Following yesterday’s 2-2 draw with Hibs, Lennon revealed: “We’re hoping to get Lassad in. I know there was talk of him going to Levante but that all came about while the game was going on.
“I’ve had clarification from his advisors he will be in Glasgow. We’ve agreed terms and the paperwork is done – we just need him in to do a medical.”
The 26-year-old scored 24 in 99 games for Deportivo and Lennon reckons he will add another dimension to his squad.
The Hoops gaffer said: “He’s six foot two, leads the line well, can play outside or inside the box and heads it well.
“We’ve liked him for a while. Most of his goals have come in the Spanish second tier but it’s still a good standard. He brings another dimension to the team that we’ve missed.”
Celtic have confirmed the signing of Lassad Nouioui on a 2-year deal subject to international clearance. Levante have also claimed to have signed this no mark.*
will edit this description of the player as appropriate if he turns out to be decent.
Scott Brown’s hip problem seems to be fairly serious. A degenerative condition apparently. Took an injection to play in midweek and was unable to walk on Thursday. Already pulled out of the Scotland squad and a doubt for the opening Champions League game.
Apparently we failed in a move for Maor Melikson, his agent has stated this. I presume this was a late move after Henriksen signed for AZ. We were all over the place in this transfer window - for a side that had all summer to target players it was a scatter gun last couple of days in the transfer window. Ambrose seems to have been the only player we had identified in advance. Miku and Lassad stink of two lads that were available and offered cheap short-term solutions to us. I’m still really annoyed at the club for the farce of the transfer window.
I was very pleased with the first three transfer windows under Lennon - ironically these were under financial constraints where we had to sell, didn’t have CL football and had quite a big wage bill. Now with these factors no longer a problem we seem to have gone back to being incompetent in our transfers again. We’ve been looking for a striker for the past three transfer windows and we’ve struggled to get in our main targets each time - Damari, Diawara, Rudnevs, Ogunjimi and Musona. In that time we have brought in:
Bangura (panic buy)
Brozek (short term fix with little pedigree)
Miku (see above)
Lassad (cheap solution with an extremely disheartening record)
You can add Melikson and Henriksen to the list of players who we have targeted but failed to capture. It’s all that miserly prick Lawwell’s fault.
Lawwell’s list of shame is getting quite ridiculous now. He’s the guy who signed off on the Balde contract, then decided that he’d get rid of him by freezing him out of the club (at a time when he was the only decent defender at the club), this blew up in his face as Balde decided he wouldn’t be bullied out of the club and saw out his contract. He was also the guy who sanctioned Strachan to build up a squad full of dross and a huge wage bill saturated with lads who couldn’t play football. He presided over a period of three years when we neither won the title or played CL football - thus in turn leading to us having to sell off our most iconic player in order to finance a new manager (after the Mowbray farce he was at fault for). Now when we have a chance to solidify our place as CL regulars over the next few years and bring a bit of prestige back to the club, he is setting the club back yet again with his miserly penny pinching and downsizing - when there is no need. The sooner we get rid of this cancer and his rising bonuses the better.
I agree with a lot of that but not in such strong terms, Totti. Whether Miku was a last-ditch signing or not, I think he certainly has pedigree over the past few years. Very promising reports on him from the likes of Tim Vickery, Sid Lowe and Graham Hunter (Rocko’s favourite). 12 La Liga goals for Getafe last season is a very acceptable return and part of a Venezuela side that advanced to the last 4 of the Copa America.
Maybe I am being overly harsh, Bandage. I just feel he is one of those players who is a jack of all trades and master of none, he’s also a player who has made his name in sides who play counter attacking football which is not the way we play. The fact that Getafe would allow him leave on loan is also peculiar. I actually have much more hope for Lassad than I do for Miku.
No further news on the Samaras injury yet. He’s our best player at retaining the ball in European games and his strength and ability to dribble with the ball, shield it and hold it have been very important to our European improvement over the past 12 months. Good news would be very welcome.
Tony Watt came off the bench to score on his Scotland U21 competitive debut last Thursday night and he also scored on his competitive full debut in Austria tonight. That ties into his Celtic debuts - off the bench to score at Motherwell and then scoring at Inverness on his full debut. He’s been wonderfully impressive in his short Celtic career to date.
Looks like Lassad will be the only one of the new bhoys who could feature tomorrow. Miku only arrived back from international duty today and Ambrose isn’t in Glasgow this weekend (Neil also ruled him out of the game against Benfica). Brown and Mulgrew will return however and Neil sounded hopeful about the chances of Kayal and Ledley for Benfica. He also stated that the injury Samaras sustained isn’t as bad as was first feared but he will definitely miss the Benfica game but could be available for Spartak.
James Keatings scored a double for Hamilton today.
We had scouts watching Aron Johansson the other day apparently. He’s a 21 year-old Icelandic/American striker/winger who has scored 10 in 10 for AGF Aarhus in Denmark this season. He scored in the match our scouts attended.
Filip and Patrik Twardzik have each signed new 3-year deals today.
We’re playing Raith at home in the League Cup tonight. Does it warrant its own thread, bhoys? McGeouch, Kayal and Ambrose start in midfield and Watt partners Hooper upfront.
