The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

SFL would consider 'Celtic B' bid 
By Martin Conaghan 

The Scottish Football League would consider an application from Celtic to enter a B team into the Third Division.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir and Celtic counterpart Peter Lawwell recently discussed the issue.

However, SFL president Brown McMaster stressed that it was one of many topics informally raised at the meeting.

"It's at a very early stage and we would want to gauge opinion on the prospect from all 30 member clubs," McMaster told BBC Scotland.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith welcomed the idea.

"This is something I proposed quite some time ago when I was a BBC pundit," he told BBC Scotland.

"I thiought it would be good for Rangers and Celtic but might also be good for the clubs in the lower divisions as it would give their crowds a boost and could be

profitable.  People seem to think that SPL2 is certain to happen, but that is a lot of nonsense

"Albeit it would be their reserve teams, but we could still have a very strong squad of players playing in the lower division."

Top-flight clubs in a number of European countries operate B teams or feeder clubs in lower divisions.

So far none of the clubs in the Scottish Premier League have followed suit, but such a prospect comes as the present structure of the professional game is being considered for change.

The SPL recently announced plans to scrap its reserve league.

And the SFA last week improved the prospects of a second tier of the Scottish Premier League being formed.

An arbitration panel decided that a so-called SPL2 would not breach the SPL's agreement with the Scottish Football League, which presently runs Divisions One, Two and Three.

The SPL will hold an extraordinary meeting of its 12 clubs in mid-March and, if the proposal is approved, will open negotiations with the SFL.


Smith thinks the Old Firm could boost lower-league crowds
Longmuir, who explained that his meeting with Lawwell had primarily been about Co-operative Insurance Cup final tickets, does not see the formation of the SPL2 as a fait accompli.

"People seem to think that SPL2 is certain to happen, but that is a lot of nonsense," he said.

"It was only a legal ruling and the debate has still to take place.

"The SFL is in a better position now than when I took over. There is more positivity going on within the leagues."

this is possibly the precursor to my own suggestion to Celtic plc
a couple of years ago when it all started off about Celtic going into the epl, I thought it would be a great idea to leave the reserve team in the spl and it would increase competition amongst the rest of the spl clubs and give them all a great chance of winning the league and developing players further - through international copetition.
Now it looks like the reserve team will be farmed out, then when they get up to championship level (old Div 2) they might swap the teams around and stick the first team in the championship (div 2) league with a view of winning promotion to the epl (div 1).
while Celtic might not get euro action in that first year in the epl, the revenue from being in that league would make it worthwhile and after one or possibly two seasons in epl, they woul dbe back in europe again, but armed with larger bank balance to buy a better level of player (subject to strachan being long gone).

Sadly entry into the promised land (either EPL or Atlantic league) looks further away then ever, we are just going to have to make do with the scraps of money we are currently getting (with the poss in the future that Scotland may lose one CL place!).
Watched a very interesting documentry last night about Barcelona and the first year after Laporta and the rest took over 2002-2003 i think? It was a fly on the wall docu, at one stage Laporta was talking to Deportivo's pres. and said that he had just come back from Brussells where they had been talking about Europes bigger clubs forming a new league, he said that Barca supported it as it made sense and would mean more cash for the clubs involved.

[lynchbhoy]

have to say that if Celtic (and any other of the spl clubs who fancied their chances) went and put a second team into the lower leagues, then theres a good chance if they have the money to cover it over 5 years or so, then they woul dget access up through the divisions and into epl.
The problem stopping them this past few seasons has been the lower epl sides plus the championship/ old div 2 & old div 3 teams whinging about it.
If the Celts were to wintheir way up , there cant be much complaint as the precedent is there with Wrexham, cardiff and swansea.

I know this is a big hobbyhorse of Dermot desmonds and he is very keen to get Celtic into the epl and the money that they could avail of once in there.
right now its hard to keep the balance of sustainability and competitiveness on a euro level when being funded to the tune of 3million a year from domestic revenue, in comparison to the lowest performers in epl getting minimum of 20million (as far as I know these figures are approx correct but dont take in other associated revenue streams).

Interesting times ahead, Celtic do it by 'stealth' !

[slow corner back]

Is every1 not missing the point here talking about the EPL? Celtic want to enter the B team in a new Scottish Div3 ( effectivly Div 5 ) after SPL 2 is formed. This is due to the fact that the current SPL reserve league is to be scrapped due to financial constraints at other SPL clubs. It does not in any way involve English football.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Is every1 not missing the point here talking about the EPL? Celtic want to enter the B team in a new Scottish Div3 ( effectivly Div 5 ) after SPL 2 is formed. This is due to the fact that the current SPL reserve league is to be scrapped due to financial constraints at other SPL clubs. It does not in any way involve English football.

Not at all, I posted a story about Celtic poss entering a B team in the SFL, and then commented on a post Lynchbhoy made.

[Myles Na G.]

I take it players have to be registered to the b team, rather than just being able to put any player in when you feel like it as with current reserve teams.

Not sure how it would work.
Obviously there would need to be checks in place if your "A" team and "B" team ever met in competitive competition.

Is there any other kind of competition? 

Great input there.

I thought so too. 

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

SPL deal thrills Liverpool youth   

Liverpool teenager John Marsden says he is delighted to have signed a professional contract with Scottish Premier League side Celtic.

The 16-year-old has penned a three-year deal with the Glasgow giants.

He told BBC Radio Merseyside: "The deal Celtic offered me was better than any English club could have done.

"You can turn professional at 16 up in Scotland, which is not the case in England as you have to wait until you are 17."

And Marsden, who broke a number of junior goalscoring records on Merseyside, believes moving to Scotland can help his development as a player.

"Because of a lack of money at most Scottish clubs they purchase young lads and bring them through.

"They can't just go and buy a Fernando Torres for £25m."

Marsden, a former trainee at Wigan Athletic, scored 91 goals during his four-and-a-half season spell with the Greater Manchester club.

And after securing his first professional contract he said he is now focused on regaining full fitness following a metatarsal injury and returning to action.

"My target for this season is to get fit and play a few games for the under-19s and hopefully next season you'll see the best of me," said Marsden.

"I was in the process of signing for Celtic when I got injured but they were good enough to still sign me and continue with my rehab up here."



We're signing them even younger now and injured! 

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

The proposal to put Old Firm B teams into the SFL is a depressing one for lower league supporters in Scotland. Any such move would immediately cheapen the competition. It would also see the baggage the Old Firm supports carry with them coming to lower league grounds, something nobody in the SFL wants. The idea that crowds in the lower leagues would rise is also debatable, the crowds for OF reserve games (which are played at SFL grounds already) are pretty poor and I dont really see how Celtic B v. Albion Rovers in SFL 3 is any more attractive to a neutral than Celtic B v. Hamilton B in the reserve league is at the moment. There is also the issue of non league clubs who have been trying for years to get into the SFL3, why would B teams be allowed to jump the queue?

People should remember the SPL clubs sh*t on the SFL with their breakaway league which was apparently about improving standards but in reality was all about hoarding cash for themselves. The idea the SFL would now help out the great SPL in the circumstance of them being unable to run a reserve league is pretty rich. B teams can f*ck off, I can safely say I would boycott any match between my lower league team and any B side if they ever got into the SFL.

If the SPL really cant organise a reserve league the OF clubs could stick out more promising youngsters on loan to SFL sides or indeed establish junior clubs to play in the Scottish Junior leagues. Many of Celtic's greats in the pasts were farmed out to the Juniors before getting a shot at the first team. Or given both clubs love to play up their links with Ireland howabout they each put a team into the Irish League or Leaage of Ireland?

Not sure where the idea Lynchbhoy mentioned about Celtic going into the lower leagues of England has come from. That isnt the proposal here and is a total non starter anyway. Even in the unlikely event of it ever happening it would take a lot longer than 5 years as they couldnt simply start in League 2, they would need to start at the bottom of the pyramid like anybody else.

[lynchbhoy]

The proposal to put Old Firm B teams into the SFL is a depressing one for lower league supporters in Scotland. Any such move would immediately cheapen the competition. It would also see the baggage the Old Firm supports carry with them coming to lower league grounds, something nobody in the SFL wants. The idea that crowds in the lower leagues would rise is also debatable, the crowds for OF reserve games (which are played at SFL grounds already) are pretty poor and I dont really see how Celtic B v. Albion Rovers in SFL 3 is any more attractive to a neutral than Celtic B v. Hamilton B in the reserve league is at the moment. There is also the issue of non league clubs who have been trying for years to get into the SFL3, why would B teams be allowed to jump the queue?

People should remember the SPL clubs sh*t on the SFL with their breakaway league which was apparently about improving standards but in reality was all about hoarding cash for themselves. The idea the SFL would now help out the great SPL in the circumstance of them being unable to run a reserve league is pretty rich. B teams can f*ck off, I can safely say I would boycott any match between my lower league team and any B side if they ever got into the SFL.

If the SPL really cant organise a reserve league the OF clubs could stick out more promising youngsters on loan to SFL sides or indeed establish junior clubs to play in the Scottish Junior leagues. Many of Celtic's greats in the pasts were farmed out to the Juniors before getting a shot at the first team. Or given both clubs love to play up their links with Ireland howabout they each put a team into the Irish League or Leaage of Ireland?

Not sure where the idea Lynchbhoy mentioned about Celtic going into the lower leagues of England has come from. That isnt the proposal here and is a total non starter anyway. Even in the unlikely event of it ever happening it would take a lot longer than 5 years as they couldnt simply start in League 2, they would need to start at the bottom of the pyramid like anybody else.

not sure where you get this 'baggage' that the OF bring from...rangers yes and a handful of Celtic support - but generally in response to the equally non pc, monolithic 'home' support of other scots clubs...so  its baggage of an anti social variety not restricted to Celtic..

my thoughts on putting Celtic 'B' in the lower english leagues is the next step.
If Celtic are thinking of putting a B team in lower scots leagues, then the notion of doing likewise in the lower english tiers couldnt be too far away or too far from linear thinking.
Especially when in times not so long ago, the english leagues dismissed and objected to the idea of Celtic (and rangers) being installed directly into the epl, with the compromise of ' if they want to get into the epl, they must join the league and get promoted the whole way up' as their response.
so my idea is to do just that, I am hoping that Celtic have already thought of this and that the B team in the scots leagues is a test run.

[clarshack]

not sure where you get this 'baggage' that the OF bring from...rangers yes and a handful of Celtic support - but generally in response to the equally non pc, monolithic 'home' support of other scots clubs...so  its baggage of an anti social variety not restricted to Celtic..

my thoughts on putting Celtic 'B' in the lower english leagues is the next step.
If Celtic are thinking of putting a B team in lower scots leagues, then the notion of doing likewise in the lower english tiers couldnt be too far away or too far from linear thinking.
Especially when in times not so long ago, the english leagues dismissed and objected to the idea of Celtic (and rangers) being installed directly into the epl, with the compromise of ' if they want to get into the epl, they must join the league and get promoted the whole way up' as their response.
so my idea is to do just that, I am hoping that Celtic have already thought of this and that the B team in the scots leagues is a test run.

its a good idea as something needs to be done to get celtic out of the spl. at what tier in english football would a professional 'B' team need to join? even if it takes 10-15 years to get to the epl it would be worth it.

[nifan]

Cant see why the english leagues would let celtic or rangers jump ahead in the pyramid.
Much talk at the moment is about making the prem smaller even, which will cause a push down the league as is.
Dont know why any level would vote the OF in.

[lynchbhoy]

not sure where you get this 'baggage' that the OF bring from...rangers yes and a handful of Celtic support - but generally in response to the equally non pc, monolithic 'home' support of other scots clubs...so  its baggage of an anti social variety not restricted to Celtic..

my thoughts on putting Celtic 'B' in the lower english leagues is the next step.
If Celtic are thinking of putting a B team in lower scots leagues, then the notion of doing likewise in the lower english tiers couldnt be too far away or too far from linear thinking.
Especially when in times not so long ago, the english leagues dismissed and objected to the idea of Celtic (and rangers) being installed directly into the epl, with the compromise of ' if they want to get into the epl, they must join the league and get promoted the whole way up' as their response.
so my idea is to do just that, I am hoping that Celtic have already thought of this and that the B team in the scots leagues is a test run.

its a good idea as something needs to be done to get celtic out of the spl. at what tier in english football would a professional 'B' team need to join? even if it takes 10-15 years to get to the epl it would be worth it.

I think so , its a long term plan and its not the quick easy win that Dermot Desmond craved, it still affords Celtic the opportunity to get in there, while still maintaining the 'home base'.
As this has ALREADY been given verbal agreement by english leagues, then there shouldnt be much opposition.
esp with clubs like Luton (ok they were saved) hitting the 'wall' financially - there will be more open gaps in league for teams with criteria like 'decent stadia, health & safety measures' etc such as Celtic to jump into immediately.
so this would be a 'done deal' as soon as they declared such an interest. However I still think Celtic are looking to get straight into higher divisions, so until then this opportunity will be waiting.

[nifan]

As this has ALREADY been given verbal agreement by english leagues

Where was this? Was it the football league that gave this?

[illdecide]

Celtic have begun talks with Red Bull Salzberg's Marc Janko and Egyptian midfielder Shikabala in a bid to land the duo in a £6m summer swoop. (Daily Express, Daily Star)

Portuguese winger Eliseu is ready to discuss a summer switch to Celtic. The Malaga ace has admitted he could move to Glasgow at the end of the season. (The Sun)

Took this off the BBC web site there...more midfielders yeeaaahhhhoooooo...

[nifan]

Janko is a striker.

[illdecide]

Janko is a striker.

And what's the Egyptian