Alan Pardew
Towards the end of May Newcastle manager was responding to interest from Celtic in bringing Fraser Forster back to Glasgow for next season following his year long loan when he said this;
“We have watched that division and watched him all year. We’ve been very disappointed with the quality of the games, other than the occasional Rangers versus Celtic game.
“And even some of those have been poor, if I’m honest. He is coming to a completely different level of football.”
So what actually makes Alan Pardew think he has the authority to say this? This is a guy who has been sacked from three previous clubs and only got the Newcastle job because their previous manager was wrongly sacked. Off the top of my head I can think of three top managers in England who learned their trade in Scotland, those being David Moyes, Kenny Dalglish and one Sir Alex Ferguson. Not bad for a league which such a poor standard. He has done next to nothing as a manager apart from draw controversy with his rash comments, when he was West Ham manager theyeven had to appoint a media advisor to him to help him win over fans, that doesn’t sound like the kind of guy who should be talking without thinking carefully first.
I’m not for one minute saying that the quality of the SPL is better than the EPL, of course it isn’t, but I can’t count all the English games I’ve had to turn off because of the poor quality. Where is the appeal in watching Newcastle vs Wolves unless you actually support one of those teams? I’d rather watch Rangers/Celtic play Hibs/Hearts any day of the week. Not forgetting Rangers beat Newcastle 2-1, albeit in a pre season friendly and then kept the only clean sheet at Old Trafford this season when they played in the Champions League. Both halves of the Old Firm have been in a European final in the last ten years, again, not bad going for poor quality. Then look across Europe and what do you see? Look at the La Liga, just because Barcelona and Real Madrid are there does it automatically make it have great quality? I recall a game near the end of the season where Real Madrid beat Almeria 8-1, hardly engrossing stuff is it? Compare that to a 6-6 between Hibernian and Motherwell and I know what I’d prefer to watch.
Hamilton were recently relegated from the SPL, yet in the past couple of years an established EPL club have signed two of their players in James McCarthy and James McArthur. A quick look at a Newcastle forum and you’ll immediately see their fans asking who would walk into their team like Peter Houston said. A few spring to mind, Birim Kayal, Emilio Izaquirre, Scott Brown, Gary Hooper, Allan McGregor, Steven Davis, Steven Naismith and Nikica Jelavic. They would walk in because the Newcastle team is average with very little experience of winning trophies whereas these old firm players are all internationals who know what it takes to have to win week in week out. Getting back to Fraser Forster and Pardews comments, he said that he wasn’t tested playing here, but I can remember one save in particular against St Johnstone, a stunning save that any keeper would be proud of. Forster had a very tough job replacing Artur Boruc and done a very good job, a couple of mistakes here and there but what goalkeeper hasn’t? He has to face pressure playing for Celtic that Newcastle players can only imagine.
And finally, who knows how many players have come up to Scotland with their big reputation and swagger and had to run back to the land of the rich with their tails between their legs. Maybe Alan Pardew should take a leaf out of his Scottish managerial counterparts and keep his mouth closed when it comes to commenting on other leagues that he doesn’t know the first thing about.
How can you even back up the quality of the SPL? Pardew was right to state how poor it is! Most overrated league- in which is English league 1 standard, with rangers and celtic both championship clubs at best! You are deluded.
dreamer toby, when have you ever made the Champions league/European cup final
? let alone won it? and b4 you get smart when has a 3rd,4th,5th EPL team made a euro league final!?
If your referring to the Europa league both Fulham and Boro got to the final and finished a lot lower than 5th in the league in the same season. It’s no achievement to get to the europa league final and then lose.
Liverpool won the champions league and finished 5th behind everton
Tbh I would rather watch a Spanish team than any english team due to a much higher quality of football and the best league in the world. spl may not be the best in the world but its defo not far off the epl. Rangers and Celtic would do pretty well in the epl much better than newcastle anyway ;).
i agree with what toby is saying about the spl as a whole, its poor very poor, but english teams cannot match the old firm, if rangers & celtic were in the premier division i would give it 4/5 years till there challenging for every trophy you can think of, rangers and celtic are miles ahead of every other team in a league with not so much money, yet the ammount of cash they generate between each other is unbelievable, now imagine that cash on top of epl cash, also the old firm are known on a worldwide scale (most of them fans) , compared to most english teams, who are only known because of the amount of tv coverage they get, the old firm are LIONS stuck in a CAGE(spl) that have been getting poked at by people for far to long, once they break free from the cage(spl) and get to the jungle(epl), everyone will see how mighty there roar is , FROM A LIVERPOOL FAN !!!!!
Well coming from the other side of the border you might be suprised that I and almost every one else this side would much rather watch Wolves v Newcastle than the regular monthly Celtic v Rangers religious kickabout. Sorry but your just an Ostrich lift up your head and smell reality.Pardew is right and you know it.
It is no suprise to me that Newcastle fans feel threatened by Rangers and Celtic. They are precisely the kind of team that would suffer if the two were to move to the EPL, so perhaps this is why the wish to denigrate the Old Firm. I can only imagine that it is nice for them to focus on something other than their own constant underachievement. These comments have made the relegation fight a little more interesting for me this season. Thank you
Who are you kidding !! the standard in scotland is poor end of, The only decent team Celtic played was Rangers all season, the play each other 4 times , its laughable. If im not mistaking Daglish plyed his trade at Liverpool last I checked they are in England, Moyes had Man Utd connections if im not mistaken,
Look who buys the majority of celtic an rangers player .. Championship teams ! What kinda player go to the Scottish players who cant cut it in the prem e.g Anthony Stokes, Samaras ,
Ranger beat a 2nd String Newcastle well done delighted fore them, if im not mistaken Luque (prem flop) while at newcastle ran riot on celtic bagging a brace. If rangers and celtic joined the premiership the would finish bottom half of the table, and any other scot club would be relegated .
Ranger held their own V Man Utd it was a big performance and the punched above their weight they couldn’t possible maintain that for a whole season
forgoten celtic v man u? put the 2 big scotts with the money injection if in the EPL, (sorry the EWPL),oh but no threat from the Walsh,
we would be in the top half and challenging year in year out!! thats why you dont weant us in there
How about this in the last 10 years how many times has the scottish club been in the Champions league semi final !!!
The day you beat Man Utd was a joke 1shot 1 shot on target 20% possession , you were played off the park by the scum an got a free kick in a dangerous area … sorry been over dramatic with the stats… but u were dominated ..
Celtic and Ranger were offered a place in the championship an refused . i wonder why ?? afraid of mid table mediocrity in the 2nd tier of english football
John is it not marvellous that with your millions paid out by Sky TV that you can poke fun at the SPL. I wonder how long the English clubs would stay alive if not for this subsidy. If Celtic and Rangers had the same financial backing that Sky TV gives to premier league clubs don’t you think we would be challenging in the top half of the league or am I just being delusional, both Scottish giants only recieve approx 2million in TV payments hardly an even playing field or are you too blinkered to see this.
What a load of bull! Championship clubs sign Celtic and rangers players who aren’t getting a game. Christ Charlie Adam, a joke figure in Scotland, is a shining light in England. The SPL isn’t great but its as vastly. Underratted as the EPL is over-rated.
Couldn’t disagree more mate, the Scottish league is appalling. Lived up there for 4 years and couldn’t watch the stuff. Of the players you named Gary Hooper is the only one who could challenge for a place in the Newcastle team,and that is due solely to the lack of strikers there at the minute.
Birim Kayal – nope, Emilio Izaquirre – couldn’t shift Jose Enrique, Scott Brown – Middlesbrough reject, no thanks, Allan McGregor – ahead of Krul/Harper no way, Steven Davis – nope, Steven Naismith – nope and Nikica Jelavic – possibly I guess.
Kris Boyd, top scorer up there year after year, failed in the Championship, and Celtic have Newcastle’s 3rd choice goalkeeper as their number 1. Nuff said really.
Dave,
Scott Brown Middlesbrough reject! Really? You’re typical English arrogance is topped only by your lack of knowledge, unless of course you can show me when Mr Brown has ever had anything to do with Middlesbrough.
I’m afraid the best league in the world is now a two team league like most other leagues in Europe.
Apologies, you’re right. He was linked with them a few years back and I mistakenly believed he had spent some time there. They signed virtually every other Scottish Premier League player when they got relegated.
I’m not advocating the quality of the EPL by any means, it has certainly lessened in quality over the past few years. However I would still argue that the SPL is significantly poorer than the EPL.
Thanks for the reply Dave, you seem one of the only sane supporters of the EPL.
Im not for a minute suggesting the SPL is anywhere near EPL standards, but imo its purely down to finances, basic tv income for instance brings in less than 2 million to Celtic and Rangers, what do EPL teams receive 50 or 60 million, stands to reason if you have cash to burn you get quality players.
Imo opinion Celtic and Rangers would struggle initially in the EPL, but people down south seem to think if they went down there they would have the same teams as now. Celtic and Rangers have massive supports bigger than most EPL teams and with the access to the cash that the EPL teams have they would be challenging for a top six place within a few years.
Sometimes the people who mouth off about the EPL come across like the big rich bullies who have to try and put down their poorer neighbours, imo thats why outside of England they are disliked.
Again more bull! There was talk of £4m plus Enrique for Izaguirre – and I’d bet not one Celtic fan would want that deal to go through! Kayal would walk into just about any midfield in the EPL as would McGregor. Davis not on last years form and Naismith yes on last years for but not normally. Jelevic and Hooper would both do a job for most EPL teams.
Again – Charlie Adam!
I doubt we’d offer 4m plus Enrique for another left back. He was linked with Barca earlier this week, probably nonsense as most rumours at this stage of the window are but shows the quality of the guy. Izaguirre is a quality leftback but I’d much prefer to keep hold of Enrique, and certainly wouldn’t pay money on top.
As I said, Jelevic and Hooper are both half decent, and would have a chance to challenge for a spot at Newcastle but that’s mainly down to our lack of options upfront.
Kayal wouldn’t get in a midfield which currently includes Tiote, Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Nolan, Barton, Jonas and Gosling. I certainly wouldn’t take McGregor ahead of Harper or Krul (or Forster). Naismith I don’t rate and Steven Davis would have the same problem as Kayal.
I would never say our league is on a par with EPL but I would say that our top four to six could compete with their mid to lower teams definitely and that would be a great starting base wouldn’t you think eh?
Completely agree. Only thing missing is the fact that Pardew got the Newcastle job because he was friends with the Chairman. And how did they become friends? Pardew gambled a lot in his casino of course! No one in their right mind would have employed Pardew; relegation most certainly beckons for them next season.
You have to take gambles in football, you dont win trophies playing it safe , unless your in the scottish league were its a 2 horse race every year no change
Love it when you guys say that. The EPLs been a two horse race for that last 8 years and a 3 horse race for the last 20! (albeit Rovers fluked it one year which will never happen again). And the EPL has twice as many teams! Are you telling me that any EPL team outside Man U, Chelski and Arsenal have a real chance of winning your title? Hardly. But keep listening to Sky Sports bigging it all up and brainwashing the punter into believing that it’s all sooo competitive (they want to sell you their product after all). And keep believing that the vast majority of the average players on show are better than they are just because EPL sides have more money to pay than sense. The SPL is not that bad but the EPL is not that good either so please take your head out of your back side
the SPL is that bad .. hearts were 20 pts behind in 3rd like come on, look the the history of the SPL how many teams won the top honor ?? 3 its a joke and Aberdeen won it like twice.. Even look at your Cups Celtic an Rangers every year… In English cup Pompy , Man City, Boro, Brum, Arsenal, Liverpool , Man utd and Chelsea all won in the last 10 years im sure theres one or 2 more .. Did you watch the EPL it was Feb before the top 3 pulled away, in the SPL top 2 made a gap by Nov, Celtic and Ranger should just player 4 home firm games to see who wins the league, then play a few cup finals between them , u dont even need the rest of the league
Neither does Arsenal, Chelski or Man U – let them just play each other twice and the winners win the EPL. Get rid of the rest they’re just the fat.
The EPL is just about a 3 horse race now but I can definitely see it in 5 years time it being a two (maybe even 1 after Arabs and Russians get bored). And in a league of 20 will be even more boring than it is now. (But Sky will still spoon feed you what you want to hear in order to fuel your arrogance and keep you interested that you have some chance of winning something when in fact you probably don’t).
For you lot its all about money money money – the heart and soul of football was lost in England’s top flight some time ago. I actually prefer watching Championship stuff to EPL – at least its not full of prima donnas on £100 grand a week rolling around the floor like jessies.
In the EPL, a team with almost twice as many teams as the SPL Liverpool in 6th were 22 points behind Man U.
Once UEFAs financial fair play comes in you will see a change in the league that has spoiled world football with its reckless use of Skys cash. The EPL is paying players £200.000 pounds a week while children starve. Spl may be poor the Bloated arrogant EPL is morally corrupt and full of debt ridden clubs that will one day have to pay the piper.
The sheer arrogance of the typical English football fan never ceases to amaze.
Celtic and Rangers have both wiped the floor with top flight English teams over the years and would do so week in week out if given the opportunity.
Unfortunately we’ll never see it because the English are afraid of both Celtic & Rangers and know that they would eventually go on to dominate ‘the greatest league in the world (lol)’ just the same as they do in Scotland.
The EPL is happy to have poor outfits like Swansea, Blackburn, Newcastle, Wigan, Wolves, Blackpool, WBA, Hull…. (I could go on) permeate their top league rather than invite Celtic & Rangers. It’s all down to fear.
Celtic and Rangers are Championship standard , infact Championship teams player better football. Your league is full of Prem flops who up in scotland are the top dogs, Robbie Keane couldnt buy a goal went to celtic in jan and scored 12, Stokes couldnt cut it he was a top goal scorer this season, Kris boyd was top scorer in SPL we all no about him went boro was useless , was on the 1st bus outta their in Jan,
David you are completely delusional like seriously,
So much ignorance and arrogance. Of course Celtic and Rangers wouldn’t compete straight away. But both clubs get 3m tv money as opposed to 30 for being relegated from tge EPL. Imagine how strong they’d be in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years?
Ian Wright couldn’t buy a goal in Scotland. Juninho was rotten. There are plenty of players who were stars in the EPL and flopped in Scotland. It obviously works both ways.
Newcastle lost 30m from their relegation what are you talking about !!! No ill be the 1st to admit a player is good ive no issue with that, but good players in SPL are few an far between Emilio Izaquirre is a quality player, like wise O’Dea but other than that not many more at Celtic.. How old is David Weir and he can still cut it at Rangers .. And you call me arrogant
please go on john its these terrible teams that fear us. put Celts and Rangers(i Hate them) in the English leagues and watch us rise, exsactly why the little teams, Swansea,Newcastle,Blackburn,etc……wont/dont want us there!!!!
Little team! Newcastle? Are you so bloody thick, we have bigger fan base, and generate more money through season tickets and merchandise. Take away the tv money, and we are still a bigger team than Celtic and rangers. Moron.
Newcastle bigger fan base? sell more season tickets? more merchandise? While Celtic have a worldwide fan base Newcastle have, well, a Newcastle wide fan base. Your comments are typical of someone who talks about things he does not understand.I suggest you check your facts sir.
Unfortunately your moron comment says a lot about you.
You obvioulsy have spent far too long on the Brown Ale stuff mate!! Celtic have had an average of 50,000 season ticket sales over the past 15 years. The Celtic jersey (season 2007-2008) remains the most successful replica kit launch that Nike have ever had – think about other clubs or country’s who wear Nike to understand the significance of that!!). Celtic are the club invited to play at more testimonial matches in Engurland than any other club. Merhcandise shops with the Celtic name on them exsist in 11 (eleven) towns and cities outside of Glasgow (no they are not all in Scotland). The Perth (Western Australia) Celtic Supporters Club is the biggest of any football supporters club linked to any club in the Southern Hemisphere!! Need I go on, or do you still believe that Newcastle are bigger than Celtic. You shouldn’t be let out on your own ya dafty.
Newcastle have a bigger fan base than Celtic? LOL. I’ve heard it all now.
A simple search on google will show that Celtic Park holds over 60,000.
A further search will show the enormous amount of Celtic Supporters Clubs all around the world.
I really shouldn’t get into a battle of wits with an unarmed man.
aww come on there is no way our teams could compete in the epl. rangers and celtic would finish around 15th at best, any other team from the spl would quickly find themselves in league 2. pardew is right, scottish football is a joke and the sectarian crap makes it even worse. even the league table is messed up when a tem in 7th can finish with more points than the team in 4th
consider the money we would now have and the attration of the players would have to join!! choice- Celtic or Wigan???? Rangers or Swansea????
I live in Scotland and am 49 years old. I followed Scottish football for 30 plus years following my team home and away. Over the last 10 years Scottish football has been awful. It is a country where most teams try to play in the Sam Allardyce style. High balls, big strong players with little skill. It is not good to watch.
The fact that Moyes, Dalglish and Ferguson as stated in the article played in Scotland means nothing.
The product is garbage as can be seen by the dwindling nubers who are attending.
Scott brown middlesburgh reject? Think you should sober up mate,obviously mistaken…
LOL you guys are a joke, in my opinion the Epl has been absolutely p**h for the last 4/5 season. And by the looks at it pardew should have kept quiet a bit longer with his opinion on th spl because by the looks at celtic and r*****s are gooding to bring back that bit of fear the spl brought europa and champions league that every team feared to go u against and I’m mainly talking about english teams that make it to europa and champions league so be quiet pardew. Dont ge m wrong though I was a bit of a fan of newcastle when the previous manager was there and so was some people i knew where, i thought nexcastle might have gone places but with pardew being the manager you might be on your way back down, not next season but the season after sorry but it is true he will sell all your best players so pardew instead of taking a dig at the spl, have a look at your team and ask yourself HOW CAN I POSSIBLY MAKE MY TEAM NEARLY AS GOOD AS CELTIC AND R*****S
HAIL HAIL
You want Newcastles 3RD CHOICE KEEPER to be your NO 1 KEEPER…. Celtic will sell Emilio Izaquirre money talks the best player in your league will be gone, and the fact Celtic are broke they will cash in,
and you didnt watch much EPL this season, Ill agree last year , year before it was gone to the dogs, but this season was the best season in a long time major resurrection, 5 teams in the title race for much of the season and 8 teams in the relegation fight up as far as the final day, their were some amazing matches newcastle v arsenal 4-4 was amazing Spurs V Wolves 3-3 prob the best game of football ive seen with some cracking goals as well
where do you get 5 teams in the title Race???? 2 at best. So the excitment was relegation!! so nobody teams down, and noboby teams up!! Whats there names? Oh yeah the EPWL!! dont let it become the eSpl
Man Utd , Chelsea and Arsenal were in it up until April, its was late Feb when Spurs and city fell away soooo in Aug , Sept , Oct, Nov , Dec , Jan , 5 in title race , feb, march, april 3 , may 2
soo i think 6 months is most of the season
how are celtic broke lol, theyre probably the most financially stable team out of the spl, epl and championship! they wont sell izzy or kayal, lennon will stick by his word. he wants to build a team around those guys, like o’neill did around lambert and lennon and larsson. if he does happen to sell which is unlikely, it’ll be if he gets an offer of around 10 mil each
Celtic are operating at a loss even after reducing their expenditure by 7% !! If you get a good offer for either player they will leave an i can see Emilio Izaquirre ending up at Liverpool for bout 8m
I remember watching Rangers brand of anti-football get them to the Uefa cup final a couple of years back. Played to their stengths but it was bloody awful to watch. Likewise I was at Celtic Park to see Celtic sleepwalk to a 4-0 win against Hamilton 2-3 years back. I could have taken to the pitch for Hamilton and no-one would have noticed the difference in quality. Shocking stuff.
In my opinion Celtic/Rangers would be relegation battlers every year in the Premiership. With the likes of Kenny Miller and Samaras leading the line for the two teams in recent years they couldn’t hope for the kind of mid-table finish Newcastle managed with relative ease (and occasional style) this season.
I’m reserving judgement on Pardew until the end of next season, lets see what he can do with a (supposedly) decent transfer budget and a full pre-season. I was a Hughton fan and annoyed when he was fired but Pardew has done nothing to turn me againt him yet.
thats the thing though mate, the transfer budget. pardew couldnt manage celtic or rangers with the transfer budgets we get, they’d bring them to 3rd or fourth at best, he doesnt have a good winning mentality which past old firm managers have. the only reason any mid table epl team stays mid table is because of crazy money.
he’d bring them**
Yeah I’m not fully sold on him yet either. He was decent at Southampton and the fans were disappointed when he got fired (some boardroom politics at work i think). Still hasn’t proven himself at the top level though, was so/so with West Ham and pretty average at Charlton. I was a big Hughton fan and would have preferred him to stay but with the chairman we’ve got I’ve become used to utterly ridiculous decision-making (cough Joe Kinnear cough).
The primary reason Scottish football isn’t of the calibre of English is the money involved. Unfortunately less money makes the ‘product’ less appealing and leads to fewer fans coming through the turnstiles. Vicious cycle.
Like other people have said I reckon give Celtic/Rangers 5 years and they’d be moving up the table in the EPL due to fanbase/club-size/history etc. But at the minute I think Pardew is right, although I don’t really understand why he had to comment on the matter.
Pardew only comment on the matter because Celtic wanted Foster back, AP felt he didnt gain enough experience from the SPL and the media had a field day an blew it out of proportion… Im sure they twisted his words or took them out of context to make him look bad as per usual media loves to stir s#@t at newcastle
Why would you presume Miller and Samaras would be leading the line when if in the EPL Celtic and Rangers would have accesss to the same funds as the rest?
The current Celtic team would beat Newcastles current team everyday of the week. Oh, and don’t forget that’s without the same level of finances. All you guys who (rightfully) slate the SPL, well don’t forget about that huge financial difference. Celtic over Newcastle as a team AND a club always. End of.
I think maybe most people defending the SPL by saying how ‘good’ Celtic and Rangers are have missed the point. Pardew’s comments were about how poor the standard of the SPL is for a keeper for one of those teams (in this case Celtic) – the other teams in the league will never make him work hard enough to develop if the top two are so far ahead. As he said, it’s only the occasional Rangers Celtic games that have had any quality.
…. and he’s wrong because there have been plenty other quality games. You make a fair and valid point though so i won’t argue. The SPL will always be underrated… perhaps unfairly. Most said Larsson couldn’t cut it anywhere else! Hey, the EPL and SPL are completely on different levels but finances dictate that. There are many players in the SPL who would as they are do well enough in the EPL or Championship. Many would improve further as they compete against better opposition.
I have this argument with my epl supporting friends all the time and in hindsight it is ridiculous. Firstly you are comparing teams with budgets that differ VASTLY. Secondly the Epl is riding the crest of a financial wave which will have to come to an end(Praying). The wages and fee’s your diddy teams pay distinctly average players makes it harder for Celtic and Rangers to compete. Despite this we, celtic and rangers, have still been able to compete and even best Epl teams more often than not in the 12 years. So say what you will about the Spl but know that that only reason you lot can even walk around spouting your arogant sh”t is because of over inflated Sky money and rich russian, arab and american sugar daddies. We may lack money but your league lacks soul and heart.
and if the SPL was more than route 1 crap it would be on TV more an receive more TV right funding.. The Championship has surpassed the SPL in teams of TV air time,
The premier league and championship are a joke. They are just so full of cash and cannot support themselves. Just wait until the money vanishes, Celtic have 10 million fans worldwide and would certainly be above Newcastle in the premier league. We don’t give a shit about how much cash you have, cash doesn’t make a club the fans make a club.
Dalgleish plyed his trade at Liverpool? And Moyes had Man Utd ‘connections’ (ok i guess that makes his managerial ability a product of English football). That’s clearly a comment from someone who can’t see past the EPL bubble.
Krul/Harper – Average Keepers at best, Allan McCgregor would walk into that team.
John you fail to mention that Kris Boyd’s bus was to Nottingham where he did begin to score goals. To judge a player based on one season at a club going through a massive transitional period such as ‘boro were is ridiculous.
I’m not pretending that the SPL is anywhere close to the EPL standard but I think some of those tearing into Scottish football should take a look at some of the drivel in their own league first. As for the 2 horse race jibes, who’s been the capable 3rd horse in the EPL in recent seasons?
For every Robbie Keane who comes north and succeeds, there’s a Thomas Graveson or a Jiri Jarosik (Competent EPL players who flopped miserably in Scotland.)
Furthermore I haven’t seen any of the success stories mentioned. Henrik Larsson who’s prolific scoring was dismissed down south until he carried his form to Barcelona in Spain and then for a brief cameo in Manchester. Stilyan Petrov, captain of a Premier League side. Carlos Cuellar, Alan Hutton, James McCarthy, Charlie Adam (Who, while we’re being fickle, was average in the SPL).
Finally, which players from this side of Alan Pardew’s which is on a ‘completely diffrent level’ would get into Neil Lennon’s fledgling Celtic squad next season?
Well you already have our 3rd choice keeper.
Defensively: Coloccini, Enrique (although I know this is a tight call with Izaguirre), possibly Steven Taylor (squad player) and Danny Simpson (squad player)
Midfield: Tiote, Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Jonas, Barton, Nolan
Strikers: Best (Squad) and Shola (Squad) certainly our weakest area and one in which Celtic are probably stronger at the minute
Well then please do tell who thought Kenny bout managing ??? He spent most of his career at liverpool so realistically where was his biggest influence ? He played their for god know how long(not a liverpool fan so dont care) and he managed at liverpool too, now in his 2nd stint at liverpool, Yes moyes was a coach at Man Utd his 1st coaching job,
yea fair enough you can really say this player that player and validate how good the league is,
And as for Newcastle player who would walk in to Celtic .. Foster our 3rd choice keeper so that means harper an krul could too simple logic, Steve Taylor an O’Dea great centre half pairing, Joey Barton , Jonas , Enrique , Cabaye (new signing)
Whilst king kenny certainly did spend a lot of time at liverpool with some of the best managers ever produced, he also spent 7 senior years and countless junior years at celtic run by none other than JOCK STEIN.
you know that manager that got 30 glaswegians to be the undisputed best team in the world and who gave birth to a completely new style of football which is still followed today.
English football is better than scottish football – everyone knows that. Celtic are infinately bigger than Newcastle, everyone knows that – and this is why we still continue to attract some amazing players despite operating on a tenth of the budget!
Well said.
Amazing players? I don’t think so.
Alan, you clearly show your immaturity and ignorance. Do some research. Celtic had the best striker in Britain just a few years ago- yes he learned his trade in the SPL and shared it with Man Utd and Barca when he was reaching the end of his career. Other names can be mentioned and others surely will be mentioned in the near future. Oh, and that’s not bad for a team with no money to buy ‘star players’….. although in 1967 Celtic became the 1st British club to win the EU Cup with a bunch of local Celts with heart, hunger and passion! Something NO EPL club can be so proud of!
meant to say glaswegians within 30 miles, would be a bit of an advantage having 30 on the pitch haha!
“Celtic had the best striker in Britain just a few years ago”
That will be around the same time Newcastle had Shearer, one of the best strikers in world football.
The Scotish league always did over-rate old Henrik.
No doubt he was a good player, and did very good at international level.
But he was far from being the best striker in Britain at the time.
Players such as Henry, Shearer, Rudd Van Horseface etc. etc. were a level or 2 above Larsson.
REMEMBER scotland is a country of just 5 million people. roughly the same size as denmark, norway, switzerland. comparatively, the results in Europe over the last 10 years have been good. especially when we’ve been surviving on peanuts as a tv deal. and all the simpletons commenting that couldn’t see clubs with the fanbase and size of stadiums as rangers and celtic being a threat if they came to the EPL. yeah maybe not the 1st couple of seasons. what would happen after that when the ££££ starts rolling in eh brainiacs?
Talk of Newcastle bidding £4m plus Enrique for Izaguirre??!? Hahaha, dream on. Maybe from you’re imaginary friend you deluded imbecile.