive in George Square politics. Why was he unable to see what Fergus saw? Mind you, even after he had severed his links with Celtic he still defended the club on TV in the face of the unspeakable Traynor.
Bring back the haf time draw.
Half time. Pound a head, half to the club, rest split 3 ways.
Now off to bed. Goodnight.
Mod1888
Let me get this straight. We have just won the Treble, and we are in the Group Stage of the Champions League
And we are in a period of transition…..
Dear oh dear oh dear
MODERATOR1888 @ 10:05 PM,
Guess your right, would like to see a midfielder we can build the “structure” around.
Cheers
Good night all
Hail Hail
Celtic Mac
yeah man
New manger
New system
New style trying to break nearly 3 years of old
And with that, turning over the spine of our squad
New GK
2 x new Centre halves
New left back
Feck knows how many wingers (LOL)
And we need a new centre mid and striker
Anyone thinks this season is anything other than a transition is nuts
===============
We will win the league
But to get further in europe is past us this year
Read the above
Dearie Me lol
mod1888
Where do you get the three years from?
Players coming and going, that might unsettle some supporters
Not this one though, not while the Club is in a good place
With an experienced manager who know his way round the block
Then again I’m not the one who listens to Phil Collins records….
Better watch the Celts don’t step in .
AG