The siege mentality which Celtic endured two years ago now feels like a different world. The pursuit of £3.5m defender Jozo Simunovic was a significant statement of intent, but even that was mocked by many now close to the club. A critical assessment from a Balkan writer for The Guardian was enough for the club’s critics to tell us how ridiculous Celtic were.
For months I endured one character repeatedly imply we had bought a crock who would never complete a season. This story had what all good conspiracy theories have, a curious fact which, when revealed, was enough to inspire fantasists.
Jozo was injured when Celtic signed him. The club sent him to London for an assessment from the top man available. The verdict was clear: the injury would heal, but while personal medical details are kept private, speculation was rife.
The truth is we did remarkably well recruiting Jozo. If he wasn’t injured, we may have been priced out of the market, but we scouted him (a John Park player), got the best medical advice available and put money on the table, while others read The Guardian and pondered knee injuries.
Many have spent the last two weeks marvelling at the tacking ability of Jozo.
Lisbon Lions Raffle
Last year we got this retro Celtic top signed at an event by several Lions: Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell, John Hughes and Charlie Gallacher. Willie has told us he’ll ask the others to add their names, when he’s over later this month. I intend pinning the Original Holy Goalie before then. Former captain, Paul McStay, was also kind enough to add his name.
We’re raffling the top, all proceeds will be spent on the Lions, or descendants, where appropriate. The objective is to give the Lions and their families a memento to mark the 50th anniversary of their greatest achievement. Many no longer have their medals, strips or keepsakes from that era.
£2 each, you can buy a bucket-load HERE, if you like. I guarantee you the winner will cherish their prize.
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Evening,
Not seen ma big mucker jimmy on today , hope he’s not been done for contempt of court . FREE THE BIG JIMMY ONE
Paul67
Are you sure that Jozo was scouted by John Park, I heard differently, JP was still in charge of the scouting dept, but he wasn’t the one who spotted him so to speak.
HH
Weebwbabitty @ 7:11
I am just glad that your pal was named Jimmy and not Willie …
:)
I’m in the MacDonald hotel in Samlesbury. The hotel bar does not have peanuts or crisps, which in fact means that this bar is not a bar.
And to top it all off I find out that Jozo might not have cost as much as I think!!!! What a stinker of a day…
DAVIDOPOULOS
No cigarette machine either,thus ruining a perfectly good joke.
Davidopoulos. If you are happy being lied to then that’s your bag. But it’s pathetic revisionism.
It’s a bit like your lack of peanuts or crisps firstly being portrayed as the first health bar not to sell unhealthy snacks but when they stock up claiming that the snacks are an improvement that was part of the plan.
In other word complete spin and bolloks.
By the way if you like being lied to so much there is another football club in Glasgow which also excels in it.
NA2
We have always been lied to, the trick and fun is spotting whot is true and whot isny :-)
HH
M I T
@7.18
Had to think about that one lol , ps mind me and you are in Big JIMMYS fan club
Jozo will do for me.
I’m old enough to remember Derek McWilliams, Willie Garner, Paul McGugan, Davie Moyes …
#Shudders#
HH!!
With the recent courtroom revelations in the Whyte case, it’s clearly time to right some past wrongs, no matter what it costs. Please share guys and keep the debate going.
https://thecelticblog.com/2017/05/blogs/regan-whyte-and-resolution-12-let-justice-be-done-though-the-heavens-fall/
TET well I can’t argue with that. But when a site claiming not be be lazy journalism is selling fake news and claiming the morale high ground that really does take the biscuit.
Tallybhoy.
May I add Lex Baillie and Frank Munro to the list please.
Thanks
Hail Hail
Josh Thompson…..
Neg.
I agree with a lot of your points,but my own opinion is I don’t understand why you have to make it personal with Paul.
We laugh at Sevco saying they paid 1.8 million for Garner, when it has been shown it was 250,000 or so but we as a club are guilty of the same. It’s all smoke and mirrors, agents fees included, sometimes even salaries.
There is little transparency.
From my own point of view I am grateful for the blog and the vast majority of the posters. It and they have helped me and educated me. I just have to work out the fake news :-))))
Hail Hail
SANDMAN on 10TH MAY 2017 6:27 PM
I love Jozo. I was on here when the story broke of him going to Torino stating my displeasure at the prospect of selling our ‘best centre back’.
But I don’t think he is anywhere near the level of VVD. Not even close. Blaming him for the defeat to Malmo is like blaming Bellamy for losing the title after the defeat to Motherwell on Black Sunday. It glosses over all the brilliance that went before it. If you want to nitpick I’m sure I could find plenty of examples of goals that Jozo was ‘culpable’ for. People have a habit of slating ex Celtic players who have the audacity of wanting to play at a higher level.
I can’t find a decent quality video of our defeat in Malmo, but here’s the home leg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oncKCMZsiOk
I have no idea how you could blame him for either of the goals conceded, far less both.
I’m in my mid 30s and VVD is by some margin the best defender I have seen at Celtic. He is the only player, apart from Larsson, that I thought could leave Celtic and go on to play at the highest level. His transfer fee this summer will reflect that.
NA2
You shouldn’t let it bother you, it is whot it is, CQN is no longer a blog as such, it’s a business these days and a wee white lie goes a long way to further the business.
I haven’t been posting here since the inception, have been reading it mind you, the changes are night and day, gone are the in depth debates, this is whot made CQN, but as time goes by things change and money rears it’s ugly head, just my take on things.
HH
My goodness, Real all over the shop!
2-0 Atleti
Ffs what a start for athletico,game on
The Madrid derby just got interesting
Reggie.
Hail Hail.
I’m in my 50s but I totally agree with you.
What VVD has that others don’t, to the same degree, is incredible acceleration, people talk about pace, but in his position acceleration is more important the amount of times his acceleration bailed out the full backs and the other centre half was beyond belief. The only thing was Scottish football was too comfortable for VVD and occasionally he could be too casual.
Incidentally Reggie you must be one of the youngest on the blog.
Found some reasonable quality footage of the defeat in Malmo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXPTwvvOu34
Wouldn’t blame him for any of those goals either tbh. 2 corners, he’s getting blocked off at both and it’s not his man who scores. Baffled.
Jimmynotpaul but you see it is personal and the sort of hollow paul67 is posting is just fake news made up nonsense. It’s not acceptable.
TET I am not surprised. I had my suspicions about Paul and his connection with lawwell and cl from the start. I have been ridiculed lambasted etc for calling it. But I was right (as were many) I don’t think we should just let cqns lust for money while lying just pass unmentioned.
Paul67 did previously state the Jozo transfer was £5.5m, I did noticed the amendment today. I don’t know why the figure has changed.
Damn good cup-tie at the Vicente Calderón Stadium!
JIMMYNOTPAUL on 10TH MAY 2017 8:05 PM
Incidentally Reggie you must be one of the youngest on the blog.
————–
I hope not!
You’ll have a better perspective than I do, as I can’t speak of players in the 70s and early -> mid 80s, but the greatest centre backs I’ve seen at Celtic that I can recall, would be Paul Elliot, Marc Rieper, Johan Mjallby, Balde, Denayer and Jozo is coming into that category. VVD for me is way better than all of them.
Exiled Tim
Came across this today from sfm.the comments are goodtoo.
https://rangerstaxcase.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/rangers-the-other-tax-cases/
Good level of chat.
HH
Real have stepped up a gear now, no looking good for Atletico
NA2
At the end of the day we should be grateful we have something like CQN, there are other blogs but they are not a patch on CQN, as I said earlier, you shouldn’t let it bother you, there are bigger fish to fry, those who run our game for example are as bent as it gets yet they run the game with total impunity to the detriment of the game and our club, that’swhere all our ire should be directed imo.
HH
Reggie on 10th May 2017 7:53 pm
=======================
Malmo’s goals.
Really?
Jus twatch him before the kicks are taken.
HE was the man who is supposed to organise. He was the man supposed to clean out the opposition and win the ball.
Their CP goal – injury time. Right in front of me.
Soon as Johansen fecked about I’m watching VVD – standing there more in hope when a real leader would have been calling the odds. Watch his attempts to step out and win the high ball; pathetic. Hardly off the ground, just bumps into the players in the air, lost to a Malmo downward header and the man he left contrives to help it into the net.
In Malmo? Same again. Hiding, when he should have been in command, cleaning out the opposition and their hope, not hoping for someone else to bail us out.
When the chips were down, two powerful moments of defensive play from him and we’re through to the CL.
Those were his moments. To use the baseball metaphor, he didn’t want to step up to the plate. i like dthe big guy. But those were eye-opening and costly failures.
Not culpable?
O.J Simpson.
Doubt this semi is going to end up 11 v 11.
Good Evening.
Have you heard about Skeletor buying Sevco? https://theclumpany.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/skeletor-could-be-the-man-to-fix-things-says-kris-void/
tell you what, we better start saving for next years champions league final.
my real supporting brother in law living in glasgow, asked me if there is any-way to get tickets via the sfa, maybe i said. so i started searching it out, and i said to him, do what celtic fans do, travel without a ticket, if its fated, you will get in.
but then i looked at UEFA site for the “ballot” of tickets ………. will ye look at these prices.
for comparison, I was at hampden in the celtic end when real beat leverkusen, ticket was £27,
when i went to seville, centre stand high up – 35 euros.
—————–
UEFA Champions League™ Final Cardiff 2017 Ticket Portal
The Final will take place at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff, Wales on 3 June 2017, 19:45 BST (local time)
Category 1 £390 Centrally positioned
Category 2 £275 Mainly positioned in the corners
Category 3 £140 Behind the goals
Category 4 £60 Behind the goals on the upper and lower levels
Wheelchair £60 1 wheelchair user and 1 companion
Easy Access £60 1 easy access ticket and 1 companion
Youth Package £120 per Package 1 Adult and 1 Child (under 14)
AT
I remember that thread, round about the time they barred me for daring to suggest that the cabal would see them ok in scotland :-)
HH
Neganon.
Good to see you on.puttin it out there as you see it.
Enjoy the rest of the season :-)
HH
Reggie.
I thought Reiper was a really good centre back. The only season I never missed a domestic game was 1997/1998 and although Henrik ( rightly so ) Burley, McNamara Tec got lots of plaudits, Marc was a really important player for us. He was sorely missed when he had to retire. VVD better than them all on that list of centre backs in my opinion.
No doubt others will think differently, as is their right.
hat on.
mjallby was a better true centre half than VVD.
so might have been reiper and elliot.
but VVD is modern , fast , accelerating.
i think he is great in england, and good at celtic park,
but mjallby was my favorite
not forgetting joos or balde,
Watching that, and thinking this isn’t football it’s let’s see who can con the ref the bestest,absolute pish
MATCH SUMMARY
Updated 9 minutes ago
Isco strikes to put Real Madrid 4-2 up on agg
Sensational start sees Atleti hit 2 in 16 minutes
Saúl and Griezmann (penalty) on target for hosts
No side has overcome even two-goal semi loss
Last ever European game at the Vicente Calderón
NEGANON 2 – like you I am shocked and offended that somebody – ahem, P67 – may have posted mildly inaccurate facts some time ago.
On the interweb as well.
Outrageous. I have informed the media by sternly-worded email. Watch this space…