The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[the green man]

Myles will no doubt see the downside to this

[illdecide]

Delighted with todays signings, there def seems to be a bit of quality signed today so hopefully better football to come and a bit more confidence within the team

[ONeill]

Some coup to catch Keane til the Summer.

[mouview]

Hope Keane's form improves but on the face of it his signing doesn't make a lot of sense commercially wise for the Scottish club; I mean sales of Celtic replica jerseys have already reached saturation penetration in Tallaght and in other, er, working class areas of Dublin.

[stew]

Excellent days work by Mobray, Keane will light Scottish defences up like a Christmas tree and I think these signings today will be enough to help Celtic win the league.

Keane has not been in great form but playing regularly and joining yet another club he loved as a boy will give him a fresh start.

[Main Street]

I should be good for Ireland as maybe Trappatoni can see how McGeedy can play with Keane.

Our main striker, and captain, moving down the football ladder at a rate of knots is certainly not a good thing for Ireland.

A good intelligent mature football talent that Keane has  is not lost by playing at a lower standard.
Plenty of examples of talented players who are comfortable with that and don't lose one bit of their talent.

Could have been worse for Robbie, he could have gone to some EPL club (barely on the football map) where Celtic cast offs end up.

[gerry]

[ludermor]

I wonder who he was talking about when he said he wanted to be at celtic at the peak of his powers and not when he is 34 and washed up?

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

f**king on cloud nine today.  Tone are you devestated or delighted?

New poll. I still believe we can win this league, starting tonight.

Hail Hail

[sammymaguire]

personally, i don't think this will make a damn bit of a difference... Rangers too far ahead now.

[clarshack]

winning the league is achievable especially as there is still 2 old firm games to play for but there MUST be a victory tonight.

with keane, kamara, rasmussen and forune up front its hard to see samaras getting a game now and tbh he has only himself to blame.

[Minder]

I wonder who he was talking about when he said he wanted to be at celtic at the peak of his powers and not when he is 34 and washed up?

He is 2-3 years too late then.

[Doogie Browser]

Great signing for Celtic, I would give him the armband too, he will be great for them.

[sandwiches_in_the_boot]

If Mowbury invented the time machine and was able to bring back Henrik Larsson in his prime, there'd be certain people on here climbing a step ladder, pulling down their togs and pishing all over it.

Celtic have been unable to finish the chances they create in front of goal all season. Not convinced by Kamara, but with Keane at least we have a finisher a la Boyd over the road. Samaras will likely return to his role under GS, coming on as a sub on 72 minutes. TM will IMO play keane up front, Fortune a step behind, with Mc Geady hopefully supplying Keane well.

Problem is that with 3 loans, this is a short term solution, but you're only gonna get a good player on loan in January. Bringing in a lot of new players can be difficult as well to make them gel quick. But this is what the fans want.

And as for shirt sales, this is probably as good as it gets unless Celtic miraculously sign Stephen Ireland and give him the number 32 shirt.

Pity couldn't get St Ledger though, thought he was ideal.

[clarshack]

saw this on another forum - dunno if its for real....

I'M NOT KEANE ON CELTS PUBLICITY STUNT Mark Hateley's view on the transfer sensation that shocked Scottish football

I was just finishing off a delicious Italian meal and uncorking another bottle of the finest red when my phone beeped a message at me this evening.It simply said "Robbie Keane signs for Celtic" and i knew straight away what it meant - Robbie Keane had signed for Celtic.And although this is indeed an audacious swoop by the Parkhead side,i can't help feeling its being done to sell jerseys and have a little dig at the financial situation over at Ibrox.In short,its nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Think about it.After selling top scorer Scott McDonald during the day the calls for manager Tony Mowbray's head would have reached a crescendo throughout the country.The Parkhead board knew fine well that a couple of loan deals from the lower reaches of England and Germany were not enough to appease a baying mob already reeling from the loss of key players Robson,Caldwell and Flood.They needed someone to paper over the enormous cracks appearing at Celtic Park and the Irishman was the one.I'd be surprised if Keane pulls on the hoops at all to be honest.He will suffer a mysterious injury in training most likely and be wrapped in cotton wool until May when his loan deal runs out and he will be back down South faster than you can say clutching at straws.Its a disgraceful way to treat the supporters and Lawwell,Desmond & co should hang their collective heads in shame.

And what exactly does this so-called signing do for the already flimsy team spirit at Celtic?I'll tell you what,it breeds resentment and creates divides.Keane will be on more money than the rest of the first team squad put together and i'm willing to bet he will conveniently leave his first wage slip pinned to the locker of Samaras or his bank statement glued inside the boot of Fortune' just because he can.In fact this signing which is said to have caused shockwaves throughout football will create divisions throughout the Celtic dressing room and beyond.And for what,a childish statement of intent designed to cause unrest over at Ibrox?

But instead of causing unrest at Rangers i'm willing to bet it will do the exact opposite of that and actually strengthen the Ibrox men.Walter Smith will see through the hyperbole and hysteria surrounding Keane's arrival and will make sure his men use it to their advantage.Rangers could have pushed the boat out for Martin Petrov today but instead chose not to risk the unbreakable team spirit in place in the dressing room and place faith in the men who know what the club is all about.So instead of fearing the signing of Keane i'm confident Walter Smith will welcome his arrival.After all it has sealed another SPL title for Rangers.

As told to James Traynor