GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: Jahmai Simpson-Pusey during a Celtic training session at Lennoxtown Training Centre, on September 12, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Celtic fans might finally get to see Jahmai Simpson-Pusey tonight. It looks like now or never for the loan defender.
Under Brendan Rodgers it was most certainly never.
There was never any need for a Manchester City project to get polished up and returned EPL ready.
Rodgers had faith in Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Auston Trusty. He saw something in Dane Murray, enough to let Stephen Welsh and Maik Nawrocki go out on loan.
Gus Lagerbielke was sold.
Trying to push Celtic forward, trying to build on last season’s foundations Rodgers had no time to do favours for other clubs.
CELTIC’S CITY LOVE-IN
Simpson-Pusey is probably a decent player. He could be playing fairly regular in the English Championship but someone at Celtic decided to sweet talk Manchester City. Again.
He could be turned into a £15m transfer for City like others recently in the project.
For future use Celtic’s ‘recruitment team’ wanted to revive the City link.
Patrick Roberts and Jason Deneyer provided short terms boosts, signing Olivier N’tcham initially worked well.
But it isn’t a strategy for a club that is serious about itself. Brugge, Copenhagen, Benfica and Porto don’t go begging for crumbs from big scale neighbours.
FAILED RECRUITMENT
They have proper recruitment. They identify players, bring them in, get a turn out of them and sell for profit.
Not Celtic with seven £2.5m punts going to waste as they strike gold with a Matt O’Riley or Nicolas Kuhn and congratulate themselves.
The timing of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney as a dream team doesn’t add up.
Unusually Celtic seemed very well prepared for the shock of Brendan Rodgers’ resignation.
NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM
While O’Neill blabbed to his pal Jim White his assistant Maloney put together a brand new coaching team. Involving the dubious talents of Mark Fozzy Fotheringham and Stevie Hammell. Failed seriously at Motherwell as manager.
At 6.30pm tonight we will have a good idea of who is pulling the strings.
Simpson-Pusey has had one game of football since January. Losing 5-3 to East Fife in the SPFL Challenge Cup. That match won’t feature in his agents next showreel.
With Carter-Vickers out with a long term injury and Murray out his depth at Tynecastle there is every chance that Simpson-Pusey will be involved.
TEAM SHEET
A place on the bench would be an improvement. A 20 minute appearance could start to rebuild the relationship with City.
The decision makers would approve, kudos to the new management, showing up ghastly Brendan. Martin and Shaun are team players.
Scales and Trusty looks the most natural partnership going forward in central defence. They played together last season including away to Atalanta.
After Falkirk Celtic have a cup semi-final and a European away tie. Tonight is now or never for Simpson-Pusey as Celtic attempt to win back favour with Manchester City.
Do you believe every claim in the Dermot Desmond's statement?
YES- Desmond knows the full story, trust him fully
NO- He would be sacked if those claims are true
Simpson Pusey brings back shades of Gary Gillespie for me. His CL appearance at Man City saw them for from leading 3-0 to drawing 3-3, Looked absolutely lost in the general mayhem at East Fife.
Might be a fine player with more experienced players around him but we are far removed from that just now.
I wish both him & the team the very best v Falkirk tonight but recent results don’t support a home victory whihc is badly needed
Rodgers not god on judging a player. Thought Pusey would have been a decent rotation/back up to CCV. Hopefully get the chance to find out as Big dane Murray kicking them into his own net in blind panic wont do.
I can understand why Brendan didn´t want to play Trusty and Scales in the league as we dominate the ball and Trusty was awkward on his right hand side as was Scales so playing Murray as a right sided player made sense. When we played v Atalanta we were defending most of the match which played to Trusty and Scales strengths which is why they were a good partnership as we were on the back foot. Could Simpson Pusey be a Denayer who knows …
YES MEN ????
You’re never happy.
Why dont they just recall Nawrocki and Welsh.?
Martin oneill a yes man!
Your doing the smsm bidding!
Just wondering if you have a seat in the broomloan as your “constant” negativity speaks volumes.
Get behind the team or go support another club with your negativity.
We dont need or want people who seek to hurt the team, fair enough the board but NOT THE TEAM!
Why should we expect anything different tonight against Falkirk?
If the team does – somehow – put in a decent, convincing shift to win in style,
the next question is: where have these players been this season…?
The deed is done, and we now need a quality, permanent manager ASAP.
But, as per, the Board probably doesn’t have a Scooby.
It’s got to be Ange:
the convenient, lazy managerial choice which the Board seems to prefer?
Stevie Jon murf no not having any of that MON should have told Desmond to shove it he’s too much of a legend and doesn’t need to be remembered if it goes all wrong for him
Get behind the team or go support another club with your negativity WHY? and saying Joe is doing the smsm bidding Jesus wept change the fu;;king record
Flash, are you of the mind that the board are solely responsible for this mess, they are categorically responsible for some of it, the part where we have been dumped out of champs league multi times before they spend anything, but so is brendan. We all agree the board need to invest and invest at the right time….. butttttttt…… what if:
1. They knew brendan was leaving and wanted to keep the transfer budget for the next guy
2. Brendan was setting his teams to fail, as he wanted out
3. Brendan was playing everone like a fiddle and was the source of most of the toxicity, this will be proved if he doesnt sue DD for what was said, if he does sue dd, everything will come out in court.
4. Does brendan have a lifespan of 3 years at every club before everyone starts to see through him, dembele had a LOT to say about him previously towards the 3 years mark, half the current team are not playing how they should….. THATS ON THE MANAGER, not the board.
5. Our board are at fault for deciding to maintain a basic level, but in saying that, our champs league campaign last season was fantastic, so what happened this year??? Some players stopped playing for the manager!
6. Much as i resent the board for their transfer decisions, i know desmond and lawell bleed green, rodgers probably bleeds mini rodgers. Nicholson may be out of his depth if he is unable to engage with fans.
7. Protest all you want but it does harm the team. Protest with not spending money.
8. Mon deserves every single one of us to bow before him, he gave us our pride back with seville, and also brought down the house of murray. No matter what you think, mon deserves nothing less than 100% backing
9. Lets get a decent manager in, get some decent players in, and get this 10 in a tow done
10. None of the points in 9 will happen if you keep protesting at matches
Editor: Anyone claiming that Desmond and Lawwell bleed green, shouldn’t venture outside of Celtic Thick News. Your stay on here is going to be a short one, back to P67 and the Balance Sheet Bhoys.
What is the Celtic tradition, the Celtic spirit ? Overcoming the odds, the adversity united as a club. Time to get wholeheartedly behind the team with the cards that’ve been played. Continuing with Rat A Twoey would have thrown away the Title.
The folk that are whining are the same folk that destroyed the club’s inclusivity. Nothing is good enough but their own propaganda, if you like, a protestant culture, a fifth column that has soured the club’s reputation. Fantasies about what might’ve, should’ve, could’ve been are irrelevant when there is a very real and difficult project on our hands. Now is not the time to walk alone. At least dump the negativity when the new manager is hardly in the door. Get behind him and his decisions until the end of the season.
So we should all fall into line is that what your saying? I will always back my club and what new manager is that? MON? Listen MON is a legend but should have stayed clear
Away back to CQN and your safe, comforting but blinkered view on Celtic.
The Board really appreciates your servility.
Makes it easy for them to rip the pish out of the fans.
Prove that BR would have lost the title? what do you base this on formation/results? we can all clearly see with our own eyes what was wrong The board took away his/our best players
are you telling me that if we still had these guys we would have lost the league
I believe now is the time for complete change at Celtic FC . I’ve just found out that Dermot Desmond and his friends JP McManus and John Magnier have just sold their UK Healthcare Business for £5.2 Billion sovs . Now if those 3 gentlemen pals were to buy up all the shares in Celtic FC and invest their vast wealth and business acumen into the club …the sky would be the limit for success ..on and off the park . Make it happen and watch the glory under The Holy Trinity. That would blow the rest into oblivion . My mind is racing ..no pun intended !
Good start for Martin tonight…
Would have been a really good night if Hibs hadn’t Hibsed it – AGAIN !