Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell
To start with, I have to make it clear that I no knowledge about what negotiations are involved when signing a new player for Celtic (or any other team for that matter), however, I will still given an opinion on it. As they say ‘don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story’.
I have to be fair to Celtic and say that over the last two years I feel the board have backed the manager with a decent transfer budget. I’m not even 100% sure how many signings the club has made since Tony Mowbray took over but I am certain it’s more than most teams that we’re competing with so it would be unfair for me to criticise our board for not backing the boss.
We have already got Kelvin Wilson and young Adam Matthews, both of whom I haven’t saw very much of and don’t really know a great deal about but from what I have read about them, I am confident that they can do a job for us.
Does anyone else know much about these two guys? Or better still, has anyone been to a match where they’ve saw either of them playing? Please do share your knowledge with us.
In the past, I feel we have sometimes been a bit slow off the mark when it comes to bringing in new faces so I would urge the Celtic board to make sure we don’t leave signings to the last minute this year.
I have already written a few pieces on players that I want to see leave and who I’d like to see come in, from the readers comments, I think it’s safe to say that a goalkeeper and goal scorer have to be our top priorities.
I guess the other players required can be left for the comments box or for another day completely, I will leave that up to you to decide.
Like a lot of folk, my main criticism in recent times of the board would be the January transfer window where in 2008 our only signing was Willo Flood. Had we pushed the boat out and got Steven Fletcher from Hibs, we may not have won the league, obviously nobody knows for sure but that season still hurts and feels like an opportunity lost.
I’ve already written about how thin the Rangers squad is, with a new manager, McCoist, and not very many players, we should be able to blow them away this year but as we all know things that should happen in football don’t always work out.
I, for one, would like to see the board give us a new goalkeeper in time for our pre season, which starts in just a weeks time.
I’d also be happy to see us move some players on, this is something that I’ve also written about but really we must be getting to a position where some squad players who are not going to be used will be earning money that could be used on a first team player.
How many times have we, or other clubs, signed a new player who struggled for form and needed some time to fit into their new surroundings so if we are going to sign new faces, I would like to think we can get it done and confirmed quickly.
I know some will argue that good players can hit the ground running and don’t need time to settle in but I feel that’s it’s a pointless risk to take and would prefer if we got some new guys in now.
With us now in a financial position where we are either trying to find younger players from down south or find guys who are moving a long way from home to play for us, I think it’s a bit unfair to ask a young player to come and settle into a new culture/ language/ team etc without having a bit of time.
Peter Lawwell has already been quoted as saying we will get two or three players in so c’mon get them in and get the deals finalised.
I know there is also an argument that we can’t just sign a keeper or striker for the sake of signing someone and I fully agree with that but I just don’t want to see the team leave for Australia with the only new faces being the two guys that were signed a while ago on pre contract agreements.
PS, On a side note, I wrote about how I thought a pre season tour of Oz wasn’t beneficial to the hoops but it turns out that we have way more fans that I expected out there so anyone reading this who is going to the matches, I hope you enjoy 🙂
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I live in Derby and watched Forest about 6 games season before last (Blackpool beat them in playoffs)
Wilson looked useful, liked to put himself about and was great when he wasn’t given a decision to make. Difficult to see who is the brains of the outfit if he is paired with Big Dan!!!
A good, confident, experienced keeper is essential for any team. Someone like Shay Given would be worth his weight in gold to this young Celtic team.
I would break the bank to get him because we are now, obviously, always going to be bringing young inexperienced players into the team, and hopefully selling them on for a substantial profit. To do that successfully, we need a couple of older heads in the team to help the new players adapt and improve- and goalkeeper is the ideal position for one of them.
Having a confident, experienced keeper like Given would give the whole team confidence and allow the younger, inexperiened players to express themselves and develop more quickly. So, the extra expense would actually pay for itself in the longterm when our younger players move on to clubs in the EPL, as they will be worth more.
Just a thought.
I think we have our pre-season spot on this year. one longer tour, home for a (still to be arranged) friendly at celtic park and then into hibs away, before a short jaunt to dublin in the green……
Hiya, think you and paranoiddroid are right we need to get an experienced keeper such as Given, however we also need a good solid older centre half as well. Majstorovic is ok but not as assured as he could be. Have seen Wilson in action for forest and he is an all rounder.
Good in the air and on the deck and his tackling is solid. He can pass and has good positional sense. Apparently one of the reasons Billy Davies tactical genius got sacked was his handling of the Wilson situation.
Celtic offered £500,000 for him in the window but Davies convinced the board he needed him. Wilson accepted this but got told he would never play for forest again after the window shut. Consequently, Forest lost the half a mill and whatever his wages were.
The position Forest are in they just can’t have their manager acting like Awec Ferguson. Wilson could have spoken out about this but has played it all down, so not only is he a good signing and an accomplished player but unlike many of our heroes he has a brain as well.
As far as Given is concerned…..he earns far too much for it to be a goer….IMO…
Man City say they will not “bankroll” his wages with another club…so we would need to find well in excess of £50k per. week.( rumoured to be on £90K a week as a matter of interest).
Now even if Mr. Desmond were to put his hand in his expensive suit pocket and foot the bill for him….you’ve suddenly got a player on huge money and other players on a quarter or a fifth of that…..that spells problems.
One other thing about Given that ” bothers” me… he only played 4 games for the first team last season..yet still seems to be content to sit and take the money……a goalie of his ability should be desperate to play in the limelight every week…he doesn’t seem to be too bothered from what I see…..
As far as a striker goes…..Hooper and Stokes did well enough last season…I’m not sure it’s a priority position.
We have to look beyond the EPL with it’s vastly overpaid players. A good manager makes the best use of his resources and we won’t get any “bargains” in the EPL compared to abroad. With the home grown rule putting more pressure on clubs I really think we should seriously be looking at such as COnway & Goodwillie, both excellent players, low in transfer fee’s (relatively) and low in wages both with good sell on potential AND a chance to scupper our rivals too boot. No matter if they are interested or not though, I most certainly WOULD be in for both players. Together they would barely even amount to half of Maloney or Murhpy’s wages and would score a dam sight more goals.
Don’t be caught napping AGAIN….3 times is 3 too many. We must get out of the traps immediately and really put the pressure on Rangers. Every fan knows the players who are not pulling their weight, we cannot carry passengers, yet it’s easy to write down 8-12 players we could dispose of tomorrow without losing any sleep…Get it sorted Bhoys.
I agree with the last entry. Why is nobody having David Goodwillie in mind? I saw him linked with Rangers on another page?
Same every summer, don’t see anybody arriving for australia. Transfer window is crazy, pointless. Means nothing happens till august. 3players needed. Keeper, centre half, Target man. Given deal won’t happen
Rangers have now failed to clinch another signing, Tomer Hamed is off to sunny Spain, the second player in as many weeks to turn down a move to Rangers on McCoists watch.
The Rangers supporters patience is legendary wafer thin at the best of times, McCoists FAILURE to secure these targets, despite supposedly having more charm than James Bond will have the Ibrox faithful already reaching for their inhalers.
Now the question is, if he fails again, will the Rangers support go into their typical rage? or will they, out of sheer desperation not to let Timmy have a giggle at their typical fickle mentality, pretend they have 100% confidence in McCoist, put fingers in ears and blindly follow follow Mcoist into a season of despair?
Either way, the cracks are appearing, and not a single ball has been kicked!
Hail Hail, 1NL