The transfer window closed today with the most intriguing switch of the summer, as Antony Stokes moved from Hibs to Celtic.
A straightforward deal on the face of it - another coveted player moves to the Old Firm - but there's more to this than meets the eye, and the clue is in the transfer fee, rumoured to be around £800,000.
£800k? For a player who scored 23 goals last term, and has two years remaining on his contract? Hibs sold Steven Fletcher to Burnley a year ago for £3.5m, and he never scored 23 goals in a season.
The days of Hibs being pressured into selling a player for a cut-down fee have long gone, and yet Celtic appear to have got a bargain. Gary Hooper suddenly looks rather overpriced compared to Stokes.
So what's going on?
Hibs have a recent history of getting their business done early in the summer - Scott Brown (to Celtic), Steven Fletcher and Rob Jones were all sold with lots of time left to bring in replacements. So maybe the club are a little short of money, or at least cash flow. With the new East Stand built this summer, Hibs probably banked on selling either Sol Bamba or Merouane Zemmama to balance the books.
But Bamba didn't play in the World Cup, although he was part of the Ivory Coast squad, so missed the opportunity to put himself in the shop window, while Zemmama is recovering from a serious knee injury so hardly attractive to potential buyers. Maybe the Stokes deal was the only one possible?
Or maybe Hibs wanted rid of Stokes. He's a player with baggage, who got dropped into the reserves by Roy Keane at Sunderland for his unprofessional behaviour. He managed to turn up for every game at Hibs last season, but rumours that he likes a flutter and a party remain.
But maybe the truth is that Antony Stokes was always in control of his destiny, whatever Hibs wanted. It was a massive coup for the club to sign him last summer, despite his baggage - he was a graduate of the Arsenal academy, after all, who signed for Sunderland for £2m. Hibs got him on a free, and on a massive cut in wages as well.
In his assured first press conference at Celtic, Stokes paid tribute to Hibs and manager John Hughes for helping him rebuild his career, but there was also conviction that he was now back in control of his future. Was there a clause in his contract that compelled Hibs to sell at a certain price?
We'll probably never know the full details. Hibs can justifiably claim this was a good piece of business, getting a proven striker for a year and then selling him on at a profit.
Who knows if Stokes will prove a success at Celtic. Denied a certain starting place, he might not enjoy the loss of status within the dressing room, and return to his bad old ways.
What is clear, though, is that Hibs are weaker tonight, and another player has journeyed along the M8 to join the Old Firm.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Europa disaster!
We've said it before and we'll say it again, no doubt - when the stakes are high, rookie gaffer Neil Lennon plays it all wrong.
2-0 up from the first leg, many were treating Celtic's progress into the Europa League as a given - and it probably should have been. But yet again their diabolical away form came back to haunt them, they conceded four goals to Utrecht and now they are out.
To be fair to him, Celtic had lots of defenders unavailable through injury - but that have made protecting a makeshift back four a priority. Instead Lennon picked a front two of Samaras and Fortune, plus new "wonderkid" James Forrest, plus Joe Ledley (who's not known for putting in a shift)... reckless stuff, and they paid the price.
Motherwell couldn't score the 1-0 victory that would have put them through against Odense, and Dundee Utd came close but missed the chance to progress ahead of AEK.
Both clubs acquited themselves rather better tonight than the green giant from Glasgow, however.
Where do Celtic go from here?
2-0 up from the first leg, many were treating Celtic's progress into the Europa League as a given - and it probably should have been. But yet again their diabolical away form came back to haunt them, they conceded four goals to Utrecht and now they are out.
To be fair to him, Celtic had lots of defenders unavailable through injury - but that have made protecting a makeshift back four a priority. Instead Lennon picked a front two of Samaras and Fortune, plus new "wonderkid" James Forrest, plus Joe Ledley (who's not known for putting in a shift)... reckless stuff, and they paid the price.
Motherwell couldn't score the 1-0 victory that would have put them through against Odense, and Dundee Utd came close but missed the chance to progress ahead of AEK.
Both clubs acquited themselves rather better tonight than the green giant from Glasgow, however.
Where do Celtic go from here?
Dundee Utd tie finds a venue at last
Dundee Utd are in Athens tonight, trying to turn around a 1-0 deficit from the first leg that will allow them to progress to the Europa League Group Stage at AEK's expense.
But AEK's stadium isn't fit for purpose, so an alternative venue at Panionios was found. But Panionios, upset at the thought of AEK using their home, broke into the ground and destroyed the pitch.
So the tie has moved to Olympiakos' stadium. But now the fear is AEK fans will ransack the place, so they have been banned.
Dundee Utd now face the odd prospect of playing an away tie in front of 500 of their own travelling supporters, and no one else. It's going to be a weird atmosphere, that's for sure, more so if any AEK trouble makers manage to disguise themselves as Tangerines to sneak in and cause mayhem.
Anyhow, good luck tonight to the team, and to the fans who will hopefully avoid any trouble. Very much the underdogs here, maybe they can use these unusual circumstances to their advantage.
But AEK's stadium isn't fit for purpose, so an alternative venue at Panionios was found. But Panionios, upset at the thought of AEK using their home, broke into the ground and destroyed the pitch.
So the tie has moved to Olympiakos' stadium. But now the fear is AEK fans will ransack the place, so they have been banned.
Dundee Utd now face the odd prospect of playing an away tie in front of 500 of their own travelling supporters, and no one else. It's going to be a weird atmosphere, that's for sure, more so if any AEK trouble makers manage to disguise themselves as Tangerines to sneak in and cause mayhem.
Anyhow, good luck tonight to the team, and to the fans who will hopefully avoid any trouble. Very much the underdogs here, maybe they can use these unusual circumstances to their advantage.
Rangers look forward
After a torrid few months, it's suddenly all going right for Rangers.
The squabbles over cancelled lucrative friendlies during pre-season have been forgotten, and focus has switched from the players who have left to the new arrivals who have been coming through the door - few in number, but decent enough to placate the fans.
Maximum points from their first two games in the SPL, too, even if both matches had a few issues of concern. The opening fixture was a narrow win over Killie, but a win nonetheless, while on Sunday Rangers reminded us all why we don't like them, with a disgraceful challenge from Kyle Lafferty and blatant cheating from Alan McGregor.
Lafferty got sent off for his antics and McGregor got a yellow for pretending Derek Riordan had hit him in the face - no complaints there. But any sense of justice was removed by the fact Kevin McBride and Riordan also got the same punishment - just for being in the vicinity, it seemed. You can bet that Hibs will be fired up for the Ibrox return.
Still, later today Rangers find out who their opponents will be in the Champions League group stage. As they are in pot three, there will be no easy route out of the group, but Rangers will be hoping for glamour and prestige aplenty, as well as looking forward to the money that will be coming their way.
Could it be that Rangers are dragging themselves out of their financial hole?
The squabbles over cancelled lucrative friendlies during pre-season have been forgotten, and focus has switched from the players who have left to the new arrivals who have been coming through the door - few in number, but decent enough to placate the fans.
Maximum points from their first two games in the SPL, too, even if both matches had a few issues of concern. The opening fixture was a narrow win over Killie, but a win nonetheless, while on Sunday Rangers reminded us all why we don't like them, with a disgraceful challenge from Kyle Lafferty and blatant cheating from Alan McGregor.
Lafferty got sent off for his antics and McGregor got a yellow for pretending Derek Riordan had hit him in the face - no complaints there. But any sense of justice was removed by the fact Kevin McBride and Riordan also got the same punishment - just for being in the vicinity, it seemed. You can bet that Hibs will be fired up for the Ibrox return.
Still, later today Rangers find out who their opponents will be in the Champions League group stage. As they are in pot three, there will be no easy route out of the group, but Rangers will be hoping for glamour and prestige aplenty, as well as looking forward to the money that will be coming their way.
Could it be that Rangers are dragging themselves out of their financial hole?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Scottish football's got more than an image problem
So Neil Lennon thinks that Celtic's failure to sign a big name player this summer is due to English perceptions of our game.
As always, it's a neat way of deflecting attention away from other issues, such as Celtic's failure to get into the Champions League. By falling at the first hurdle once again, the club has denied itself a huge chunk of income, and the glamour of competing with the biggest names in Europe.
Scottish football is in a woeful state at the moment, and yet hopes are receding that anything fundamental might be done about it.
Henry McLeish's 1st report into the game - launched earlier this year - has been hardly mentioned since, derided by the media and "football" people for recommending that money be spent on facilities and infrastucture to improve the game at the grassroots.
C'mon Henry! Asking for money? In these straightened times?!
It was a clear a case of shooting the messenger as you'll see - the McLeish recommendations may not have been spot on, but at least let's have a debate about them, rather than brush the issue under the carpet.
Lennon himself dismissed the need for more facilities for kids, saying that when he was a bairn he simply got a ball and played with his mates in the street.
Yes, and that's exactly the point, isn't it? For many reasons that we can argue about forever -paedo paranoia, traffic, video games - kids aren't just playing in the street anymore... and because so many playing fields have been sold off and community sports facilities are lacking, that means they aren't playing full stop.
Instead, having been frustrated with their first choices, Celtic have spent a fair bit of money anyhow, and Lennon claims he'll have all of the £9.5m windfall from Aiden McGeady's transfer to play with too.
Is this really the best thing to do?
Celtic are caught in a death match with Rangers, breaking the bank in order to win a title that no one really cares about, managed by a man who is surely going to come unstuck sooner rather than later.
Here's a thought... why doesn't Celtic sponsor sports facilities in Scotland instead?
Every week, towns across Scotland are populated by locals wearing replica OF jerseys rather than that of their home town team. This isn't a trend likely to go away anytime soon.
So why doesn't Celtic put something back and sponsor sports facilities in these supporter towns? It would help the club cement relationships with these fans... and maybe help counter some animosity towards them as well.
In other words - it would still be commercially driven and entirely in Celtic's interest... but it would also help put something back into the community as well, and perhaps start to turn this country's footballing fortunes around.
As always, it's a neat way of deflecting attention away from other issues, such as Celtic's failure to get into the Champions League. By falling at the first hurdle once again, the club has denied itself a huge chunk of income, and the glamour of competing with the biggest names in Europe.
Scottish football is in a woeful state at the moment, and yet hopes are receding that anything fundamental might be done about it.
Henry McLeish's 1st report into the game - launched earlier this year - has been hardly mentioned since, derided by the media and "football" people for recommending that money be spent on facilities and infrastucture to improve the game at the grassroots.
C'mon Henry! Asking for money? In these straightened times?!
It was a clear a case of shooting the messenger as you'll see - the McLeish recommendations may not have been spot on, but at least let's have a debate about them, rather than brush the issue under the carpet.
Lennon himself dismissed the need for more facilities for kids, saying that when he was a bairn he simply got a ball and played with his mates in the street.
Yes, and that's exactly the point, isn't it? For many reasons that we can argue about forever -paedo paranoia, traffic, video games - kids aren't just playing in the street anymore... and because so many playing fields have been sold off and community sports facilities are lacking, that means they aren't playing full stop.
Instead, having been frustrated with their first choices, Celtic have spent a fair bit of money anyhow, and Lennon claims he'll have all of the £9.5m windfall from Aiden McGeady's transfer to play with too.
Is this really the best thing to do?
Celtic are caught in a death match with Rangers, breaking the bank in order to win a title that no one really cares about, managed by a man who is surely going to come unstuck sooner rather than later.
Here's a thought... why doesn't Celtic sponsor sports facilities in Scotland instead?
Every week, towns across Scotland are populated by locals wearing replica OF jerseys rather than that of their home town team. This isn't a trend likely to go away anytime soon.
So why doesn't Celtic put something back and sponsor sports facilities in these supporter towns? It would help the club cement relationships with these fans... and maybe help counter some animosity towards them as well.
In other words - it would still be commercially driven and entirely in Celtic's interest... but it would also help put something back into the community as well, and perhaps start to turn this country's footballing fortunes around.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
SPL season preview
Jeez, we're really not that good at this football lark at the moment, are we? A 3-0 friendly loss to Sweden is Craig Levein's first defeat as Scotland boss, and gives him plenty to think about before the first qualifier against Lithuania.
Still, he acknowledged that it was an inexperienced back line, and hopefully come the matches that matter there will be a bit more steel and craft about his team.
But with the SPL back this weekend, we can ignore our relative poverty compared to other nations, and concentrate on domestic issues for a while.
If ever there was a season to challenge the Old Firm, this was it. Title holders Rangers are skint, and have lost Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson and several squad players this summer, while bringing in precisely no one. The return of Andy Webster - who had a fine season at Dundee Utd - should improve the back line, but, apart from Kenny Miller, who's going to score the goals?
Celtic have brought in lots of players, and with the news that Aiden McGeady has finally moved on, might do some more business. They could conceivably try and buy the title with a massive offer for Craig Bellamy, because their manager ain't got the guile to do it without a huge helping hand. Neil Lennon might have bossed a long winning run last season, but he's fluffed every big match so far. They look far, far away from being a good side.
The problem is, who can challenge them?
Andy Webster apart, Dundee Utd have done well to hold together the squad that finished 3rd last season. In fact, chairman Stephen Thompson got very angry earlier in the summer about "unsubstantiated" rumours about players leaving.
Yet he has also revealed that his family cannot carry on subsidising the club as they have been doing, so he can hardly complain when the media speculate about players like Craig Conway going - it's a simple matter of putting two and two together.
A lot may ride on the Arab's Europa League qualifying tie with AEK Athens - if they play like Motherwell in the previous round, entry into the group stage will ensure a financial windfall for the club that might just help keep the wolves at bay.
Play like Hibs, though (who got dumped out of the qualifying stages by Slovenian side Maribor) and player departures before the end of August become much more likely.
Either way, you just feel that there may not be a huge amount of further potential in this Dundee Utd team. Following their 3rd place and cup win, fans would hope that the club could invest further in the squad, but that's not going to happen. They're a decent outfit, but matching last season's achievements would be some feat, let alone beating them.
Hearts supporters are once again crowing about mounting a serious challenge (will they ever learn?) but everything rests on new signings Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott staying fit and addressing the team's glaring weakness last season - goal scoring.
In fairness, that's not quite true - Jim Jefferies will ensure that Hearts are a stubborn, hard to beat outfit. But it's hardly inspiring stuff, is it?
And how about the League's eternal enigma, Hibernian? While clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts have talked about redeveloping their homes, Hibs have now completed the transformation of Easter Road into a modern 20,000 seat stadium. Ok, still dwarfed by the Old Firm, but the club now has real potential, with an enviable youth set up and training facilities as well.
At the moment, though, they're not really showing it. John Hughes had a mixed first season in charge, and hasn't yet demonstrated he's found a way of getting his team to play well. He'll be given more time to prove himself, but the fans are split 50:50 on the man, and will become disaffected if early performances aren't good.
Motherwell will probably round off the top six again, because Craig Brown is enjoying an Indian summer at the club and seems to be running a happy ship.
The only prediction you can safely make about the bottom half of the table is that relegation will be a tightly contested affair again. No team is likely to be cut adrift at the bottom, but plenty - Kilmarnock, Hamilton, St Mirren - are operating on slim budgets and can't afford to replace players who have left with equal quality.
Terry Butcher has proved he can manage in the SPL before and will keep Inverness Caledonian Thistle in contention.
They probably won't do as well as St Johnstone did in their promotion season, and the Perth club could well make it into the top six with some good form and fortune.
Aberdeen, though, seem as listless as ever, despite their just announced plans for the new stadium. If they can raise the finance for it, and if they finally move, the Dons might open a new chapter in their history. But a few more seasons of drift await.
Still, he acknowledged that it was an inexperienced back line, and hopefully come the matches that matter there will be a bit more steel and craft about his team.
But with the SPL back this weekend, we can ignore our relative poverty compared to other nations, and concentrate on domestic issues for a while.
If ever there was a season to challenge the Old Firm, this was it. Title holders Rangers are skint, and have lost Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson and several squad players this summer, while bringing in precisely no one. The return of Andy Webster - who had a fine season at Dundee Utd - should improve the back line, but, apart from Kenny Miller, who's going to score the goals?
Celtic have brought in lots of players, and with the news that Aiden McGeady has finally moved on, might do some more business. They could conceivably try and buy the title with a massive offer for Craig Bellamy, because their manager ain't got the guile to do it without a huge helping hand. Neil Lennon might have bossed a long winning run last season, but he's fluffed every big match so far. They look far, far away from being a good side.
The problem is, who can challenge them?
Andy Webster apart, Dundee Utd have done well to hold together the squad that finished 3rd last season. In fact, chairman Stephen Thompson got very angry earlier in the summer about "unsubstantiated" rumours about players leaving.
Yet he has also revealed that his family cannot carry on subsidising the club as they have been doing, so he can hardly complain when the media speculate about players like Craig Conway going - it's a simple matter of putting two and two together.
A lot may ride on the Arab's Europa League qualifying tie with AEK Athens - if they play like Motherwell in the previous round, entry into the group stage will ensure a financial windfall for the club that might just help keep the wolves at bay.
Play like Hibs, though (who got dumped out of the qualifying stages by Slovenian side Maribor) and player departures before the end of August become much more likely.
Either way, you just feel that there may not be a huge amount of further potential in this Dundee Utd team. Following their 3rd place and cup win, fans would hope that the club could invest further in the squad, but that's not going to happen. They're a decent outfit, but matching last season's achievements would be some feat, let alone beating them.
Hearts supporters are once again crowing about mounting a serious challenge (will they ever learn?) but everything rests on new signings Kevin Kyle and Stephen Elliott staying fit and addressing the team's glaring weakness last season - goal scoring.
In fairness, that's not quite true - Jim Jefferies will ensure that Hearts are a stubborn, hard to beat outfit. But it's hardly inspiring stuff, is it?
And how about the League's eternal enigma, Hibernian? While clubs like Aberdeen and Hearts have talked about redeveloping their homes, Hibs have now completed the transformation of Easter Road into a modern 20,000 seat stadium. Ok, still dwarfed by the Old Firm, but the club now has real potential, with an enviable youth set up and training facilities as well.
At the moment, though, they're not really showing it. John Hughes had a mixed first season in charge, and hasn't yet demonstrated he's found a way of getting his team to play well. He'll be given more time to prove himself, but the fans are split 50:50 on the man, and will become disaffected if early performances aren't good.
Motherwell will probably round off the top six again, because Craig Brown is enjoying an Indian summer at the club and seems to be running a happy ship.
The only prediction you can safely make about the bottom half of the table is that relegation will be a tightly contested affair again. No team is likely to be cut adrift at the bottom, but plenty - Kilmarnock, Hamilton, St Mirren - are operating on slim budgets and can't afford to replace players who have left with equal quality.
Terry Butcher has proved he can manage in the SPL before and will keep Inverness Caledonian Thistle in contention.
They probably won't do as well as St Johnstone did in their promotion season, and the Perth club could well make it into the top six with some good form and fortune.
Aberdeen, though, seem as listless as ever, despite their just announced plans for the new stadium. If they can raise the finance for it, and if they finally move, the Dons might open a new chapter in their history. But a few more seasons of drift await.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
