Wednesday 25 April 2012

TC Transfer Update

Good day to you fellow Tim.

Today I've decided to write a little pre transfer speculation for the following transfer window. As you will no doubt be aware the transfer window opens on the 1st July and closes 31st August. Undoubtedly many names will come and go and the same old names will be wheeled out by the same old tired acts. I set up TC in 2010 to cut through the mess of made up targets, but I must say I am not immune from being caught out! Nobody is, so its imperative that you take the following information with a pinch of salt. Enjoy!

After looking at the squad I've came up with the following players that are possibly to be moved on.

Morten Rasmussen (S)
Loaned from pillar to post, Celtic obviously want rid of him.

Paddy McCourt (M)
Hardly featured but icon for the support. Could very well settle as a backup player.

Efraín Juárez (M)
Went on loan, not played since returning, much was expected of the Mexican.

Kris Commons (M)
This is my weak link, not lived up to the expectations of last season. Could still feature.

Glenn Loovens (D)
Unpopular with the support, personally think would be a good backup. Contact up soon.

Cha Du Ri (D)
I love Cha. But can see him leaving under freedom of contract.

Players on loan.

Daryl Murphy (at Ipswich Town)
James Keatings (at St. Johnstone)
Nick Feely (at Clyde)
Paul Slane (at Milton Keynes Dons)
Richie Towell (at Hibernian)
Josh Thompson (at Chesterfield)
Lewis Toshney (at Kilmarnock)
Darren O'Dea (at Leeds United)
Niall McGinn (at Brentford)

With the exception of Paul Slane, I'd expect all these players to be available of Transfer/Loan.

All together that's 14 Players. Less than the 16 that left last season (and 15 out on loan).

Now we come to the players Celtic COULD be looking at!

So far Mr Lennon has been targeting young players that have lots of potential thus we can expect more young players to come to Celtic Park soon!

Celtic Squad so far.

34 Players
(2 On loan)

3 Keepers (1 Loanee)
12 Defenders
13 Midfielders
6 Strikers (High chance of targets) (1 Loanee)

Already we have Jaroslaw Fojut (D) to come in.

I know Celtic have scouted Markus Henriksen (M) Rosenborg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Henriksen

And Media reports have linked us with the following players.

Fraser Forster (GK) Newcastle

Artur Boruc (GK) Fiorentina

Lorenzo Melgarejo (D) Benfica

Danny Holmes (D) Tranmere

But these are early days I'm sure you will agree, I'll continue trying to keep you informed on the comings and going's as time marches forward.

Hail Hail

Steve at TC.

Monday 16 January 2012

Lennongrad: The Hidden Fortress


Mind all that stuff I was saying last time about confidence? Well it’s still there. So what was the problem against Dundee United in the second half on Saturday then, you may ask? Well, it’s like this. Everybody needs to share that confidence too. And yes that means you and me too.

You don’t want to be bothered with some guttersnipe crowing in the media that they felt the Celtic Park crowd was getting anxious and he felt that helped his wee team get back into the game. We need to cut that out once and for all and that means you have a part to play too. And yes, like I said, I do mean you!

Now I don’t watch the English Premier League if I can at all help it, and the only other team I would go out of my way to watch apart from Celtic is yon team from Barcelona. But for the first half on Saturday Celtic played some stunning, nay breathtaking, attacking football that thrilled me out of my seat and scored two great, well-worked goals in the first twenty minutes.

Izaguirre and Samaras, an unlikely duo, were interchanging and passing like they had shared the same mother’s milk. Another duo Mulgrew and Rogne were imperious in the centre of the back four, and the first goal was a cracker courtesy of the Hoopy and Stokesy deadly duo. It was nothing short of delicious football and the entire fortress Lennongrad was enjoying the spectacle. After the second goal The Triumphal March from Aida by Giuseppe Verdi was ringing out around the place, otherwise known as the Victor Wanyama song.

What made the first half performance so impressive was that both Kayal (injured) and young James Forrest (ill) were out but the trademark attacking wing back play (one of my stock phrases I know) by the aforementioned Izzy and Matthews was impeccable and was slicing through the other wee team’s bewildered defence at will.

Sadly due to my important and highly confidential role with an agency that works to save the planet and overcome the powers of evil and darkness 24 hours a day, I couldn’t be at Celtic Park myself on Saturday, but as I looked on from my secret island lair I felt, like you no doubt, that the job was done and the second half was to be a further lap of honour for the SPL leaders. A mere bagatelle.

As I sipped my first Dubonnet and soda of the day the second half began as furious as the first, with wave after wave of sharp Celtic attacks and had already they only narrowly missed two superb chances when Chico had a free kick fumbled but eventually scrambled away from the goal. The truth, dear reader, is that had one of those chances been converted the whole of Lennongrad would have gone into a ‘Let’s All Do The Huddle’ frenzy, the poor wee boys from Dundee would have shriveled up and cried to get home early and the Celtic team could have gone on to rack up five, six, seven or eight.

This is where you, me and everyone you know comes into it. Just because someone wee lad flukes one against the run of play from outside the box against us does not mean the whole fortress has to rent itself asunder. A nervous reaction they called it in the media, the Rangers fanzine The Daily Telegraph even cheekily described it as a ‘schizophrenic’ performance from Celtic that seemed to stem from the jitteriness of the fans.

Yes it was disappointing that the magnificent performance in the first fifty minutes didn’t go on to become a more enthralling landmark game, and yes we have had one or two of those already earlier this season. But the Celtic team showed a total and unflinching confidence that they were going to take all the points from Saturday’s game and that nobody but nobody was going to take anything away from them.

The result was never seriously in doubt. Apart from one unlucky slip by Adam Matthews (who we later found out had been playing with a virus) the defence was rock solid although some of the drive and creativity from the back was missing when Izaguirre was replaced before the end of the game.

In the end there really wasn’t too much to get worried about. In truth Celtic fans have nothing to fear except fear itself. If Celtic Park really is to become Fortress Lennongrad then we all have a part to play – at the ground, on Twitter, in the pub and at home.

As fans we have the right to be confident in ourselves. Confident in our traditions and in the team we support and the proud culture that created it. There are times when that self-confidence needs to reach out across the stadium and reach through your screen to the players on the park that wear the jerseys.

They have started to have confidence in themselves. Surely they have started to earn some of your confidence too. Then Fortress Lennongrad will be hidden no more.

@the_eriugena media specialist for @SixtySevenLive

Tuesday 10 January 2012

We need to talk about Kelvin

Wilson that is. But let’s start with Thomas and Chico and the rest of the Celtic defence for that matter and then we’ll come back to Kelvin later. Like many of you I’m sure I used to wince and cover my eyes when a long ball bounced through the Celtic back line. Bloody murder it was, watching as the big back line tried to flail the ball away as Fraser Forster tettered on his line indecisively.

But I’m over that now. And so are they, which is the most important thing. The Celtic defence in the past 10 games or so has had a new ring of confidence and that’s what I’m really planning to talk about.

Confidence. That’s the thing that was so lacking before. Only now they all seem to have it. Everyone. To the last man. *Crosses fingers.

It played an important part in the overhaul of Rangers in the SPL and at Celtic Park on 28 December. The whole Celtic team have begun to play with passion and a new-found flair but it has all seemingly been underpinned by this newly-minted self belief that hadn’t shown itself since last season and even then it was a faint and frankly fragile thing.

Confidence eh? And why now I hear you ask? Put it this way, it’s just one of those things that you have or haven’t got but when you haven’t you’re really in big trouble in anything in life. But, like you, I know it when I see it, and I’ve seen quite a bit of it at Celtic Park and on my Sony flatscreen TV with Craig Burley permanently on mute.

For the Celtic defence confidence started to come back some time in November and it was confidence and that confidently saved penalty that was never a penalty in the first place, against Hearts, that was the defining moment. Easy to talk about turning points but Fraser Forster hasn’t been the same man since. He’s grown an extra foot in height for a start and he then went on to give his best ever performance in a Celtic shirt against Udinese in the very next Celtic game.

Rangers thuggery can sometimes seem like the nasty tired old tag team wrestlers that used to feature on Dicky Davies era World of Sport compared to the fiery knuckle-duster thuggery that calls itself Heart of Midlothian. Beating Hearts convincingly but with a small goal margin and that all important saved late penalty was just the thing the Celtic team needed and the manner of the win seemed to bring the whole squad together.

Young Thomas Rogne has just oozed confidence when he has played in the back four, expecially against ‘them’, while Charlie Mulgrew has been even better than last season now that he’s matured and refound his regular place in the heart of the defence. With Emilio Izaguirre coming back after such a long break too it must give the whole team added confidence as they seek to extend their winning run.

Even Big Dan and Loovens were getting the vibe before they went out through ill-timed injuries and then there’s Victor Wanyama. It’s Victor’s style and technique that always seems to give him confidence on the ball no matter how sticky the situation.

But it’s the flowing play from the back that seems to be the hallmark of the Celtic style. Adam Matthews matches Izzy’s darting attacking play perfectly and it should be fun to see them carving though opposition defences on separate flanks. While Mikael Lustig adds a further dimension and after his short winter break he should really find a place in the starting eleven – a grungy Pearl Jam right-footed version of Izzy. With Kayal out for the rest of the season I wonder if Lennon will think of using the versatile Matthews in midfield where his strong tackling and incisive passing could bring added steel?

We’ve been here before I know but a bit of extra quality in the side during this transfer window could make all the difference. An exciting striker Hamdi ‘The Bomber’ Salihi has been linked with Celtic since the end of last week and the exciting young Icelandic winger Ingolfur Sigurdsson has been on trail this week at Lennoxtown and with current players returning to full fitness, which may or may not include Kris Commons, there must be a confident air about the whole team right about now.

Which bring us back to Kelvin. Having recently returned after injury Kelvin Wilson is only just coming back into the team. Against ‘them’ at Ibrox in September young Kelvin lost his cool and lost his shape and like one or two others it has to be said he seemed to bottle it as long balls rained down in the Celtic penalty box.

Kelvin needs his confidence fully restored and one thing in his favour is that he’s coming back into a team, and a back four, that are simply reeking of confidence and his return is giving much-needed defensive options to his manager. All Kelvin needs is to go with the flow and he’ll soon be as cool and calm as he first appeared before the Ibrox storm.

And now there’s no more talking needed. It’s time to get stuck in!

Monday 21 November 2011

Loan Hoops - Update

Correct as of 21/11/11


On the 1st of January Dominic Cervi, Morten Rasmussen, Jos Hooiveld & Greig Spence shall all return. The rest of the loanees shall return in the summer. I think possibly Jos Hooiveld has still a place at Celtic after he returns and I would desperately love to see Efraín Juárez back in the squad. Curiously enough Morten Rasmussen could also still be a useful squad player. I've still time for Daryl Murphy after his goal against Dundee Hibernian. Here is the list of our 10 players out on loan and some information.

Niall McGinn - Brentford

Season long loan deal, made 16 appearances scored twice.


Efraín Juárez - Real Zaragoza

Season long loan deal, made 12 appearances scored once.


Darren O'Dea - Leeds United

Season long loan deal, made 15 appearances scored twice.


Josh Thompson - Peterborough United

Season long loan deal, made no appearances.


Daryl Murphy - Ipswich Town

Season long loan deal, made 4 appearances, yet to score.


Richie Towell - Hibernian

Season long loan deal, made 10 appearances.


Greig Spence - Hamilton Academical

Six month loan deal, made 10 appearances, Scored twice.


Jos Hooiveld - Southampton

Six month loan deal, made 11 appearances, Scored twice.


Morten Rasmussen - Sivasspor

Six month loan deal, made 6 appearances, Scored three times.


Dominic Cervi - Greenock Morton

Six month loan deal, made 2 appearances.

Saturday 19 November 2011

The day Celtic returned

Inverness Caledonian Thugs 0 Celtic 2
Stokey 60
Stokey 72

Keeper
F. Forster

Defenders
A. Matthews
V. Wanyama
D. Majstorovic Yellow Card
B. El Kaddouri Yellow Card Substitution 69

Midfielders
B. Kayal Yellow Card
J. Ledley
J. Forrest Substitution Out 82
G. Samaras Substitution Out 55

Strikers
G. Hooper
A. Stokes

Used Subs
K. Commons Substitution In 82
P. McCourt Substitution In 69
S. Ki Substitution In 55

Unused Subs
L. Zaluska
F. Twardzik
D. McGeough
M. Fraser

Celtic produced a vintage performance today to close the gap on 1st place with a delightful and memorable win against a thuggish ICT side today in the Highlands.

Stokes was the man in form with his two goals, both Professional and clinical efforts.

I was delighted to see the return of Ki to the team who has been diagnosed with a mystery illness a couple of weeks ago, heralding the return of the play maker. I can see Celtic improving still further with the return of Kelvin Wilson & Emilio Izaguirre in the future. Combined with captain Brown.

Celtic have also announced the signing of Andre Blackman on a free contract. Expect many more in the winter window.

Hail Hail
TC

Monday 17 October 2011

In Lennon I Still Trust!

For the last two months I have flitted between faith, anger, hope, disinterest, optimism and uncontrollable pessimism while watching the team that I love stumble and stagger through the early stages of the season like a primed boxer who has suffered a headshot which has turned his legs to jelly. It’s been in a word ‘horrific’ and it hasn’t looked liked getting any better. I’ve sought solace in the words of fellow fans hoping for grains of comforts in the dark hours after a disappointing performance, I’ve read through the majority of blogs in the hope of finding answers and for a good while there I found comfort in them, I agreed with them all, it is all down to the board, we deserve the best players but the manager is being manipulated by these evil dictators that wouldn’t look out of place in North Korea. I agreed that each and every one of us, are part of the greatest support in the world and that we deserve success because of the part that we play. After the defeat to Hearts I started to agree that Lennon isn’t the man for the job, he’s naive, inexperienced, scared to make the BIG calls and tactically inept, I found throughout all of these feelings I only needed to switch  on my phone to twitter and I could get these feelings validated.
Then two things happened.
Firstly my five year old daughter commented on life in general to me in the car by stating “Good things only happen when you believe” as she gazed up at the stars in the night time sky and secondly in a moment of clarity later on that evening as I read through my twitter timeline I realised ‘Misery loves company’.
I questioned myself that night on the reasons why I support Celtic and on why I could place so much faith in Neil Lennon and the answers for me and me alone were as follows
1. I support Celtic because I love Celtic. Throughout any success or failure in my own life they have always been there. I get low I pop on a Celtic DVD. I become successful in something I stick on the Celtic tunes and party. Quite simply I AM CELTIC and CELTIC IS ME.

2. The principles of the support identify me ‘FAITHFUL THROUGH AND THROUGH’ Stand against oppression and know how to enjoy yourself!
3. I don’t judge my own life by success and I’ve never judged Celtic by the trophy cabinet. Personally I enjoy the good times in my life to the fullest and work ten times harder during the bad times.  This is the theory I attached to supporting Celtic as a bhoy, I guess it helps that I was born supporting Celtic during desperate times but the majority of older fans I speak with from years back say the same thing ‘If yer in it for the silver, go support the Huns fir yill never beat a true Celtic man’s spirit’
4. I support Neil Lennon because when he was appointed I felt differently to how I had felt about previous appointments. I had the sense that we had a man at the helm who wanted the same as the support. A man who wouldn’t leave us and would rebuild us into what we once were, I didn’t expect it to happen overnight, I saw it as a long term project, this excited me as for once it didn’t feel like an all or nothing appointment it felt like finally we were all in agreement that this was the time to rebuild and grow together as a support and as a team. Last season Neil Lennon gave us all a glimpse of what it could be like, what it WILL be like if we stay the course.
5. I support Neil Lennon because he is an emerging manager with great potential. Yes he has made mistakes and you can be damn sure he will make more but that is part of the process of becoming successful. You learn from it and whether you choose to believe it or not Neil Lennon is learning from his mistakes but if we don’t stand strong in the bad times with him we will never see the progress being made and his potential become realised.
6. I support Neil Lennon because he makes the big calls! It may not seem like it but he does, Lenny has had a large section of support pinning the blame directly on him for the tactics he has employed yet yesterday proved to me as a supporter that yes I personally still would like to see a change in formation but regardless of the tactics used if you have 2 or 3 ‘egos’ in your team who clearly think they’re bigger than the club your tactics go out the window. This also leads on to management of players. Some I’m sure will say that if that is the case then Lenny should have confronted the problem players earlier but would Lennon have been right to call out Kayal and Hooper as trouble makers earlier in the season when arguably Beram and Gary alongside Kris Commons are the main fan favourites and their lack of spark could easily be explained by their agents as ‘early season dips in form’ therefore allowing Lennon’s detractors to accuse him of not being loyal to his best players? What Lennon has done is shrewd he has shown guile and wisdom by playing the problem players  until they expose themselves  to the Celtic faithful thus ensuring there can be no illusions, no counter claims in newspaper articles from ego driven players and agents and no hiding place for them behind the criticism levelled at Neil Lennon. They have been exposed and now they have to react and I’m sure if Lennon doesn’t see the reaction that he desires then these players will be punted in January with the full backing of the club and the support!
Quick point on Beram Kayal do a bit of googling on his new agent Pini Zahavi and you will understand why Beram is acting like a prick for want of a better word!
Getting back on point, we live in a world with an ‘I want, I get’ mentality! This culture has been seeping into football like a virus since the dawn of the 90’s and Celtic are not immune to it. We have become ‘expectant fans’ rather than ‘hungry for success fans’ we expect to win every game, we expect to win every tournament we enter and when we don’t we wield the axe on the failures who have not delivered with stunning regularity. So I have to ask when did we as a club, as a support receive this divine right to win everything. When did we acquire this mentality of ‘deserving success without effort’ Success isn’t bought and paid for, it’s achieved through consistency, hard work, determination, development and perseverance. We experienced good times in the early to mid naughties but in two stark contrasting fashions. One was the ‘splash the cash experience under O’Neil’ that wielded direct results from day one, the other was the direct result of paying for the ‘splash the cash experience’ which was the ‘living by our means and developing a team’ under Strachan. We all may have enjoyed it more under O’Neil but we were more successful under Strachan. Since this period of continued success but more importantly prior to it we have been a confused club and its time we as supporters took responsibility for our part in it. It seems like whenever we go through bad times with a team we automatically demand change and expect instant success as a result, when it doesn’t go to plan we blame the board for the lack of quality on the pitch then we attack the manager and demand he resigns or is fired. What we are experiencing now isn’t anything new we’ve been doing it since 1990!
Yes I know the board are to blame for everything from Hitler to Osama Bin Laden according to some but you know what, you aren’t telling us anything that we don’t already know!
As bad as the board are they are also the ones that sanction the moves for the players that you do adore and approve of, they have changed managers that didn’t bring you success, they have sold entire squads to appease new managers, they have listened to the mood of the support during the bad times and acted on it, which for me is their biggest crime because constant change leads to instability and anger, when what we need is stability, the type of stability that brings consistent success. I hate Rangers and everything they stand for but in truth they stick by their managers through good and bad while we chop and change and the results are crystal clear they are more successful when it comes to a trophy count. (Yes a little part of me died inside writing that but there you go).
We proclaim to be a ‘family’ we are not, families stick together through thick and thin and endure the bad times because they know together the good times will be better for it. In reality were more ‘the oldest swinger in town’ constantly seeking love, thinking we’ve found it then throwing it away when it lets us down, never actually stopping to think of the part we play in the failure of the relationship because there always seems to be a sexy alternative that will surely deliver and match our needs.
I’m tired of all the constant change that happens at Celtic then the inevitable new burst of excitement when we hire a new manager who signs new player after new player who is photographed standing with scarf aloft inside paradise ready to become an idol of our own making when he only see’s us as a stepping stone to the EPL or worse a place to warm his arse on the bench for the entirety of his contract. I’m tired of all the doom and gloom merchants telling me ‘it’s the board’s fault’ then shouting anyone down who disagrees with their opinion. I’m tired of reading blogs about why Lennon is tactically inept and he should have adopted this or that approach from people who are seriously beginning to believe their own hype in a faceless cyber world. It’s time to be brave and change mentality as a support, let’s see the storm through and witness the new dawn we all wished for when Lennon took charge only 18 months ago, lets stand up for Lennon and the bhoys who want to be there and show them that they have our belief and faith and that we want THIS team to be successful. Let’s just support rather than judge! LET’S EARN OUR SUCCESS!!!
I am 100% behind Neil Lennon, I have stated some of the reasons as to why on here and could continue till my fingers hurt from typing. To put it simply my daughter summed it up better than any other could…
‘Good things only happen when you believe”
I believe in Neil Lennon
I believe in Celtic
I believe in the Celtic faithful.
@AngusSunblest reporting for Total Celtic aboard the good ship SixtySevenLive.

Saturday 24 September 2011

Super Ledley Is Majestic Defending Was Atrocious

Another SPL game another win for Celtic. If only the story was as simple as that. Celtic have had two relatively easy wins in the league and cup since last weekend’s defeat but there is more to this than meets the eye.

What was apparent was the scintillating and very eye catching performance of Joe Ledley against an underpowered Inverness who never really threatened anything except to win a lot of corners and make the Celtic defence yet more jittery than usual. It was clear that Ledley’s superbly taken goal did a lot to raise the team’s spirits and overall performance as another stunner featuring yet another direct run and finish by James Forrest soon followed.

The real talking point of course this week has been the obvious nervousness and lack of confidence at the heart of the Celtic defence. Like a lot of commentators I used to attribute the at times shambolic play by our defenders as a by-product of the nervousness of the crowd at Celtic Park that would somehow be transmitted to the players on the pitch, and that the crowd and players would add to this nervousness as the intensity rose and games got tight. That however is now very much last season’s theory.

As this nervousness has shown itself in both home and away games this season and clearly had some bearing on the overall poor performance of the team at Ibrox last weekend, there seems to be a lot more to this phenonmenon. Confidence just seems to go out the window especially in the goalkeeper and the central defenders and this in turn seems to infect the entire team at times when flowing moves turn to anxious flails. In golfing terms we seem to get the yips.

Other sporting teams have tried it before, and as major personnel changes are at least a couple of months away, but is it time for Celtic to get a mind coach into Lennoxtown to get to the root of this anxiety before it derails the season? Sure some of our defenders have individual weaknesses and Forster seems to have a psychological problem with commanding his penalty area – as the Kevin Bridges joke goes ‘no fear of anyone sending Fraser Forster a dangerous parcel as he’d never come to collect it.’ So could it be that it’s all in the mind and some positive thinking, followed of course by some positive action on the field, may cure the problem?

Strangely there are times when Celtic seem to be only one intercepted pass away from reaching the blistering form of the end of last season and in fact the 4-0 thrashing of Motherwell only two weeks ago was probably one of the best Celtic performances of the past few years.

For me it’s clear we’re missing that special added ingredient of our best form. That liitle ‘je ne sais quoi’ of past performances. That’s the width, speed and inventiveness of our attacking wing-backs.

Emilio Izaguirre and Mark Wilson were a key element in some of Celtic’s best performances in the last campaign. It’s obvious that with Emilio out through long-term injury and Wilson showing nowhere near the same form as last season Celtic have lost some of their zest and cutting edge. Izzy and Wilson were stand out performers in some key matches last season and their replacements have yet to show the same flair and sheer speed to cut though opposing defences and create more openings.

However with Emilio approaching recovery we have to hope that he will soon be back in the first team and that his contribution can be matched with a return to form by Mark Wilson. But in the meantime those yips need to be cured and with the resources that are available to the manager.

And if the team is being affected by the off field antics of the despicable Scottish press then they will just have to learn to become immune to it and ignore the ongoing attempts to unsettle the players and the management team. Leave it to the citizen journalists to shame the traditional media into action and report the truth and too apparent imbalances that happen on a daily basis in the SPL.

As Neil Lennon said today 'the fans were brilliant'. And we all need to be brilliant both on and off line too.

@the_eriugena chief reporter on Celtic and the media for @SixtySevenLive