Celtic Rumours Archive December 12 2013

12 Dec 2013 23:34:13
Speaking to a good friend of mine who is from Hull, he's under the impression that Sammy is off to Hull. Antony

I' drive him down maself

GunnieBhoy

I love Sammy, and he's a dying breed. Not too many players nowadays who play for the badge + medal over money + fame, but I just feel he needs a fresh challenge. He seems to have lost all interest. I have no doubt he loves Celtic, but he doesn't seem to be doing it anymore. He's always been a confidence player, but I don't think anything could lift his morale quite like a new club!

{Ed007's Note - Borussia Monchengladbach, Fiorentina and Lazio all watched Samaras play against Barcelona on Wednesday night.}

Hopefully they spent 85 mins admiring the catering facilities and only took in the end of the game then Ed, cause the 5 mins he showed up he played a stormer lol.

{Ed007's Note - Come next month if he hasn't signed a new contract I would sell him for £500k if needs must, same with Ledley. They either sign a new contract, find a team that will buy them them now or spend the rest of the season in the stands.
We will win the league anyway and are favourites for the cup, no Samaras or Ledley is going to change that. If they aren't going to sign extensions give a couple of youngsters a chance instead, why should we help to keep Samaras match-fit for the WC and his next club or Ledley for his next club.
Continuing to select them will have no long-term benefit for the club if they are planning on leaving in the summer. I think Samaras is looking to let his contract wind down and play at the WC as a free agent to see if he catches anyone's eye whilst playing in Brazil.}

I'll help u GunnieBhoy, I'll pack his bags and road trip with you, be glad to see the back of him! As for ledley I'm with Ed, if he's not going to sign, its time to get rid in Jan would much rather see youth get a game than a guy that doesn't want to be here. Ed apart from Cardiff is anyone else looking at him?

S

{Ed007's Note - The only other team I know of having any interest is Everton. Malky MacKay has denied Cardiff have any interest in signing Ledley but I'm not buying that. I think as January gets closer he will pop up on a few mid-table EPL team's radars.}

His time is up we can't afford having him hanging around for another 3 years

At times i'd value him at 100 millon. At times I'd rather play Chris killen than him. Thanks for the memories Jesus Freddie mercury. Now be gone with you!
ParadiseAndy

Ed

Spot on with the idea of selling these 2 if they don't sign a new contract before the new year. We signed Ledley on a free and he has been a good servant in his time. I have never liked Sammy but again he has been a good servant but his time is up and time to let him go.

Niall

The way sammy has been playing recently I would, if its hull, transport him there the way del boy travelled. jimbhoy.

Get him tae Hull!

JJ

Looking like he's off good best news I've heard in a long time

Samaras deserves a new contract, just for getting us into the Champions League proper last season.
Without his goals in the qualifying rounds we wouldn't have collected £23 million.

12 Dec 2013 19:46:11
Teemu Pukki is set leave Celtic in January. Neil Lennon is reportedly furious with the Finnish striker's poor work rate and lack of effort in games. It is expected Pukki will leave on loan in the upcoming transfer window and that Celtic will look to sell him in the summer.

~seamus~

Bs! NL just said that he was showing signs of why we bought him?

12 Dec 2013 20:14:49
What signs are they?
A wouldn't expect anybody wanting him on loan never mind to buy him on his performances for us

I like the movement of Pukki, but he looks as if he's carrying a few extra pounds. loose that and get some goals/ confidence. i'm not saying he will replace Hooper but I think the bhoy has goals in him

Merry Xmas to all the Celtic Family
HH
Cprs1

Cprs1.

The guy is 23 years old, a professional athlete and has just joined a new club after being terrible at his last club. With that in mind do you think it is acceptable to be carrying "a few" extra pounds? Not good enough and never will be.

Niall

I don't think you have ever told us anything even remotely near correct! You told us nonsense about Joe Ledley, before that stuff about an agent over in Holland in the last window! That's off the top of my head, but everytime I have read your comments I have never believed them! Sort it out! Paul

Just to add with regards Pukki, he is still young, has only just signed, and also looks quite a quiet/shy type, so give him a bit of time. I blame Lennon/Lawwell for the current situation-never a happy medium with signings, Always looking for players on the cheap. Buying quality at the right age is not wasting money, it is giving the club assets, and obviously helps us achieve. Absolutely shameful the way the fans get treated - our football club should never be embarrassed/humbled regardless of the circumstances. If they don't realize this then jog on! Paul

Only telling you what I hear Paul.

~seamus~

Hope he is for the off. I'd quite happily pay him a one way flight back to Finland, he's nothing other than arse gravy!

20 Dec 2013 10:37:11
When you sign a player he needs time to settle to life and fooball in scotland not all can hit the ground running that is way you get them on 4/5 year contracts.
Great Teams win and lose together that is what makes them a team the ups and downs and when your team gets that winning way, then other teams buy your top players then you start all over again.

12 Dec 2013 12:22:57
Anyway, back to what this page is actually all about. Who does everyone want Celtic to sign, either January or in the summer?

I still feel that our weakest positions are CB, LB, LM, AM + FW. I'd honestly try and punt Ambrose, Pukki, Mouyokolo, Forrest, Bangura + Samaras. Boerrigter would need to steer clear of injury + Balde would need to make massive strides to avoid the boot as well. A few players on my wishlist would be:

Marco Capuano (Pescara; CB)
Alex Buttner (Man Utd; LB)
Ryan Gauld (Dundee Utd; AM)
Stuart Armstrong (Dundee Utd; CM)
Gary Mackay-Steven (Dundee Utd; LW)
Alfie Finnbogason (Heerenveen; FW)
Philipp Hosiner (Austria Wien; FW)
Jonathan Soriano (RB Salburg; FW)
Stevie May (St Johnstone; FW)

Boerrigter would be first on my list followed closely by Mulgrew and Ambrose. We need another centre half in the stature of big Virgil, a quality centre midfield player and a proven goal scorer.

Marco Capuano (Pescara; CB) - good shout
Alex Buttner (Man Utd; LB) - wages too expensive
Ryan Gauld (Dundee Utd; AM) - BPL interest will price us out of any chance.
Stuart Armstrong (Dundee Utd; CM) - I don't see him really making any impact in the team.
Gary Mackay-Steven (Dundee Utd; LW) - far far too inconsistent to be anywhere near our team, would be a bench warmer.
Alfie Finnbogason (Heerenveen; FW) - not a hope in hell, going to the BPL
Philipp Hosiner (Austria Wien; FW) - great striker, but didn't he already say he wasn't interested in playing Scotland.
Jonathan Soriano (RB Salburg; FW) - never heard of him
Stevie May (St Johnstone; FW) - probably would score a few but I hope we'd go for a higher standard, although he's probably better scorer than what we have right now.

Lennon has to be left in charge of new signings without interference from the board or PL its as simple as that.

{Ed007's Note - That's not how transfers work.}

@JohnFK I'm hoping if Buttner doesn't get much game time between now and the Summer we could get him on loan and after the year he'd feel a connection with the fans/club. I reckon you're right about Gauld + Alfie but I'd be dissapointed if we didn't at least make an effort. We definately need a LB/LW, Izzy + Samaras have lost interest + served their purpose. Matthews/Lustig/Fisher are a solid RW/B. It was Rudnevs who set he wasn't interested bud. Soriano played for Barcelona B before going to Austria two years ago. Seen him play a few games, not much, maybe 4-5 times. And I know you can't judge on YouTube, but combining both live matches + highlights he's a 6 yard box striker with plenty pace + energy and a good eye for goal.

HamiltonBhoy

{Ed007's Note - Buttner is on £15k a week at Man Utd so his wages realistically wouldn't (or shouldn't) be a problem.}

If we can this is the INS and OUTS I would like to see come january.

OUT
Forster (only if we get a mega offer and have a replacement lined up)
Samaras
Ledley
Boerrigter
Forrest
Kayal
Bangura
Pukki

INS
LB -Aaron Taylor-Sinclair
CB -Marco Capuano or John Souttar
CM - Stuart Armstrong
AM - Ryan Gauld
ST - Alfie Finnbogason
ST - Philipp Hosiner

Ditch this playing with out and out wingers. our full backs are more than capable of flying up and down the wings ie. the way we played in the heart game
4-3-1-2

Squad come the summer.

GK - NEW, Zaluska
RB - Lustig, Matthews, Fisher
LB - Izaguirre, NEW, (Mulgrew if needed)
CB - Van Dijk, Ambrose, NEW, Fraser
CM - Brown, Mulgrew, NEW, Biton, Rogic, Irvine
AM - Commons, NEW, McGregor, McGeouch
ST - NEW, NEW, Stokes, Balde, Watt, Atajic

@Hamiltonboy. Excellent response, and you are bang on about my mistake with Hosiner.

Cheers mate. Assuming we got shot of the deadwood, I can't help but get goosebumps thinking about this as a team:

Forster
Lustig - Capuano - Virgil - Buttner
Matthews - Brown - Commons
Gauld
Hosiner - Finnbogason

One can only dream though, eh?

HamiltonBhoy

Xulu(d)Banana(d)Jali(m)Kara(m)Gauld(m)
Pohjanpalo(f), ., .kbarry

Blimey that would be one hell of a starting 11.
How about:
Forster
Lustig - Capuano - Virgil - Buttner
Mathews - Biton - Ledley
Gauld - Commons
Finnbogason

I can't see either ever happening but it's nice to dream

12 Dec 2013 21:42:02
Not many winning mentalities in any of these potential squads. Would like to have seen Watt use the euro loan better as that's what he was sent out for. He would have been sent out to Killie or thistle if he was just thought of as spl standard. Something's the matter at cp. I don't think we've kicked a ball all season to be honest so maybe a shake up from the top is necessary. Scraping passed Karagandy was the beginning for me.

Andy

@Andy What do you mean by not many winning mentalities in those teams? From what I'm reading, you think Watt would do more a job than Finnbogason or Hosiner? He wasn't sent to a Scottish (or British/Irish) club for one reason and one reason only: To get him away from the socialising mentality British football has! He's surrounded by bad eggs in North Lanarkshire. He was sent somewhere he'd be an outcast (not speaking Flemish/Dutch/French) so he'd have no choice but to focus on his football. And even that attempt has failed as he seems to be acting like a petulant wee bhoy! I think he classes himself a made man, no doubt will end up another Mark Burchill or JP McBride.

Forster/new keeps if he goes
Lustig Virgil Gunning Matthews/ T-S

Forrest Brown Armstrong Mackay-steven

Simone zaza. Finbogasson

Why don't we give all this signing foreinger rubbish a lapse for a season and give the young celtic boys, youths a chanche, can't be any worse than these overpaid 'superstars'this year, why do we criticise sally for buying a team when nl is doing the same, why don't they develop the young celtic guys with a few experienced pros, am away to bed, what do I know.