Is it just me? Am I the only the only one? Could it be that we’ve seen this movie before they call the transfer window?
Every time I tune in to the transfer window it always seems to draw me in, have me on the edge of my seat with excitement in parts, until near the end and suddenly the plot all becomes clear and you remember you have seen this blockbuster many many times before. As the dawning realisation that this is just another shoddy remake of a previous big budget showing hits it’s almost time to get ready to write the latest bad review for CFC productions.
OK so I might be jumping the gun a little here but I just have the niggling feeling starting to creep in that its going to be another cast of has-beens and wanna-be’s rolling into Lennoxtown rehearsals. No star billing in the shape of Bellamy or Keane, no veteran big name to give one last memorable performance on the big stage and no child star who has already proved themselves in the box office. Instead we seem to be getting the usual cast of bit part actors, guys who have had steady enough careers or looked like they might become household names on lesser shows.
THIS IS NOT WHAT WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE
As we witnessed the trailer for the campaign ahead at the various Q&A’s we were only missing voice-over man to describe the epic battle ahead as the script, self written or not, fell from the directors lips. I feel for Neil Lennon as you can imagine he was promised this that and the other and passed this information on to us fanbhoys with total belief in his own words. We were described a lavish set with with state of the art sound effects with a weather machine that could turn on a 90 minute storm at the flick of a freckled finger. We were described battle scenes that would live long in the memory, performances that would leave us gasping for more. We were told that once some of the big salaries had been moved onto pastures new that we would see money flung at the final line up. The man in charge of the budget told us himself that he would make sure we would be entertained by a bright new vibrant ensemble.
So far the engineers are still working on the special effects and the preview shows with the test audience hasn’t exactly had rave reviews. Ticket sales are not what were hoped for as the buying public hang off to see who appears out the limo and up the green carpet. So far the limo hasn’t even fueled up and the chauffeur is spending his days dreaming of who his next kiss and tell story will be, especially since the rat-packess Aiden has set off to join the Russian ballet in Moscow.
Celtic Football Club still has time to save the day though before the curtain comes up on the season ahead. There is still time to get on the phone to some of those big showbiz agents and negotiate some deals. There is still time to fill the roles that are currently being learned by understudies and students. We don’t want the cast of Glee, we want the cast of Cats straight from Broadway, we don’t want the nobodies from Neighbours, we want the Eastenders in the East end. We don’t want a Channel four production as good as some may be, we want the full Hollywood razzamatazz and glitter.
Give us some heroes Celtic who we’ll chase for autographs like love sick teenagers. Give us names that we will forever remember in song and story, names that will be who the future hoops will need to emulate.
Celtic please just give us some Stars because I can only watch so much of the MON box-sets from the golden age and the almost silentesque reels of Lisbon are so far in the distance they are barely touchable.
Let’s get a few Oscar winners in the door because I can assure you there are thousands getting ready with their boxes of rotten tomatoes.
There is still at least £10 million left in the kitty. SPEND IT
Harper.
Have to agree, ask yourself this question, who’s name would you want printed on your shirt?
I wouldn’t want any of the present squad and that says a lot.
@ chaz
Most would want their own name
Will be going as much as I can whatever happens. Its not fantasy football. Martin O’Neil resigned because his club refused to go into debt, a club with a lot larger budget than ours, in perspective we’ve done alot better. I wish they would just shut the top tier and forget the folks who came after he joined us and the prawn sandwich student brigade. Give us the green brigade all round the stadium.
@ Mark
Harper wasn’t saying that we shouldn’t go to games just that he would be disappointed if Celtic didn’t deliver what he thought was a promise.
Aye, shut the top tier. Very good.
Having been at a Q&A I never got the impression the box office would happen. Ok, James and Campbell decided that they wouldn’t survive the Scottish winter but Keane and Bellamy long term were ruled right out.
Extras from the 2nd flight or bottom half of the English and Spanish leagues is where we are at. You can get a lot of them for 9m.
It’s throwing a hedgehog and hoping to hit the bull.
It was the impression we were given at the Dublin Q&A. I’m not talking fantasy football but just the club delivering on what they were peddling. Neil Lennon has still said recently publicly that he would be interested in bringing Craig Bellamy to the club.
He has also said on numerous occasions he will be given the money from the McGeady sale to reinvest on top of all season ticket money and other transfer fee’s in. These were also the words exactly of Lawwell at the Dublin Q&A.
I’m only asking them to deliver on what they said.
@chaz I have McCourt on mine…
Really Mark? so anyone under a certain age isnt allowed to go and see Celtic, can you only be a supporter who’s lived through them being unsuccessful? where the people who started going back when Tommy Burns was manager glory hunters? even though I cant remember a time before that where Celtic consistently got 50k+ supporters at every home game. The problem with atmosphere is down to success, every club who achieves success at the level celtic had in the 00’s suffers from the same problem, very high expectations and since Oneils final 2 years in charge along with Strachan and Mogga, the standard of football has not been good we’ve one yes but we havent done it in a stylish way, its all hard work with no speed or guile. Celtic will fill the stadium if they can start to play with flair and excitement, which going by the games so far I’m sorry to say doesnt look as if its going to happen.
Burns remember didnt win any leagues, but the stadium was packed and the waiting lists were long, because we had the likes of Di Canio, Van Honkydonk, Cadete, Thom. One of the best right sided partnerships I’ve seen in Mcnamara and Donnely, Tosh down the left. We may not have one anything but we were entertained every time we went to a game.
@ Brenden
Celtic core support has always been 35, 000 to 40, 000. The season book boom was natural economics of football inspired by Sky. It became cool to have a season book. The boom has bust.
Some people need a serious reality check. No one wants to come to Scotland. Celtic struggle to be as attractive as mid-table championship clubs never mind the EPL. Playing in front of 35,000 fans is not a big difference from around 20-25 clubs in England (Good God Norwich have 27,000 every other week!). Yet the deluded come on every forum and talk about paying 50,000 a week for a player. Not going to happen and if it did it would only take a season or two before we were…Rangers. Grow up, get real and get behind what we have. Or go and play squash on a Saturday/Sunday with the missing 30,000. Children!
@jpd
While agreeing with your point you let yourself down with the squash jibe. It’s golf they play.
But I do see a trend here. Wanting the best for your teamthen your a prawn sandwich squash playing fly by night.
Harper – yeah fair point. I don’t think the Aiden sale is progressing as quick as it should be, so think we might be stuck (maybe bad choice of words giving he’s on the back of my shirt :p ) with him.
@Mark
Re McGeady. Is he wanting Celtic to pay him a cut of the fee?
@jpd you seem to miss the point, nobody is saying we wont back what we have. If Peter Lawwell had come out and said the transfer budget would be minimal then thats that you just accept it and get on with it. It’s the false promises or certainly big hints at big things that has me annoyed and more so at myself for being sucked into the propaganda. If we had 11 youth players in the team it wouldn’t make any difference in my support for the side, I still feel about the team exactly as I did the very first game I attended.
Great article/rant, i enjoyed it i must say. And although i agree with you to a large extent, i must say this- how many folk thought the name ‘LARSSON’ would be on the backs of faithful, grateful Celtic fans? What about Petrov, Lubo or Bobo? Nobody expected too much from these guys but a club like Celtic can give birth to, or resurrect an absolute diamond. May the club and its fans stay together even through the wind and rain. Celtic deserves unity!
@ Michael d
Bit of an overdose on the Sunny D but so true. It’s not only Naomi Campbell that can find a diamond in a slag heap.
Let’s get ourselves ready for the big name reactionary singing in the spring as Dermot McWalrus et al primes us for another failure – witha view to the 2011-2012 season ticket sales.
Broken record.
@ bamracan
Let it out dude. I missed ugly Betty as well. Though Dermot McWalrus is inspired.
@lordofthewing Haha. Aye, i am forever optimistic. But im glad you agree because wonderful things DO happen within the walls of Parkhead. I respect fans expressing their anger and frustration but sometimes (almost all of the time) it helps nobody. I feel that the empty seats, criticism, impatience and paranoia surrounding our club slows down our attempt to take back our respectable place within europes finest- the Sunny D has well and truly kicked in! Seriously, we should give Lenny the chance he deserves and we (the fans) are the only ones who can ‘bring the thunder back’! The team maybe needs that.
@ Michael D
I do reckon that the empty seats is 99.9% down to football economics. It’s bust and we are looking to much into it.
In response to the initial post by Harper.
At the moment we are like the cult indie flick not many people are too sure about but as soon as the first couple of good results come rolling in again we will become the cool film made on a small budget. I can honestly say the major Hollywood years of MONs big spending may be behind us but who knows Neil Lennon may be our Quentin Tarantino in waiting and this set of Indie stars may become tomorrows silver screen Heroes.
And the Oscar for best newcomer goes to……
Neil Lennon?
@ Sean
Our it could be our Juno. A bit shit.
Heh, Celtic Ingloriuos Bastards
Pope Fiction!
@lordofthewing – A lot of these players we have at Celtic have heard all about ‘Cauldron Parkhead’ and how the fans mean so much to the guys on the field and how they can push them and inspire them towards victory… i think we should get behind them and show them why they should give 100% for Celtic. We can’t always have big signings and big names, but we can have so much more- but the players need that ‘buzz’ from the fans, they need to know why they’re wearing the hoops, they need to know they can improve and can continue improving. Celtic is a well-oiled machine- maybe needs less oil and more guts, heart and (team) spirit.
good article indeed, although a few flaws in the theory perhaps. Bein a bit of a film buff myself i find most blockbusters to be a let down in general, sure they have all the glitz and glamour, the hollywood stars and the big budget….but i always find it is the smaller budget, thoughfully put together films that are most rewarding. The ones that are constructed with the emphasis on character development and real relationships, with their aim being to present a clear message about something meaningful.
Now don’t get me wrong, I would sell a few body parts to see Bellamy paraded at parkhead tommorow, closely followed by a few more top drawer players. But the fact is its not goin to happen so why dont we all stop moaning about what we aren’t doing and start looking at what we ARE doing… in my opinion neil is trying his best to sign real players, and by that i mean guys who he can tech what it means to play for celtic, to fight hard as a team and give your all no matter what the collective football fascists attempt to obstruct us with.
So no I dont think we will be a box office smash in the near future, my hope is that we can produce something real for the people who matter. And although we might not win any oscars, we should sweep the board of prizes which are WELL within our grasp.
I think most negativity at the moment stems from the fear that despite the state the dark side are in, we’re not overhwelming favourites to take the league. The tiny thought that they are even in with a shout of another title is sickening.
But of course, we need to get behind the team and remember most of the signings are relatively young and have little experience of the pressure they’ll face week in, week out. Sadly though, when you’re in a 2 horse race and can’t rely on help from others there can be very little time for “bedding in”
We may not have the flair players like DiCanio, Thom, etc but, as long as the passion and urgency are there, it’ll all be good. The players and fans need to feed off each other, it can’t all come from the one side. With a bit of heart, togetherness and even nastiness, it’s all going to work out. Bring back the THUNDER!!
@ Mark T and Michael
As @cheifinkorea points out lots come but few succeed. In the last three seasons only Robson has come from lesser lights and shone.
Ok some great comments above and as I’m just of the nightshift and heading to bed I can’t answer everybody.
I’m fully aware that the big spending days of MON and £6m on a player is a thing of the past. The point I was really trying to get across was that, if we sign another 3 players of the calibre of what we have already brought in and by that I mean largely unproven I will feel let down by what I witnessed and heard first hand at the Dublin Q&A.
It was stated quite clearly by Peter Lawwell that ALL season ticket money and ALL money received by the club for players sold would be made available to spend in this transfer window. Now I don’t have exact figures obviously but that will stand at least £20m when McGeady finalises his move (if he finalises his move). We have spent only nominal amounts so far.
I don’t believe its within the realms of fantasy for us to bring a Bellamy type player in on loan for a season, give them the opportunity to win some silverware, possibility of the captains armband and hero status with the fans. Lets stick with Bellamy as an example. He was left out of Man City’s 23 man Europa League squad and is highly likely to be left out of Man City’s 25 man EPL squad with the new home grown rule. Suddenly Man City find themselves with a player under contract on big wages. Players like Bellamy will then become available to other clubs at say half their wages as Man City will be just glad that somebody else is picking up some of the tab.
With the money we have (again if McGeady goes) there will be opportunities for us to bring in at least one player of that ilk. I think most would agree if we had Robbie Keane’s goals for the entire season last season we would have won the league. I also think if we were to bring in another top quality striker this year we will breeze the SPL and it would go along way to getting some excitement amongst the fans.
If we go as is so to speak then Neil Lennon will have my full support no matter what, as would any new Celtic manager no matter the circumstances. I have never stayed away from CP since I started going regular in 1987 because of what was on the park. We’re Celtic supporters and will back the team no matter what. Although I don’t think there is anything wrong with questioning those in authority when they pull the wool over our eyes. Of course when we go out and sign some ‘heroes’ in the next 2 weeks this will all become moot and I’ll be delighted to have been proven wrong.
HAIL HAIL
The current squad ressembles a low budget film of undeterminate origin with subtitles.
A motley crew of film chracters ranging from Zorba the Greek to Gold Hat and Mr Brown lead by a team of directors who, when asked about their coaching credentials, famoulsy replied:
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!”
However, we should be good enough to do a clean sweep of the coveted SPL BAFTA.
Still only Thursday…jeez…
Whinging Celtic fans before the season even starts. You make me puke. If it was so easy to bring the likes of bellamy or Keane back to CP we would be doing it. The fact is ..NO BIG NAME PLAYERS WANT TO PLAY IN THE SPL.
Do yourself a favour Harper. Get up off your miserable arse and get away from that keyboadr you moaning fuckwit