Celtic have been linked with a whole barrage of players over the last 24 hours, strongly linked in some instances. While it is more fun to drool over players coming in than fret as existing players leave the club, I’m very sure that some of the reports floating around right now are the product of wishful thinking on the part of agents trying to place their players with a top European club.
For each player you read about, two others will be under consideration, and remember the golden rule, if players or agents are talking publicly, they are not talking to Celtic. It’s easy to generate screeds of column inches for you, or your client, with a few well-chosen phrases.
Ukio Bankas statement this morning that current bids for the assets of Hearts which they hold security over, specifically Tynecastle Stadium, scene of Scotland’s most famous non-assault, do not meet their valuation presents real challenge to the club. Hearts are a club capable of generating in the region of £10m. Operating the club on a budget this size will be difficult, raising enough cash to satisfy Ukio Bankas might be impossible.
Unlike the situation last year with Rangers, when Craig Whyte secured an irrevocable undertaking upon liquidation to transfer Ibrox Stadium to Sevco 5088 Ltd, Ukio Bankas liquidators are unlikely to reject a CVA but accept a lower bid for Tynecastle. Without a stadium, a Newco is unlikely. The best Hearts fans could be faced with is going “Cap in hand”, as they sing down Easter Road, to Hibs, with a request for Newco to ground-share.
Wallace Mercer was ahead of his time. Flats, flats……….
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I will add to the list as more suggestions are made.
Will re-post before the first league game
Richie,
Windae slams on August 31st.
Nice speech last Thursday by the way….
Fender
Yorkbhoy
Are you a Hun?
PF Ayr
Yes I agree — I hear you may be making a guest appearance in the West End of Glasgow on Thursday evening?
I may be able to fashion an appearance myself!!
fender
Are you big Pat’s best pal’s big brother?
:-)
BRHT
I have no doubt that the main players who have left or are leaving will be replaced by players at least equally as good and hopefully better.
The concern of many supporters is timing. We all knew Wanyama & Hooper would go this summer. I agree with you that we are well covered in central midfield, I am of the opinion we don’t need a like for like Wanyama replacement but someone more attack minded. Its the lack of striker that seems to be the main concern, and the possible losing of Wilson before tomorrow night has come out of the blue and, well you know the rest, panic ensues amongst many.
Hooper replacement should have been lined up, ready to sign once he left. Maybe he was and its taking a bit longer to get over the line than anticipated. Maybe the management thought Balde would step straight into the team and have been surprised by his lack of readiness for first team football. Either way we are weakened going into this CL qualifier as we can’t sign and register a striker and centre half by 11pm tonight.
From the horses mouth, Bangura playing tomorrow night.
Manchester City are letting midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim leave on a free transfer
I have heard from a very good source that Bale will sign for Madrid today.
Crazy money!
LB
Richie
You guessed it!
Are you big Pat’s sister’s brother’s mate?
;-)
Brogan Rogan Trevino and Hogan –
Spot on. Especially the point about letting the manager manage, which to me, includes being allowed to pick the team.
There have been a number of comments on CQN criticising Lenny for apparently not giving Tony Watt a fair crack of the whip, or an extended run in the team. In all my years following the Celtic, there have been many occasions when I have been disappointed that a particular favourite of mine was overlooked for selection, but without exception I always reminded myself that the manager sees the players every day and knows much better than I whether or not he deserves a place in the starting eleven.
Tony Watt undoubtedly smashed into the Celtic first team with a bang, culminating in his never-to-be-forgotten goal to sink Barcelona at Celtic Park.
That Tony has not progressed as we would have hoped is obviously disappointing. He is still young and has time to change that. What I cannot accept is that Celtic supporters know better than the manager and that Tony has therefore been given a raw deal. I have even read claims that Lenny doesn’t like Tony and has it in for him. Complete and utter rubbish.
There was an exciting young Edinburgh striker round about the mid 90s by the name of Marc Anthony. He was scoring for fun in the Celtic youth team and smashing all sorts of records. Eventually Marc made his way into the first-team squad but in 3 seasons he made only 2 appearances. During that time I remember some Celtic supporters criticising the club’s youth setup, blaming it for the non-development of Marc Anthony into the top-class player he promised to be in earlier years.
Marc Anthony went on loan to Tranmere then Berwick before leaving to join Forfar. He then moved to Australia where he turned out for Perth Glory for a season and is currently playing in one of the minor Australian leagues.
My point is, the lad just did not fulfill his early promise. He didn’t make the grade.
The same can be said for Marc Burchill, another youth who looked like a world beater before eventually disappearing into oblivion.
It happens. It’s nobody’s fault, least of all the manager.
I sincerely hope Tony Watt gets another chance and if he does, he grabs it with both feet and makes it impossible for the manager to leave him out.
But if he doesn’t, let’s lay off the manager and let him pick the team without absurd allegations of personal vendettas and grudges.
4-0 Celtic tomorrow.
31st of August is a Saturday, does the transfer window stay open until the Monday night, 2nd September, this year.
Can I Have Raspberry On That Champions League Ice Cream 11:10 on 30 July, 2013
“From the horses mouth, Bangura playing tomorrow night.”
Dobbin up to his old tricks again?
From the BBC article Petrovschef refers to:
“This time last year, fresh from a financial collapse that led to liquidation, Rangers needed extra-time before overcoming Brechin City in the Ramsdens Cup”
Never realised when I took the old dog to the vet for the last time, I could have got him back the next day fresh from the jag that led to his demise. They should tell you about these things.
Mr Creosote has demanded to know the names of the insinuators.
Googybhoy
Forgot that one
18 if you disagree with a poster they are automatically a Hun…
If Watt had been given more game time instead of Miku and Lassad,he would be less of a risk for games like Elfsborg.If you can’t blood young guys in this league now,how are they supposed to develop?
steinreignedsupreme
11:15 on 30 July, 2013
Can I Have Raspberry On That Champions League Ice Cream 11:10 on 30 July, 2013
“From the horses mouth, Bangura playing tomorrow night.”
Dobbin up to his old tricks again?
He was very confident he would go the distance
BRTH
Agreed. Celtic are constrained by the market we operate in and can not really pick and choose when to sell players.
If Kelvin goes and I think that is more likely than not then I will be sorry as the boy has improved greatly and his goal line clearance against Cliftonville was outstanding. I would like to think though that we could convince him to stay for the qualifiers against Elfsborg. Although homesickness can be very unsettling. I remember wee Jim MacLean berating Jackie Copeland for feeling homesick for Paisley but relented and transferred him to St. Mirren where he became a good captain of the club.
I would like to think that we are still active on a number of areas to cover the loss of players and adding some more quality where needed.
Allegations about all sorts of things are flying about.
Who are the alligators?!
I demand to know!
HH!!
Today’s headline: Mike Ashley to sell up in Newcastle and buy trifc.
Cost of purchase:£30m
Stadium works:£5m
Pay off jabba , Swally et all: £5m
Sign a manager £2m
Pay off CW: £20m
Edminston House£1m
Total: £63m. Then they’ll want to play football!
‘It’s all about the munnney!’
Or it could be a little ‘ramper’ story planted by a PR agency to keep the sevco share price above water.
Or it could be Ashley’s way of saying ‘there’s nothing wrong with NUFC! Who wants it? I’ve got other fish to fry!’
Sound familiar?
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Newcastle-owner-Mike-Ashley-has-spent-a-staggering-285-8million-on-the-club-so-far-it-can-be-revealed-today-article718115.html
Yorkbhoy
Another one is that CQNers know far more about Football Management, Financial Management and behind the scenes events than those employed by the Club.
Aff oot on the bike before ( I hope) the rain arrives.
JJ
‘crushed nuts?’ ‘Naw, Layringitis!’
Newcastle will drop like a stone without Ashley in charge!
LB
Some thoughts on Tony Watt.
I fear the expectation levels may be unrealistic regarding the Bhoy.
Scoring the decisive goal in such a high-profile game – and what a goal it was, a natural finish from a youngster with no fear. Real class. But the reality is it guarantees nothing.
I hope Tony goes on the have a sensational career in the Hoops, but he will not be the first youngster to come through the ranks looking like a world beater only to disappear a few season’s later.
Neil Lennon has shown faith in our young players since his appointment, and many of them have featured in the pre-season games (the ones that have resulted in such panic).
Maybe he feels Tony Watt is not ready for a regular run in the team. He is in a better position to judge than we are – seeing as he is working with the players every day.
Brth
Arrangements made in haste and half pissed may from time to time require amendment .. Going to contact Big C to discuss … Work may have place a few barriers in the road … Trying to remove barriers at present
Just saw that Abdisalam Ibrahim has been given a free by Man City. We were linked with a loan move for him a couple of weeks ago?
http://www.celticnewsnow.com/news/qpr-newcastle-fulham-crystal-palace-swansea-and-celtic-chase-abdisalam-ibrahim/78006
‘crushed nuts?’ ‘Naw, Layringitis!’ 11:25 on 30 July, 2013
Stadium work considerably higher that £5m.
No serious maintenance has been carried out at Legoland since Moonbeams was guiding the ship towards the iceberg.
The homesick stuff? Sorry pish, utter pish, lets just say for talking sake he moved to Southampton, I may be wrong here but can you not drive to Nottingham from Glasgow quicker than you can from Southampton, all motorway from here Southampton not all graded roads, just putting it out there like, could be wrong.
Steinreignedsupreme
If we sign another two forwards I would expect Watt to go on loan.
He needs to be playing games. I like the look of the Bhoy but at this stage in his career and with his ability he needs games in a first team. I don’t see this happening at Celtic yet.
With Commons and Forrest both being wingers and a new winger on the verge of signing will this mean Forrest could be traded in? I know Spurs have been interested a few times. Could Celtic cash in on him? I hope the Bhoy stays but you never know with the sums involved.
I think Celtic develop youngsters well but the lack of a reserve league is frustrating. I wouldn’t mind McGeouch and Watt going out on loan for a few months to get some game time. I don’t think you learn much on the bench. In saying that though it’s a long old season and they might get more game time this season. I just hope we are not lining up any Miku and Lassad type purchases. That was a total waste of cash in the end and resulted in two youngsters not getting a game.
I reckon Neil Lennon has learned more about his players again last season. He is a young manager and I reckon we all forget that at times. He is learning year on year and improving himself and the team.
LB
Is the game tomorrow night on Celtic TV?
Does anyone know?
Tom McLaughlin
I agree with a lot of your post, but comparing Marc Anthony to Tony watt is ridiculous. Marc Anthony was typical of a lot of celtic’s youth signings in that era – scrawny, totally undersized (5’6″!!) lightweight and nowhere near strong enough for top level adult football. Celtic used to trot out dozens of these guys – who had the skills to excel at kids level, but had nowhere near the physicality (or physical preparation) needed to play top level professional sport. Unsurprisingly, no other decent professional teams were interested.
Tony Watt is a six foot athlete, strong, explosive, quick. he has the physical prowess to ‘make it’ in the game – in fact some would say he has all the attributes needed. His technical footballing ability is also very good (like M Anthony) but he is clearly far more capable of playing professionaly due to proper physical preparation.
Celtic were years behind in this field for a long time. they have finally caught up – and it is showing. D Fisher came in on Saturday and looked the real deal, due to his ability to compete physically with adult professionals. Obviously young players develop physically at different rates, (C Waters being a good example) but marc Anthony was the size that unless you have Messi-like skills, you aren’t going to make it.
Electronic Tims @ETimsNet 2m
Rumour reaches us we are about to break our transfer record. We don’t quite believe it either but we’ve shared it.
Did Sevco get there safety ticket for that stadium they play for?
LiviBhoy
11:36 on 30 July, 2013
There’s no way the manager will allow Forrest to go, and rightly so. Its a squad game and we need different options in all areas of the park. Commons played more centrally last season and it was a lack of options when Forrest didn’t play that made us look slow and pedestrian.
If we sign two strikers Watt may well go out on loan, but just as likely is Stokes will be punted (wrongly IMO but if he doesn’t sign new contract then he has to go).
We have won the youth league & cup double 4 years in a row. We have got one first team regular from these teams in that time. There is a group of players in the 19-21 age bracket who’s careers are stalling due to lack of first team football. We should be playing our 17 & 18 year olds in the U20s league (it doesn’t matter if we don’t win it every year) and loaning out all of our prospects. Watt, McGeouch, Fraser (when fit), Fisher, the Twardziks, Atajic, Irvine, McGregor, Herron etc, should all be loaned out either to SPL teams, down South or even abroad. The best can return and get their chance, those who we decide aren’t good enough can be moved on after being in the shop window for a season.
tomtheleedstim
If we’re going to do it now is the time, as we can virtually guarentee a return on the money if we can negotiate Champs League qualifiers.
Snake Plissken
Celtic v if elfsborg – Wednesday, july 31 kick-off 7:45pm
Live video of the Elfsborg match on Wednesday will be available to subscribers outside the UK* and Ireland with Online+ and Premium Celtic TV subscriptions.
The pre-match programme will begin at 7.30pm** with kick-off at 7.45pm.
All subscribers will have access to the live audio stream. The match replay will be available from 10pm to all subscribers.
LiviBhoy 11:36 on 30 July, 2013
It’s a difficult situation to call. Watt and McGeoch may develop in a similar way Maloney and McGeady.
Initial promise followed by a period of limited game time and then they go on to establish themselves.
It would be great to see both of them make their mark at Celtic.
SPFL agree exclusive deal to broadcast comprehensive Scottish football package in India for the next three seasons.
Which is the only club highlighted in the Press Release:
“The agreement with Sony SIX includes broadcast rights for more than 70 SPFL matches that include Rangers FC coverage across all media platforms and devices, including television, mobile and internet media platforms.”