Celtic Banter Archive April 17 2015

17 Apr 2015 23:27:38
Does anyone know how fridjonsson is getting on? Iv noticed he has had 2 caps for the full Iceland national team scoring 1 goal this year . And 8 starts for brondbay scoring 1 goal but looks like he's playing midfield according to a website I was on has he got a chance to come back to celtic to get into the team or did they loan him out because he's not good enough?

18 Apr 2015 21:38:33
Mostly the young players are loaned out because they are not good enough , but I imagine an eye is kept on them to see if they make progress and then they maybe reAssessed after their loan and a decision made on them . To date over the last 10 years only Mc Gregor has come back and played some .

17 Apr 2015 19:18:57
Just a wee idea. Create a fuss about fixtures then casually send out that the living dead get fined £5500 for dual ownership. Livingston get docked 5 points for same thing. Sporting or what.

18 Apr 2015 09:40:44
They were fined over the Rankine dual ownership (it involved two Scottish clubs, not sure if that makes a difference) but I don't recall being deducted points for it. They did lose points over taxation payments previously. Correct me if I'm wrong

18 Apr 2015 17:16:22
How many points were Rangers fined in the decade of taxation cheating . Why could Livingston not used the tried and tested explanation of " no sporting advantage"
It worked before , correct me if I am wrong .

17 Apr 2015 18:16:16
I see we've signed a partnership with Italian team Piacenza.

Now here's something interesting, I think Pedro's sending out a signal that we don't mind helping new clubs move forward.

"Piacenza were competing in Serie A just over 10 years ago, they were relegated from Serie B in 2011, declared bankrupt, and now compete in Serie D after being refounded in 2012 as Piacenza Calcio 1919."

Seems the Italians know what the "L" word really means.

17 Apr 2015 18:36:02
Hopefully both clubs will benefit . I would like if we were loaning the Italians three or four players we would send some staff from our acadamie to help the young go players to adapt. To life in a foreign country .

17 Apr 2015 18:53:27
Might be having a senior moment here but what's the 'L' word? 😐

17 Apr 2015 19:05:08
Liquidation maybes. Blonde moment 😄

17 Apr 2015 19:19:15
It's all a moment to me. Not just what the 'L word' is but these partnerships. Do we just send youngsters out to get a taste off different styles of football? All I've ever heard of the Santos Laguna partnership is kids or fans coming over for a weekend in Glasgow.

17 Apr 2015 19:34:24
Seria d is a very poor level of football not far above junior level .

17 Apr 2015 19:34:38
Ah lol I was googling Italian and looking for words starting with L 🙈

I'm the same Jim, just think these partnerships are more marketing than anything else

17 Apr 2015 21:55:10
Sending Henderson out to Norway seems to work for Henderson . The first few days we were told how he was getting use to Norwegian football, after that a Norwegian beauty queen got her claws into him and we haven't heard tell of him since . I thing young Henderson has found another "L" word .

17 Apr 2015 22:37:43
Maybe lasagne full of mince.killy.

18 Apr 2015 00:49:29
think hendersons found the right 'l' word

18 Apr 2015 09:45:38
Loser?
Depends on what context you use it as (It also is used to refer word describing the preference of some females)

18 Apr 2015 17:20:27
It seems clubs like Manchester United and Chelsea use feeder clubs in Belguim to help to get EU work licences, Surely nobody at Celtic could be clever enough to be setting up Piacenza so that Celtic could benefit in this way .

17 Apr 2015 14:05:18
Jamiebhoy, DN30 Scottish National tomorrow going for LIE FORRIT (Scottish yard and a heartwarming story if a winner in memory of the young jockey who used to ride it)my other tip is SAM WINNER (Paul Nichols always has his horses there or therabouts) some bookies going 5 places and 1 or 2 even doing 6 places so choose wisely, good luck

17 Apr 2015 15:11:10
Good Luck , Timalloy going to have a look in the morning buddy ,

17 Apr 2015 16:36:38
Cheers Timalloy mate

{Ed007's Note - A Scottish National? I don't think I've ever heard of that, is it a new thing?}

17 Apr 2015 17:03:49
Ha ha ED007 I never know when you are fishing hoping for a bite. ok I'll play it is sponsored by Nicola Sturgeon lol the boring answer is it is the Scottish equivalent of the Grand National but not so big fences, Ayr racecourse it is their big day and it gives the Scottish horseracing a big boost publicity wise and will be live on tv tomorrow

{Ed007's Note - No mate I've never heard of it or if I have I've not twigged what it is.}

17 Apr 2015 17:10:14
Off to Ayr tomorrow Tim and I've Gallant Oscar in the works sweepstake 👍

17 Apr 2015 17:30:42
No Ed runs every year exactly week after Aintree , Ayr is always jumping for it , hard pick though with the weather so changeable/ground conditions can turn into a mud bath mate (y)

{Ed007's Note - I thought the only time Ayr came alive was the 12th of July!}

17 Apr 2015 18:46:10
LOL Ed, That's why you are better off watching it in the house mate!

All the LONG FACES you have to determine what is the difference between the horses and that lot before you even pick a winner (y)

17 Apr 2015 18:48:07
Good luck Mrs E, was thinking about your horse might put it on for Mrs T then both of you can "call it home ET lol"

18 Apr 2015 08:39:31
Cheers Tim, I won at the National last week & doubt my luck will be in 2 weeks in a row but here's hoping 🏇🍀

17 Apr 2015 10:41:21
Morning Ed. Seeing as you're a man in the know regarding the club's transfer activity, I see this morning we are being linked with Sergio Araujo again. Are you aware if there's any truth to this one? We were obviously linked with him in January so it could just be an easy one for a lazy journalist to fill a page. Dedryck Boyata from City is another one but it seems any players released by City during Ronny's time here are going to be reported as targets for us. What exactly is his link to City? I'm only aware of the couple of days he spent there studying their training methods etc. is there more to it? Cheers.

{Ed007's Note - Boyata would certainly be a player CFC would be interested in if the price was right.
City have a tie-up with Strømsgodset but it's not just RD who has a link to Man City, Pedro's son works for them as Scouting Information and Content Manager. RD done more than just spend a few days there, he was a regular visitor to study them - as was John Kennedy when he was doing his coaching badges - and it was thought RD would become part of the City coaching set-up, Patrick Viera was very impressed with him.
Remember Biton nearly signed for City after a trial only for work-permit problems to stop it, then he popped up at CFC. Stefan Johansen was another player City had been scouting and were considering a move for when CFC nipped in and bought him last January. In December 2013 Stromsgodset's Sports Director Jostein Flo spoke out publicly to deny that Manchester City were poised to sign the Norwegian midfielder, fast forward a month and he was at CFC, and NL knew nothing about it until a week before the deal was completed.}

17 Apr 2015 13:03:41
Cheers for the earlier response Ed. The way work permits/visas work from country to continent is way over my head so i'll take your word for it. Are you basically suggesting players, that city are interested in but don't work out, Mark recommends to Pistol? I'd love us to get Rekik in. Surely City won't be offering football to Denayer and/or Rekik.

{Ed007's Note - I'm no expert on the rules by any stretch of the imagination, I know the basics but need to check anything else with Ed002 or wade through reading it and trying to make sense lol.

In order to establish on an initial application that the player is an international player of the highest calibre the following criteria must be met:

- A player must have player for his country in at least 75% of its competitive A team matches of which he was available for selection, during the two years preceding the date of the application

- The player’s country must be at or above 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application.

If a football player does not fulfil the above criteria and has his application for a work permit turned down there is the possibility for a club to appeal the decision. This appeal will be heard by an independent panel and it will be the job of the panel to assess the following things:

- To consider whether the player is of the highest calibre

- To consider whether the player is able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in the UK.

You can appeal the decision on young players under the 'exceptional talent' banner, you present a case that the player is good enough to improve the standard of player in the club or FA, just like we did for Wanyama where it was Alex McLeish (Birmingham had wanted to sign Wanyama) who spoke up for the calibre of the player. The Argentinian Marcos Rojos was nearly refused a work permit to play for Man Utd over a police record for an argument with a neighbour back in 2010, that shows the level of scrutiny they go to.
These rules only apply to players from non-EU countries btw and it's a lot easier for non-EU players to go to Spain, Portugal etc than the UK. Some players will move to mainland Europe to play and gain dual nationality making it easier to get a move to the moneybags EPL, some clubs will enter into a partnership with smaller continental clubs solely for that purpose, Man Utd use Royal Antwerp in Belgium for it.
I'm not 100% sure what the deal is with us and the Man City connection but it seems a lot of coincidences to me but as long as it's for the benefit of CFC I'm not complaining.
Maybe it's a mutual thing, they help us with footballing matters and we show them what a big non-plastic club is all about.}

17 Apr 2015 14:58:35
Good one Ed. Was just wondering how he can play in Spain and not the UK, whereas Scepovic can play in Spain and the UK. I think the international representation rule is a bit daft. There are Brazilians and Argentinians i'm sure nowhere near their national side that would improve most Scottish clubs. Then again I suppose immigration needs a cap. Makes sense that our government might start with the huge tax earners that can be footballers!

{Ed007's Note - I don't know, not many South Americans have done well in Scotland and bringing in loads of foreigner youngsters just on the chance of of finding a gem cuts back the chances of our own kids getting a chance. We need to coach our own kids better, it's the only way our game will improve.
Dealing with South American club's and players can be dodgy, look at Neymar's transfer deal, there's a lot of problems with third-party ownership like Tevez and Javier Mascherano and Messi's financial mess has brought the spotlight onto Barca's finances. What do you think our enemies in the press would have made of us signing a player who needed HGH to play football? Then there's the real runts like Suarez, a disgusting human being who caused major problems at Liverpool behind the scenes throughout his time there, he cost Dalglish his job, threatened the club with legal action every time he didn't get his own way and dragged the name club through the gutter on numerous occasions costing them millions in sponsorship money.
If you want to read what Suarez is really like have a look on the Liverpool page and see what Ed001 and Ed002 have to say about him, it's not pretty.
I'd prefer if we stayed clear of the South American market, it's far too risky for a club like us that are financially well run.}

17 Apr 2015 16:45:17
Fair comments Ed.

I hate Suarez as a man but can't help but admire the player. Apart from the obvious incidents I wasn't aware just how much of a problem he was, no.

Of course I'd prefer us to develop our own but sometimes the talent just isn't there. It's got to be addressed by the FA. The whole system overturned. there's only so much Celtic can do. Perhaps RD should be a consultant for the SFA! Him and Pistol just run the show. No doubt PL knows how to sell and RD at Stromsgodset had a record and a half with kids.

I think perhaps the physicality and directness of the Scottish game might evade South American players. But what about Europe? Can we afford a player just for Europe? Well we did it with Scepovic! I just look at teams like Shakhtar, Porto, Benfica, Basel whos south american influence is pretty crucial but yeah they're leagues are probably better for the players.

{Ed007's Note - I'll hold my hands up and say that Leigh Griffiths has proven me wrong on the footballing side of things, he's knuckled down and really bought into what RD is trying to do with him personally and the team. Hopefully once his trial is out the way he can put all the stupid stuff behind him but I won't be holding my breath. LG has proven he will do a job for us at home but we can't go into the CL with him as our main striker, I'd look to move Stokes on and give LG his spot in the squad, playing as one of the 3 attacking MFs behind a new striker.
We need a striker who can play the lone-striker role, I though Guidetti would have been ideal, a big strong & skillful player who can hold the ball up and bring the 3 AMs into play but for one reason or another it's not worked out too well. To be fair Guidetti does do the job well but he's been unlucky with scoring himself, he always has 1 or 2 chances per game that he should be putting away.}

17 Apr 2015 18:53:43
Ed, you probably won't agree but I think most players who Celtic sign could make it good at Celtic if they had the right attitude , self motivated, live the correct life style and implement what they are told by their coaches ,
There is no comparison between Griffiths and Commons in August / September and now . Surely it's Johannson' s fitness and williness to work himself to the bone is the difference between him many of our midfielders in previous year . Similarly Biton this year and anything we saw from him before .
Ronny deserves great praise for what he has done but , very many members of the squad have changed to adopt his player " ethics" and deserve great praise too.

17 Apr 2015 19:13:30
Robert Beric, Michiel Kramer, Luc Castaignos, Jurgen Locadia, Alberto Paloschi, Mark Uth, Anthony Ujah, Yussuf Poulsen, Abdoulaye Diaby, Imoh Ezekiel. Any of thpse stand out Ed? Who wpuld you like to see? Noticed Kuranyi will be a free, that would be brill.

I don't think Guidetti's head has been in it. His form, badge kissing and overall attitude seemed to slump immediately after his flirtations with Marseille. there's a part of me would like him to stay and get his nut down. Would rather that and Scepovic was sold.

Agree with you on Griffiths. When we signed him it was like, well, we'd signed Griffiths. Had Riordan all over it for me but he is a delight at times. And more importantly its him doing the business at the moment.

Stokes can go aye been thinking the same for almost two seasons.

17 Apr 2015 19:39:03
Going back to fitness again, but you're actually right chris! Just makes you wonder how long we've been underperforming for for something so simple. Shrewsbury not being satisfied by one of our player's fitness was nothing short of disgraceful. Also hearing players talk about togetherness and team spirit like they've never felt it. Something, the main thing, I thought NL brought to the picnic, but seems RD is even trumping him at that card. RD really does deserve a good backing this window. But there's still two trophies to be won yet.

17 Apr 2015 22:50:01
Not too keen on Boyata myself. He is 24 and barely played first team football yet.

Would like Kara Mbodji or Mensah (or both) instead.

17 Apr 2015 23:49:02
Nice one Ed. I never realised he had been to Man City so often but whatever info and tips he's picked up have worked for him here. I'll be honest, I'd like to see Araujo in the hoops. I know we don't know that much about him and YouTube isn't a true reflection etc but he definitely has terrific ability so if we are keen hopefully there aren't any major red tape issues. I know players from that region haven't fared too well here but none of them have been of a great calibre, apart from Juninho but we got him too late. But if he isn't on Ronny's list then the gaffer has my full support. He knows a lot more than I do.

{Ed007's Note - Even if you look at England for one reason or another a high percentage of South Americans don't seem to do the business down there. I remember how excited I was when Man Utd signed Juan Veron back in 2001, at the time he was a genuine world-class talent but his career never got going in England at Utd or Chelsea. Utd have had some terrible buys from Brazil, Kleberson being the most obvious and they've certainly had their pants pulled down with the loan deal for Falcao this season. That was a strange one from the start, Real Madrid pulled out of signing him because of doubts about his fitness - even the player himself tweeted the deal was done - and if Falcao had came in at Utd and proven his fitness he'd have moved to Madrid this coming summer, as it stands nobody's sure where he'll end up but it would be crazy if Utd invested even more money in a player who has already cost in excess of 20 million Euros.
Even Kun Aguero at City, he's a top, top class player but is he really ripping the league up like he had previously done in Spain? He should be the EPL version of the Ronaldo and Messi in Spain, Suarez had more of an impact on the EPL than Kun has imo, his stats prove he's scoring the goals but is he really being the talismanic player lighting up the EPL and CL?
Sorry about that, I was getting a bit carried away there lol.}

18 Apr 2015 00:27:10
Suarez and Aguero I'd say have probably been the best in EPL and they seem to be the most similar to this guy in terms of stature and style of play but like I said it's probably a slim chance if we're even interested at all. Only 3/4 months until we know for sure lol

{Ed007's Note - Yeah you're probably right, Kev, I can't think of any other South Americans that have been as successfulas them down there.
It's certainly going to be an interesting summer for us, I'm looking forward to it for a change.}