That team needs to stay together as far as possible for a shot at yoorup. Celtic have never budgeted for yoorup, but we are gonna have to if the team is going to develop.
After the goals in the Hibs game it was frustrating to see so many wasted chances tonight -bit of a relief to see James Forrest hit the second just in case Dunfermline got a freak one at the end. Hope it's just a case of saving the goals for the Motherwell game. Not Cha Du-Ri's biggest fan but thought his defensive display and work rate generally were excellent tonight - he even managed a few decent crosses.
This is typical of Celtic fans. We finely take our rightful place at the top of Scottish football and instead of celebrating we look for the negatives. Regardless of how successful we were going to be this season there are going to be clubs sniffing around our players. Redknapp has already confirmed his interest in Forrest and the likes of Ledley, Hooper and Wanyama will have caught the eye of the various scouts that have been at our games lately. We'll probably end up selling at least one of those players and making a tidy profit on them. Unlike some Celtic fans I'm not as pessimistic about the immediate future. Sure, Rangers will be a busted flush for a few years but I genuinely believe that other clubs will come to the fore just as they did in the early 80s when Rangers were ****e and in the early 90s when we were ****e.
Agree mate, to think the run we've been on has been without the likes of Izzy, Kayal, & Ki for the main part and you have to wonder what team we would be putting out as our strongest team. At this moment in time I think I'd let Ki go to raise funds if anyone, would never have dreamt of saying that the start of the season but the form of Wanyama, Ledley, Brown, Forrest and Samaras as well as a fit Kayal and Commons getting some form and younger players like Ibrahim and McGeouch - he is the realistic one to go for decent money who we would miss least. Though I'd still be tempted to cash in on Samaras if a decent bid came in. The likes of McGinn, McCourt, Cha, Juarez, Bangura, M Wilson, Rasmussen and O'Dea will be off I would think. Seems to be a good team spirit there - all season not just since the unbeaten run. Hopefully the fact they are happy is a sign they want to stay. IMO its the likes of Stokes, Ledley, Mulgrew, Rogne & Wanyama who we need to look after. Hooper and Forrest will be here for another year and will move on to big epl sides & the likes of Kayal & Izzy have never really hidden their desire to piss off somewhere else in the future - if you accept that you need to make sure you keep the replacements happy.
I'm not looking for negatives - I'm nervous because I think that we are genuinely on the cusp of developing a great squad and I'm worried about mediocre clubs with bigger wage bills ****ing with the magic.
TBF though I think Lennon is alot more astute than folk give him credit for. I'd say we have Kayal, Izzy, Forrest, Hooper and possibly Ledley, Ki & Matthews who could leave in the summer and be big players for decent epl sides. Lennon would be telling all these players why they shouldn't. Certainly the likes of Hooper, Forrest and Matthews who would benefit from playing regular football in a good side & developing here. Izzy & Kayal kind of owe us for sticking by them through injuries & I'm sure would be reminded of that. I'd like to think the board would back Lenny in this - but thats where my problem is. A decent bid for Stokes from some ****ty EPL club & we may accept as he's not a 'star' player & its a good return etc...........its worthless if you know Hooper will be getting interest and may want to leave so now we have to find 2 strikers that can score 20 goals a season!! Same for the midfield - the players above are bound to attract interest but its about knowing who realistically we can keep long term and making sure they develop as they should. If we know deep down Kayal fancies a move we need to make sure Wanyama is kept and that he gets time to play. One thing we have learnt from the huns this season (sure I saw Lenny say it) is keeping the core of the squad together. That was the difference between us & them the last few years, now we seem to be realising how important it is to try &keep a settled side.
There's little doubt that they will try but it obviously depends on the board's ambitions for the club as to the players let go. In any case, I agree that the squad that's been assembled are certainly looking capable of developing into something special and the board and Neil Lennon have done a superb job in that respect. As to what happens in the future - as it's out of the fans' hands I believe we should just be delighted to wallow in the present success and hope for the best in future.
I wouldnt be too worried about losing players this summer, this is a very poor league and everyone knows it, a decent player can be made to look like a good player. If we somehow manage to make an impact in Europe next year, which I find extremely unlikely, then we may struggle to keep players, but at the moment, its not an issue so stop getting carried away. We will dominate Scotland for a good few years but Europe is ultimately where the players will be judged, and we have to make it into the tournaments first which certainly isnt a given.
I have faith in the board and certainly the current manager to do whats best for the club and more importantly the team..............its the modern day players I have little trust in See Lenny say about Jelavics move to them for £4m that he has never spent even half that on a single player!! Really shows what a good scouting system we have - always going to be a few who don't make it which is why its important that any transfers out are limited so we have continuity in the squad and we have a replacement lined up. Sure if a ridiculous bid came in for Hooper for instance we'd have to see if there was a player we could get in to replace him who would be willing to come and would fit in to our plans - mainly young, developing talent with a profit at the end.
Why would a ridiculous bid come in for Hooper? Hes basically a championship player, he is a decent player, nothing special at all. His is capable of doing good things and has a knack of getting goals but if you are talking about real class, he is a very, very average player. Even in todays market, you will be very lucky to get near 5 million and he isnt worth half of that in my opinion. Samaras is a much better player.
For the record I'm a big fan of Stokes - would be interesting to see the goals to minutes on the pitch ratio of the 2 strikers. Last few seasons Stokes has been dropped when he's been our top scorer - I know his overall game is not as good as Hoopers but the scoring records are similar despite Stokes appearing to play far less.
I should have added that those good things happen rarely, and no one is going to pay ridiculous money for it. Watch Hooper against good teams in Europe, he is absolutely anonymous, he dosent have the brain of a class striker and never will, I expect better class from a Celtic striker but I realise those days are gone.
I thought he played well considering he was up on his own a fair bit.......though I'm judging him in Samaras' performance upfront in europe!! I did say in my post for instance or example anyway. Its more likelya bid for a striker who has already created interest and is scoring goals every week. & as poor as the SPL is deemed to be the EPL have managed to get a few decent players out of it. Everyone is rimming Fletcher at the minute who was average at best here, Adam last year who was ****e at Rangers.
You're a hun. I'm now jumping to conclusions, but you are either a hun or a Celtic supporter who has been sleeping since Larsson left.
That was the most one sided game at Celtic Park for years , Celtic must have had 30 shots at goal , 75% possesion , last 20 mins Dunfermline never got near the half way line
Thought Cha had a great game bar his crossing , mind you , picking someone out in a packed box is a hard job . Has there ever been a fitter player to play for the hoops ?? His energy level is second to none . Ps during this amazing run we've not concede a goal away from home , last one was at Motherwell on 6/11/11
