This has been a very disappointing transfer campaign so far. Do you guys think we will hold onto van Dijk and Forster. I’m not Forster’s biggest fan but £3.5m for a player who has excelled at the highest level of club football is a joke, particularly for a player whose profile is at a premium - young (for a goalkeeper), English international and impressing at a high level. We shouldn’t consider bids under £10m and we should actually end any further talks with Southampton on any players after than insulting bid.
Think we should only sell Van Dijk for a fee over £12m, I’d like us to get him to stay another season however. I don’t see much activity happening - perhaps a winger and midfielder coming in and a replacement for Van Dijk if he goes - I’d also expect two strikers to leave (Balde and Watt most likely) and would assume Gordon has been brought in as Forster’s replacement.
[QUOTE=“Il Bomber Destro, post: 989660, member: 2533”]This has been a very disappointing transfer campaign so far. Do you guys think we will hold onto van Dijk and Forster. I’m not Forster’s biggest fan but £3.5m for a player who has excelled at the highest level of club football is a joke, particularly for a player whose profile is at a premium - young (for a goalkeeper), English international and impressing at a high level. We shouldn’t consider bids under £10m and we should actually end any further talks with Southampton on any players after than insulting bid.
Think we should only sell Van Dijk for a fee over £12m, I’d like us to get him to stay another season however. I don’t see much activity happening - perhaps a winger and midfielder coming in and a replacement for Van Dijk if he goes - I’d also expect two strikers to leave (Balde and Watt most likely) and would assume Gordon has been brought in as Forster’s replacement.[/QUOTE]
I think we’ll hold on to Van Dijk.
Agreed on Forster. Should be £10m minimum to tempt us to sell. In fairness to him, he doesn’t seem to be doing any agitating at all.
Ronny had said we wouldn’t be bringing anyone in before the KR games so that had me being a bit patient but there doesn’t seem to be much imminent. I think he previously said that we’d be looking to get a winger - or am I imagining/misremembering that? I think that’s an obvious area for improvement. I would hope that we’d move on a striker or two even and bring in a more clinical finisher. Pukki took his goals well the other night but he still looks more comfortable dropping off slightly - same as Stokes and Commons. Watt is playing today against St Pauli (and Baldé). Hoping for a good showing from Tony. If he sorts out his attitude he could be a big difference for us - has all the attributes to be a great player.
Bitton is also starting today. He seems to have acquired a second “t” during the close season and the new spelling is being used by Celtic on all official media channels.
Watt is about to sign for Standard Liége for £1.2m
On the face of it, that’s a fairly modest fee to be getting for a talented player with lots of potential. There are clearly off the field issues with him though. That was evident in his last spell in Belgium where his coach had a go at him in public a few times. He was a bit frustrating at the weekend but still had more of the natural qualities you’d want in a striker than Atajic or Baldé. He did look very work shy though.
The lack of activity in the other direction is beginning to look very worrying though.
[QUOTE=“Rocko, post: 990804, member: 1”]Watt is about to sign for Standard Liége for £1.2m
On the face of it, that’s a fairly modest fee to be getting for a talented player with lots of potential. There are clearly off the field issues with him though. That was evident in his last spell in Belgium where his coach had a go at him in public a few times. He was a bit frustrating at the weekend but still had more of the natural qualities you’d want in a striker than Atajic or Baldé. He did look very work shy though.
The lack of activity in the other direction is beginning to look very worrying though.[/QUOTE]
That’s hugely disappointing. I have no doubts that Watt will develop into a great player.
If he was being sold under Lennon then I’d be inclined to agree with you. But the last 3 managers he has had (Lennon, Deila and the guy at Lierse) all seem to have had problems working with him. I’m surprised he’s not getting a further opportunity with Deila but he obviously has attitude problems. Whether they’ll prevent him from becoming a great player or not… who knows? But he looks a more naturally talented striker than pretty much anyone else at Celtic.
He hasn’t played a huge amount of games so he still has plenty to prove in that respect
He has played a lot from the bench so questions about his fitness would remain
His workrate and attitude at the weekend were poor. He looked threatening and uninterested in equal measure. I wouldn’t have said it was outrageous or anything (more Samaras-esque than anything) but it was indicative of someone who isn’t quite taking his chances.
I do think the fact that 3 consecutive managers have arrived at more or less the same conclusion is telling. When Lennon left, his backroom did too so there can’t have been too many voices in Deila’s ear criticizing Watt. He obviously hasn’t done enough in the few weeks available to convince anyone that his attitude is good enough. Because I doubt it’s about his talent.
It’s certainly very disappointing though. We won’t get many better strikers for £1.2m, even if we do spend the money.
Jo Inge Berget strongly linked with us this evening.
He’s a 23 year old Norwegian attacker (think he usually plays just off a striker) who moved to Cardiff last year from Molde. @theLockes will have all the details on him from his interests in Norway.
[QUOTE=“Rocko, post: 991067, member: 1”]Jo Inge Berget strongly linked with us this evening.
He’s a 23 year old Norwegian attacker (think he usually plays just off a striker) who moved to Cardiff last year from Molde. @theLockes will have all the details on him from his interests in Norway.
[QUOTE=“Rocko, post: 990804, member: 1”]Watt is about to sign for Standard Liége for £1.2m
On the face of it, that’s a fairly modest fee to be getting for a talented player with lots of potential. There are clearly off the field issues with him though. That was evident in his last spell in Belgium where his coach had a go at him in public a few times. He was a bit frustrating at the weekend but still had more of the natural qualities you’d want in a striker than Atajic or Baldé. He did look very work shy though.
The lack of activity in the other direction is beginning to look very worrying though.[/QUOTE]
Officially confirmed. Tony Watt to Standard Liege is a done deal. A shame it’s come to this.
This Jo Inge Berget character has signed on loan until January 2015 initially but we have an option to buy. Either we have fuck all money to buy players or the Deila doesn’t have total faith in him despite managing him before or both.
that’s a pity lads, Watt is a grand player, i know Guy Luzon (former Israel u-21 manager) is building a nice team there and it shows that the “lure” of getting knocked out in the group stages of the CL wasnt enough to keep him there… good bit of business by Liege, what was it , 1million euro?
@Rocko[/USER] or [USER=2533]@Il Bomber Destro, please set up a thread for the next round of Champions League fixtures. I’ve got a bad feeling we’ll come unstuck in one of these two rounds. Scott Brown is a big loss.
Leicester are meant to be in for Commons. While he scored a plethora of goals last season, I’m not sure he fits this apparent Deila template of moving the ball quickly and pressing hard when we lose it. He likes to use his fat arse to get turned and take a few touches.
[QUOTE=“Dirty Hands Walter, post: 991497, member: 9”]@Rocko[/USER] or [USER=2533]@Il Bomber Destro, please set up a thread for the next round of Champions League fixtures. I’ve got a bad feeling we’ll come unstuck in one of these two rounds. Scott Brown is a big loss.
Leicester are meant to be in for Commons. While he scored a plethora of goals last season, I’m not sure he fits this apparent Deila template of moving the ball quickly and pressing hard when we lose it. He likes to use his fat arse to get turned and take a few touches.[/QUOTE]
+1
I’d willingly let Commons go if we got a bid of £3m or so.
This is a very difficult game tomorrow, I’d imagine Legia would be a lot stronger than any of the team Celtic drew under Lennon in the qualifying stages, big ask for Rocket Ronny and the Bhoys but hopefully we can do it.
What’s the team news? Stokesy available? I would stick with Pukki in any case, imagine the starting lineup wil be more or less the same as the last day.