Filip Benkovic collected his 2019 Scottish Cup winner’s medal after yet another solid performance. He was viewed by many of us as the senior partner alongside Kristoffer Ajer, who erred when Hearts took the lead that day. Benkovic returned to Leicester to wither on the vine, while Ajer continued to develop at Celtic.
The failure of Filip to develop is inexplicable. He left us as a 21-year-old first choice talent, a player Brendan Rodgers took on loan to Celtic and played him whenever available. Rodgers’ Leicester should have been a great place to return to. Subsequent loans to Bristol, Cardiff and Leuven earned him a total of five 90-minute performances in two and a half years.
Something was not right. When asked last week, Brendan Rodgers said he had been “unavailable for personal reasons”. That’s one of those phrases that we have no right to query, but it is enough. It sufficiently explains the incongruence between what we saw with our eyes in season 2018-19 and what happened since.
I have no idea what Filip’s personal reasons are and hope they soon lift. The game is full of players who struggle with family, relationships, mental health and various temptations. It always has been. It also has its fair share of absolute rockets, who cannot stick to plan and will not learn. Managers drop this type, usually frustrating fans who, again, trust their eyes, but every team needs to stick to plan and every manager has to be the boss.
If he was available, I would have backed Celtic to spend £10m on Filip in 2019. A stay in Glasgow may have lifted what ailed him, or we may have splurged a lot of money down the drain. That’s how this game works. A proportion of players will simply drop off the radar for no externally apparent reason. Hopefully a stay in Italy will sort the lad out.
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SAINT STIVS on 13TH JANUARY 2022 3:20 PM
watching Paul McStay during the holidays on many a clip.
something often not highlighted, quite tough, strong in the tackle without having to be dirty, never shirked anything, won many a ball in midfield that resulted in a chance on goal.
Right up there with the best of them.
______
Apart from being a brilliant, skilful player, Paul was super fit and hard as nails. Don’t know why I thought on it, with so many brilliant memories of Paul, but recall him running his guts out in (1984?) Cup final, that we lost to Aberdeen in extra time. Willie also had a great game and I think Big Roy got sent off. No disrespect to Peter Grant, but he wasn’t on the same planet as Paul.
IniquitousIV
I remember it well as there were very few live games then. I was 11 and i remember my mother getting really excited throughout – she didn’t bother with footie normally
BBC did a piece online recently on Ally Dick. Went to the wrong club (Ajax) with a bad injury and it fell apart. Bit like Laurie Cunningham when he went to Madrid (played well against us though)
Bankiebhoy
There wont be a cow milked in Leitrim tonight !!!
Many on here wont have a clue what we are on about….but he has to have been one of the greatest sports commentators of all time
“he turns left,he turns right,he turns the other way”
Paul McStay and Peter Grant shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath. Total difference in class.
I predicted on 1st of January that Celtic would sign no more players this window (before it either swung, slid, or slammed shut). I made this prediction to myself, within my brain, without any interference from you clappy happers. Megálo Ange appears to have confirmed my suspicionisation today.
HOWEVAH (remember that on CQN?), i refuse to believe that we don’t/won’t have something up our sleevies during the course of the next 18 days (other than our armies).
Michal Kadlec will finally be coming home…
WITS – :)
Like the Leitrim one, this is a cracker too………………
“The stopwatch has stopped. It’s up to God and the referee now. The referee is Pat Horan. God is God.”
HH GAACSC
Coming soon……………Mark Reid v Chris Morris
Ange’s Presser
We also signed Johnny Kenny….
Am I the only person that remembers Peter Grant coming on as a sub for Scotland at Wembley and making a significant difference to the game?
We still lost mind you! :-)
Hi Bhoys
The Scotland v England 5-4 game.
I thought the best player on the park scored a hat trick for (England), one of them a 30 yarder, Paul Rideout.
KEEPTHE FAITH
⚽
woooft.
The Queen strips Prince Andrew of ALL his military titles and his royal patronages and says he will have to face sexual assault lawsuit as a ‘private citizen’
poor old randy andy
justice is coming for you
The UK monarchist rule, filthy rotten Unionist cult.
A ghrá mo chroí
i feel sorry for the Small Arms School Corps
to lose their colonel-in-chief must be really tough on them
Lizzy no messing about😂😂
and i hope the colonel-in-chief of the Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths’ Own) immediately starts the search for a new deputy
“Lizzy no messing about”
—
thats commander-in-chief of the army, navy and air force you are talking about, you cant call her Lizzie
That’s enough to make a prince sweat.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59984380
A squirrel.
Nothing more.
Almost unprecedented course of action for MI5.
Labour stooge named.
Liberal Democrat stooge named.
Priti Patel “deeply concerned”.
Further evidence of the blatant politicisation of government functions by this shower.
Adolf and his bunker mates would blush.
Genuine question …
I believe she genuinely quite likes her daughter (Princess Anne).
Does anyone know if she actually has the time of day for any of her three sons?
☘
Randy Andy will be used to being stripped.
Entitled chancer .
I believe she genuinely quite likes her daughter (Princess Anne).
Does anyone know if she actually has the time of day for any of her three sons?
—
well one of them wants her dead so i dont think she likes him
Back to
Only a politician would think they get donations of £420k for nothing.
As far as Andy is concerned I wonder who’s going to take up his golfing and air miles duties.
MI5 have announced a bunch cnuts have infiltrated the cabinet
where that Pal with the private jet and island hideaway when you need him.
Covering their arse if you ask me.
The continuation of the firm is everything – no-one is more important
And for the record Boris is a lying toerag
Priti is really not very.
The Duke Of York claims his trousers were neither up nor down in Belgravia
BACK TO BASICS – GLASS HALF FULL on 13TH JANUARY 2022 5:55 PM
Andrew is widely regarded as being her favourite. Probably due to his father having been the favourite of the three men she has had children by.
CONEYBHOY
VG!
just read this in todays news
‘….During the 28-minute virtual hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, Donald Findlay QC…..”
cant believe that cnut is still on the go
im sure Andy is on the fone to him right now
Who’s the head of the church of england?