With Joe Ledley on his way to Crystal Palace it looks like a disappointing transfer window for Celtic fans with expectations diminishing by the day.
Having signed Ledley on a Bosman deal in 2010 any fee from Crystal Palace will officially be a profit but it’s hard to replace his quality with £800,000.
Securing the Welshman onto a new deal would have been a great achievement but having steered Celtic to three titles and sampled the Champions League a move to the Premiership has obvious appeal.
Signing Stefan Johansen provides a midfield replacement for Ledley with Nir Biton and Liam Henderson staking their claims for increased top team action.
The departure of Ledley to join Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama in England is an inevitable but painful blow for Celtic fans to accept but there is one deal that the club can surely complete that will gain universal approval.
From his debut three years ago against Aberdeen at Hampden Kris Commons has been nothing but a credit and asset to Celtic- underlined by an incredible 13 goal haul during  December and January.
Commons’ contract ends in June but with the option of a one year extension the goalscoring midfielder will be around for the summer Champions League qualifying campaign.
Although he doesn’t have the ‘glamour’ of Ledley or Georgios Samaras, in terms of his return on the park the £300,000 spent bringing Commons from Derby is without doubt Neil Lennon’s best signing.
With the gradual break-up of Lennon’s first Celtic side awarding Commons a new three year contract reflecting his contribution to the club would be more rewarding than any ‘last minute transfer swoop’.
Retaining some sort of continuity is essential if the club is to build on it’s foothold as credible Champions League opponents. Where Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster will be in a years time is anyone’s guess but by retaining Commons alongside Scott Brown, Anthony Stokes, Charlie Mulgrew and Emilio Izaguirre standards can be maintained and built on.
Transfer policy is always open to debate as the situations with Ledley, Samaras and Leigh Griffiths demonstrate.
Hearing Commons discussing his new three year contract would be the best news the Celtic support could hear with the players commitment, professionalism and ability unquestionable.
Kris Commons : “Although he doesn’t have the ‘glamour’ of Ledley or Georgios Samaras”..
what do you mean by that, as i am sure 101% of Celtic fans would disagree with that statement.
Glamour as in Ledley being a young Bosman joining Celtic and Samaras having played in World Cup and European Championships.
As a Celtic player Commons has contributed more than both men.
Joe,
I agree re Commons and new deal.But
I disagree re Ledley.
Commons with Brown are our leaders
on the park.Joe is a good.player,but IMO
is not a leader, and can be replaced by
Johanson.
Kris has earned a new deal, and has a
real passion for.our club.
Griffiths will score goals and I too would
put him straight into the team for Sunday.
Pity,Samaras won’t budge.I would also
have tried to ofload Kayal and Stokes.
I believe we will get the 6M target man
in the summer.But it has to be early
enough,for the CL qualifiers.
I am looking forward to Griffiths,scoring
the chances,Pukki is missing.Starting
with the Saints on Sunday.
Joe,
Brian the Zombie is doing his hardest
to slag off Lenny and our team.
How sad is it,to.come on to your blogs,
as his team are close to oblivion !!
This site employs strong anti-zombie software, the occasional one is let through for comedy value only.
Brian is no zombie.
Sorry Joe,
Re brian.I thought the tone of his posts were very anti- Celtic.
And in turn,apologies Brian.
But, try and chill out a bit.Everything
will be alright on the night,for our club.
Anti-zombie software. 😀 brilliant!
Absolutely disgusted with my team, more penny pinching , Ledley is the last straw I’m not going back until we see some decent investment in to the team , pukki & Balde that money could of went on a decent striker instead we have 2 duds,samaras can go also, wot a forward line we have, disgusted Lennon is just a puppet ? I wonder how many times we will here today we tried to get him and him but run out of time , well they had 31 days to bring players in , not one bloody day
Don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out, ‘ I’m not going back’ good don’t come back ya mug
IF Celtic offered Joe Ledley another contract on at least the same money and the player was reluctant to sign, Celtic are quite right in listening to any offers! He has been a good asset to the team but I feel it,s time to go! along with big Sammi! and I also feel, especially after Neil Lennons comment on asking the fans to “trust me on this one” regarding Leigh Griffiths, he will be playing for the Bhoys on Sunday!
Hard facts
Ledley cannot be forced to sign if his ambition is to play in the bottom half of the English Premier good luck to him.
Ledley appears to have led NL to believe that he was staying all the while looking for another club.
Ledley has been a reasonable servant but also tends towards injury prone.
Celtic have a good range of cover in the mid field positions he will not be missed.
Hail Hail
Brian,
You sound as if you a Zombie !!
Have you lost your way ?
Well Mark if your quite happy to let the big players go and bring in 2nd rate players u must be easily pleased, thousands aren’t
My out list for today was
Samaras, Bangura, Kayal, Mcgeoch stokes and Ledley. Many thanks lads for your efforts.
Ins- Griffiths, May, Dorrans(free) or Snodgrass.
A left back for cover and a centre back to bed in with Virgil or take his place when we met £10 mil for him.
Also if we lose Fraser bring back Shay given, he won’t cost much and would be great for his experience- before you say he’s too old, Brad Friedel is 42!!!
Let me tell you I’ve been supporting celtic for over 30 yrs , been to celtic park when only 18-20 thousand people were there ,always will support celtic , spending a lot of money coming over from Ireland , so I’ve no right to complain about the way the team is being torn apart and replaced with ordinary players , Europe this year was an embarrassment , loosing to Morton was an embarrassment , and I guess the amount of empty seats would say people are feed up, who will be next to go ? Big Frazor, Virgil , Forrest ,and to say I’m a rangers fan , all I can say is dont fucking think so
Brian,
You still don’t convince me.On here, we
call ‘ them ‘ Sevco.
We are.Celtic supporters faithful through
and through.
Always remember that.Look over at THEM
and see how theyv’e got THEIR TROUBLES
to seek.
So,WE haven’t really got ANYTHING to
COMPLAIN about !!
HAIL ! HAIL !
Will be sorry to see Ledley go, but players move on for various reasons so I thank him for his service to the club and wish him well.
Although Griffiths may not be everyone’s cup of tea it’s a smart piece of business for a minimal sum and his name will be on the score sheet far more often than Stokes, Balde, Pukki and Samaras who have a combined total of 22 goals between them this season which is a disgraceful return for a group of Celtic forwards.
That said I still think Peter Lawell’s signing strategy is far too inflexible, and his stubborn refusal to deviate from it even slightly has seen precious resources squandered on mediocre players in the HOPE they come good instead of paying that little bit extra for a player who is already producing the goods. Time for a little flexibility Mr Lawell.
Hail Hail.
Glad to see that everybody is happy about what is going on All I can say I do not what to go done the Sevco way thank you very much Hail Hail JMJ
Gents & sevco oinks (doing a great impression of gypsies , by being somewhere they are not wanted and making an awful mess of our web site!!)
We need to be canny in the market buy prudent but make the payday of the champs league. A few more Scots in the team would be cheaper and better, you know what ure getting! Leave the bluster and bust to the Sevvies they are still pressing the self destruct button even when they don’t have a pot to piss in. When we need to spend big we will, there is a long way to ten in a row, no need to spend our savings when it’s not raining. Ajax have bought small and sold big for decades…. They are our model and I for one back Big Peter all the way to 10 in a row!!
I totally agree Alan, lets keep leading Scottish football,striving to improve in Europe and most of all have faith in our management and brilliant fan base the world over.
Really sad to be seeing Joe Ledley leaving Celtic!!! Don’t see why Celtic just don’t give him what he wants if they really want to keep him. But if he really doesn’t what to stay fare enough would like to wish him all the best hail hail
Best wishes to Joe, he has been as good for Celtic as Celtic have been for him. Glad that he has decided to go now and ensure the club gets a fee rather than simply sit tight and pocket the signing on fee in lieu of a transfer fee, shows some respect for the club / fans.
We didn’t always get the best from him by releasing Joe to break into the box but shows how much of a team player he was willing to change his role for the good of the side.
The club moves onwards & upwards but will watch Joe’s career with interest and hope he continues to be a success.