Very pleased we appear to be on the verge of signing a central defender, especially one who at 24 (Erik Sviatchenko), should be very much in his prime. The previous two seasons each brought excellent defensive performance records but things fell apart from the very start of this season – way before Virgil van Dijk left.
The reasons for the are varied. Jason Denayer left to be replaced by Dedryck Boyata. Dedryck is more settled now but he was well short of Jason’s standards early on. Still is. We have also regressed in the full back positions. Emilio Izaguirre’s decline has been gradual but clear. 18-year-old Kieran Tierney makes fewer mistakes and (I think) poses a greater physical challenge.
Then we have Mikael Lustig. Mikael has always been a favourite of mine; as recently as September I regarded him as our best defender, but I think he’s been well off his best for most of the season. He has been regularly caught in the wrong position and his distribution is often a possession-losing lump upfield.
Craig Gordon would be first to admit his form is nowhere near where it was last season, when he almost single-handedly was responsible for us reaching the Europa League knockout stage. The questions for Craig are what’s going wrong and can it be fixed?
Think back to the latter days of Artur Boruc’s time at Celtic. Artur has gone from having Bayern Munich scouts at Celtic Park to watch him to a guy we sold without fuss as a backup for Fiorentina for £1.2m. Whatever it was he had, had gone. I thought he was finished. Six years later he’s at something approaching his best at Bournemouth.
Craig Gordon has the best part of 4 years on Artur. He has time to get back on form.
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Goodnight fellow Tims.
And God bless!
having severe computer problems able to lurk but thats all (am using a friends computer at the minute )
just on to say a few posts earlier today really annoyed me
much better tonight ……..
keep fighting the good fight and show some respect for fellow Tims
HH
5-0 so far for the hoops fae Barcelona.
Delaney’s, how could I forget the bold George.
If you get time, go into you tube and search Irvinebhoy. He has uploaded footage from sportscene and Scotstoun of goals we scored between 1981 to 1987. It has the goals from the game we humped hearts 5 1 at Tynecastle including a cool finish by Tommy.
BILLYBEAR on 17TH JANUARY 2016 7:53 PM
I now use an Android box to access sports and movies. The following website resources will point you in the right direction. Follow them on Twitter too – there is a large and growing community out there to answer any queries you may have …
http://bestforkodi.com/so-you-have-a-new-android-tv-box-what-now/
http://www.koditips.com/complete-kodi-setup-guide-from-scratch-for-new-users/
http://kodi.wiki/view/HOW-TO:Install_Kodi_for_Android
http://kodicommunity.com
Delaney’s, Scotstoun should be scots sport , bloody autocorrect
Googybhoy,
Nope :-)
Googybhoy
it worked
HH
Good evening all,
Welcome to Paradise Erik.
MIT
No offence taken, as I know none was meant. It gave me a good in to bang the drum (in a Fenian way ;-)) on a worthy topic. My recovery goes well, the only thing I miss about work is the money, on the whole I have found that work is well overrated. Life is the important thing. HH
Googybhoy It worked :-)
HH
Hunderbird
Cheers, mate.
but your post was a good reminder for me to type …. stop …. reread …. think about what I have said …. then, and only then … sometimes, post
SIPSINI on 17TH JANUARY 2016 7:15 PM
Mick TT….
Is that blonde of yours letting you cross the water in March, not for the marching season I may
₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩₩
No make it now, been invited to a friends wedding in Newcastle who’s daughter is getting married,, it will be mentioned and celebrated on occasion. Wedding on Easter Monday, everyone heading down on the Saturday morning. The brides family, well what can I say…..!
Newcastle will be Green and White
Dallas
I scored a few great goals at Scotstoun Showgrounds against VD and our most difficult opponents Saint Patrick’s Dumbarton, for a good Saint Thomas Aquinas team. :)
Philbhoy
You right mate,l love him,but he done the same against hearts
Said it was worth it
It’s no ffs
HH
Good Evening (again).
Been a busy night in Clumpany Towers. Here is another new piece. All about looking down on ‘smaller’ clubs…
https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/judith-chalming/
Dallas
Everybody should watch those games 81-87 then some night appreciate what we are witnessing today
As for Erik….. Welcome to Celtic on The Green Mans birthday, The Green Man if you are reading this tomorrow hope you had a great day and we will remember your birthday when big Erik goes on to better than Virgil ! (I live in hope)
Good to see cb come in to team, need to get a dcm in the door now. Can see Henderson and Findlay being brought back into fold next season, nisbet should be there or there abouts also…
an interesting summer awaits as i would imagine a far few players will be moved on, if possible.
So 50 goal Griff alongside Michael Stewart on Sportscene tonight.
Wonder how sparrow legs Jonnyfun Succulentlamb will divert the chat towards Ibrokes tonight?
Delaney’s, God bless you for scoring against that horrible VD shower which Cokey apart, was a hotbed of hunnery.
Just watched the jags game on the BBC site. Jags defender Liam Lindsay’s first yellow was the same as a foul he committed against us, but no card. refs, eh
Good night all, sleep well
DD-had Barca -2 @ 11/10 ;)
Night Night all. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz HH
A very warm Celtic welcome to Erik Sviatchenko.
If he proves to be (nearly) as good as our last Danish CB, Mark Rieper, I will be more than happy.
HH!!
Night Night Weefra
HH
THE CLUMPANY
BASKET CASE JOURNALISM – Your best yet mate. Love your stuff. HH and more power to your mighty pen (keyboard?)
BB
Nice one. Free money. :)
I like your new moniker Dena. Well put.
Looks like tennis is bent anaw
As if naebody Kent
HH
From John James.
The King Legal Juggernaut
Our career criminal chairman will be in London next week. His rendezvous at the Chancery division with Liverpool fan, Justice Peter Smith, will not have escaped our honourable judge’s wife, nee Dalgliesh, who is from a Rangers family tradition. I’m sure the law will be upheld; King will walk away and his litigation costs will be paid for by Sports Direct. Justice Smith will then repair to his Docklands apartment as he lifts a malt or two to toast the establishment club. You would expect no less from the son of a British Army officer who served in Malaysia. Justice Smith spent twenty-three years on the poorly paid Northern circuit. The brightest and best in his profession gravitate to the South East where a successful QC who plies his trade in the Chancery Division will typically earn seven figures, which dwarves the salary paid to High Court judges (£144,000) by a factor of seven. Justice Smith came close to a ‘big time’ South East appointment with Addleshaw Goddard in 2007, after five years on the Chancery division bench. However, after protracted negotiations, his ambitious were thwarted. This left a bitter taste in his mouth and when a trustee of Addlesshaw Goddard appeared before him, his judgments were deemed to be ‘intemperate and somewhat extraordinary‘ by The Court of Appeal.
In its unanimous judgments of 4 July 2007, Lord Justice Judge said:
“It is the conduct of the hearing which underlines that the judge had become too personally involved in the decision he was being asked to make to guarantee the necessary judicial objectivity which would be required in the trustee proceedings. I identify three particular features. First, the witness who supported the application was in effect cross-examined by the judge in something of the style of an advocate instructed to oppose the application. Second, the submission by counsel for the applicant that the judge had given evidence was in the circumstances unsurprising, and the concerns he expressed on this topic were validly made. Finally, the judge impugned the good faith of the application, a conclusion repeated in the strongest terms in his judgment when there is no shred of evidence to suggest some ulterior or improper motive behind the application.In these circumstances it is unfortunate to have to record that, in my judgment, the conduct of the hearing itself demonstrated not only that the application to the judge to recuse himself was rightly made, but that it should have been granted.”
On 16 July 2007, it was announced in a press release from the Judicial Communications Office that the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, had referred the judge’s behaviour in the case to the independent Office for Judicial Complaints (OJC). Frances Gibb embarked on speculation as to whether the judge should stay in office in The Times on 18 July and Joshua Rozenberg of The Daily Telegraph returned to the point on 19 July.
On 18 April 2008 it was announced in the following terms that the OJC had found that misconduct had been established against the judge:
“Following investigation under the Judicial Discipline Regulations 2006, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice have carefully considered the Court of Appeal’s comments on the conduct of Mr Justice Peter Smith in the case of Howell and others v Lees-Millais and others and have concluded that the conduct in question amounted to misconduct.”
As a result, the Lord Chief Justice issued the following reprimand to the judge:
“I consider that a firm line has now been drawn under this matter. Both I and the Lord Chancellor value the services of Mr Justice Peter Smith and he has my full confidence.” This in legal circles is known as damning someone with faint praise. Mr Smith is an outsider in the refined world of the inner and mid temples. As is always the case when elevated to The Queen’s Bench, he was awarded a knighthood. He has access to the temples, but he is not a member of the inner circle. He should have become a freemason, a fact he acknowledged during the hearing in December. He regrets that he was not nominated to the brotherhood by his wife’s favourite player, club legend John Greig.
Yesterday’s hearing at Glasgow Sheriff court was small beer for CC King. No-one anticipated that Sheriff Miller would not find for the establishment club. CC King’s backers in Hong Kong evidently have deep pockets. They backed him at NOSA and now are backing him at Rangers.
Meanwhile in Edinburgh, three appeal judges from the inner house were prepared to hear Green’s appeal, but counsel for Green and RIFC were not ready to proceed. A hearing was set for 29th January, with Green to pay a bond of £50,000 by the 25th January. More often than not, appeals are not upheld. If this is the case then Green will have to pay Anderson Strathern’s costs of £130,000. When James Blair became secretary of Rangers, it was a great day for Anderson Strathern. An infrequent contributor to this site, thekarmageddon, posits:
“It’s my view that Green will actually be successful in his appeal. I do not say that lightly; I know how averse judges are to saying their esteemed colleague erred in law. It’s my view this will be by simple majority and RIFC will appeal to the Supreme Court.”
I’m less convinced. I held the strong conviction that Green’s recourse to RIFC for his litigation costs was iron-clad. As the initial judgment was sealed so as not to prejudice Green’s criminal charges, we await the hearing on the 29th as to the rationale for the initial judgment. Green evidently considers a punt of £260,000 is worthwhile, if we assume his costs are comparable to those of RIFC.
Thekarmageddon continues:
“The assets could be proceeds of crime and make no mistake the Crown will seize them. This is why Mike Ashley is taking his money back – because security could be worthless. He has been scorned by King and the SFA so he will stick the boot into them some more before he does walking away.”
On this point I agree. The assets could be seized and it’s obvious that the indictments of Green and Whyte were a game changer for Ashley. The board paid because they were compelled to do so. I believe Ashley was going to pull the trigger on receivership had he not been paid by year’s end. He had taken his gloves off and was planning to teach King a lesson he would never forget. As for the SFA hearing, this is the one that I most look forward to. As co-defendants King and Regan will be spending cosy evenings over dinner at The Shard Shangri La. Regan will pick up the tab, as he always has for Rangers.
Will justice prevail or is the King legal juggernaut unstoppable? My money’s on CC King.
Bada Bing
Good stuff with -2, one of my mates loves betting the goals it’s not a bet I like as I can sniff out a 0-0, but with teams like Barca & Madrid and some others to win both halves is sometimes evens and above……not sure why I am telling you this as I am a self proclaimed not very good gambler, but I think if you fancy -2 bets all Barca need to do is score one goal in 1st half and 1 goal in the 2nd half and the bet is up
By the way if it was that easy we would all do it
Keep CQN like CQN
Fellow Celtic fans good night and God bless
HRVATSKI JIM on 17TH JANUARY 2016 10:13 PM
I like your new moniker Dena. Well put.
Cheers
manners cost nothing as my mammy says
HH
Tallybhoy
Marc Rieper. Now you’re talking. Looks a good yin on you tube. :))
Goodnight Timland
enjoyed the blog tonight
Thank you fellow tims
HH
Marc Rieper – The Toe
Leigh Griffiths – The Thumb
List anyone?
Mojo the erse.
DD
I thought he was the pric
HAG
That was Souness! :)
stoOne day, Farmer Jones was in town picking up supplies for his farm. He stopped by the hardwarere and picked up a bucket and an anvil. Then, he stopped by the livestock dealer to buy a couple of chickens and a goose. However, he now had a problem: How to carry all of his purchases home?
The livestock dealer said, “Why don’t you put the anvil in the bucket, carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the goose in your other hand?”
“Hey, thanks!” the farmer said, and off he went.
While walking he met a little old lady who told him she was lost. She asked, “Can you tell me how to get to 1515 Mockingbird Lane?”
The farmer said, “Well, as a matter of fact, I live at 1520 Mockingbird Lane. Let’s take my short cut and go down this alley. We’ll be there in no time.”
The little old lady said, “I am a lonely widow without a husband to defend me. How do I know that when we get into the alley you won’t take advantage of me?”
The farmer said, “Heck, lady! I am carrying a bucket, an anvil, two chickens, and a goose. How in God’s name could I possibly do that?”
The little old lady said, “Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the anvil on top of the bucket, and I’ll hold the chickens
HH