A year after trying and failing to sign him from Lech Poznan, Celtic have secured the services of Aleksandar Tonev from Aston Villa. Tonev has blistering pace, a right footer who is usually used on the left, he is an archetypal counter-attacking player.
The player’s profile blossomed during the first six months of 2013, in particular after he scored a hat-trick for Bulgaria against Malta, which brought Villa and Celtic to the table. The step-up to the English Premier League from playing a speciality role for Poznan was, not surprisingly, too much.
Aleksandar plays the same position as Georgios Samaras, albeit he’s a completely different type of player, but we will look to him to do the same job – be an out ball away from home in Europe.
Ronny will have seen him only from DVDs, so he’ll be keen to get him onto the pitch tomorrow morning for a run-out ahead of St Johnstone. Let’s hope the manager likes what he sees…. It’s a worry. The most promising part of deal is that Aleksandar has a point to prove, I’d rather hungry players with a point to prove than those who’ve too much on the clock.
Welcome to Celtic, Aleks.
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Tonev .
” the players profile blossomed during the first 6 months of 2013,particularly after he scored a hat -trick for Bulgaria against Malta “.
Scoring against Malta is like getting a lumber in Clatty Pats.
Away tae earn ma corn.
Some of us on here aren’t retired or teachers.
Ernie
To carry on the analogy
But if my general /subordinate made a poor decision that put me in an invidious position should I replace him?
67heaven it’s either that or Mrs Panda told Mr Panda to get his act together once she saw Edinburgh could actually make teams work.
MWD says AYE
I do accept that Ronny has made a few baffling managerial choices so far, but to ask for his head when he hasn’t even played or seen his team at home is just plain ridiculous.
Give the man a chance
South of Tunis
Some of our current forwards would be refused entry to said establishment for fear of embarrassment :)
ziggydoc1
11:53 on
12 August, 2014
If Celtic or UEFA had decreed last week right at the start, that we stay in the Europa, I’d have been ok with that. However with all the kerfuffle from Poland in the past week, we now need to be kept in the CL. Anything else would be ignoring the rules and an injustice against us. I don’t think it will happen but you never know.
On a personal level, money aside, I’m not too bothered about Europe right now and want to see the manager get the team right for the domestic contest, which will likely include our old pals next year.
______________________________
If Legia do win the appeal it would have to result in a change in the rules surely? I cannot see anyway they can win the appeal personally. You never know with UEFA though. I think we will still be in the CL come thursday/friday but like yourself I would have preferred that we played in the EL this season. We may still if Maribor beat us, which, to be honest, most of us are expecting right now.
Our current problems make even the EL sound beyond our level. I agree I would rather we concentrated on our domestic campaign so that RD can get this team playing to a standard that European teams will fear playing us again.
HH
southside… Tore Andre Flo.
rangers 2000-2002. 53 games 29 goals.
Bought for £12M but sold for £6.75M.
No Sebo for sure. Can’t remember why he got so much grief.
Once the trams got fixed Mr and Mrs Panda could relax and get on with the job in hand so to speak…
twotoneCSC
I suspect that when the board appointed Ronny that they probably felt that it was unrealistic to expect him to qualify for the champions league considering how close we came to not qualifying last year and also how badly we played in the group stages.
The £20 million pounds would have been nice but nothing could be guaranteed.
I’m sure that they settled for the Europa League and hoped that RD would make the changes to personnel and style over the course of the season and hopefully put us in a stronger position to qualify next year.
The performance against Legia which highlighted their original concerns on the level of the team and some of the players was also compounded by some baffling tactical and formational decisions by RD.
I hope that somebody upstairs decided to have a word with Ronny and reset his objectives after the Legia game and to remind him that, much as we have to change, it must come without ignoring results.
I don’t believe that he only talks a good game but I’m still not sure that he understands the benefits of changing gradually and using what you have whether you like what you have or not.
I think that he has put some of the senior players noses out of joint and worry that when that happens there is only one loser.
Despite all of the above I think that , given time and with the hope that he has learned from his early mistakes, RD will be a success and we will enjoy the type of football and the trophies he brings.
Doc,
Hope Miss Docs first away game is a grand win.
I hate being negative about our club….C’mon Celtic put a big tim smile on my face and everyone else on here…you know we deserve it.
A lot of us would feel more comfortable with the ‘strategy’ if we would at least sign up the best young players in Scotland, guys who know the demands of the league and have the mental fortitude to deal with it and showcase their ability.
Pukki said prior to arriving in Scotland that after leaving the Bundesliga he though playing here would be a piece of p1ss. Quite far off the mark with that one, wasn’t he? I wonder if our scouts factored in that or any of the other failures they’ve landed us with?
If we’d signed guys like McCarthy, Russell, Bryson, May etc it gives you a solid base and increases your chances of building a team around them rather than having to rebuild every 3 or 4 years because 1)players want to move for bigger money or 2) the strategy has failed so badly we’re getting pumped 4-0 by St.Mirren.
In terms of player profile the strategy doesn’t appear flexible, in fact the only way the strategy appears flexible is if the values expenditure column go down.
I don’t have a major problem with loan deals particularly if there is an option to buy but can we at least pick up the best players around us which might give us a stronger base to start with and help us avoid a pumping from a diddy team like Artmedia or St.Mirren which we seem prone to every few years.
HH
3 goals against Malta is only one short of what the entire Italian team managed in world cup qualifying.
There appears absolutely nothing in the rule books to suggest Legia have a leg to stand on tomorrow.
They are playing to an audience that needs to see their efforts maximised.
Tomorrow will hopefully see that end but I am sure we will have another salvo of tosh punted our way as the last gasp of a bunch of desperate men.
I hope it doesn’t distract us in the way poor Ally in Ibrox gets distracted by external events :)
Just hope the Man City kid isn’t earmarked as Virgil’s replacement for this year.
67 Heaven
Are you suggesting i havent read the accounts properly? Apparently the last set stipulate a healthy Cash at Bank (excluding transfer fees outwith the accounting period)
You would think that any decent run company would have a facility to be slightly flexible? Given that the PLC are lauded on here as being such a company youd think we would take advantage of as someone already said our “Golden ticket”.
How desperate are Legia becoming now, c’mon that paragon of virtue Deco thinks theyve been wronged, obviously they dont do irony, never mind reading the rules properly. If they had any amount of decency then why did the sack four individuals, surely they deserve a second chance for messing up (thats exactly what Legia’s whole case is depending on)
big wavy
If he VVD wants away it’s in his best interests to play well v Maribor – another Legia type performance will have potential suitors worried.
Would go with
Gordon
Lustig Ambrose VVD Izzy
HH
Having read the majority of this mornings posts i now know why patience is a virtue.
remember bhoys.
NO PAIN – NO GAIN
NO CROSS – NO CROWN
NO GALL – NO GLORY
NO GOOD FRIDAY – NO EASTER SUNDAY
Indeed .
Watched both games . Italy were rank , Malta were even more rank .
See on the official website there is an interview with Denayer saying Vincent Kompany convinced him to sign for a year.
Is that supposed to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside!?
Surely; the ceo is responsible for quality both on and off the park; failed on both counts ! Time for new faces/ideas at the club.
traditionalist88
This one goes in cycles but let’s remind ourselves that 2 of our feted strikers (Stokes and Griffiths) were in that profile once. Good enough for the SPL shouldn’t be our benchmark.
The world should be our oyster but we need to start getting much better at spending the money we make regardless of where the player trades.
corkcelt
12:19 on
12 August, 2014
Just hope the Man City kid isn’t earmarked as Virgil’s replacement for this year.
Of course he is. Why else would he be coming? City aren’t letting him come up here to sit on the bench and play development games midweek.
Maybe we’re trying to become part of City’s group of clubs along with NY City and Melbourne City!!
Following the blog for the last few weeks has seemed like living in some sort of distopian nightmare! Here are a few consolidated thoughts that I hope right minded CQNers will agree with – but I will be intrigued to see if that is right!
1. RD may not be our dream candidate, but that is not his fault. Others have gotten off to a bad start and done well – he desreves the same chance, without the mineshafters getting on his back for his choice of jogging bottoms, or his “demeanour” on the bench.
2. Economically, we are relative bottom-feeders among the top level clubs in Europe. Lesser clubs in the Premiership and Championship can and do outbid us on fees and wages, and will continue to do so. To compound this, we play in an unattractive, uncompetitive league. It is hard for us to attract the sort of players we would like to see in the hoops, and the likes of Tonev are probably about our level.
3. Related to the above point, what we really need to avoid are Dirks and MAFs and Banguras – players who come in on a fee and decent wages but who do not make the grade at our club. This is difficult, as all clubs make mistakes, and picking the right player is even harder when you shop in our constrained market. Loan with option to buy is a savvy way to do this, so I am happy with the Berget and Tonev deals for this reason. There is certainly no shame in those deals, and they have served us well in the past (Boruc, Fraser).
4. There is also no shame in taking a player from a big (financially) club and giving him an opportunity to get experience in the first team, even if is likely he will leave if he is a success. While you would not want such players to form too large a part of your squad, this system has worked well for the likes of Atletico Madrid, with Courtois and others.
5. If, by the end of the season, we have a fit and motivated team, playing good and winning football at or above their ability, winning the league and maybe a cup, while putting on a decent show in Europe, then I will be a happy man, regardless of where the FF money is or is not.
roy croppie
12:16 on 12 August, 2014
Once the trams got fixed Mr and Mrs Panda could relax and get on with the job in hand so to speak…
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It’s been panda- monium all morning on here…bedtime for me….:)
I’ve just read that we’ve got the City youth player on loan with no option to buy.
So, there you have it. We’re a feeder club now, helping others develop their young players.
Says a lot for the general faith in our own talent, eah? You know, the ones we actually OWN and who might still be at the club in a couple of years. Unless, you know, they impress, in which case … bye bye.
This move makes zero sense. Zero. Except in one circumstance and I don’t even want to think about it, let alone discuss it.
Now the manager who said he didn’t want players on loan has signed three of them.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?
Eyes Wide Open
I guess it’s better than Vincent saying don’t sign young fella as their supporters are a bunch of greetin faced old women who’ve dismissed you already because of your contractual status…
:)
Channelislandcelt
Good to meet you too mate. Pop in again some time.
HH
Are the pandas not just loan signings as well?
Gary…
So its not possible the kid is arriving on loan to play ALONGSIDE VVD?
The shadowy figure of Colonel Kurtz in his FFin’ compound muttering and raving:
“The Scottish Football Association are the keepers of the Scottish Football Archive.
The longest authoritarian strand in Scottish Football history, they as well as being the modern arbitrators of the rules are also the Fathers of the soul regarding our game and its enduring traditions.
Our game’s long history is a proud one amongst football nations and Scotland’s profile in world football has a provenance stretching into football antiquity.
The SFA are charged with its protection, those in the offices of the SFA have a huge responsibility to our past, because it is that past and heritage that gives them such prominence in today’s FIFA where for such a small country we still have a fairly large voice.
Yet Regan and others were quite willing even anxious to just dismantle and traduce a large part of this history, stamp it into the dust and reduce it to an inconsequential emptiness as if it counted for nothing.
All at the behest of an allegation not proved.
One would imagine that this enormous step would only come after agonising hearings, crucial tested evidence and weighty findings of guilt and where after soul searching and long deliberation there was no other avenues to satisfy proper justice.
The final and last steps where the history of the game was reluctantly sacrificed to real sporting integrity.
But not in this matter, no not under Regan’s paper thin jurisdiction.
Instead a knee jerk reaction was enough and the depth of delivery was to be for nothing more than the drop of a hat.
Justice out of a lucky bag.
One would even suspect that Regan had been parachuted into his position for just such a moment, given his incredible appetite to destroy our game’s history and his lightweight carelessness towards his own historical responsibilities.
However the real disgrace the overwhelming tragedy in this entire debacle, is that we no longer have a fourth estate in Scotland worthy of keeping the democratic values inherited by our nation safe from corruption.
Their silence in all of this condemns them utterly.
They are no longer the gatekeepers of recognised freedoms and truths and they can no longer be relied upon anymore; they have even less credibility than Pravda had to political prisoners locked dishonestly inside a Russian Gulag.”
PS…
£8m for VVD?
I would be thoroughly amazed!
If Legia appeal is successful we could have a major problem getting to EL Group stage. Aktobe beat Dinamo Tbilisi 4 nil in first round Champions League Qualifier and only lost second round 4-3 to Steaua Bucharest. They will be no pushovers if we have to face them.
James
As Jag er Ronny Delia pointed out even the spanish champions and ECL finalists had a guy they developed and sent back.
The game of football is changing. I would expect this to be the norm in a few years whether we like it or not.
Some thoughts….
Uefa are often heavily influenced by ‘informal’ representations of national associations. Legia could very well win their appeal….
VVD has 3 years left in his contract. Tell him to suck it up.
James Forrest
Steady, sit down…………have a glass of water.
Was the Belgian defender registered in time to be in the squad for the CL games against Maribor?
If so does that give credence to the idea that the club will sign a player full time for a fee as a Wildcard?
justafan
12:28 on
12 August, 2014
Of course its possible, but given VVD supposedly wants away I would think it unlikely.
What’s wrong with giving Fraser a chance (a year older than Denayer) who has looked good in the few chance he’s had. Or O’Connell or Findlay who are the same age as Denayer?
Why are we developing other team’s players at the expense of our own?