Gustaf Lagerbielke will not be a name that is familiar to most Celtic fans, but if the reports from Sweden are to be believed he is going to be our next signing.
He’s a 6’3 central defender, he has one cap for their national team, and he is clearly being pencilled in as our replacement for Carl Starfelt. This is what Celtic fans wanted, and needed to see.
We lose a player and we don’t hesitate; we go out there and bring in a replacement. No messing about, no taking our time over it. If this is how it happens then it’s clear that we’ve got our lists of targets sitting in a drawer somewhere, and that we’re prepared for every eventuality.
That should be encouraging, because there is always a chance we’ll lose someone else.
This guy ticks the boxes so I would imagine that there’s something in the story.
He’s in the right age group. He’s coming from Scandinavia and we have a good record of finding talent from that neck of the woods. Starfelt himself is Swedish, and we know, because of big Mjallby and Lustig that they do produce outstanding defensive players.
But it’s the speed at which we appear to be moving which intrigues me most, and I wonder what that means for the rest of the window.
I do suspect there are a couple of major deals in the works and we’ll see who the targets at pretty soon … but I also wonder if this isn’t the club offering us a little bit of reassurance in case another major name goes.
If we pull this deal off then we have to give full credit to the people running the club. Let’s be honest, we all worried that replacing big Carl would take an age and that we’d be sweating in the meantime.
If this goes through quickly we can assume that the system which worked so well under Ange Postecoglou is going to remain the way we do things.
That should scare people outside of Celtic. It should scare them badly.
The only downside (?) is that he’s reported to be right footed. Not necessarily a big deal as Starfelt was as well.
I fear the fact he has the same agent as Starfelt could have something to do with it.
And it certainly sends a message to Welsh and Scales! That message is “You are a bit-part player at best and you can accept that or move to play more.”
We have indeed had lots of success with Skandinavien players in the past, even more than those you mention. I live in Denmark and watch lots of their teams and know that they have good schooling and the right mentality. An extra plus that some players from warmer countries don’t have…they are well used to shit weather. ?
Maybe Hatate for the off James?
He refused a new contract and didn’t look to happy at the weekend …
After watching Spurs demolish Shahktar
hard to see Ange coming for him but for big bucks Celtic will sell
HH
Certainly looks like the policy of if a player wants to leave the club, then the club won’t stand in there way of doing so. Yet a mutual respect is being adopted in making such changes as smootly as possible, which is great credit to all parties involved and hope it continues in such a manner in the future.
Still don’t believe Rodgers has got the defensive set up to his liking at present, and believe a keeper will be incoming shortly also, so can’t rule that Croatian lad out either at this stage.
Still remain unsure if Rodgers will stick with a back 4, or intends to be looking at the 3CB in the longer term?
I would guess at the 3CB option in future, mainly because we could have so many options available, and also the LB position remains far from secure, especially with CL in mind imo.
The Johnjames guy blogger all his stuff is password protected with him looking for a coin to get access to his material.
For all the stuff he has written I have never known anyone to repeat any of his exclusives so obviously he must be writing some amount of dross but looking for money for this as well.
Has anyone accessed his articles to see if there is anything worth talking about.
Pay it
Scud Missile
It`s a while since I read John James` (Sitonfence) articles, I never paid, and I used to take all the stories about the police inspector Robinson singing the Billy Boys to Craig Whyte on the plane and to the Duff and Phelps person during questioning with a pinch of salt but it all proved true when it became public about three years later. He also exposed early on the vendetta against Salmond and even named names, as well as forecasting (correctly) Nicola Sturgeon`s antics and fate. He also exposed the trips to South Africa by the aforementioned PI and his sidekick to obtain evidence from Dave King, at taxpayers` expense, to use against Craig Whyte at his trial. All as he forecast and nothing cryptic about it.
Like you James, I’ve always been a fan of our Swedish stars and how well we’ve done in the market with guys from that part of the world. But most of our successful signings had come from bigger clubs with more of a pedigree, Listing, Rosenberg, Mjallby, AIK Henrik, Feyenoord to name a few.
But this boy doesn’t have that pedigree, so is this another project signing? I really fail to see the point in this signing. I’ve been watching clips of the young centre back on you tube and to me he offers nothing more than Scales/Welsh would. He’s the same age profile of these guys, give or take a year, same sort of stats playing at a much smaller club. Will he even have the mentality for the big step up. Also don’t forget we have big Kobayashi too.
If these guy’s aren’t good enough (my own opinion is Scales will do a job especially) get rid of them then. We’re going to end up with a hugely bloated squad paying wages we don’t need to.
If we’re replacing Starfelt then it should be with a proven CH who’s been around for a few years at a decent level with possibly a wee bit of CL experience also. Because that’s what we need. Not another project. We have the money. We have the time. Don’t waste it Celtic.
The lad seems an excellent prospect but unlikely to be a first-team replacement for Starfelt, for now.
Not only have Celtic moved quickly to replace a position but moved quickly to replace Carl Starfelt. We all know that he was suspect if Carter-Vickers wasn’t in the team and Brenden Rogers didn’t mess around. Celtic are also looking at the goalkeeping situation. Again we know Joe Hart has been suspect and Rogers/ Celtic are working on this as well. Brenden Rogers knows if Celtic are to have any success in Europe he’s going to field the best team possible.
I remember when a player`s wife/girlfriend (or whatever) would accompany him and settle down for a wee while but the situation seems to be going into reverse. When Starfelt`s lover, Jacynta, decided to move on it was obvious that he would follow suit. Let`s hope that Kyogo has a settled relationship and doesn`t all of a sudden take a fancy to the
big centre half at Old Firm Sevco`s women`s team. What a shock that would be if he ever talks about moving to a flat in Edmiston Road.