Here is my thoughts on our squad for this season. Who deserves to stay and who should go. When I say deserves to stay, for any player they should realise it is an honour to play for our club and to represent us as supporters and they have to earn that right to do so and stay at Parkhead.
KEEPERS
Fraser Forster – Overall, I’d say that the big guy has done well for us but would he be worth breaking the bank to get him back ? No. Personally, I’d spend about £2 million maximum on him. My main concern is do we have anyone else capable of coming in and being a first choice keeper – I don’t think so.
Lucasz Zaluska – worth holding on to ? Probably as back up but what about Dominic Cervi? He’s been around for a while with almost no first team opportunities so if he’s not been good enough over the past few years, what is there to suggest that he can step up this year ?
On that basis, I think a new keeper has to be the top priority.
DEFENDERS
‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ is the phrase that springs to mind. But, is the defence broken? Not yet, but that could well change against a better quality of opposition.
WIth two new defenders due to arrive in the summer, I’d hope the defence would be ok. I have to assume that the new players have been signed on the basis that they can walk into the first team so I will be interested to see who our new centre half pairing will be.
Would you put Glenn or Danny in alongside Kelvin Wilson ? I’m still not convinced by big Danny – he was lucky to stay on the pitch at the cup final (foul with a straight leg could easily have been a card plus his handball).
This season, Glenn has performed ok when called upon but I still feel we should be looking at somone more reliable.
Is Thomas Rogne the answer, he looked good when he first signed but has had a few games where he has looked a bit lost. Do we keep him as one for the future or move him and free up some wages, I’d keep him for another season and give him another chance.
MIDFIELD
Another phrase springs to mind- ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ and I think we have too many who can play in the middle of the park so time to decide who to get rid of.
To start with the obvious, it’s time to say cheerio to Freddie – for those of you who don’t know, he’s the guy who sometimes warms up with the other subs. Shaun Maloney- too injury prone for me and shouldn’t have been allowed to come back either – when a player leaves that should be it for them (of course there will be exceptions to that, but I don’t think Shaun brings enough to the team to merit being one of those exceptions).
Next up is Paddy ‘the Derry Pele’ McCourt, as much as I love to watch his goals, I just don’t think he produces it often enough to deserve to keep his place at Celtic. Nial McGinn is another who doesn’t really get into the starting eleven often enough so I feel we should let them move on and get on with their careers at teams where he will play more often.
For me, the one major disappointment was Efrain Juarez, I missed the first few games of the season from being on holiday but was told he looked good. Pretty much after we got knocked out of European competition, he’s done nothing so if we can, get rid of him.
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Can’t disagree with 99% of that, but Rasmussen is one player I think will be leaving. I thought he looked the part in his first couple of outings, and then like Rogne, just folded his tent.
Can’t see him getting any more chances, but of course it depends on whether somebody else wants to sign him.
Keep : Cervi (needs a chance).
Punt the Pole in the goal with a hole.
Buy : Either Westwood or Given, bring a youngster through.
Keep : Wilson, Lizzy, Charlie, Danny, Hinkel, Rogne, Jos
Punt : Cha, Glenda, O’Dea, Thompson
Awready Bought : Wilson, Matthews, buy a left back for cover.
Keep : Brown, Commons, Forrest, Juarez, Kayal, Ledley, Maloney, McCourt, Ki
Punt : McGinn, Ljungberg
Buy : Nobody really needed.
Keep : Hooper, Stokes, Rasmussen, Murphy
Punt : Hutchison, McGowan, Samaras
Buy : McFadden, Long, O’Connor
That’ll do for me !
Goalkeeper: Zaluska’s good enough.
Fullbacks: Hinkel-out. Cha, Wilson, Izzy – keep.
Centre Halves: Hooifeld-out. Keep the rest.
Centre Midfield: Keep Kayal, Ledley + Juarez.
Wingers: McCourt+McGinn-out.Keep Forrest, Commons, Maloney.
Strikers: Samaras+Murphy-out. Keep Hooper+Stokes.
We have another full back and centre back already signed. If Forster can’t be brought back, another back up keeper would be needed.
If James McFadden could regain fitness, he’d be an obvious midfield addition.
We need a target man up front who can score goals – Sammy+Murph can’t – John Sutton may fit the bill? Or else bring back Rasmussen?
Forget Glenn, Danny or Jos. Their intentions might be good, but not one is near Celtic class – think of the Utrecht game – they’re by no means world beaters. Think more recently of the Caley game. We need to break the bank and get at least two central defenders.
What we need is at least 1 more quality centre half and a 20 goal striker. If we can get Forster on loan again then fine, if not then we’ll need to splash some cash on a quality keeper also.
Lennon has pretty much built the squad and has the foundations there, it just needs some tweaking. But that said, there are plenty at parkhead that should be let go or moved on like Glenda, Freddie, Shaun, McGinn, O’Dea, Jos, Ra-Ra-Rasmusen and if anyone is mental enough to cough up some cash for Sami then I’ll happily drive him to the airport.
Goalkeepers: I wouldn’t make too much effort to keep Forster. He’s a decent shot-stopper but, for me, he looks liable at corners and his lack of pace off the line concerns me. I’d Keep Zaluska as backup, and get rid of Cervi as it doesn’t look like he’s ever going to make the grade with the club.
Left Back: I’d hope that Izaguirre will be offered improved terms over the summer and we have Mulgrew as backup. I’d like to see another left back signed up in case of an injury.
Centre Back: Dan has been decent, i wouldn’t be concerned if he was a starter next year, nor would it bother me if he fell from the first team picture. Mulgrew has done a good job at centre back and i’d actually prefer to see him start over Dan next season. I’d keep Loovens, although he’s not the greatest defender in the world, he looks much improved since the start of the season. I’d also keep Rogne, i think his form after initially signing makes him worth monitoring, for another year at least. Can’t say too much about Kelvin Wilson, i haven’t ever seen him play. I’d move on Josh Thompson and Darren O’Dea.
Right Backs: Sadly, i think Hinkel will move on in the summer. I was always a big fan of his, and think he could still do a great job for the club. Wilson has been in great form this year and i’m glad to see him signing a new deal. Cha looks suspect defensively, but impressive going forward. With Adam Matthews also coming in, i’d say right back is a well covered position, especially when we consider Juarez can also be deployed here.
Wingers: I’m a bit disappointed with Ljungberg, i was a big fan of his during his spell at Arsenal, but he’s shown nothing at all in five months, he won’t be missed. Commons, by contrast has been a revelation, i look forward to seeing more of him next year. I’d allow Maloney to look for a new club, i think he’s a luxury who only looks the part as a sub when the game is already finished. I’d keep McCourt, i think he’s shown he’s got a bit of “dig” when we need it, and his goals are just amazing to see. I’d let McGinn go, i don’t think he’s done enough to justify even being a squad player.
Centre Midfield: The strongest position in the squad! With a midfield composed from three of Brown, Kayal, Ledley, Ki and Mulgrew we’re looking good. Still, another midfielder would allow a bit more rotation in the squad.
Forwards: I’d be disappointed to see Stokes go, but if his attitude is as bad as has been made out in the recent weeks, then he has to leave regardless of how much we’d miss his goals. Hooper has had, in my opinion, a less good season than he gets credit for. But he’s struggled with injury and has scored 20 or so goals. I hope to see much more of him. I’d keep Samaras, i think he actually played a lot better than Hooper at the weekend, but didn’t get the credit for it. I’d let Murphy go, he just hasn’t done enough to warrant staying. I’d imagine Ben Hutchinson and Morten Rasmussen will be allowed to go too.
I don’t know who i’d look to sign. I’d like to see us continue to bring and develop players from “unfashionable” leagues rather than overspend in the EPL, Spain, Italy etc.
Finally, although i’d hate to lose an Izaguirre, Kayal etc, i think we need to consider any bid of around £10m for any one of our squad.. I could genuinely see a bid of that size coming in for Kayal.
Glen Loovens arch enemy is the bounce, never seen a centre back that gets beat as much as he does by a bounce
Get rid of:
Foster – for a guy his size he should be better.
Hinkel – contract up.
Cha – poor defender
O’Dea – not good enough
Hooiveld – as above
Loovens – too soft
Juarez – Lenny does not rate him obviously
Maloney – too injury prone
McCourt – a luxury we don’t need
McGinn – not good enough
McGowan – St. Mirren is his level
Hutchison – an english div 1 player at best
Murphy – there’s better out there
Samaras – i’ll drive him to the airport
I would like to see a new keeper, a pacey, strong tackling right sided central defender. A more creative midfielder and another striker
and Rasmussen – Lenny does not rate him
need a new keeper get bourc bk get rid of loovens he a waster i dont no about mulgrew there times he plays well then there times he get on as if he not there keep mc court and shaun get rid of forest he played well up until he got injurd keep hooper stokes and murphy get rid of sammars and get rid of ki he played well in the final but that it
players out mcginn jaurez maloney murphy freddie cha loovens hairy fairy samaras who cost celtic the league hutchison players in want boruc back but given or spironi wud do need big striker steven fletcher shane long or marcus berg but maybe dats dreamin il even play 4 nothin an score more dan 3 goals i hate you samaras get your hair cut
I would look at westwood in goal.
Sell Loovens, Hooiveld, O’Dea, Hinkel (his contract is up) and buy 1 more central defender who is quick and strong, when our centerbacks get turned they are to slow.
Midfield, sell McGinn, McGowan, Juarez.
Forwards sell Samaras, Murphy, Hutchison, Rasmussen and buy 2. a big man and a young forward who can learn over the next couple of seasons.
IF we have any Europa League ambitions, we must hold onto the likes of Wilson, Izaguirre, Juarez, Kayal, Brown, Commons, Ki, Forrest, Hooper, Stokes, Samaras.
I’d love it if we could sign Shay Given, but if not we’d have a goalkeeping problem and Zaluska would have to do.
Our central defence would not be good enough and unless Kelvin Wilson’s a cut above big Dan, Glenda, Mulgrew and Rogne, we’d need two new stoppers or else we’d get ripped apart in Europe.
The likes of Richard Dunne would be worth considering with the experience he has?
loovens, rogne and hooiveld all should go, bring in 2 centre backs to fight for a place with big dan, need a right midfielder a striker and rid of samaras, we have to be looking for a better quality of player than him.
Hooper and Stokes are quite good together, especially considering their age, but we need a 25-30 goals a season, Hooper might get that but we need 3 decent strikers to be competing for a place, rasmussen and samaras are not good enough.
Adam Mathews will be bigger than Izaguirre, Kelvin Wilson could turn out to be great signing, he’s very quick Forrest fans love him don’t know if anyone agrees with me but do you not think David Nugent would be a good signing if we can’t get Shane Long.
Nugent is as close to a Chris Sutton as you find fast skillful, good shot, great in the air the man has played for England just been unlucky like Sutton. Also Neil Lennon well done great first season considering everything and people standing up for Samaras I respect your opinions but really what is it u see in him? like playing with 10 men when he’s on but I trust in Neil- his choice.
i dont care who we buy or sell as long as we get rid of that fud samaras!!!!! worst player i have seen in the past 10-15 years!!! no footballing intelligence whatsoever! i hate him as much as novo!!!
FF – too slow – outski
Dan – too slow – outski
Glenda – too slow – outski
Muggins – play him in the correct position our outski
(Don’t forget – Celtic had about 350 corner kicks – I think our big men put in around 3 goals all season. Dan in particular missed sitter after sitter when up for the corners)
Freddie – wtf – let’s not give pin money tae passengers – outSKI
Murphy, McGinn, Juarez, Cha, Stokes,- stick them in a minicab and send them to the airport
Maloney – give him his own taxi
Samaras – don’t pay a penny more – let him take a bus or hitchhike his way out of town –
GK- I think we need to get rid of Big Forster.Zaluska has never been given a chance to see if he is up to being a number 1 GoalKeeper and as for Cervi Who is he has he ever played before? Think Given is everyones Choice there.
RB-Cha I dont think is as good as Hinkel but i realise Hinkel is on big Money so maybe let Hinkel go but Wilson looked the part thi year and wee Adam Matthews coming we look strong there.
CB- Not sure on big Dan yet but 1 more year Glenn Loovens has to go. Jos again wasnt given the chance. O’Dea as much as he is a Celtic fan through and through i didnt think he was great when he came back from Reading. Kelin Wilson is there so we look strong there too.
LB- Izzy has been great very good signing. Mulgrew no not for me so maybe 1 more LB.
Wingers- think shaun maloney has picked up too many injures so if anyone would take him for a decent price then bye bye shaun. Paddy McCourt i would keep he was very good this year and i think he changes a game when he comes on. Nial McGinn also looks like his days are number so i think he will go. Forrest looked pretty shattered towards the end of the year so maybe not as many games this year.
CM – No problems what so ever not fix what isnt broken
CF- Hooper has to stay i would keep stokes on the condition he stayed off the drink. Murphy turns like the HSS he isnt celtic standard. Sammi i wud take him out the back of Celtic park and shoot him so i think we could strengthen up top maybe Shane Long and a big target man
Hi there, I’ve been fascinated by Celtic for quite some years now and following from a distance since the O’Neil era. Though from Munich, I’d consider Celtic being my favorite team among Bayern. You have an amazing team/history/club- So I was enthused to read all of these voices and recommendations for new players and who must leave. I must admit I do not follow EPL that well anymore these days, but you keep mentioning Celtic is in need of a target man, on which I agree, so what do you think of Blackburn’s Nikola Kalinic- he’s not had the best start there, but he is young (born 88), a pacey, technical poacher who can also serve assists and at a reasonable height express aerial ability.
I’d think he’d be a perfect target for Celtic, Blackburn spent 6m pounds a few years ago he hasn’t really settled, should be available for around 4m and SPL be ideal grounds to grow form and score. Celtic should try players who didn’t really take off in EPL and make them their outfits.
In general, I believe players down from the Balkans obtain the passion to suit the mentality at Parkhead and please the fans.
Keen on your opinions! Cheers