Likely summer signing number two, Virgil van Dijk, arrived in Glasgow this morning for a medical after terms were agreed with the player and his club, Groningen. The 6’4” player, who will be 22 next month, is a Dutch under-21 international.
Virgil is two weeks younger than Victor Wanyama and emerged into the Groningen team around the same time Victor pitched up in Glasgow, they have made almost exactly the same number of appearances for their respective clubs, 62 top flight games in total, in the case of Virgil.
62 games is an interesting figure. Enough to bed in, catch local scouts’ eyes and have well-travelled men from Glasgow watch several times before making a recommendation. Not enough to catch the eyes of less well-organised, but no less resourceful, scouts in the bottom half of the English Premier League, who Celtic now seem to compete for talent with.
If Virgil is the real deal, another couple of dozen games might have changed the competition for his signature.
Is there a 50-80 game window which can deliver sufficient evidence of a player’s talent, but not too much evidence, which evaporates the value gap? This hypothesis would be easy to test and if it holds would provide an interesting filter on the hundreds of names pushed to the club each year.
Have you booked for the Lions Roar event at Celtic Park tomorrow night? Last and precious opportunity to watch how the European Cup was won with the men who did the work. In short, priceless. Tickets available here.
Speaking of the men who won it, buy Heart of a Lion here:
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Valentines
Good luck with those. Please please please put a 50p each way accumulator on those horses. If all 6 even placed it’d be worth approx £2k. For £1?? You know it makes sense!!
twists n turns
done a £1 jackpot and placepot.
Looks like De Boer regretting his dithering on van dijk.
Great by Celtic, snaffling players like that from big dutch clubs on their patch. Not like Ajax to be slow of the mark on players.
More i read about people on Van Dijk, the more excited i am getting to see him in the heart of that defence.
I don’t think Celtic have really invested in that area of the team since the MON days in good centre halfves that defend.
Anothe one please to compete with Wilson and Van Dijk and accept if true about bids coming in for Ambrose.
I file Ambrose beside Tebily in defence.
Re The Lions Roar event tonight – Brogan Rogan isn’t well, he’s got the flu so he is a no runner. We have Paul, the Boy Jinky and myself. Did anyone else reserve one of BRTH’s tickets? We have three available if you want to come and meet some Lions tonight.
WC/mighty tim
I had hoped to come along but circumstances prevent it..
Enjoy bhoys
Valentines
Ah the old placepot! Picture it. Great Yarmouth about 1994. Mr and mrs twists and the 4 sprogs in a caravan at green farm caravan park. £200 bucks spending money for the fortnight. Week 1 comes to a close and my financial planning is clearly not all it should be. We’re down to £70 to last us week 2 after getting carried away in the fish n chip shop every night and watching the kids throwing money down the pan in the amusement arcades.
Twisty studies the card and picks 6 nags for a £1 placepot. On site bookies is called RV & DT Futters. Name has stuck with me forever. Breakfast time next day and I check the results. All 6 placed. £140. Don’t sound a lot nowadays but it was like winning the lottery. I’d never won on the placepot before. I collected as happy as a sandboy and stuck another one on. It came in too! Only paid £48, but believe me, I’d never been happier!!
Hee hee…double fish suppers all round for the duration!!
BT Sorry you cannot be there tonight mate, was hoping to have a drink or two with you. Mind tell your auld fellah that I want my picture taken with him. As you know I will be the real handsome bhoy who asks him.
Winning Captains, if you have tickets charliebhoy maybe looking for a couple for him and his bhoy, although he may have to turn up a bit late.
KTF
HH
Oh and valentines..without trying to cost you another £1, and sound like a smart ass stating the obvious, if your 6 nags place at those big prices, and the 6 favs manage a place as well, the placepot might only pay a smallish amount, so perhaps I’d stick on that 50 p each way accy as well, guaranteeing you the £2 k should it happen. Worth thinking about.
twists n turns
I don’t normally do a pp, but always have a go
at the big meeting’s……even if all the fav’s place
the divvy is usually good…….it’s great when you
get a turn when your needing it……fact is it’s a
mug’s game but I love it.
Mother owl Melanie Phillips totally lost it on Question Time last night – she is such a poisonous individual.
Great to see people laughing at her.
I can’t see SF ever agreeing to integrated education in the north of Ireland.
Someone said earlier the push toward integrated education was that Catholics made up the majority of children in primary schools and it was all about jobs.
I think he was half right, the push is because Catholics are making the majority of students, but, it ain’t about jobs. More so I believe, an attempt to turn tens of thousands of young Catholics into a generation of Rory McIlroy’s (in terms of cultural and political outlook).
twists n turns
You’ll have me in the poor hoose!!!
blantyretim – sorry you can’t make it. BRTH just mailed me to remind me you were coming so was just going to leave you a message!
mighty tim – we have three tickets available so if charliebhoy or anyone else fancies coming along let us know. 7.30 start tonight at the ground.
MT
He will be there at 5.30 tonight. .
I’ll let him know. Just tell him you gave me the weights.. o))
Can anyone explain to me why the sfa paid ogilvie in excess of £280.000 last year.
Naw come on Bhoys just one wee explanation, please. Surely there must be one of you educated types who can guide this old fool on the logic of this.
Nah did’nt think so.
No wonder some Bhoys are ripping that we ( Celtic Board ) stood back and allowed this masonic barsteward to waltz straight back in to power without challenging his election.
Canamalar as I said a couple of days ago in a post I ain’t a share holder but 5 season tickets in family I support you 100% mate and if I can help I will.
Disgusted
HH
Four players to be made redundant at Hearts and Danny Wilson’s pre-contract to be ripped up. That’s on top of the non-playing redundancies announced yesterday.
Yet again it brings up the question of why was one administration in the history of all administrations did not result in any real cost savings.
Good luck tae awe the tim’s punting and
fighting corruption in Scottish fitba….of oot
as ma hero wid say.
Won’t be hurrying to the superstore or the pubs roon the Barras to purchase the new strip,saying that I haven’t bought a strip since I knew that I wasn’t good enough to play in it and the fact that they don’t really look very appealing on those on the wrong, side of 40
As for Dijk and Balde I would rather we developed local talent like Russell and and McCarthy and sold them on for a profitq
Ogilvie gets a 33 grand a year pay rise? There aint no shamig a hun.PS not to mention a wee EBT possibly for a good night out .
Morning all,
Just a small thought, comming on the heels of the doubts over the future of Catholic education, we now have Barak “O’Bam” advocating the same stance.On top of that we have our leading lawman stating that Irish republican leaning may be an offence. Having a sound grounding of the discrimination that that occurred though the years, by my father, I thought we had made giant leaps forward. Now, I think this is the first time in my 57 yrs, that I am genuinely concerned for the future.
I always remember what a better man than me told me” Irish& Catholic discrimination was rife, long before the Scottish Education Act 1918″
KTF
Valentines
“You’ll have me in the poor hoose!!!”
See ye there mate!
Have a look at this junction, got to be the best.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200865607275245&set=gm.478148025605754&type=1&theater
HH
Only in America
https://twitter.com/chopsyghirl73/status/347981511255011328/photo/1
….PFayr :
I sort of follow all the judgements made under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications that are reported.
As you know, I’m no lawyer, I’m too honest, but what I do perceive from what I read is that from the layman on the pavement to the Law Lords in the posh bars, and all people in between, nobody, none of them, have got a scobbie how to interpret the act.
People getting done for calling another “an Orange B******” while others get off for calling another “a Fenian B******”. People being dismissed with no charge to answer after being arrested for singing – rebel songs. Yet in another court in another part of the land the prosecution appeal similar dismissals and have their appeals upheld by a greyer wig. Nobody has a scobbie, it is legal farce if anybody wished to take it all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.
By posting on here, even I in Australia am subjected to the threat of arrest should I be deemed to cross one of their shifting lines, and yet here we have much different laws as to there. The legalities of Act are fragile at best, or so it appears to me.
Sad thing is I have a degree of sympathy for the police, they never asked for it, the introduction of FoCUS was more down to Celtic, Rangers, and the Football authorities in response to political showboating than anybody else.
One can say what they want about the police, love them or loathe them, they are only doing their masters bidding. Some of them love to do it no doubt, whilst others park their individual concerns and get on with the task.
Reminds me somewhat of the scene towards the end of the Untouchables when the reporter tells Elliot Ness that “they are going to revoke prohibition” and then asks him, “What are you going to do”.
Ness’s reply… “Have a drink”.
SoAL
Loved the Pic, where exactly is it?
lilys grandpa
If speculation is your bag and you prefer to believe media scare stories you probably won’t be interested in Joe Ledley’s quote, at the launch of the new shirt.
Ledley said: “Hopefully the club can sort Victor and Gary out and get them new deals. I know they are both happy at the club and I hope they can stay here for many years to come.”
Whither the cash strapped scrofulous hillbillies the day?
https://mobile.twitter.com/machrie72/status/347838847037607936/photo/1
Great photo of the Holy Goalie
Steinreignedsupreme
I like that quote….
West Wales Celt:
The more you read the more you will become aware that there is a groundswell of opinion by fans of English clubs who think it stinks and who support the FAC.
BT and a few others
Just got a load of e mails in which were clearly sent yesterday. Not sure why. Apologies to all concerned. I wasn’t ignoring you!
Ole Tahiti facin’ the proverbial uphill struggle to get out of the group.
Melanie Phillips has lost the ole plot since The Mamas and The Papas split up.
DBBIA/CaliforniaDreamin’/CSC
Scottish FA @ScottishFA 11m
To clarify story in today’s @Daily_Record totally incorrect. President’s salary is £20k not £280k as reported.Apology expected in print tmrw
Long time no post.
Must admit that I am disheartened by the anti-catholic schooling agenda rearing it’s ugly head.
I’ve only been in Adelaide for 4 months and no-one has mentioned any issues with religious sectarianism. This is despite the fact that there are many highly respected and sought after Catholic schools around. I’ve also read that this is the case in many countries around the world yet it’s only an issue in Scotland. Sounds like Scotland likes to deflect rather than deal with the real issue.
For the record, my children are not at a Catholic school.
S
We gonna see big virgil holding the scarf today ?
Want to see him pen a deal asap.
Also want this hooper thing sorted. More it goes on the more i want celtic to just accept the £4.5m hull reportedley offered.
A Stor Mo Chroi to PF : “As you know, I’m no lawyer, I’m too honest…”!
Considering the recipient, that’s one of the funniest lines I’ve ever seen on here!! :-)
T4
Shady
Exactly, only an issue in Scotland.
liys grandpa