2010/2011 Season Thread

[Soda Jerk]

De Jong is better than Barry and Toure. If Toure swallowed Barry, and they operated within the same flesh, combining their footballing abilities completely, De Jong would still be better. The king of the slide tackle.

Agree on the formation though. He's an Iniesta type of player. Not solely a wideman. He can roam towards either flank, but operates centrally. between the midfield and the attack. He's also dead good.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

You're correct, De Jong is brilliant and I would play him instead of Barry. I forgot that he existed for a bit. I'm sorry Nigel, please don't tackle me in the chest.

[ca_gere]

Silva did alright against Timosoara but isn't up to premier league pace yet, he's also pretty lightweight and up against the likes of Clattermole and Turner he'd be nae yees. Yaya isn't quite up to pace either, he started brightly against sunderland but lost his legs after about 60 mins. You're wrong about De Jong. He's an awesomely effective defensive midfielder, like one of the best, but offers nothing in the attacking third. Yaya is a total powerhouse going forward. He only got the DM tag because he was in a team with xavi and the other one so had to stay back when he was on the pitch. I think he's gonna be a key man this season. DJ seems to be one of the first names on the team sheet and rightly so, he's totally solid. Not often is a defensive minded player a joy to watch. It's Barry's place in the team that is under threat at the moment I think. Yaya has been doing his job and more.

[Soda Jerk]

I agree there. It has to be De Jong and Toure behind the attacking mids. Gaz Baz is guff. Never liked him, never rated him enough to play at such a high level. I think De Jong is getting there a bit with his attacking prowess. He seems to have a belting shot on him, and can shift the ball out of his feet quickly, which is good for that one touch triangle passing. Not that it matters too much. He's at his best planted infront of the back four, looking for trouble, finding trouble and stamping out the trouble. No nonsense.

Silva doesn't have much to him in terms of bulk, but I don't think it will matter once he gets into the swing of the PL. He's got a similar sort of game to Modric, who would also get blown over by a gust of wind, and he's never had too much of a problem dealing with the physicality.

[ca_gere]

I agree there. It has to be De Jong and Toure behind the attacking mids. Gaz Baz is guff. Never liked him, never rated him enough to play at such a high level. I think De Jong is getting there a bit with his attacking prowess. He seems to have a belting shot on him, and can shift the ball out of his feet quickly, which is good for that one touch triangle passing. Not that it matters too much. He's at his best planted infront of the back four, looking for trouble, finding trouble and stamping out the trouble. No nonsense.

Silva doesn't have much to him in terms of bulk, but I don't think it will matter once he gets into the swing of the PL. He's got a similar sort of game to Modric, who would also get blown over by a gust of wind, and he's never had too much of a problem dealing with the physicality.

Good comparison actually. It took Modric a full season to reach his potential though so maybe Silva will be the same.

I still think Barry can be a great player. His shielding capabilities are immense, he can open up a whole section of the pitch by just turning his body in the right way... he just shouldn't then go on to touch the ball. His positional sense is top notch too. He's like a poor-sheikh's Dean Windass. I remember watching him for the dons and he'd play a blinder but on MOTD (when they tacked on the SPL at the end) that didn't come across because half of his work was done off the ball.

[Guest Gladstone]

As to be expected, some weird rumours doing the rounds. So far today, I've heard fat Ronaldo to a London club (spotted in Heathrow Airport), Ronaldinho to Spurs, Robinho to AC Milan, Robbie Keane to Cardiff City, and Nefarious C to Barcelona.

Celtic are apparently on the verge of getting Stokes for 800k, which seems a good deal for a 20+ goals a season striker, so long as he scores 20+. I don't see why Rasmussen was never given a game, other than he was apparently a bit of a cunt. We definitely need someone to take our chances in front of goal. Hooper looks pretty handy, but he's the only goal scorer we've got at the club at the moment, which is no use when he's injured. We currently rely on Daryl Murphy and Samaras, which to be honest is shite.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Celtic have, and continue to buy too many over-priced, under-skilled foreigners to appease shit fans whilst raping other SPL talent to warm their bench. If Stokes signs he will not start every week. Similarly looks like Charlie Mulgrew has been frozen out, not really got a chance now that they've signed this (seemingly decent) Honduran left back either.

Out of a Celtic squad of 28, Wikipedia tells me that seven of those are Scottish (includes youngsters such as Forrest and Conroy too).

Largely blame for this can lie with Mowbray, however it seems Lennon's gone on a foreign spending spree also. There is absolutely no doubt that the Celtic team with McManus, Caldwell, Robson and McDonald was far better placed to be a success domestically than how it is currently.

[Murrr]

Very satisfied with Newcastle's transfer dealings this summer. Provided nobody important leaves today, we can look back on this window and say "job well done", even if nobody comes in today. We've signed James Perch, Dan Gosling, Sol Campbell, Cheick Tiote, and Hatem Ben Arfa, and binned Nicky Butt. Our XI will probably be Harper; S. Taylor, Campbell, Coloccini, Enrique; Tiote, Barton; Jonas, Ben Arfa, Routledge; Carroll, which should be good enough to keep us up.

Very pleased with Hughton's dealings once again. He's turning out to be the best managerial appointment we've made since Bobby.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Where did you manage to offload Nicky Butt to?

[Guest Gladstone]

Celtic have, and continue to buy too many over-priced, under-skilled foreigners to appease shit fans whilst raping other SPL talent to warm their bench. If Stokes signs he will not start every week. Similarly looks like Charlie Mulgrew has been frozen out, not really got a chance now that they've signed this (seemingly decent) Honduran left back either.

Out of a Celtic squad of 28, Wikipedia tells me that seven of those are Scottish (includes youngsters such as Forrest and Conroy too).

Largely blame for this can lie with Mowbray, however it seems Lennon's gone on a foreign spending spree also. There is absolutely no doubt that the Celtic team with McManus, Caldwell, Robson and McDonald was far better placed to be a success domestically than how it is currently.

I think this problem goes beyond Celtic to be honest. The problem of signing over-priced foreigners at the expense of blooding Scottish talent into the team has been happening at various teams in Scotland (and England).

And, Celtic and Rangers do get a lot of stick for signing players from other SPL teams and then sticking them on the bench. I think that argument is a bit over-stated. There have been players, yes, and I think it's fair to say in the past 10-15 years or so, that has happened more at Rangers than Celtic. I'm not an expert on Rangers, so I'll stick with Celtic - in the past 10-15 years or so, here are some players off the top of my head that we've signed from SPL clubs:

McDonald, Robson, Hartley, Riordan, Killen, Douglas, Mulgrew, Flood, Agathe, Pearson, McNamara. I can't be arsed getting a comprehensive list, but out of those McDonald, Robson, Hartley, Douglas, Agathe, and McNamara were all first team regulars, because they played their way into the team. The only one that didn't get a fair crack of the whip I would say was Killen. He seemed fucking shit, and I don't know why we signed him, but he did score goals when he played, so he maybe deserved more of a chance. Flood looked like he was shitting himself whenever he played. Riordan's attitude was apparently totally shit, and you can't blame a manager for not playing guys like that. Pearson played his part under O'Neill, although I would have played him more because I rated him quite highly at the time. It's a bit too early to say whether it will work out for Mulgrew, but he was in the team to start with after signing and he was pretty shit. Harsh for him to be ruled out so soon perhaps, but if he plays crap and we sign a left back who plays better than him, then why would Lennon play Mulgrew? If the new LB gets injured or has a bad spell, then Mulgrew will probably get another chance, and it's up to him to take it.

I do think that Celtic, much like other SPL teams (but not to the same extent, excluding maybe Hearts) spend too much time trying to get foreign players in, when they should try to bring more Scottish talent through their ranks, especially when the foreign talent is quite often not as good as some young Scottish players. And it's a bit of a problem in England as well I reckon - the EPL is far too concerned with being the Best League in the World to give a fuck about English players getting a game. They'd far rather see the entire Spain, Holland and Germany teams playing in the league than young good English players because it sells the product better.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

It's a bit too early to say whether it will work out for Mulgrew, but he was in the team to start with after signing and he was pretty shit. Harsh for him to be ruled out so soon perhaps, but if he plays crap and we sign a left back who plays better than him, then why would Lennon play Mulgrew? If the new LB gets injured or has a bad spell, then Mulgrew will probably get another chance, and it's up to him to take it.

Well it won't work out for Mulgrew because Lennon has already signed a better left-back than him, and he's not pacey enough to play left wing for a team like Celtic.

The question isn't 'why would Lennon play Mulgrew rather than a better left back?' the question is 'why would Lennon sign Mulgrew in the first place if he can't defend?'.

I agree that Rangers have been worse for taking the best players from other SPL clubs and then benching them, but I have much more of an issue with signing expensive, average foreigners rather than using the best young players in the youth team/reserves - Rangers and Celtic have the best youth teams in the league, why not use that to benefit the first team whilst at the same time boosting the state of Scottish football and the future of the national team?

[Guest Gladstone]

Fucking hell.

BBC Sport - Football - Old Firm will join the Premier League - Dermot Desmond

It's like he's saying "please, please, please can we join your league? Please. Pretty please."

Give it the fuck up. They told us to fuck off, and why can't we just accept that we are based in Glasgow, which is in the heart of the central belt of SCOTLAND and try to win the Scottish league and maybe even try to improve the Scottish game, instead of harping on about how shit the Scottish league is and that our MASSIVE club can't advance whilst playing in the shit Scottish league.

Remember the 60s? We won a big cup that we never stop going on about. We were still in Scotland then. And the 70s. Those filthy huns won a big cup as well. Then the 80s? Aberdeen muscled in and won TWO big cups. Fuck, only 7 years ago, we came pretty close to winning the UEFA cup and a few seasons ago, one of the worst Rangers teams I've seen for a while got to the UEFA cup final.

If we concentrated on what we've got and stop trying to join the big boys, whose league will fucking implode at some point once all these rich bastards get bored, and all the foreign players decide they don't like British winters anymore, maybe, just maybe we would stop being shit.

Can you imagine if we took the current Celtic team and dumped them into the Premier League? We would get raped every game. I know that's a little bit far-fetched because we'd get some more money and be able to buy some better players, but we would no longer be Celtic. We'd be a team based at Celtic Park, wearing Celtic strips, but playing against English clubs every week, and we'd be even more full of foreigners than we currently are.

Fuck that.

[Guest idol_wild]

I really wish Celtic and Rangers would just fuck off. Not necessarily just to England. But just fuck off forever in general. They make me hate Scottish football, and I don't actually want to hate Scottish football.

[Guest Gladstone]

Well it won't work out for Mulgrew because Lennon has already signed a better left-back than him, and he's not pacey enough to play left wing for a team like Celtic.

The question isn't 'why would Lennon play Mulgrew rather than a better left back?' the question is 'why would Lennon sign Mulgrew in the first place if he can't defend?'.

I agree that Rangers have been worse for taking the best players from other SPL clubs and then benching them, but I have much more of an issue with signing expensive, average foreigners rather than using the best young players in the youth team/reserves - Rangers and Celtic have the best youth teams in the league, why not use that to benefit the first team whilst at the same time boosting the state of Scottish football and the future of the national team?

I agree with you - completely.

I don't know why we signed Mulgrew in the first place - he has a good left peg on him and actually looks decent in the air. But not left back or left midfield material to be honest. He looked shit at Aberdeen whenever I saw him.

But, Lennon did sign him and he did give him a game. It was a weird one, but then Mulgrew just looked completely shit, and now he's been dropped. It's a shame for the lad really, because I'm sure he just wants to play football.

As for the signing of foreigners - I agree with you completely again. I don't know why these youth teams, in particular the Celtic youth team, which seems to win the league all the time, doesn't produce more first team players. I remember reading an article a few seasons ago where every single one of the under 19 squad got released. Just released. None of them was sold, loaned out, or offered a contract. Just released. I have no idea if we won the league that season - probably not, but I bet we weren't the worst under 19 team in the league. Ridiculous.

We seem to spring a good player every couple of seasons. Guys like Shaun Maloney, Aiden McGeady, James Forrest, even Stephen McManus and Darren O'Dea looked pretty good, but quite a lot of the time, they fail to live up to expectations. I'm really not sure why more aren't getting into the team - I'd be quite happy for the board to just give Neil Lennon 5 years to blood a completely home-grown team, and the likes of Shaun Maloney, Scott Brown (for example) could be the "experienced" players. But because we have fans who demand that we win the league, that just won't happen.

We were all laughing at the huns financial plight, but we then see them signing a couple of pretty good signings in Weiss and Jelavic, and even Beattie, when they are completely skint, and the fans demand that we at least match them - it's ridiculous.

If we win the SPL this season, we'll get turfed into 3 qualifying rounds of the Champions League and will we fuck get into it, so we might as well just decide to build a team with plenty of young Scottish talent throughout the squad all getting a fair crack of the whip, and if we win the league, it's a bonus. But have a long term goal of building a proper team, and keeping the team together, and blooding new talent each year, so that we can keep it going in the long term.

I know Man Utd have bucketloads of cash and can attract players pretty easily these days, but Ferguson really built a team from scratch and has done it a few times, and always has a decent number of English/British players playing regularly for him, many of them coming through the youth system. But Celtic keep going through the same cycle of trying to build a whole new team pretty much every season and it's no wonder it won't work, particularly when it's full of second rate foreign players.

[Shaki]

McDonald, Robson, Hartley, Riordan, Killen, Douglas, Mulgrew, Flood, Agathe, Pearson, McNamara.

.

Javier Sanchez Broto, David Fernandez.....

You fucking RUINED Livi actually.

As disappointing as it is most players who play in the SPL hope that they're in the shop window for either a move to England or to be picked up by one of the OF. They agree to the move and if they don't force their way into the team then it is their own fault and they'll end up back at the level they belong at.

[Nev]

Javier Sanchez Broto, David Fernandez.....

You fucking RUINED Livi actually.

On the bright side, Livi deserved it.

[Soda Jerk]

I really cannot believe that Newcastle have got Hatem Ben Arfa. It's all like some silly dream. A silly dream I'm not all that pleased about. There's alot said about how fucking bonkers he is, but he's also pant shittingly good, so it really won't matter.

For every red card he gets, he'll score 5 goals.

There better be some whopping massive business happening today! Nothing less than 20million, and ridiculous wage demands.

[Scorge]

I really wish Celtic and Rangers would just fuck off. Not necessarily just to England. But just fuck off forever in general. They make me hate Scottish football, and I don't actually want to hate Scottish football.

Too true. Ra Sellick should do one to the Eircom league, and the Huns can start out in the Cumbrian Counties League....

[Guest Gladstone]

Javier Sanchez Broto, David Fernandez.....

You fucking RUINED Livi actually.

As disappointing as it is most players who play in the SPL hope that they're in the shop window for either a move to England or to be picked up by one of the OF. They agree to the move and if they don't force their way into the team then it is their own fault and they'll end up back at the level they belong at.

Not taking responsibility for those two.

Broto was good but went fucking nuts, and Fernandez was fucked by injury. He was a cracking player until he got injured and subsequently fat as fuck.

All teams sign players that don't work out. I'm sure the Dons have signed plenty from lower league teams and then they haven't got a game.

In fact, I'll give you two - Bob Duncan and Jason McDonald from Mintlaw Academy. Ruined two fledgling careers there

EDIT: And Livi are a fake club with no fans - that's what ruined them.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

But, Lennon did sign him and he did give him a game. It was a weird one, but then Mulgrew just looked completely shit, and now he's been dropped. It's a shame for the lad really, because I'm sure he just wants to play football.

If he just wanted to play football he'd have signed the new deal Aberdeen offered him.

[Guest Gladstone]

If he just wanted to play football he'd have signed the new deal Aberdeen offered him.

I get what you're saying, but upon watching him, he clearly thinks he has more ability than he actually has, so he probably thought he would be playing football at Celtic.

Now, if he was offered to go back and play football for Aberdeen or be on the bench for Celtic, I'm sure he would take it.

I'd rather play week in week out for any team than sit on the bench for Celtic. Possibly with the exception of Rangers

[Adam Easy Wishes]

I get what you're saying, but upon watching him, he clearly thinks he has more ability than he actually has, so he probably thought he would be playing football at Celtic.

Now, if he was offered to go back and play football for Aberdeen or be on the bench for Celtic, I'm sure he would take it.

I'd rather play week in week out for any team than sit on the bench for Celtic. Possibly with the exception of Rangers

Incorrect, unless Aberdeen matched his wages.

[Guest Gladstone]

Incorrect, unless Aberdeen matched his wages.

Surely he's not just in it for the money? o_O

What has football become.

[Lemonade]

I think Stokes will be a good signing for Celtic, he's always scored goals wherever he's been and he's "Celtic-daft" (TM. The Daily Record). It remains to be seen however if they'll be any cop this season, Neil Lennon appears to have lost his mind.

[Guest idol_wild]

I really cannot believe that Newcastle have got Hatem Ben Arfa. It's all like some silly dream. A silly dream I'm not all that pleased about. There's alot said about how fucking bonkers he is, but he's also pant shittingly good, so it really won't matter.

For every red card he gets, he'll score 5 goals.

There better be some whopping massive business happening today! Nothing less than 20million, and ridiculous wage demands.

I can't share anyone's enthusiasm for this player at all. I think he'll prove to be quite a flop in the English Premier League. I feel Newcastle need one or two more wide players, but not an absolute batshit mental fuckwad. Newcastle have enough of those players already.