The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

Started by Gaoth Dobhair Abu, January 26, 2007, 10:41:11 AM

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Lamh Dhearg Alba

Quote from: ClosetotheHarte on March 12, 2007, 10:56:08 PM
Rangers fans will now believe they are going to be serious challengers next year when in truth the gap is still huge.

Dont think the gap is going to be as big as you think. Smith has already fashioned a team with a bit of spirit out of the shambles Le Guen left him and Murray will find him some cash for the summer too. If they get Scott Brown from Hibs their midfield for starters is going to be excellent. I could see things being fairly tight at the top next season.

ClosetotheHarte

Maybe huge is the wrong word but I'm confident there will still be a gap. That was clear in the first half on Sunday and after they scored what was a freakish goal after half time we just stopped playing, whether it was tiredness, knowledge that the league was won or whatever, I don't know. The energy of Hartley and Gravesen would have helped in that 2nd half. But funnily I was happy enough to let them win this one!
Scott Brown will definitely help them and they'll have a strong SPL midfield but they need more than him. In saying that, we need some players too and if we don't get a goal-scoring striker soon the gap could become smaller again. But the way I see it they're a couple of years away from catching us and if we keep strengthening they'll be further away. Gordon has always talked about his vision and he's still building something at Celtic Park so I expect to see more reinforcements in the summer to maintain the gap.

lynchbhoy

Quote from: Lamh Dhearg Alba on March 13, 2007, 02:41:19 AM
Quote from: ClosetotheHarte on March 12, 2007, 10:56:08 PM
Rangers fans will now believe they are going to be serious challengers next year when in truth the gap is still huge.

Dont think the gap is going to be as big as you think. Smith has already fashioned a team with a bit of spirit out of the shambles Le Guen left him and Murray will find him some cash for the summer too. If they get Scott Brown from Hibs their midfield for starters is going to be excellent. I could see things being fairly tight at the top next season.

Sadly for the SPL rangers have too many slots that require filling for them to be as close a competitor as you reckon they will be LDA.
The only way it will be close is if Strachan continues his crazed team selections and rotation policies.
Spirit and effort were not lacking by rangers on Sun - but truthfully , if Celtic had taken any of their chances, the one way traffic would have continued.
Celtics problem is their striking options, plus strachan picking two def central midfielders didnt help the teams attacking play - with rangers getting 10 men behind the ball in falkirk-esque strategy.
Hopefully hearts and Hibs will mount another decent challenge next season.
Although if Celtic are keying in on europe more next year, that might leave things a little more open for the others, as after every CL or international game - celtic seem VERY vulnerable

..........

Gaoth Dobhair Abu

Tbc....

Gaoth Dobhair Abu

Written by Eddie Pearson               
Tuesday, 15 May 2007           
Welcome to Start the Week. Small ones are more juicy.
Four rumours in one this week and not a lot else. A good, in fact make that very good, source at the club has told us that at this moment we have £100,000 a week worth of contracts being considered by 4 players. While maths isn't our strong point we thought this works out at roughly £25,000 per player. When we put this to our source he said," Not exacty - some more some less" so potentially we're looking at perhaps three decent deals and one mega Gravesen wage packet for someone. After a bit of moaning and cajoling we got the following names out of him.

The first player currently considering joining us in the summer is Stephen Appiah. His agent has been in talks and despite concerns he's trying to hauk him round England (in much the same way Doumbe's agent is at the moment by the way) the club are confident that the package they have put to him will be accepted. We were in for him before he went to Turkey and apparently he was on the verge of joining us then. We've been told that he regrets not signing up then as he now sees us as a bigger club on the European stage. This deal is rumoured to include Magic heading the other way out of the club. Assuming he's willing to wake up long enough to walk out the door.

Next up is one thatis due to happen very very soon indeed. In fact it may already be done by the time you read this. We have been told to expect Scott Brown to sign tomorrow (Tuesday) morning for around £4-£5 million pounds. A source at Hibs on the playing staff tells us that it is an open secret at the club that Brown is away and he has already said his goodbyes. Talk of Rangers getting him are well wide of the mark as his price has went up by about £1 million since January mainly due to his excellent showing in the Scotland V Italy game the other month. If this does happen then the Radio Clyde phone in is a must listen as Derek Johnstone has been telling everyone this is a done deal for the huns since January. Just how high pitched will he get? Let's run a sweep.

[UPDATE: THIS IS IN THE RECORD TODAY - LOOKS LIKE IT'S THE REAL DEAL]
The third player looking over a deal to join up is James Beattie. We have been told by an English Premiership player who is Beattie's best mate (initials DD) that the forward has been offered around £25 - £30K a week to sign on for the bhoys. Beattie is very keen on the move due to his loyalty to WGS ("The best manager he's ever worked with according to him" is a direct quote from the player.) The only thing stalling the deal is that Beattie is clinging to the hope that he has a future with the England squad. Once he realises that's not going to happen he is expected to come North to win things and compete in the Champions' League. This is another deal that was more or less done in January but again Beattie held off

Our final member of this quartet is the player we mentioned last week - Scott Carson. With Boruc doing a wee wave to the crowd at the end of the match on Saturday that looked like he was off this story is growing arms and legs. Carson began his career with Cleator Moor Celtic and has always been a "fan" of the club. He is available for a bargain £1.7 million and once again it's the chance to win trophies and compete in the Champions' League that appears to be the real lure for this player.

This would appear to be a massive investment by the powers that be at the club and we understand that WGS wants them all in within the next couple of weeks as he intends to get the team gelled long before the qualifiers for the Champions' league. Hence his decision to take his hip operation now rather than once the season finishes. We are still hearing that Lovenkrands is looking at houses in East Renfrewshire so don't break out the bunting just yet.

Other odds and sods - there is a chance that Jefferies and Brown will be offered a move back to Hearts this summer. Expect a bidding war for Naismith between the Blue and Maroon if this happens. can the huns afford to miss out on yet another player

Speaking of the huns we have been told that Webster is now looking like he has no long term future at the club because they cannot afford the £1 million that Wigan will demand for him. What happened to that £10 million pot that Walter was given? Probably the same thing that happened to the one that PLG was given.

On a brighter note for the huns we hear that Stuart McCall will now be joining up with the back room staff in the summer. McCoist will become head coach and Smith will be given the "director of football" role.

Man City's Distin is on a free and is currently occupying the thoughts of our manager according to one scout we know.
Anyone fancy Christian Dailly as back up for a season? No? Us neither.
And here's our final defender rumour of the week - Marcel Seip of Plymouth Argyle is apparently on our radar.
And that's a wrap.

Tbc....

Main Street

Any particular reason why the thread subject title is called the official Glasgow Celtic thread?
Where else could Celtic FC be located?

 


full back

Quote from: Main Street on May 15, 2007, 02:40:34 PM
Any particular reason why the thread subject title is called the official Glasgow Celtic thread?
Where else could Celtic FC be located?

 



Donegal, Newry, Cleary...............

the colonel

the difference between success and failure is energy

Spiritof98

Armagh - Promoted to Mid Ulster Div 1 this year!
I'll go back if Marsdens back

Gaoth Dobhair Abu

Could this be a possible way into the EPL for Celtic??

Or am I clutching at straws?

From Guardian Football....................................



Too rubbish to go up? So bad you went down? Bored of living in a city without a football team? Fear not, for all you need in order to overcome your footballing frustrations these days is a large wad of cash. Stump up the millions and you too can buy a place in the sun. Better still, you can buy a place in La Liga.

Next season, Spain's Second Division will have eight new teams, one of whom will be Granada 74. Granada 74 are not one of the three teams relegated from the First Division, nor are they one of the four teams promoted from the four groups of the 72-team Second Division B. They did win promotion this summer, but that was from Regional Preferente to the 18-division regional Third Division and that's not why they're going to be in the Second Division next season. No, Granada 74 will be playing in the Second Division next season because they bought a place in the Second Division.

Well, strictly speaking they bought another club who just happened to be in the Second Division, but thanks to the new rules approved by the Spanish league (LFP) in the summer, the result has been exactly the same. Keen to encourage investment and to offer a solution to cash-strapped clubs beyond the normal cap-in-hand dash to the town council, the LFP authorised newly purchased clubs to move base and change name. And Ciudad de Murcia owner Enrique Pina, who set up the club in 1999 and grew sick of getting little institutional support and even less real support in a city where Real Murcia are the club with a genuine tradition, wasn't slow to take advantage.

For months now, Pina has been scouting round for potential buyers for his club, knowing that what he was really selling was their place in the Second Division (or even, it had briefly seemed, in the First Division, what with Ciudad de Murcia a single place off promotion). In his discussions with potential buyers, not once did anyone suggest taking on Ciudad de Murcia and nor did Pina demand it. He spoke to Real Oviedo, relegated to the Third Division, about buying their way back. He spoke to recently reformed yet historic Mérida about returning. And he spoke to Granada 74, a club ready to jump 300 teams with one wave of a chequebook.

It was Granada that won out, owner Carlos Marsá buying Pina out for a figure understood to be somewhere in the region of €20m. Pina will use that cash to bid for Cadiz, while Marsá immediately did exactly what everyone knew he would do: he changed the name, allowed those players who wanted to go to leave, effectively making those who remained the B team, and moved out of the city. Within a day, nothing was left of Ciudad de Murcia. Except their place in the Second Division.

Granada 74 have thus leapfrogged the city's other two clubs, Third Division Granada Atlético and Second Division B side Granada CF, straight into the Second Division. But this might not be as simple as they hoped. They will face much the same problems that Ciudad de Murcia did: no fan base and no support from the local council, who consider Granada CF the city's real club. As a result, they also will have no stadium, because the council will not allow them to share the municipal ground with the city's other two clubs, leaving Marsá looking for somewhere else to play - with Almuñecar and Guadix, 78 and 68 kilometres away respectively, the front-runners. The country's first footballing franchise is a reality, but where will it take its team? Where, more to the point, will it take Spanish football?

Tbc....

full back

Quote from: Gaoth Dobhair Abu on June 15, 2007, 12:43:14 PM
Could this be a possible way into the EPL for Celtic??

Or am I clutching at straws?



Clutching at straws GDA
Dream on

Gaoth Dobhair Abu

Quote from: full back on June 15, 2007, 01:07:26 PM
Quote from: Gaoth Dobhair Abu on June 15, 2007, 12:43:14 PM
Could this be a possible way into the EPL for Celtic??

Or am I clutching at straws?



Clutching at straws GDA
Dream on


Well theres no harm in dreaming   ;D

Peter Lawwell Celtics Chief Executive will look into any way of getting the club into a more productive position/league, so never say never!  ;)
Tbc....

the colonel

peter lawwell has been one of the best signings at celtic for years! man is a legend, if there is a way to do it, the sharp suited man will find it
the difference between success and failure is energy

lynchbhoy

GD
thats what the yanks do in their sports - offer a big wad to club owners and they uproot to another city !

Still think its highly unlikely to happen though!

(it involves Celtic paying out money !)
..........

Gaoth Dobhair Abu

Quote from: lynchbhoy on June 15, 2007, 02:23:18 PM
GD
thats what the yanks do in their sports - offer a big wad to club owners and they uproot to another city !

Still think its highly unlikely to happen though!

(it involves Celtic paying out money !)

Would have thought it was more like buying their place in the league.
Take a team with small support in their area, in the championship, who have a well supported EPL close neighbour, buy their place in the championship, close the club down, sell off whatever assets they have and Celtic spend a year in the Championship (poss win FA cup and league cup in that slow year) then promotion into the EPL. Obviously VERY hypothetical, before the slagging starts!  ;)
Tbc....