How is Luca Connell doing at Celtic?
As I was walking up Fairhill I heard a pitter-patter…
Anybody know the words of this?
Google gives me nothing.
I think it should be Firhill, but other than that nothing yet.
I thought ye were all diehard Celtic fans on here?
Latest athletic article talking about some of the burgeoning talent there including the Irish lads.
As Celtic laboured to an unfussy, if unconvincing, 2-1 win over Partick Thistle, there were some fresh faces for fans to applaud. Patryk Klimala came off the bench for his debut, while Daniel Arzani returned after 14 months out with the ACL injury suffered on his debut. But just as notable were the absences.
The Scottish Cup fourth round is pencilled in as an annual occasion for one or two young players to take their first real chance at senior action.
Given the glut of injury problems Celtic faced before Saturday’s kick-off, particularly on the wings, their newly adopted 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond brought a sense of novelty to the match but there was nothing novel about the starting personnel. Neil Lennon fielded an ostensibly full-strength team — even though the game at Firhill resembled perhaps the least pressured fixture left this season.
There are upsides to this.
It helped first-team players rebuild match fitness after the three-week winter break and offered a chance to begin making amends for the woeful final derby display of 2019 in the last game before the break. However, it also neglected a key opportunity to blood some of Celtic’s best prospects.
Last summer, Celtic committed strategically to the signing, development and use in the first team of young players from reputable English academies.
The most pertinent of these is, of course, Jeremie Frimpong. He arrived on deadline day for a nominal fee from Manchester City Under-23s. The Athletic understands Celtic’s new head of football operations Nick Hammond, then on a temporary contract, played a pivotal role in initiating discussions and getting the deal over the line after Lennon had first watched Frimpong provide an assist against Celtic during a closed-doors friendly earlier this year.
It is understood the 19-year-old’s main incentives for joining were the opportunity to win trophies early in his career while playing for a team who tend to enjoy the majority of possession and employ advanced attacking full-backs. A clearly defined route to the first team in his debut season was also key in his decision. Frimpong was expected to challenge Moritz Bauer as Celtic’s second-choice right-back for 2019-20, and then Hatem Elhamed for first choice next season. He has comfortably exceeded those expectations.
The Athletic is also aware 20-year-old striker Jonathan Afolabi, pictured above training with Republic of Ireland Under-21s in September, joined from Southampton Under-23s on similar principles. Hammond was again crucial to this signing. A two-month injury in September and October hindered Afolabi’s first-team integration but he has been in decent goal-scoring form for the reserves. He delivered a stellar performance in a closed-door friendly against Chelsea Under-23s last week and has impressed consistently in training.
Even with his injuries, there had been discussions about possible first-team appearances before the end of last year —particularly during Odsonne Edouard’s injury absence — but they didn’t materialise. Given he wasn’t involved with the squad against Partick, it is possible Afolabi might be loaned out this month.
Lee O’Connor, also signed on summer’s deadline day from Manchester United Under-23s, is in a similar situation. The 19-year-old has yet to make his Celtic debut but won a first full Republic of Ireland cap in November.
A final, crucial similarity is the prominence of Hammond in rubber-stamping the deals. It indicates a significant development in Celtic’s transfer policy: deliberately targeting the most highly rated — and most frustrated — products of English football’s most highly rated academies and convincing them to sign long-term contracts.
This is by no means a hard-and-fast rule. Celtic will, of course, still sign experience when needed and take players on loan who are financially unattainable otherwise. Klimala’s signing last week invoked their transfer policy for most of the previous decade: slightly more senior, but still young, rough diamonds from Europe’s lesser leagues. But the signing of players such as Frimpong is an important string to their bow.
Recruiting Hammond permanently as head of football operations underscores this policy as long term. Frimpong’s form (and potentially immense resale value) vindicates its tweak in direction.
This is before you account for the academy players impressing too, with some prompting whispers that they are first-team ready. Karamoko Dembele, 16, and 18-year-old Scott Robertson have already made their debuts in the Europa League, while the likes of Armstrong Okoflex, 17, and Barry Coffey, 18, also promise huge futures in the game.
This is a progressive strategy, on and off the pitch, but when it collides with the demands of reality, it doesn’t quite add up. Celtic need to prioritise winning the league every season. They need to set up to win every domestic game. And they need to qualify for the Champions League regularly for its financial windfall and to maintain credibility as a European option for ambitious players.
To best achieve these goals they need to, almost uniformly, field the best and most dependable team possible — at the expense of unproven youngsters.
There’s a disconnect between the good intentions of building an exciting young team and how the season actually pans out as tensions escalate in the title race.
These young players arrive with implicit understandings or explicit promises of first-team pathways, which are often a pivotal incentive for their joining. There might be other factors inhibiting their amount of game time — injuries, lack of application in training, general attitude — but it’s clear that these first-team pathways haven’t transpired so far, and are unlikely to do so for the rest of the season.
Celtic may then face an insurmountable problem. How can they aspire to the “Ajax model”, demanding patience and caution with youth integration and development — sometimes to the sacrifice of material success — if patience and caution are scarce when the urgency of winning the title resonates once again?
That was a long term injury that Mikey Johnston picked up last night on his knee.
How long is long term? 
Lennon was asked today about Bolingoli’s absence from the squad and said he’s not injured and just hasn’t been selected. Seems a bit drastic to go from first to third choice left back after the winter break.
Wanyama heading back to Celtic?
Celtic denying it so seems unlikely. Spurs do seem to be trying to move him on but they tried that in the summer unsuccessfully.
He’s getting £65k a week at Spuds, presume that’s well outside the payscale in SPL? Not that they’d have to pay him that if it came to it
Yeah, he’d need to accept less than half that I imagine and with links to games played etc (particularly given his injury record).
He doesn’t seem to have many options so he might be open to it. He’d be a decent signing for Celtic, but not sure if his best days aren’t behind him already, even though he’s only 28. It would show a bit of intent from Celtic at least.
He’s very injury prone, sadly.
The auld artificial sod might not be ideal for him either. How many of those are left in SPL?
Hamilton, Livi and Killie. So 4-6 games a season generally.
St Mirren might be too actually.
Is that all he is on at Spurs ??
if Soro and polish striker is all celtics business and rangers manage to land vydara then its advantage rangers… Where do rangers get the money to sign these players???
They are going all out to stop the 10 in a row. They’ll be wankrupt before, during or shortly after
Is Hagi’s cub signing for the huns?
While Celtic buy players for the future. Surely they should be a bit more indulgent to achieve 10 in a row or at least 9…
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