I don’t “feel they’re a threat” Bandage. The fact is they are a threat. If Pat McCourt lines out in a Champions League quarter final in the San Siro (which don’t get me wrong, I hope he does), it will undeniably be a “threat” to domestic football in terms of support - this is surely a statement of fact.
What are the strong and undeniable links to Ireland by the way?
Careful with the “small man’s syndrome” stuff. If I ask you why Celtic couldn’t beat Milan over two legs, and you state the obvious by saying “we can’t compete with their resources, they have more money than us, blah blah blah” it’s precisely the same syndrome on a relatively larger scale.
Precisely how I am I being “dishonest” about why I “dislike” them?
[quote=“Sledgehammer”]Celtic run summer soccer camps for kids over here as well, afaik the English clubs don’t (although I’m sure their scouting network doesn’t ignore us) - I find that a bit insidious to be honest, whatever about being clever marketing, which it probably is.
Of course I don’t expect Celtic to reject support from anywhere, and I’m sure most current Celtic fans will pass it onto their kids. I’m not really under any illusions here, don’t worry.[/quote]
[quote=“Sledgehammer”]I don’t “feel they’re a threat” Bandage. The fact is they are a threat. If Pat McCourt lines out in a Champions League quarter final in the San Siro (which don’t get me wrong, I hope he does), it will undeniably be a “threat” to domestic football in terms of support - this is surely a statement of fact.
What are the strong and undeniable links to Ireland by the way?
Careful with the “small man’s syndrome” stuff. If I ask you why Celtic couldn’t beat Milan over two legs, and you state the obvious by saying “we can’t compete with their resources, they have more money than us, blah blah blah” it’s precisely the same syndrome on a relatively larger scale.
Precisely how I am I being “dishonest” about why I “dislike” them?[/quote]
[quote=“Sledgehammer”]I don’t “feel they’re a threat” Bandage. The fact is they are a threat. If Pat McCourt lines out in a Champions League quarter final in the San Siro (which don’t get me wrong, I hope he does), it will undeniably be a “threat” to domestic football in terms of support - this is surely a statement of fact.
What are the strong and undeniable links to Ireland by the way?
Careful with the “small man’s syndrome” stuff. If I ask you why Celtic couldn’t beat Milan over two legs, and you state the obvious by saying “we can’t compete with their resources, they have more money than us, blah blah blah” it’s precisely the same syndrome on a relatively larger scale.
Precisely how I am I being “dishonest” about why I “dislike” them?[/quote]
Your Pat McCourt example is essentially the same as my own point again. All teams from English and Scotland actively pursue Irish players but you’ve singled out Celtic here. That’s because you seemingly have an inherent dislike of Celtic and you’re trying to dress that up as something else.
You say it’s actually because of the fake Irish buzz perpetuated by Celtic. A club founded by Irish people for Irish people with a history of Irish support and players, and evidenced by vast numbers of Irish season ticket holders and the most supporter’s clubs of any other football team in the country, is real and tangible and not fake. I don’t think you really believe it is either no matter what anecdote you tell about someone in a pub wearing a Celtic jersey and how you found it unpalatable at the time.
Yes, there’s fairweather Celtic supporters but there’s similar across all teams and the amount of Celtic supporters travelling from Ireland to watch their team dwarfs other clubs’ supporters.
I said small man syndrome was apparent in your comment about Celtic’s fake Irish buzz as I feel you resent how strong Celtic are in Ireland and you’re letting that cloud your judgement. Your comparison between my views on Celtic and Milan is different as I have no issues with Milan and respect the club.
I can understand why you see these soccer summer camps run by teams outwith the Eircom League as being opportunist and a marketing ploy. But, like Gary Glitter, the clubs’ collective motto is ‘get them early’ and the chances are you’ll then have a supporter for life. Do the Eircom League clubs offer such camps and is there enough of them to satisfy demand? Surely if clubs like Celtic have a well orgsanised set-up for the kids and the coaching is good and enjoyable then that’s the main thing. If Eircom League clubs are running good camps but they’re empty because kids are going to the other ones then that’s an issue.
Not sure what’s going on with Arsenal at the moment. From looking like title winners elect in February or March, they more or less imploded and now they’ve lost Flamini to Milan, Hleb to Barcelona and Adebayor might leave too. I know they follow a strict wage structure but their main rivals in an English and Eurpean context have higher wage budgets and that’s what appears to have tempted all three of these players. For all the Samir Nasri types they sign, they’re not going to win things without an experienced backbone in my opinion. But they’re keen to retain their current wage structure despite seemingly having the resources available to compete with the competition.
I get the impression they havent the resources yet to be honest, I get the feeling with the credit crunch and the slow movement of the development of Highbury Appt’s that their not exactly flush yet. Perhaps they want to hold onto the wage structure until they get out of the current cash flow problem?
I remember reading last year that Arsenal were very cash rich, as in hard cash because there move to emirates doubled match day take and they had done so well in transfer market.
Would they be net gainers in the transfer market since Wegner took over??? Id say credit crunch may affect them less as they havent been taken over and geared up to the ying yang
While income may have doubled I believe that until they manage to fisih off the Highbury Appt’s they’re short of cash flow and will never be able to really compete with the bigger Clubs wages wise.
pablo aimer looks like he could be on his way to newcastle for around 7 million…he was a smashing player when he first signed for valencia…but never really lived up to his potential, he could have been one of the best around as he certainly had the ability although he was a bit on the small side…he will fit in well with the rest of the under achievers at newcastle…
Sledge seriously theyre some crazy comments youve made. You can argue all night about how Irish Celtic are but calling them fake Irish is ridiculous. Was Michael Davitt fake Irish or just duped by the merchandising too? The Irish connections didnt end with Brother Walfrid however much you wish otherwise.
Celtic have a huge fanbase over here and attract far more “genuine” fans than the English clubs do as any season ticket lists will show.
The criticisms of the Celtic soccer camps are purely insular. If Bohs produced a decent coaching structure theyd do better at attracting kids. The reality is that theyve shown zero ambition. The answer to Irish soccer problems is not hoping McCourt stays at Derry.