|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 12:09:32 GMT
Gers have kept their spine but have Celtic got the backbone to be winners? By Mark Hateley on Sep 2, 10 06:01 AM in The transfer window has snapped shut and Walter Smith and Neil Lennon will be feeling pretty pleased with themselves for vastly different reasons. Lennon has got rid of a lot of deadwood and brought in a completely new team of 11 players. Smith has gone for quality over quantity with the securing of Nikica Jelavic, Vladimir Weiss and James Beattie then completed an astute piece of business by bringing in Richard Foster, who can act as cover in four or five positions - a necessity when the Rangers squad is as thin as it is. So who has come out of this signing bunfight in a stronger position? I think Rangers have - and not because of the players Smith has brought in. It's because of the players he has managed to keep. Rangers have kept the spine of their team together. Now Celtic's new signings have to show they have the backbone to beat them. For me, there is no question the Rangers starting 11 is stronger than Celtic's. But the Parkhead club's strength in depth is far greater, with Lennon having experienced cover for every position and that will be essential when injuries and suspensions bite. Neil could field a team filled with transfer-window signings in a 4-4-2 formation - Forster; Cha Du-Ri, Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Izaguirre; Ledley, Juarez, Kayal, Murphy; Stokes, Hooper. Some of the old guard such as Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney will continue to play but whatever way you look at it, a helluva lot of players have to gel and gel quickly. Some of them look decent players but how many of Celtic's new signings would get into the Rangers first team? You can make an argument for Cha at right-back but it's not a foregone conclusion he'd get in before Steven Whittaker. Efrain Juarez looks a quality midfielder and would find a place alongside Steven Davis in the middle of the park and Joe Ledley could be accommodated in the left midfield berth that has proved so troublesome to Rangers over the years. No doubt Celtic fans will say I'm biased but if they look at it objectively, would they really say that Daniel Majstorovic would get into a team ahead of Madjid Bougherra, who has proved himself at the very highest level, or David Weir - still the most consistent of defenders? They might but I doubt it. Emilio Izaguirre looked good on his debut against Motherwell on Sunday but I have to say the Fir Park winger he was up against, Chris Humphrey, had a really poor afternoon. Humphrey, on his game, is a real asset to Well but he didn't turn up and the jury has to be out on how effective Izaguirre is in the left-back role. Certainly, I wouldn't pick him ahead of Sasa Papac, a guy who puts in seven out of 10 performances week in, week out. And further forward, they will point to Anthony Stokes and Gary Hooper - both good goalscorers. But they wouldn't get in my team ahead of Kenny Miller and Jelavic. Stokes is a player I like because he knows where the goals are. By his own admission he is a bit like Kris Boyd but in the final five months of last season Walter kept Boydy on the bench and still won the league easily. I think that's where Stokes would find himself at Ibrox. This isn't a hatchet job on Celtic, though. They have a real chance of winning the league because their manager now has so many players to choose from. Rangers will have to go with the same 14 or 15 guys all season and cross their fingers they all stay healthy and that will be a big ask as they juggle Champions League and SPL commitments. That's something Celtic don't have to worry about and in the grand scheme of things, I don't think that's a bad thing for them. Let's face it, neither half of the Old Firm seriously expect to be challenging at the business end of European football any time soon, so the be all and end all for both is the championship. That's how it will always be in Scotland. Celtic need to stop Rangers winning three in a row. Rangers know the only way to keep the wolf from the door is to continue winning titles and giving themselves a crack at getting into the Champions League and the millions that go with it. That all adds up to a cracking title race this season and although this window has now closed I can't help but feel when it reopens in January the manner in which Rangers and Celtic go about their business will decide the destination of the title. I am sure Walter will have to go back to the bank and ask for the release of some funds to bolster the squad for the run-in because his options are so limited. But the Rangers manager won't be overly concerned because he has managed to keep the spine of his team together. There is a core of quality running through the middle of that team and there was a chance some or all of them could have gone in this window. None of them did. Allan McGregor in goal, Bougherra in central defence, Davis in the engine room and Miller up top. They have all stayed put and know exactly what it takes to win the title. Does the spine of Celtic's team have what it takes? blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/markhateley/2010/09/gers-have-kept-their-spine-but.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyRecord%2FMarkHateley+%28The+Daily+Record+-+Mark+Hateley%29
|
|
|
Post by Seanybhoy1888 on Sept 2, 2010 12:15:07 GMT
Madjid Bougherra, who has proved himself at the very highest level I pished myself at that bit.
|
|
|
Post by patmac on Sept 2, 2010 12:18:39 GMT
am i allowed to agree with any of what he says without being moaned at or called names
|
|
|
Post by Seanybhoy1888 on Sept 2, 2010 12:19:35 GMT
am i allowed to agree with any of what he says without being moaned at or called names No.
|
|
|
Post by jasbhoy on Sept 2, 2010 12:21:40 GMT
"No doubt Celtic fans will say I'm biased"
Nah, no way, never, you just talk and write pish for a hun paper.
We'll see come Oct 24th ya hun puppet.
|
|
|
Post by patmac on Sept 2, 2010 12:22:02 GMT
am i allowed to agree with any of what he says without being moaned at or called names No. fair enough i'll leave it then
|
|
|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 12:24:45 GMT
Madjid Bougherra, who has proved himself at the very highest level I pished myself at that bit. its great how he can rate players after a couple of games,
|
|
|
Post by Seanybhoy1888 on Sept 2, 2010 12:27:19 GMT
fair enough i'll leave it then I was kidding ya dafty.
|
|
|
Post by Seanybhoy1888 on Sept 2, 2010 12:28:26 GMT
its great how he can rate players after a couple of games, It is even better that he thinks Bougherra has played at the highest level. Who for? Charlton?
|
|
|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 12:29:26 GMT
am i allowed to agree with any of what he says without being moaned at or called names what is it you agree with?, how can yerself or hateley give the run down on players who have never played in the SPL before?.quality over quantity?, richard foster from aberdeen!!.
|
|
|
Post by mikbhoy on Sept 2, 2010 12:30:29 GMT
Mark Hateley says: Smith has gone for quality over quantity.................... That's the party line and they'll keep repeating it ad nauseam until Kayal, Juarez, Izaguirre, etc, ram it back down their throats. Ricky Foster is a poor man's Charlie Mulgrew. Quality signing.
|
|
|
Post by Seanybhoy1888 on Sept 2, 2010 12:34:43 GMT
Ricky Foster is a poor man's Charlie Mulgrew. That good eh? I have to be honest I have never heard of him.
|
|
|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 12:40:18 GMT
izaquirre had a good game because the motherwell winger had a bad game?, hooper and stokes have hardly had 90 mins between them and he is choosing jelavic and miller in front of them?, he is far too early in making these predictions and should have waited until january at the least to have said anything, what about james forrest,rogne, hooiveld, his words will be rammed down his throat this season.
|
|
|
Post by patmac on Sept 2, 2010 12:42:14 GMT
am i allowed to agree with any of what he says without being moaned at or called names what is it you agree with?, how can yerself or hateley give the run down on players who have never played in the SPL before?.quality over quantity?, richard foster from aberdeen!!. thats the bit i agree with him about davie they've kept their spine they are just as strong as they were last year but it seems our fans are judging our entire new team based on a couple of games against relegation fodder im as weary as feck of this mob im no fallin into the same trap we've fell in the last 3 years expecting to win the title and fallin on our faces we seem to think its a foregone conclusion that we'll win and its not and it seems im not allowed to make that judgement without upsettin people
|
|
|
Post by casperbhoy on Sept 2, 2010 12:43:49 GMT
ricky foster is quality 'eh no laughing in the back' and bogerra has proved himself at the very top jesus tell this fucker to take off his blue tinted specs
|
|
|
Post by kylebhoy on Sept 2, 2010 12:57:00 GMT
what a load of s***e
|
|
|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 13:08:27 GMT
thats the bit i agree with him about davie they've kept their spine they are just as strong as they were last year but it seems our fans are judging our entire new team based on a couple of games against relegation fodder im as weary as feck of this mob im no fallin into the same trap we've fell in the last 3 years expecting to win the title and fallin on our faces we seem to think its a foregone conclusion that we'll win and its not and it seems im not allowed to make that judgement without upsettin people [/quote]
they have kept the spine?, weir is 40 years old now, bougherra will prove he's liability by trying to think he's a poor mans beckenbaer, whittaker is one of the worst full backs in scotland, he's a better midfielder.mcculloch edu davis and naismith or ledley, brown, kayal and juarez+ we have forrest, maloney , ki, mcginn, mccourt, all midfielders, strikers we have hooper, stokes,samaras and murphy, they have miller, jelavic and beattie(3 games pl and no goals). its easy to make biased predictions and say i hope this does not annoy the celtic fans when we all know its far too early to judge anyone, we also have a goalie who has a 50% shut out record with his last 3 clubs(another shut out at the weekend) and at the moment its impossible to say if he's any better or worse than mcgregor is.
|
|
|
Post by patmac on Sept 2, 2010 13:14:12 GMT
we all know its far too early to judge anyone,
exactly davie its far too early to judge anyone but thats what everyones doing with our whole NEW team we're judging them on a couple of games while that mob are being judged on 3 years tbh this is the 3rd year of saying weirs too old or they are gonna implode etc and they end up with the title well im no underestimating them anymore
|
|
|
Post by clydebankcelt on Sept 2, 2010 13:57:50 GMT
we all know its far too early to judge anyone, exactly davie its far too early to judge anyone but thats what everyones doing with our whole NEW team we're judging them on a couple of games while that mob are being judged on 3 years tbh this is the 3rd year of saying weirs too old or they are gonna implode etc and they end up with the title well im no underestimating them anymore pat, in the past few years we have played with strikers who dont play in the box and they made it easy for weir and bougherra, this time we have two 22 year old penalty box strikers who's reflexes will be a lot faster than weirs, this year we will find out how good he is. the spine of their team were well humped here.
|
|
|
Post by prairiebhoy on Sept 2, 2010 15:01:46 GMT
Make the comparisons in December. He has valid points about them having continuity. Not selling Miller helps too. However, in terms of football talent, our new guys have that. It won't help though if they can't gel together quickly. When we play them, we have to out hustle them and at some positions out muscle them. Set up many more shots than we are used to seeing and take those shots.
|
|
|
Post by patmac on Sept 2, 2010 15:02:36 GMT
we all know its far too early to judge anyone, exactly davie its far too early to judge anyone but thats what everyones doing with our whole NEW team we're judging them on a couple of games while that mob are being judged on 3 years tbh this is the 3rd year of saying weirs too old or they are gonna implode etc and they end up with the title well im no underestimating them anymore pat, in the past few years we have played with strikers who dont play in the box and they made it easy for weir and bougherra, this time we have two 22 year old penalty box strikers who's reflexes will be a lot faster than weirs, this year we will find out how good he is. the spine of their team were well humped here. davie believe it or not i think we'll win the title this year but i would not say we were favourites or its gonna be easy im happy with stokes but hooper like i said earlier is unknown to me along with the rest of the team so how am i expected to be confident that they will be good enough im taking the word of a manager whos in his 1st year and add to that i dont believe some of them were even his signings but sayin that i still think we'll do it and its not negative saying that despite what ive been told its my honest green goggles thrown away opinion
|
|
|
Post by oldgregg on Sept 2, 2010 15:26:45 GMT
Does ANYBODY pay any attention to this David Carradine lookalike.
'Ahhh, Po say Gies peace Grasshoppa'!
|
|
|
Post by paulensa on Sept 2, 2010 15:59:12 GMT
As others have said Rangers should worry about Weir. He is 40 and isnĀ“t going to last forever or get any quicker. They have the benefit of continuity but does Hateley honestly believe that Rangers would not have signed more players, especially a replacement/ backup to Weir if the bank had let them.
I was hoping that they would be weaker and we would have Bellamy but his analysis is as biased as everything else he writes.
|
|
|
Post by masterson on Sept 2, 2010 16:02:54 GMT
couldnay care less what he says..fud!
|
|
|
Post by greenstatus on Sept 3, 2010 2:36:37 GMT
Hes a fud.....Ive put Hately on ignore
|
|
tyson277
Junior Member
[M:8475]
Posts: 61
|
Post by tyson277 on Sept 3, 2010 7:59:20 GMT
is`nt it funny how for years the scothunland press have banged the leaky defense for years yet celtic have yet to give away a goal in the league, yet across the city the huns are leaking goals against weaker teams ,we will take many goals off these shunts
|
|
|
Post by lennox on Sept 3, 2010 8:33:37 GMT
Their defence is better than ours even with a 40 year old in it and we have yet to see if Forster is a good keeper. In midfield and up front though we are a match for them. Obviously Dan and Forster may prove to be the real deal and then its just a matter of consistency and if we can get some with a whole new team. They were very consistent last year although they did get a helping hand on occasion from the MIB and thats what we have to be. I'll take these 1-0 wins away from home and hope we can return to the fortress C.P. days. Maybe then we can turn round and send this article back to Hateley at the end of the season.
Just noticed the avatar...excellent !! thanks lhads
|
|
|
Post by Sassenach on Sept 3, 2010 9:09:55 GMT
It sounds as though no rangers players were sold at all. This is all just propoganda to appease the blue hordes. You would be better throwing them raw meat. They have a squad so small that it won't last till January and will have to bring in reserves, But who cares, lets concentrate on the Bhoys and no a bad start to the season so far.
|
|
tyson277
Junior Member
[M:8475]
Posts: 61
|
Post by tyson277 on Sept 4, 2010 8:37:27 GMT
looking at last nights national game with all those huns playing, i wonder how long it will be before sirwalterinwaiting tells then they can no longer play internationals as their squad is so small
|
|
|
Post by allthewine on Sept 5, 2010 11:26:54 GMT
Rangers will struggle to cope with injuries and suspensions this season. They're squad is very short on numbers. But I agree they still have a decent spine.
I too am sick of the quality over quantity line.
The vast majority of our signings are experienced internationalists.
In the league we have looked solid. I am confident that we have a strong enough side to win the spl.
|
|