[quote=āRocko, post: 746771, member: 1ā]I didnāt see the match at the weekend, and obviously thereās a bit of emotional hyperbole in your reaction there but Iād consider the following as ādifficult to replace within our budgetā:
Wanyama
Matthews
Ledley
Hooper (not that heās exempt from criticism but if he does leave, which looks likely, it might cost us a bit to get another goalscorer in. We have a good few forwards who donāt score many - Watt and Stokes are the only other two who might threaten to get 20 in an SPL season).
Brown
Forster (but he needs to learn how to come off his line. When was the last time he left his box I wonder? Every other goalkeeper usually ends up leaving their box at least once per game. Forster never ever strays beyond the penalty spot except when kicking it out of his hands).
Samaras (but heās either overused or often not very interested. A super big game player for us in the past couple of seasons but he really knows how to look uninterested in a game where heās not overly bothered).
Lustig has perhaps been our most consistent player this season apart from Wanyama.
Beyond that I think Wilson, Izaguirre, Watt, Forrest, Rogic and probably McGeouch are worth keeping as the best players in their positions, or players with lots of potential.
Iād be largely indifferent to Commons, Kayal, Rogne, Ambrose, Lassad, Miku, Mulgrew, Gershon and McCourt leaving. And Iād only be looking for any sort of money for Kayal, Commons and Mulgrew. Stokes probably deserves a bit of time to get regular games after his injury but heās another player who can look great some days and awful other times.[/quote]
It would not cost us any money to get a ready made goalscorer in as we already have one, who is a much better player as well as a more complete player in Anthony Watt who Lennon has ignored all season long. Lennon has done this all season come out and lay the gauntlet down to his regulars who have underperformed dometically for most of the season, but itās more or less the same XI all season long showing that Lennonās words are hollow and he is full of hot air. Hooper will be very easily replaced and he is going down hill, we need to sell this summer before he deteriorates any more. Common is tactically inflexible and inconsistent so I would get rid. Iād get rid of Kayal too as his performances have ranged from poor to average over the past two seasons. McCourt, Watt and Stokes must despise Lennon and they have every right to.
Paul Slane was busy on twitter last night. He posted pictures of himself riding hookers in Amsterdam and a few other bits and pieces.
He made one first team appearance back in August / September but has been injured a lot. Seems he was either released a week or two ago or told heād be let go in the summer and has had a melt down.
You could have a scenario where a British team like Liverpool will have more support than an Irish club on Irish soil. Like those embarrassing scenes a few years ago when the Airtricity League XI played Manchester United there.
McGeouch got the second in a 2-0 victory over Kilmarnock, while Tony Watt was involved in the build up play for both. Iād like to see these three players feature heavily in the remaining SPL games, particularly Watt.
No news on the extent of Commonsā injury from the weekend. Weāre appealing the Wanyama red card - heād otherwise miss the cup semi-final against Dundee United.
The SPL have taken their stupidity to a whole new level now. They were scheduled to announce the post split fixtures yesterday but failed to do so because agreement couldnāt be reached between clubs, police and broadcast partners.
So they came back today and announced that Celtic, with a 15-point lead and 5 games to go, will have their first post split game against Caley Thistle televised live on Sky Sports on Sunday 21st April.
However, in the same breath, they announced that second place Motherwellās first post split fixture away to Dundee United will be televised live on ESPN on the Friday night before it.
Obviously Celtic are going to win the league anyway but youād think for the fucking profile of the league and to make an occasion of it for supporters, broadcasters and sponsors that they wouldnāt have engineered a situation where Celtic might seal the league by default 2 days before playing.
The ludicrous red card decision against Wanyama in the recent St Mirren match has been rescinded. Heāll therefore be available for the cup semi-final against Dundee United on Sunday. A Kenyan journalist (who seems to be friends with him judging by twitter interactions and regular interviews given to him) reckons heās going to stay at Celtic for another season after this one.
Looks like the SPL vote to change to a 12-12-18 league structure has been lost due to Ross County and St Mirren voting against it (11-1 or better required to push change through). Not sure how things will develop from here - Iām not enthused by the current set up but I wasnāt that impressed with the proposal either. Either way, Celtic need to get out of Scotland to play in a refugee league somewhere.
Iām as yet unsure how to react and may not bother reacting at all. It doesnāt really affect Celtic at all and Iād like to think weād be in the top split most seasons so Iām largely indifferent to it.
So Celtic can be confirmed as champions tonight if Motherwell fail to win at Dundee United. Bizarre.
Neil Lennon confirmed that Anthony Stokes would be offered a new contract and also suggested that Scott Brown was unlikely to make the cup final despite the player stating he had a fighting chance.
He also launched a tirade at the SFA after their laughable decision to ban him for 3 games for calling Jim Goodwin a fucking fanny during the recent game at St Mirren.
