Season 15/16 | Vital Football

Season 15/16

wee_od_88

Vital Football Hero
Well this must be a new record.....we've made our first signing! Welcome to Celtic Dedryck Boyata!!!!!

24 year old, big, strong and athletic CB. He has signed a 4 year deal and we paid Man City around £1m which isn't bad considering he had 1 year left on his deal and although he has hasn't played much over the last few years, he is considered a very dependable CB who Pellegrini would have used if required but unfortunately for Boyata, the 3 other CBs in front of him in the queue just didn't pick up injuries.

He will also wear number 20 on his shirt (seems an odd number to choose in my opinion but maybe I'm just old fashioned). That could say a lot about Teemu Pukki's future, not that anyone expects him to be around but he is currently number 20.
 
The Daily Mail says pounds 1.5 million. He does sound pretty good. With Man City's money, I don;'t think they sign bad players. They even have first option to buy him back if he excels the way Denayer has.

Welcome aboard, Boyata!
 
I hadn't heard that about buying him back....that would suggest they think highly of him!
I would suggest you're right about Man City and not buying rubbish players, they obviously bought him young and hoped he would come good and while he hasn't really had the opportunity to flourish, he seems to have certainly got up to a good level of ability. They wouldn't have held onto him for this long if he wasn't a decent player!
 
Yeah, he must have some ability and out scouting group is good when it comes to midfielders and the back four. If only we could scout a forward. After Bang Bang and Pukki, I think they should hire you, Wee Od.

One thing about Deila. The guy doesn't screw around. He comes in and makes moves. He did it this time last year, too, changing everything to a fault. Now he's moving quickly again with signings.
 
Strikers are the most difficult players to scout! You can defend or play well in midfield in any league....but scoring goals varies from league to league! Even the strikers I find are always a gamble, you're never guaranteed that they will settle and play well.

I think now that Deila is settled and knows what's required of him and what he needs his players to do as well as the players knowing what they need to do for him as well.....I think we'll see a much better team and performances this coming season! I'm going to stick my neck out right now and say I don't think we'll have a repeat of the horrific Champions League Qualifiers we saw last season!

Deila is very organised! He already knows the areas he needs to strengthen, wants to strengthen and he'll have his shortlist of who he wants! I think as usual, we will have a lot of names linked with us but we won't have any firm interest. Even if our scouts were seen watching them, it will only to have been for creating our pool of scouted players for the manager to then choose from.
 
I do wonder--if we got a good forward in--if he would switch to a 4-4-2. If you think about it, we never had two forwards firing at the same time. When Guidetti was hot, Griffiths was being a ned and in the dog house. When he caught fire, Guidetti started believing his press clips and was more interested in his post-goal dance than getting the goals.
 
Deila might go with that in certain games but generally his philosophy is all based around the 1 up front formation. So I don't really see that changing too soon. It really depends on the game though. I think he wants a much more physical striker though. Someone to really hold the ball up and be a target. There's not many of them around these days though!
 
Looks as though we will miss out on Zakaria Bakkali, the 19 year old PSV winger/attacker. We tried to sign him in January but couldn't agree a fee with PSV as they wanted him to stay, now as a free agent it seems he has somewhere in the region of 13 offers, one of which is from us. His preferred move appears to be to La Liga to join Valencia.

There have also been rumours that we want Swedish defender Erik Johannson from Malmo. He's 26, a Sweden international (3 appearances), has only ever played in Sweden but got Champions League experience with Malmo last season. He is apparently a CB who can also play midfield, he's just marginally taller than Ambrose.
 
Joe Chalmers has joined Motherwell. The 21 year old normally plays at LB but can also play at CB or LM. He has been a regular in our development squad and has made 2 appearances for the first team but injuries and a lack of opportunities have spelled the end for him. He's also been a regular for the Scottish international youth teams.
He has good technique with his crossing and set piece ability particularly good. However I don't think he is quite mobile enough for Deila's liking. The way our fullbacks play, they have to be very fit and quick to get up and down the pitch and while he's not slow, he's not quite quick enough for our system.
Another player unfortunate not to quite make it here but I think Motherwell have got themselves a good player!

I think he could end up a really good player, probably not EPL quality but a good SPL or id table English Championship team. Only need to look at the likes of James Keatings and Marcus Fraser to see how good a player can be after leaving. Fraser has been doing really well playing as a RB for Ross County and helping them out of a hole this season while Keatings has shown for Hamilton and Hearts in the Championship that he can score goals, it's just unfortunate for him that Hearts don't want to take him to the Premiership with them and it was his decision to leave Hamilton last season. He has now joined Hibs and I think that's a very good move for Hibs! They need a goalscorer like Keatings in the team! If they can make more signings like that, they should have a good chance at winning the Championship next season!
 
We've also apparently bid for a 22 year old Chilean international. He plays in Chile in the top league for a team called Colo-Colo. Reports are calling him a striker.....based on the footage I've watched, he's most certainly not! He's a winger, although not the quickest from the looks of things. I'd actually say he's a little more like Nakamura (stay with me here). He seems to be a creative player, his technical ability seems to be very good and he's not the sort who is just focused on running at goal and shooting, in fact the footage shows very little shooting from him at all! He's a passer and playmaker but he has the ability to beat a man and one thing I wasn't expecting is that he seems to be quite strong. Good balance and physical enough to stand up to challenges and quite physical defending. That would suggest he could probably adapt to the SPFL quite well, but you never know.

[youtube=Nwj2w00lc6Y]

He scored 7 goals and 4 assists in 27 appearances last season.
 
Hmmmm....then why do we need him? If he is a good bargain, that's great. But we really have other priorities. If you think about the midfield and we're playing with five, you can expect Broon, Bitton, StarJo to be automatic starts. After that you have Commons, Forrest, Armstrong and GMS to choose from. I think Stokes will be gone. So unless this guy can be effectively used as a striker, I don't get it.
 
He would be a bargain I think. Great potential. His value on transfermarkt is only about £88k, that's probably not accurate to what his actual value is, but it's unlikely to be much more than £500k. We are constantly being linked with more players who can play as a winger, CAM or sometimes they can play either of those positions and striker as well. I don't really understand why though.
Delgado can also apparently play CM which watching the video I could see being possible. If Delgado is available at the right price, I think it's still a good move but it would mean no other new players for those forward 3 positions. We would still need a striker, probably another CB and another LB.
 
Could Ronny Deila turn to his homeland this summer to strengthen Celtic ahead of their UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign? Norwegian football blogger Christian Wulff looks at the latest speculation surrounding Viking Stavanger’s Veton Berisha and what he could bring to the Scottish champions.

After some initial rumours on Twitter on Saturday afternoon local Stavanger paper Aftenbladet, who has close links with people inside the Viking organisation, confirmed last night that there was a least some substance in the speculation that Celtic were looking at signing striker, Veton Berisha.

In one way, it would be strange if Celtic were not considering a move for Berisha. Having turned 21 in April, the 5ft 8in forward has been regarded as a very promising talent ever since he made his debut for Viking in the top flight almost exactly four years ago. He has followed in the footsteps of his one year old brother, Valon, who also made his debut at 17 for Viking before moving to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria at 19.

Born and raised in Norway by parents from Kosovo, Veton, unlike his brother, is still not tied to Norway on a senior international level having yet to be capped by them, although he is a regular feature in the country’s U-21 side.

Veton has really caught the eye this year with a very impressive start to the Norwegian season, finally taking the step up from talented youngster to a genuine star and leader. Before this year he had 11 goals in 80 league appearances for Viking (in 54 starts). After the first 11 games this season he has added 7 more goals, with an additional two assists.

But Berisha’s influence at Viking is about much more than purely adding goals, coach Kjell Jonevret recently described him as ‘both the heart and the motor of the team’.

It’s easy to see why.

Berisha is a high-energy forward who works opposition defenders continuously and also never shrinks away from his own defensive duties when needed. His ability to, even at the end of games, produce powerful sprints across the pitch is testament to both his remarkable fitness levels and dedication to his team.

But he’s not purely an attacking work-horse, possessing more than a touch of creativity and is now also starting to show the finishing abilities needed to become a forward of international standard. Considering his relative short height he’s also a very good header of the ball, scoring both his goals in last week’s match against Vålerenga that way.


Having seemingly no intention of renewing his contract which expires at the end of June – the development compensation fee due to Viking would likely only be a few hundred thousand pounds – Berisha is naturally attracting a lot of attention across Europe. His playing style also means he is an especially logical link for Celtic; he could potentially play in any of the positions across the front four, even as a lone striker (he plays up front in a 4-4-2 for Viking), but the combination of high work-rate, creativity and finishing seems a perfect fit for one of the wide attaching positions in Ronny Deila’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.

Deila was in Stavanger this week to give a lecture and hold coaching session, although it is unknown whether he met with Berisha or his representatives. It can be difficult to cut through the smoke and mirrors of transfer window speculation and the Berisha rumours might well end up being another false dawn.

But it is at least a link that makes sense on so many levels; a young, talented player that would embrace the ethos and style of a Deila team, available for a fee way below his real value.

Berisha is still untested on a higher level, not yet afforded the opportunity to face international opponents either through European cup competitions or in senior appearances for Norway.

Even so, there is likely to be enough evidence of his potential – and the cushion of a relatively low financial commitment – to make him a risk worth taking for Celtic.

If Veton Berisha is to become the first player Deila brings over to Glasgow from Norway very few could argue with the logic of the choice. The actual evidence of it being a smart signing or not will as always only be tested on the pitch.


Scotzine article
 
Berisha is a player I've noticed before, don't think I've ever actually posted about him though. There's always seemed to be a better option. I think what the article above says is right though in that his versatility could make him a good option for us now.

[youtube=l9d6tKYF85U]
 
First off, great to see Belfast back! Welcome back, mate. :emoticon:01 :emoticon:14

I have not seen anything about this, but if there is talent in Norway I'm sure Ronny will be on the case. Especially a forward. I think we need at least one. Yes, Commons is pretty good but he is old, getting inured more often and not quick enough for Europe. I still think there is a player in Sceppo, but we need two more, really. One to partner Griffiths and some cover.

Speaking of cover, did we get lucky getting a full season of good fitness from Gordon? It's very possible. Staying fit is a skill. Players like Johanson, Izzy and Bitton can seem to play every game without injury. Forrest is injured more often than not and lately, Commons has been hurt a lot. Lustig and Matthews miss a lot of time,. too. Until this year, Gordon was camped out on the training table. Might we need better cover at keeper?
 
Guidetti gone. Stokes looking likely to be sold and Griffiths is also attracting interest (although I think RD will want to keep him) so we'll need a few strikers in asap for the cl qualifiers. Maybe add a quality loanee when we (hopefully) qualify.

Get cover in at LB ffs!

Welch making a good point about CG and, with Zaluska off, we need the best backup goalie we can get.

So, to re-cap, sign players. :emoticon:65
 
The only LB cover we have is Mulgrew, who is adequate for league games at best in that position.

Guidetti can get tae fuck. He ended up being a complete shithead. That means we need at least one forward. Apparently, we're interested in Odegaard on a loan deal, but he's not really a forward.
 
Where is the benefit to us in taking this kid Odegaard in on loan?

Inexperienced player for a position where we already have more than enough cover. Plus he hasn't exactly endeared himself to his new club in his short time with them. The RD link is all well and good but not when it's combined with the pipe dreams this kids head has been filled with or his attitude or, more importantly, his bank balance.

What's the point of giving him game time (at other Celtic players' expense) and developing his career when, even with the best will in the world, his current wages mean we wouldn't have a hope in hell of signing him up at a later date ... even if he totally flopped at his current club.

Our current model is correct and it would be wrong, imo, to break it for Odegaard.

:emoticon:16
 
I believe Odegaard is supposed to have a future as a forward, and that's why Deila wants him. Otherwise, I put it in the category of ANya. We simply don't need them and as you say, Tic, why play loan stars at the expense of players who plan to stock around?

As wrong headed as those seem, signing Fletcher is really stupid. He's old, never fit and all he did against the Republic was dive after minimal contact and hold his forehead in fake agony. Sounds like a player for the huns. He annoys me. Six years ago I'd have been in favor, but not today.
 
Hey guys! Had a busy week last week so wasn't able to get on.

So to catch up.....

Anya - don't see the point, he's now 27 and I'm just not sure we need him, he can be lightning quick which would be useful but I just don't think it fits right for us at the moment.

Fletcher - too old, not going to give us enough goals (5 in the EPL last season). I agree with welch, if it were all those years ago when he left Hibs, I would have taken him.

Odegaard - talented young lad, no doubt about that! However it doesn't make sense to play him ahead of players like GMS or Armstrong, or to put our own young players further down the pecking order again. I can't see him being the difference maker in European games....or at least not yet! I think he'd be better off playing in the second tier of Spanish football for a season and then maybe next season we could take him...if we need him!

VVD - apparently wants to leave if an offer comes in, speculation was that Sunderland would use Fletcher to try and get him but that would be a bad move for him! Southampton would be good, Everton could also be interested and they could really do with him while Aston Villa will really need a good solid CB to try and help them rebuild the team as well!

We've been linked with some 28 year old Moroccan midfielder, apparently linked with him before.....I don't really remember. Napoli are interested though so our chances are slim. He currently plays in Turkey, is French born and has played in France and Bulgaria. I think this is a nothing rumour!
 
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