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Post by bandage on Apr 5, 2006 13:31:27 GMT
Read the Celtic article and surprisingly enough I agree with it all. I think it'll be nice for Strachan to get a bit of a reception tonight as he's earned it.
Was watching the Hub last night on Setanta. Pat Dolan saying that even though they're 17 points clear the jury's still out on Strachan. Said that despite cruising the season he's still overseen Artmedia and Clyde and that he fears for him next season especially considering how highly he rates Le Guen. Then there was a criticism that Le Guen is being linked with players of a European standard with Strachan having signed Caldwell and Miller. Think that's harsh as those two are primarily SPL signings and will prob just replace players likely to leave such as Varga, Virgo?, Dublin, Hartson? I expect Strachan to have a bit of money to sign maybe 3 or 4 decent players. Left back, Centre back, Midfielder and Striker. And I don't fear Le Guen either although I must Wikipedia him to see has he had any disasters or purely a good record from his Lyon days.
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Post by therock67 on Apr 5, 2006 13:39:19 GMT
He had limited success with psg from what I know. Houllier’s record at Lyon suggests that either Le Guen built a very good team but in the games I’ve seen them they didn’t look anything special tactically. Celtic destroyed them at home and should have been comfortable away but lost out to two flukey enough goals.
I would have more worries about Artemedia than Clyde – I think any manager can be in charge for a performance like that. It was a brutal pitch, they were up for it and Celtic didn’t perform. O’Neill lost to Caley Thistle when they were at a similar stage to Clyde are now but there was little made of it.
It’s a big close season for him. He has certainly bought himself time with the board by winning the title with such ease this year but the fans won’t be happy unless there are definite signs of progress over the next 12 months.
I love the Hub – best sports programme on television.
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Post by bandage on Apr 5, 2006 13:40:56 GMT
Yeah it's a good show alright.
Watching the Champo League lately and it's now teams who are moving the ball around on the floor quickly that are starting to shine. Bearing that in mind would you want to keep Hartson? He doesn't have a great scoring record at all in Europe but is obviously useful at home when teams sit back/are pinned back by Celtic and his heading ability causes problems. But can't see him offering anything away from home at all. He'd be like Carew was for the last 20 mins last night except far less mobile. Miller was class against Italy last year but has never consistently shown any decent form. They might be best signing a really pacey striker that will be an outlet on the break away from home in Europe. Magic is quite a technically gifted player so a partner with pace might complement him. Camara from Wigan anyone?!
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Post by therock67 on Apr 5, 2006 13:46:36 GMT
You see that’s what we agreed on a couple of years ago. Myself and yourself were big Camara fans when he was being ridiculed elsewhere. Eventually he became a liability because he was never going to convince he was worth the hassle so Celtic got rid and in truth we were relieved. However, looking at his form since we can stand over our initial assessment: he was exactly what Celtic needed in Europe.
Every summer I think I want to see the end of Hartson and a more mobile replacement and I don’t feel too differently now. He is so frustrating to watch and his success in Europe is very limited. However (and it’s such a cliché) he does give you a different option. I don’t necessarily mean that we launch balls into the box with him there but he does require a man-marking job which creates the space for Magic and Petrov.
Magic isn’t all that physically strong so he does need somebody who can hold the ball up, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have pace. Bellamy would have played very well with him I imagine and his ideal partner might be someone like the Beat if he ever gets himself fit.
In summary I’d be happy to see Hartson go if he was replaced by someone of moderate strength with a bit of pace and directness about their play. I’ll opt for Palacio of Boca Juniors.
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Post by bandage on Apr 5, 2006 13:51:16 GMT
Hate it when you mention a player I don't know. Must do some scouting of various leagues and will then come back with a name or two.
Did you see the thing on the Huddleboard the other day where the chief scout that Strachan appointed, Roy Clark?, said they had been closely looking at Samaras, the guy that joined Manchester City from Heerenveen. Said they'd decided the price was too high, rising eventually to 6m, given that he was unproven and hadn't set the world alight thus far in his career. The guy looks a decent player though.
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Post by therock67 on Apr 5, 2006 13:55:43 GMT
I came across Palacio first in football manager where he didn’t set the world alight but I saw him scoring a couple of goals on Sky recently. To be honest it’s more of a guess than anything but he is highly rated and Boca have a decent track record in producing strikers.
Never saw that about Samaras – hard to know what to make of him yet. I saw him play one game (possibly his debut) where he hit one of the worst shots I’ve ever seen from a one-on-one (approaching the goal from slightly to the left, the ball was on his left foot and he tried to hit it with the outside of his right boot and succeeded only in putting it further left than he hit the shot from – all this from about 8 or 10 yards out) but other than that he’s looked decent. He has decent control and he looks fairly good in the air but he’s definitely a “raw” talent at the moment
If I had to pick a more obvious target for Celtic I might choose someone along the lines of Berbatov but he’s probably slightly out of our league.
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Post by bandage on Apr 5, 2006 14:06:04 GMT
I've just been on the UEFA website tryig to find a list of the top scorers in each league but I can't find it. If a bargain like Magic can be found out in Eastern Europe somewhere then I'd be satisfied. Another thing that I've been thinking lately was Pele's statement years ago that he thought an African team would win the World Cup by the turn of the millenium. Obviously this hasn't happened but there's an awful lot of good African players arriving on the European scene now and playing well in the Champions League. The French sides seem to have a good network built up to capture these players (colonial connections!) although Arsenal have picked up Toure and Eboue. Dunno what other English and Scottish clubs are doing in this market now but I wouldn't be averse to seeing Celtic getting a presence over there. On another note that Malouda guy for Lyon really impressed me last night - didn't stand out at all for France against Ireland if I recall correctly.
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Post by therock67 on Apr 5, 2006 14:17:04 GMT
On another note that Malouda guy for Lyon really impressed me last night - didn't stand out at all for France against Ireland if I recall correctly. Yeah he was much-hyped against Ireland but ended up being anonymous. There's definitely a wealth of talent coming out of Africa but it's got to be very hard to identify. It's not like when there were other poor countries (South American) producing players years ago. At least they had established leagues that could be scouted - it's far harder to find players in Africa, especially when the emphasis is on finding kids, not pros. Really struggling to come up with alternative strikers for Celtic. Is your man Aghahowa still at Donestk? Not sure he's brilliant but he's feckin quick. |
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Post by bandage on Apr 5, 2006 14:26:46 GMT
Still there as far as I know and getting big money. But it is markets like Eastern Europe, Africa and South America where the value is to be found. Like I highly rate that Dean Ashton guy but West Ham took him from Norwich, a mid ranking lower division team, for £8m. There's no value to had in buying in the EPL and the mind absolutely boggles when fees like that are paid out. Palace would expect something similar for Andy Johnson too. In the Scottish market Riordan looks a good prospect but isn't better than Magic, Beattie et al. Gonna wrack my brain for an achievable striker to target in the summer.
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Post by therock67 on Apr 5, 2006 14:47:44 GMT
Ashton is a decent player but the value was when he was at Crewe - he became grossly overpriced at Norwich. Eastern Europe is still where the bargains are at. Nobody else in the SPL is good enough.
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Post by bandage on Apr 10, 2006 16:08:01 GMT
The tricks McGeady did yesterday were a joy to behold - really smashing stuff I must say. When Ronaldinho does stuff like that people are in awe but the shame is that nobody else in work (bar Cully) watched the game yesterday so it'll largely go unnoticed. The 3rd goal was classic stuff too - very enjoyable all round.
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