Article in the Hearald (Scottish) this morning suggesting:
[url=http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/68234.html]http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/68234.html
Lee Naylor would be a disaster. Most players you say ?well, he doesn?t seem brilliant but we?ll at least give him a chance to prove himself? but this guy is a proven poor player. Why they?re even considering him beats me. I know you have Strachan doubts now but I think this signing would be an indictment on not just him but Lawwell, Desmond and everyone on the board. Strachan because he hasn?t sorted out the left back problem in over 12 months and the others for not backing him with the cash to buy a decent one. They?re also scratching around trying to find a target man to replace Hartson ? much as I thought it was time for him to go, they should not have sold him before having a replacement lined up. I?d be well pissed off if there?s no new striker in by the deadline.
From breaking news down the side!
Rock, can you do anything about the way apostrophes are appearing as ‘?#@’ etc down the side on breaking news? Go on, add it to your list.
Strachan tempted by Gravesen move
18/08/2006 - 15:39:24
Gordon Strachan has confirmed his interest in signing Thomas Gravesen and Serbian hitman Daniel Ljuboja.
Talk of Celtic being interested in Real Madrid star Gravesen had not been taken seriously considering the club?s hard-line tactics over transfer fees and players wages.
The Spanish giants would demand ?3m for the player but the fact Strachan and chief executive Peter Lawwell are still interested suggests they are not scared by the price.
The stumbling block however would be the Denmark international?s wages and the Hoops boss has warned him he would have to take a cut to fit into his pay structure.
Strachan said: ?We are actively trying to sign players and Peter (Lawwell) has been in Europe this week, trying his best to bring in players.
?It?s not for me, the fans or Peter but it?s for the players because they need more players beside them.
?We have lost some huge personalities over the past six months and we need to get good personalities and players to help these guys, who are working extremely hard.
?There would have to be some homework done on those (Gravesen) wages and we would like to try to keep him in the structure we have just now.
?It?s unfair to speak about anybody that?s not here and on something that might possibly happen but we are looking to bring in quality players within our budget.?
Celtic have also been strongly linked with a move for VfB Stuttgart striker Ljuboja but the German club are demanding a fee in the region of ?2m.
The possible sale of Stilian Petrov to Aston Villa would give Strachan more money to spend and he continued: ?He is one of the players we are interested in.
?If somebody has stated we are interested then I can?t tell you porkies and say we are not interested.?
Celtic also remain in talks with Wolves over the possible capture of full-back Lee Naylor.
Strachan added: ?That?s another one that (Wolves chief executive) Jez Moxey was talking about and I?d be lying to say I?m not interested.
?We will see what we can do but again it?s a money issue.?
I’d be well pissed off if there’s no new striker in by the end of the deadline.
There’s no “end” to a deadline bandage. It’s a stated point in time not a period of time.
Just to help you with your career in journalism.
Thank you.
What you talkin’ bout Appendage? ???
Made a balls of the quotation thing. Apologies Bandage.
That’s grand cos I definitely didn’t go in and amend my post when I saw your first one. 
Are you a slow learner? ;D
Fooker
If you’d have gone to primary school with me then you’d have been one of Mrs McMenemy’s children. You know the thick, crazy fookers who can’t read or write and are brought to a separate room for a few hours to play with crayons so the rest of us could learn.
Strachan confirmed in his press conference today that Martin O’Neill had enquired about Petrov. Lawwell has tonight put a 10m price tag on him. Dead fooking right, fed up of all these clubs trying to get Celtic players on the cheap. As one guy said, ‘Petrov: aged 27, in his prime, captain of his country with over 50 caps, over 40 appearances in European competition and 50 goals in all competitions in the last 4 seasons. If Michael Carrick’s worth 17m then Celtic should not accept 5m for Stan.’
Still think he might go for 7m or 8m and Celtic are playing hardball but again if he does go we need to finalise things in time to get replacements. It’s a bit of a quandry really because if he stays Celtic might sign tripe like Naylor but if a nice wad of cash is forthcoming then they can go out and sign some quality players. Still want him to stay mind.
Looks like Venegoor might be signing. Have to say I would be thrilled with that if it comes off.
CELTIC are set to clinch Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink’s signing from PSV Eindhoven in a ?5.5m deal.
The transfer for the man with the longest name in European football should go through in the next 48 hours - provided no Premiership clubs step in to hijack the deal.
Thats’s the good news, but the bad news is that it will cost ?19 to have his phenomenal name put on the back of a replica shirt.
And Big Jan has a historical explanation for his name. He said: "A couple of centuries ago, we are going back to the time of Napoleon, there were two big farms in the area where I was born.
“One belonged to the family Vennegoor, the other to the family Hesselink. Both farms and families became one as some of the members got married to each other. They decided to use both names.”
Yeah saw that but there’s no quotes or anything to back it up. With the fee quoted it would suggest that Petrov is going to be sold. See Portsmouth are back in for him today but I reckon he’ll hold out for Villa.
Very disappointed with Celtic today. They pretty much owned the ball in the first half but played without any sense of urgency, they just settled for playing it square and keeping it without really probing at all. For all their possession they didn’t really create anything other than the goal.
Jarosik was the Jarosik I remember from Birmingham, there’s a fine line between being languid and lazy and today he seemed disinterested. I’d also like to see Naka do more, I know he changes the angle of attack with some crisp passing but I want to see more desire from him, I want him getting on the ball more, demanding it and running the game.
They only started playing again after ICT equalised. Very impressed with Aiden today and in fairness to Miller he ran his balls off and I’m sorry he didn’t get a goal. Pearson was Celtic’s best player, he had the energy, desire and conviction that was lacking in others. It’s hard not to be a bit despondent after watching that, the prospect of Petrov going and no hint of any decent players coming in. The days of Seville and having class players like Larsson, Sutton and Mjallby seem a long, long time ago now.
Agree with all of the above Bandage. I was pleased enough with the first half though because I felt the goal would come. It was after I scored that I thought we lacked ambition and enthusiasm which was hugely disappointing, especially considering the constant singing from the Celtic end urging them on.
Naka and Jarosik were far too anonymous for the quality of player they claim to be. Pearson has bags of energy and drive and should be in the team for that reason alone. Also think Sno offers something similar and I think he’d have brought something to the table today.
McGeady was excellent. Encouraging from him that he’s performed very well in the last 5 games or so for Celtic. It’s that consistency that will see him mature into a class act.
Looks like Venegoor and Naylor will be at Celtic Park today or tomorrow with fees agreed with respective clubs. I’d be thrilled with Venegoor of H, less so with Naylor. Incidentally I felt Wallace did alright as full back yesterday, though there were times when McGeady was surrounded by 3 or 4 players and it was crying out for Wallace to offer an alternative option on the overlap but he stayed miles back.
Still think we need to sign a central midfielder badly if Petrov goes. There was no leadership in the middle yesterday, disappointing from Lennon. He should have been keeping the pace of the game up and pushing Celtic on but he was anonymous at 1-0.
Extract from Neil Lennon’s autobiography that’s being serialised in one of the Scottish rags. Like the way he openly calls the huns and the media sectarian bigots and apologists:
'THE Old Firm match at Ibrox in November, 2004, was pure bedlam from start to finish - full of passion on both sides.
Alan Thompson was sent off after Peter Lovenkrands went down rather too artfully for my liking and Chris Sutton was red-carded.
We were two men and two goals down and I was being vilified everywhere I went on the pitch.
I had never known the abuse to be so bad and it reached a climax when I went to chase a ball that had gone out of play.
I was bombarded with Rangers scarves, so I thought it would be funny to pretend to spit and polish my boots with one of them.
That only endeared me further to the Rangers support but what happened after the match sent them apoplectic.
As usual after the final whistle, I went over to salute the Celtic fans in the Broomloan Road stand when I saw Martin O’Neill coming towards me.
I really didn’t know what he was going to do. But then he put his arm around me and walked with me towards our fans.
In view of the public and cameras, he was saying: “This is my team and they are my players, and I back them to the hilt.”
When I realised what he was doing, the Celtic fire within me flamed up and I, too, gestured my defiance to our support.
The Press and broadcasters went crazy. There were calls for Martin and I to be disciplined but as usual the reactions were all over the top.
One of the more bizarre interventions came from the normally sensible Rangers Supporters Trust who paid a lip reader to “prove” that I had called the fans “orange b*******” during the game.
Leaving aside the fact you didn’t need a lip reader to hear thousands of Rangers supporters abusing me, I categorically deny shouting that at their fans.
But you should have heard what I said to Alex McLeish and their bench. It was after that game that Martin made a much-publicised remark: that I had been subjected to racial and sectarian abuse. I was being abused for being Irish and Catholic.
He was criticised in many quarters for saying that but I could see the point that he was making.
I now know how players like John Barnes, Ian Wright and Viv Anderson must have felt when they first encountered racial abuse.
When you are the victim of abuse, the football pitch can be a lonely place and in a sense you are not really one of the 22 players on the field.
I have played in games in England in which players were racially abused. It is extremely unpleasant, not just for the poor guy who is being subjected to the jeers or monkey chants or whatever but also for his fellow players.
No player minds if he is being booed or jeered because fans don’t like his performance but to be abused simply because you’re black or because you are Irish or a Catholic is surely beyond the pale in any civilised society. It has been going on for five years now and I am quite used to it.
Although it gets annoying from time to time, it is just something I have to tolerate.
Curiously, the abuse did not take place when I first arrived at Celtic. It only began to happen on a regular basis after I was booed and jeered while playing for Northern Ireland.
Since then, it has happened to me so often, that it is really a matter of little concern to me. If anything, I have used it to spur me on, with a feeling of: “I’ll show you.”
My team-mates also rallied round me and felt the same way about one of their number being abused.
So if you are one of the people who jeered me, how does it feel to know you helped to inspire me and my fellow Celts to play better against your team?
And since I have been in a team which has won more trophies in the past five seasons than any other Scottish club, how clever does that make you?
Why have I been singled out for this treatment? Some people say it is because I am combative.
But as far as I know, I have never changed my style and, as I say, no one booed me incessantly before the Northern Ireland situation erupted.
I think it is fairly obvious that in places such as Ibrox and Tynecastle, it is because I am an Irish Catholic who plays for Celtic.
I am not saying I have received sectarian abuse in every stadium in Scotland but undoubtedly the motivation for some people to boo me is bigotry.
In a twisted view of the world, they think they can express their sectarian outlook by abusing me, picking on me because I am the highest-profile Irish Catholic in Scottish football.
That appears to me to be the principal reason why I have been subjected to this long campaign of abuse at so many grounds.
I will say it again - bigotry is a problem in Scotland and too many people are happy not to confront the issues involved. The majority of the population are decent folk who abhor sectarianism but there is a sizeable minority who express their anti-Catholic feelings at football matches.
Put it this way, if I was a captain of Celtic who hailed from somewhere in Lanarkshire, does anyone really think that I would be booed and jeered every time I touched the ball?
People who carry out this activity should take a long look at themselves but I won’t hold my breath waiting for them to do so.
I am disappointed with the number of journalists who have acted as apologists for the abusers.
They have written that I am abused because of my aggressive manner or because I have an arrogant style.
So why is it that other players who have been aggressive or arrogant over the years have not received the same constant, continuous abuse as I have?
Some people in the Press have depicted me as someone who could not control himself on the field and that, too, in some way, excuses the abuse I have received.
So why is it that my disciplinary record is actually nowhere near the worst? I have only been sent off once in a league match in nearly six years in Scotland.
All I have done on the field of play is to stick up for myself and my fellow Celtic players and defend ourselves from our opponents.
I have done no more than Roy Keane did at Manchester United or Terry Butcher did for Rangers in his heyday. Yet, many people in the media do not see it that way.
They actively go out of their way to ignore the abuse I have suffered or act as an apologist for the abusers instead of having the guts to say what is really going on.
I get booed from the second I walk on to the pitch at Ibrox and Tynecastle in particular, yet there are journalists who are happy to sweep these things under the carpet and pretend that it is happening because I wind other players up.
For all the logic in that argument, they would be as well writing that people jeer me because I have red hair.
What really annoys me about those who give me personal abuse is that none of these people - not journalists, not fans - nobody except my family and friends really know what I am like as a person.’
Apparently Radio Clyde are reporting that the Hesselink deal is off before he?s even flown into Glasgow as both parties are so far apart with regard to wages. Good news, it?ll free up some cash to sign more dross like Telfer or maybe big Dion can be resigned to fill in the breach.
Now a) I don?t know if this is true for definite and I don?t know what VoH is asking for but I?ll be well annoyed if they can?t sort something. Even somebody of my sunny disposition is starting to get very dismayed at things. Now we have Strachan praising the performance yesterday. If Petrov stays then a left back (not Lee Naylor) and a striker are priority. If Petrov goes then 3 players are needed in the next 10 days. The way things are going nobody will be brought in and then we can look forward to a load of champions league humpings. I don?t want to owe lyonsee ?100.
I saw that alright but I think, and hope, it’s a wild uneducated guess. I’ve built myself up for this and I’ll be hugely disappointed if we don’t sign him (unless Ljubola is already lined up and that’s why we’ve pulled out of the deal).
Some element of truth in the story, this is from the BBC. There’s a difference between penny pinching and being prudent.
Dutchman demands more from Celtic
Netherlands and PSV Eindhoven striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink says Celtic must increase their offer if they want to seal his transfer.
The two clubs have agreed a fee, reportedly ?5m, for the 27-year-old, who has permission to speak to Celtic.
But Vennegoor of Hesselink said: "We have had talks with Celtic, but there’s a big difference between what we want and what they are offering.
“I am enjoying my time at PSV and it’s something I won’t give up easily.”
A previously proposed move to Porto fell through, reportedly due to a ?1m fee due to the striker should he be sold to another club.
And Vennegoor of Hesselink, who scored in Sunday’s 3-1 win over NEC Nijmegen as the Dutch league season got underway, was still training with PSV on Monday morning. I have a good feeling about going to Celtic
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink
“I have all the time in the world as leaving PSV is not a necessity for me,” he said.
"I don’t have to go and, in fact, part of me doesn’t want to go.
"I will only go if the whole package is perfect.
"Celtic are a fantastic club with great supporters and the club has a lot of history.
“Of course it’s different from the English Premiership, but it’s all to do with your gut feeling and I have a good feeling about going to Celtic, so long as the package is good.”
Reports from the Netherlands suggested that the striker was minded to join the Glasgow club because of the prospect of Champions League football.
But Tonny Vennegoor of Hesselink, the striker’s father and manager, told BBC Sport that they are looking at more than one option.
Vennegoor of Hesselink has won six caps for the Dutch and was part of their squad at the 2006 World Cup, playing in their second-round defeat to Portugal.
He started off his career at FC Twente before moving to PSV in 2001.
PSV general manager Stan Valckx added: “We have agreed a fee with Celtic and it is now up to the player.”
Its hard to tell whether he is just after the money or not. Would love to know how much he wants versus how much is being offered.
What annoyed me after the match at the weekend was that we were all over Caley( didn’t move out of 2nd gear) but in usual Celtic style never killed off the game. Then when they scored we decided to start pumping balls into the box and looked like we could score, but its too late then. But one thing that is certain is that we missed petrov big time.Must keep him now.