Last month I wrote about the highly-effective transfer windows culminating with the capture of Mikael Lustig in January 2012. The list of those who arrived over the next 18 months, culminating in the signature of Teemu Pukki on 31 August 2013, is largely a catalogue of expensive mishap. If only one of of the strikers signed during that period: Miku, Lassad, Balde or Pukki had made the grade, we would have been in better shape for the Champions League qualifiers.
Those mishaps sowed the seeds of where things went wrong recently but we brought in six players this summer, and in order to compete in the Europa League, we pretty much need five of them to command a regular starting place.
Craig Gordon is an excellent piece of business. Fraser Forster overcame almost all those doubters who would rather we bought Stipe Pletikosa in 2012 instead, but we have replaced Fraser with an equivalent, and banked the lion’s share of £10m in the process.
This alchemy is only possible due to doubts over Gordon’s fitness. We’ll find out how well-established his recovery is in the months ahead but the signs are good on this front.
Jo Inge Berget was signed on loan, like Amido Balde a year ago, he early in the transfer window. There is a great misunderstanding that there’s a shortage of players available early in the window. There are lots of players available the moment the window opens. For a reason. Jo wasn’t wanted by Cardiff City, who he made only two appearances for since joining in January.
He was given an unfair burden on his debut, in a highly-dysfunctional performance by Celtic in Warsaw, and, a solid performance against Dundee United apart, has been one of a number of players who have appeared lost in our game-plan since then. He has until Christmas to make his mark before he is due to return to Cardiff, but his chances will be limited by the subsequent signing on Wakaso Mubarak.
Wakaso is here on a year’s loan, with Celtic having an option to make the deal permanent, if he proves his worth. I hear good things about him; he has pace, strength, skill but his most prominent attribute is attitude, which he has in spades. This didn’t sit will in Kazan, where he was somewhat isolated.
Bulgarian midfielder, Aleks Tonev, bounced straight from medical couch to treatment table after his loan move from Aston Villa. He’s now fit and will be available for selection when play resumes after the international break and I hear Ronny Deila is keen on the player.
We now know that Manchester City teenage central defender, Jason Denayer, was brought in to play first team football. The player is highly thought of by City and Ronny, but I wouldn’t expect too much from him in what is his inaugural season of first team football.
Stefan Scepovic has the distinction of contributing 100% of the money spent on players signed by Scottish clubs this summer. He was Celtic’s first choice striker, and, as we discovered late in the day, was wanted by scouts in Spain, so the indicators are reassuring. His experiences over the past week have not without trauma for the player, but he kept focus and his word to join Celtic.
The overwhelming observation from our activity this year is the predominance of loan signings, which is a strategy I suspect was hatched after the ‘No refunds’ deals for Pukki, Balde and Boerrigter last season. We will get more from some of them than others.
Taking Berget for six months was clearly a short-term fix to an immediate gap in the squad. I don’t think we’ll see too much of him from now on. Despite the fact that Jo didn’t make a perceivable difference during our European qualifiers, I don’t have a problem with short-term deals in principle. We could have benefited from one for a target man.
Denayer will almost certainly return to Manchester next year, a more mature player, having pushed Efe and Virgil for a year.
Aleks Tonev and Wakaso Mubarak are here to impress, both are working for a permanent deal. I expect Mubarak to play in his favoured position on the left, with Tonev behind him in a more central role alongside Brown and Johansen.
Ronny has been putting apples in orange crates so far this season but with a central three of Tonev, Johansen and Brown, behind Mubarak, Scepovic and Forrest (or McGregor), he’ll have the personnel to play his favoured 4-3-3.
Two first team regulars left the club, the thoroughly professional Fraser Forster and Georgios Samaras. It was time for both to move on. Fraser, as Southampton was the right club for him, and £10m was the right price for us, Georgios, as he had become increasingly peripheral to team plans under Neil Lennon and would have been even more out of the picture under Ronny. Would Georgios have made a difference in our Champions League qualifiers? There’s a good chance he would have against Maribor but the gap against Legia was bigger than 6’3”.
Pukki and Balde were sent on loan, in the hope they impress and move on. Bon chance. Tony Watt was sold for £1.2m to Standard Liege, who will fancy they can take Tony’s undeniable potential and turn it into an asset their manager wants to work with. It’s been years since we’ve produced as exciting a young player as Tony but he’s now been shipped on or out by three managers.
I would still like to see John Guidette added to this list, even without European football – especially if he is prepared to stay beyond the end of the season. The incumbent strikers, Stokes and Griffiths, will continue to get game-time, but neither is suited to the lone-striker role.
I’m not going to sell a Europa League campaign as anything like the Champions League, but it is very important this squad is ready for Europe. Without much domestic competition (I’m ignoring Inverness and Dundee for a moment) we need to be competitive in the group stage and aim to progress to the latter stages of the competition.
Thumping Dundee United 6-1 taught us nothing, we need to mature as a team against European competition and exorcise the ghosts of Legia and Maribor. No matter how good the new arrivals are, there’s no way they would gel well enough to allow us to do anything more than endure >80 minutes of defending our 18 yard line in Champions League football this season.
We’ll miss the money, prestige and Zadok the Priest, but the Europa League is a better level for us right now.
My thanks to Canajunbhoy, who retires after running the Quick News section for the best part of a decade. Quick News will be back in a different format in the future.
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A Ceiler Gonof Rust
10:24 on 4 September, 2014
Frank Ryan’s Whiskey @ 09.27
Why are the majors pulling out of the North Sea operations? FYI they include West coast operations in their North Sea portfolios – IE BP Schiehallion.
………………………………
But that’s not entirely accurate Frank, is it? Schiehallion has been off line for a while now and is being replaced with a brand new FPSO, the Quad 204. Also, BP while having sold off assets to other operators will still have a major presence in the north sea via the Andrew (including the new AAD), Bruce, Clair, ETAP, Magnus assets. They also maintain the Miller as a non operational asset.
I’ve not done any work for Shell for years but your statement on BP and especially Schiehallion is way wide of the mark.
==
I never claimed Schiehallion was being decommissioned only that the FPSO was being replaced at huge cost to emphasize the risks and costs in exploiting west coast reserves. BP Millar is staffed by about 15 guys and is a refueling station for helicopters all the wells have been P&A it is nothing more than a huge petrol station.
Now for a ‘British’ oil company to have such a small portfolio of assets in UK waters should tell you something. All the other fields you mention are mature assets Magnus, ETAP etc are decades old how many major new fields are BP planning in UK waters? As for Shell they are busy transferring guys out of Aberdeen and are on record basically saying that all their UK assets are for sale. My information is that they may run all remaining UK sector op’s from the Netherlands in future. Most UK developments are now undertaken by independent smaller oil companies such Apache and CNR. This is indicative of an industry in decline.
….PFayr supports WeeOscar
My original post said at times the South are short and the water quality in certain areas are poor.
I see our plentiful supplies of water as an asset.
I’m sure bottle water sales in the Uk by region would tell the story.
LB
tonydonnelly67
11:10 on
4 September, 2014
Obtuse? Means , no right in the heed, right?
——————————————————————————————————————–
Opposite of acute,mate.
:-)
So,you`re right.
The UK spends close to £2 billion pounds on bottled water each year…
Useless fact #224
yorkbhoy
11:21 on 4 September, 2014
The UK spends close to £2 billion pounds on bottled water each year…
######
At the prices they charge at CP that would be about enough to fill a kettle.
Why are Celtic not giving the supporters a update re the Guidetti situation.Are they hoping we will all forget about it ?
fanadpatriot
I would suggest there is no update.
LB
Anyone know who this mob is, swinging on our coat tails?
https://fabrily.com/sons-of-paradise
tonydonnelly67
11:28 on 4 September, 2014
‘Anyone know who this mob is, swinging on our coat tails?
https://fabrily.com/sons-of-paradise‘
###
No idea.
You buying one?
Might look quite smart under a blazer or sports jacket.
You’d cut quite a dash stoatin about Castlemilk in that.
Go for it.
ernie lynch
10:09 on
4 September, 2014
bournesouprecipe
10:07 on 4 September, 2014
‘Woman in Leeds City centre does everything but take a magnifying glass to my Bank of Scotland fiver.’
###
You maybe want to clarify the nature of this transaction.
That’s how rumours start.
SMILE.Very good.
I think every time a see someone in Scotland drinking bottled water that they are obtuse.
Unless of course it’s an empty plastic bottle of your own and you just fill it up from the tap when you need it, now that’s acute ;)
Guidetti
Someone posted that a decision will be made by/on Monday.
Don’t know how accurate this is.
Ernie lynch
Noooooooo, not for me, looks a wee bit to green brigady for me thanks.
Mike Ashley sports stadium would be a good choice,would ensure a total boycott,couldny see any of them wantin to go to mass;)
LiviBhoy
Although 3 years old the article below covers issues which arise water transfer between regionsin Enland / Wales. I suppose Scotland could be linked in to the network
(so long as there’s enough left in the Almond & Union Canal)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/nov/08/water-supply-infrastructure
The Onlooker
tonydonnelly67 11.35
Rather a reflex action that. No? ;-)
I would assume that Celtic are giving no updates, because ehhhhhhhh there are none?
I think I’ve discovered the most absorbant material known to man. Mushrooms. I’m on my 4th glug of oil. They love it.
Someone should make some mushroom nappies and sell them over at AyeBrokes.
Sons of Paradise t shirt looks like a homage to “Sons of Anarchy”.
Probably designed by a young Design student.
NatKnow
11:40 on 4 September, 2014
Mushroom nappies?
This wee guy might be interested.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/12/baby-wearing-watermelon-shorts-viral-pictures_n_3743409.html
Frank Ryan’s Whiskey, part of your statement re Schiehallion read to me that BP were pulling the plug when in fact they’re making a massive reinvestment in the field.
I’m well aware of the state of the industry in the north sea having worked in it on and off for many years and would agree with you that it is in slow decline but that was always going to be the way of it. I’m also well aware of the status of the Miller asset and its current function.
My point was simply that when I read your post I found it misleading. That may not have been you intention.
Anyway, as long as there’s still enough oil in the pipe to see me ok for the next five to seven years I’ll be happy, then I’m oota here to play sclaffbaw every day in the sun:-)
selfishbass.com
HH
tonydonnelly67
11:39 on 4 September, 2014
I would assume that Celtic are giving no updates, because ehhhhhhhh there are none?
==================================
I would even settle for a statement saying there is nothing to report. Still working on it!
Just a thought, anyone think that well going by today’s daily’s, that Ashly is about to make a push for thems putting some dosh, and putting the SFA mob in a corner?
Someone’s trying to work a flanker here, I can smell it a fekin mile away.
Approximately 40% of the bottled water sold in the USA is water from the public water supply which has been transferred to bottles. . Buy water in bulk at X cents , bottle it and sell it a Y cents .
Money for old rope.
Quantum
Last I heard, Monday was when the news of it will come out?
fanadpatriot 11:25 on 4 September, 2014
“Why are Celtic not giving the supporters a update re the Guidetti situation.Are they hoping we will all forget about it ?”
Just guessing, but maybe there has been no development to report.
On the other hand, Celtic could put that line up on the website every day and then someone could come on here and say ‘why don’t Celtic just wait until something has happened and then tell us about it.’
HH
Guidettti waiting on move
John Guidetti is still hopeful that a loan move to Celtic can be pushed through but says he is prepared to wait for six months if necessary.
Last Updated: 04/09/14 at 10:34
John Guidetti: Keen to play regularly and hoping a deal with Celtic can be agree
Celtic tried to sign the Swedish striker on loan from Manchester City on Monday and a switch appeared to have been agreed, but failure to complete the paperwork before the 11pm deadline left Guidetti in limbo.
The Scottish Football Association is to appeal to FIFA on the club’s behalf to get the loan move ratified, and Guidetti is still optimistic.
“The move looked to have gone to pieces but now the club has enabled the SFA to take up the matter with FIFA in the hope an exception can be made,” he told Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter.
“Celtic felt good and it was the only club for me. The fans are very passionate and it would be nice if the deal went through.”
Guidetti knows there is a chance that he will not be allowed to join Celtic, and if that is the case he is determined to fight for a place at Man City.
The 22-year-old is keen to play regularly, though, and would be keen for Celtic to revive the deal in the January transfer window.
He said: “If it happens, (a move to Celtic) fantastic, and if it doesn’t, I still belong to a great club in Manchester where I will fight for a place. I’ll still train with the best players in the world and constantly evolve.
“The talks were concluded on time but I don’t know if they had time to submit the papers.
“There is much to be done which is out of my hands. I just sign pieces of paper and play football.
“It’s sad, of course, but sometimes there is nothing you can do.
“I feel in great shape as it’s been great to get a long pre-season with City. But I miss getting to play games, it’s what I live for.
“I love playing football and I will continue to do so and, if I have to wait another six months to do it, so be it.
“I cannot just give up so if it is six months I’ll just accept it.”
tonydonnelly67 11:46 on 4 September, 2014
“Just a thought, anyone think that well going by today’s daily’s, that Ashly is about to make a push for thems putting some dosh, and putting the SFA mob in a corner?
Someone’s trying to work a flanker here, I can smell it a fekin mile away.”
What do you think Ashley is trying to do?
ernie lynch
11:43 on 4 September, 2014
NatKnow
11:40 on 4 September, 2014
Mushroom nappies?
This wee guy might be interested.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/12/baby-wearing-watermelon-shorts-viral-pictures_n_3743409.html
———————————————–
Awwwwwww!!
South Of Tunis
11:46 on
4 September, 2014
Approximately 40% of the bottled water sold in the USA is water from the public water supply which has been transferred to bottles. . Buy water in bulk at X cents , bottle it and sell it a Y cents .
Money for old rope.
==================
Del Boy started this in the 80s. Ahead of his time!
HH
Hmmmmmmmm, looks like some one has pulled Phils blog this morning, it won’t open?
tonydonnelly67
11:54 on 4 September, 2014
Hmmmmmmmm, looks like some one has pulled Phils blog this morning, it won’t open?
———————————-
Opened fine for me. Have you got your glasses on? :-))
Trad 88,
Mange tout mate. Mange tout.
Here, who was the poster on here you were having a crack with the other day about EL tickets, pies and two bums?
PF Ayr
England is absolutely short of water
https://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/uk-water-security-at-critical-point-say-engineers/
When the new UN buzz word is ‘water security’ people should worry
What do you think Ashley is trying to do?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well if I was perfectly honest, I think he smells blood, and he wants to be the main man!
Geordie Munro
11:57 on
4 September, 2014
Trad 88,
Mange tout mate. Mange tout.
Here, who was the poster on here you were having a crack with the other day about EL tickets, pies and two bums?
====================
:)
It was mickbhoy1888 I believe!
HH
Well, it’s looks like it’s opening for some and not for others, strange?
TD
I could access Phil’s blog no problem, mate.