We warned Ajax to put their cheque book away and save themselves £22m (if that was even the fee they paid) and not sign Calvin Bassey.
The Dutch masters saw something in the Nigerian international that inexplicably made them think that shelling out £22m was a good idea.
Since he arrived in Amsterdam, Bassey has been pilloried for his performances and whilst I concede it can take a player some time to settle in, even I have to admit that mistakes like this are just sheer amatuerish:
Watch it again. Look at the fans in the background.
Poor Calvin. No wait, poor Ajax. In fact, eff that. They both deserve each other and I am judging the Dutch club, who are world renowned for spotting elite talent, for signing a player that was clearly overrated and under skilled for them.
As Japan are set to face Uruguay this morning in the countries next international fixture, news that Daizen Maeda missed training and will not feature in the 1030am kick off will fill the Celtic fans with worry.
But as we wait on news of Maeda, his replacement in the side is Brighton’s Mitoma Kaoru.
Described by Hochi News as a ‘super sub’, Mitoma has been in very good form for the English Premier League surprise package.
Sitting in 7th place, Mitoma has helped the seaside club maintain their EPL status this season with nine goals and six assists.
His form has caught the eye of Manchester United who are reportedly looking to take him to Old Trafford in a £35m deal. [Manchester Evening News]
Moriyasu said of Mitoma, “It is not that he did not start the World Cup because [Mitoma] was not strong, but his condition was not 100% when he entered the tournament.
“Now that they are a new team, they will start working on how to draw the power of Mitoma from the starting lineup.”
The fact that Hajime Moriyasu rates Maeda above the Brighton winger speaks volumes for out bhoy and we should really appreciate having such a talented (and underrated, in my opinion) player in our ranks.
And it’s the same whenever we seem to get a contentious VAR decision.
And Tam McManus typified the media with this reaction to the penalty Celtic were awarded against his former club when speaking on the PLZ Football Show.
McManus said, “I thought the penalty for Celtic was soft. I thought he went down easy, Carter-Vickers.”
A view not shared by his fellow pundit, Alan Rough, “The only one I would disagree with is the Celtic penalty.
“I thought Hanlon was trying to tug him a wee bit because he turned him [Cameron Carter-Vickers].
“So at one stage he was holding him back so I would have given a penalty for that.”
And Rough is 100% correct. It was a foul. Absolutely no question.
McManus seems to have his own green tinted specs on and is blinded by his bias for the Edinburgh side to admit the truth.
The Celtic fans are supremely confident that the title race is over.
A nine point gap and a superior goal difference means that with just nine games left to play, it would take a monumental collapse of epic proportions for Ange Postecoglou’s men not to lift the title.
Even with two games still to play against ‘them’, it is still very difficult to see where we could drop points.
But John Hartson warns against complacency in the title race.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, Hartson warned, “It’s game by game. You cannot take your eye off the ball. Taking your eye off the ball is not winning on Saturday. It is drawing 1-1. That’s taking your eye off the ball.
“This team is driven on the training ground every day. They know what’s at stake and they’ve got a certain way of playing and they’ve got a certain way of getting results. They keep going. They don’t stop. They never stop.
“There’s 27 points to play for. It’s not over until it’s mathematically over.
“They have Rangers to play twice in the league. Rangers will be determined to put that performance right from the final a couple of weeks ago, the League Cup final where Rangers felt they didn’t perform as well as they should have.
“So it’s not over. Of course they [Celtic] are huge favourites, of course they are, and they should go and get the job done.
“But it’s not a foregone conclusion.“
One thing is for certain, Ange Postecoglou will not get complacent. He will have it drilled into the players that there is still plenty to play for. So will Callum McGregor.
But as fans, we can be a bit more cocky about it if we wish because we are top of the league looking, down on the Rangers.
The quality that Celtic have all over the park means that we tend to dominate every domestic game with ease.
Our style of play is set up so that whenever we have the ball, it is difficult for opponents to win it back and our possession stats go through the roof.
Our midfield, in the main, is mostly to thank for that. Players like Callum McGregor dictate the tempo and rhythm of the play and the others around him try to unlock defences to secure the three points.
BBC reporter Kheredine Idessane was looking at the teams impressive goalscoring stats and highlighted the important contribution of two Celtic stars that have gone under the radar.
Writing on the BBC website, Kheredine said, “Since the World Cup break, Celtic have played 19 matches, in which Mooy and Hatate have contributed 13 goals and 12 assists between them.
“That’s 25 goal involvements from the middle of the park.
“Quite a return, and a big driver of Celtic’s surge through all competitions since the festive season.”
The Celtic fans recognise the contribution of Aaron Mooy since his return from the World Cup and how the big Aussie has improved not only his game, but the first team. And Reo Hatate?
He does was Reo Hatate does. Always consistent, the Japanese midfielder is turning into top quality midfielder.
Check out the news from all the Celtic blogs across the webHERE
This is something I believe all Celtic fans can get on board with.
Just prior to the League Cup final, we had to endure the unending nonsense from the Ibrox players and manager in the press where Michael Beale spoke about Ange being lucky and Fashion Sakala referring to us as ‘the other mob’ and how they are the better team.
Sakala’s was clearly comments that were scripted that someone in Ibrox told him to say and Beale? Well, Beale just lets his mouth run away with him.
Check out the news from all the Celtic blogs across the webHERE
And another player that has let his mouth run away with him was James Tavernier.
The Rangers skipper flapped his gums in the media by claiming that Celtic will meet the ‘real’ Rangers in the next Hampden showdown in an interview that tells me one thing.
These guys have learned nothing.
And John Hartson has brilliantly called them out on it.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, Hartson said, “I’ve spoken about this before. It doesn’t concern me.
“Because in life there’s doers as there’s sayers. Don’t be a sayer, be a doer.
“Make sure that if you’re in the team for Rangers you make sure that when you cross that line, whether it’s at Celtic Park, Ibrox or Hampden that you are at your very, very best.
“And you’ve got to hope that every other player around you is at their very, very best and then you might, you just might, catch Celtic on a bit of an off day or you might play better than Celtic on the day, and then you’ll win the game.
“There was there was a few quotes coming out of the Rangers dressing room before and I said the same it doesn’t make one bit of difference.
“You do your talking on the pitch and then by doing that, that’s when you’re gonna win the respect of the supporters.
“In my life too many people say a lot but do nothing. BE A DOER, don’t say it, go do it.”
This is bang on by Hartson but I fear that come the end of April, Tavernier is just going to be labelled as another sayer and will be adding another two failures to his long list of failures since becoming the Ibrox captain.
As Celtic fans, we are all under no illusion as to just how good a manager Ange Postecoglou is.
The Australian came to Scotland in a blaze of publicity and the appointment was derided by sections of the media and the fans.
The media targeted the manager, the fans targeted the board simply because most of us hadn’t heard of him.
Fast forward almost two years and, by God, the media certainly know him now and the fans love him. Every single one of us.
He has brought a style of play suited to the Celtic Way and this thread by EBL 2017 highlights the incredible work Ange has done in perfecting his tactics:
Ange Postecoglou's Celtic play a style which resembles the best teams and coaches in world football such as Pep's City, Arteta's Arsenal, & De Zerbi's Brighton.
His Celtic team invert the fullbacks, attack with flawless positional play, & counterpress relentlessly.
If you get the opportunity, you must read it. It is fascinating.
But it was the last three tweets that will give Celtic fans great encouragement for next season, “All in all, though, there absolutely is potential for Celtic to succeed in Europe with Ange in charge. He really is a phenomenal coach.
“Ange’s on-ball structure is nothing short of flawless, the counterpress is elite, and although the settled press may be flawed on occasion, that’s likely down to the fact that little emphasis is put on it for domestic games, with superior pressing displays evident in Europe.
“This entire thread has primarily focused on Ange and his tactics, and that’s without considering some of the individual player development and transfer market work he has carried out at the club.
“His transfer market work has been nothing short of special.“
I’ve said repeatedly on this blog that I cannot wait to see what Ange does with this team next season.
We have a settled squad with a years worth of Ange’s tactics and style in them. I genuinely think we can achieve something special in Europe with the big man at the helm.
Right, I want to get this straight from the off. This article is a pop at the media in Scotland and how they use the available jobs in England to try and get rid of Ange and how they use the same thing to knock his credibility too. I DO NOT WANT ANGE TO BE PUT FORWARD, NEVER MIND TAKE, THE SPURS JOB!!
Now that’s out the way, bear with me.
We all know that whenever a job comes up in the EPL the very first name the Scottish media link to it is Ange. It’s like clockwork.
And it’s getting boring.
But what they also do when they do this is open the Celtic manager and our club to criticism from all the usual quarters when they say that the quality of the league is poor and Ange won’t get a job like that just by beating Rangers and winning the league.
They also like to spin the narrative that to get noticed as a manager, Ange needs to do the business in Europe as well.
And Tam McManus made that exact same point which Peter Martin rubbished.
Speaking on PLZ, Martin said, “It’s a strange situation as it contradicts the whole situation as he [Rodgers] got the Leicester job because he thought that was the right time to get out.
“He didn’t see another way so he jumped and he suffered the wrath of the Celtic fans.
“But he moved to Leicester, who had a huge budget initially, but he went to Leicester with a dreadful European record for Celtic.
“He couldn’t get a trick out of them.”
Look, I am defending Ange’s abilities here. I am sick fed up of people telling us what he is achieving at Celtic doesn’t matter because his first real crack at Europe didn’t come off.
I cannot wait to see how we fare in Europe next season now Ange has a settled side. I think big things are coming for us.
You know what I love about the game in this country?
The fact that, like referees, our pundits are all impartial with no ties to the Glasgow club that resides in Govan.
It really is what makes our game special and maintain it’s credibility in world football.
*whispers*
What do you mean 90% of referee’s are Rangers fans and the pundits on the radio and telly are mostly retired Ibrox players???
Who would have thunk it eh?
Of course, I am being sarcastic, but like the referees in this country, the pundits just cannot see past their own bias to give an informed view or opinion on Celtic games. And that’s because most of them are ex-Rangers players.
I don’t care who you support but you cannot sit and tell me that when you are commenting on a team that is your biggest rival, you are not going to be bias in your views. Of course you will.
I do it. I’m a Celtic fan and I see the game through Celtic eyes but at least I can admit it. Which makes the BBC coverage of Celtic games a joke in this country.
Watch three ex-Ibrox players attempt to give their unbiased views on the Youan yellow cards:
🗣️'I think the red card is very harsh, there's no intent there whatsoever'
😂😂 both absolute stick on yellow cards. Caught Starfelt late on the shin with a studs down challenge at pace, then he kicks CCV in the face. Off balance or not, it’s reckless and endangered the opponent.
— Hakuna Hatate 🇯🇵 レンジャーズスケルパー (@quadtreblechamp) March 19, 2023
Where is the balance in the Scottish media… 2 former old rangers players and a former sevco player commenting on Celtic game outcomes.
Brilliant unbiased analysis at BBC Scotland from ex Rangers player Neil McCann, ex Rangers player Kevin Thompson and ex Rangers player Richard Foster… 👍🏼
The Celtic v Hibs game is still causing a lot of discussion in the media. The VAR and refereeing decisions that were involved in the game have been met with derision from the Hibs manager and for the Celtic fans, they were not happy with Lee Johnson or his Hibs teams time wasting antics that they felt should have been dealt with better on the day.
Forget what the former Rangers players on Sportscene said, Youan goes in, studs up, no attempt to play the ball. It’s a book all day long.
And to say Starfelt was just ‘rolling about’? Anyone that’s played football at any level, getting a knock on the top of the foot or even getting stood on is painful enough but a full force kicking from a guys that’s built like a tank?
I just find this take on the first tackle really strange.
I remember a huge fuss made over a non tackle involving Ryan Porteous at Ibrox last season and how he was sent off for ‘intent’ even though no contact was made yet, here we are, with a real illegal, studs up tackle with contact and pundits like these guys are claiming it was soft.
