So, before the window opens, Brendan has given some of his players the bad news that their time at Celtic has come to an end. We already suspect that Kris Commons won’t be returning, but the boss has also laid it out to Efe Ambrose and now Nadir Ciftci.
I wrote about Efe this morning; he is an honest pro who has been at our club a while, and he’s given us good games as well as bad. He will depart with our best wishes, but with few regrets. It hasn’t worked out for the big man. He’s prone to errors which put the team under pressure but he’s not the worst player to wear the Hoops in recent years. With all respect to him, I hope he finds a new club and gets his career back on track.
The same applies to Nadir Ciftci, who’s signing remains baffling. Allegedly the first pick for Ronny Deila when it came to strengthening the team in the second season, he didn’t show the slightest sign that he could rise to the level of playing for our club. That’s not his fault, he, too was an honest pro simply trying to make his way. The Celtic offer was one no right minded player in his position would have turned down. It just wasn’t to be.
I didn’t really think there was much chance of that one working out. Ronny got that decision badly wrong (if indeed the decision was his; that’s always been in debate) and it was one of a number of things that cost him. The fans were sceptical and remained that way. Nadir didn’t fit well in the team, and for a time he was keeping out Leigh Griffiths which he simply wasn’t good enough to do. That was never going to endear him to people unless he was banging them in, which of course he wasn’t. That did it for him, along with the attendant pressure the media puts on any Celtic striker who doesn’t score an early barrow load.
You only have to look at the easy ride Sevco’s non-scoring forwards get to see the difference. The media was out for big Nadir’s blood from the off.
Dedryk Boyata’s future is certainly up for grabs, but the manager hasn’t discussed that in the media. If he’s told the big man he’s free to find a club then that’s private, just between the two of them. But I don’t expect to see him play often for the first team. That move should worked out; he came to us from the highly rated Manchester City youth set-up from which we’d taken Jason Denayer the season before. I am very surprised by Dedryk’s failure to make it in the Hoops.
If Brendan sees something I will have faith in that, but it seems unlikely.
A few others won’t be at the club come the end of the season. I don’t expect that Scott Allan has a future at Celtic and there will be a few others. A lot of our youth team will be going too; Brendan will have evaluated all of them by now and made some decisions.
January is always exciting. We’re not going to lose any key players and we can realistically expect a few decent signings, all the better to set us up for the treble and for the challenges next season in getting back into those Groups.
Big decisions to be made. You just gotta believe in the manager.
Fortunately, all of us do.
In Brendan We Trust.