CelticBlog Shorts: Clement, Bangura, John Kenny and a transfer fee to spin Ibrox’s wheels.

I’m trying something a little different with this article. Rather than focusing on one topic, which is how I usually write, I’m going to cover four smaller stories that I didn’t think had enough in them to merit full articles but still felt were worth a mention.

I don’t know how popular this format will be.

I’ll see what the response is like, and if it works, I’ll do more of these. Every day there are stories I skip because they feel like minor footnotes, but some are interesting and deserve at least a paragraph or two. On days when it feels worth doing, this could become a regular feature.

The first story is the one about Mo Bangura, which came from the Daily Record. I don’t know who comes up with this stuff or who it’s aimed at, but it was a piece by one of their enterprising online journalists who decided to spin the tale that Bangura failed at Celtic because, after going out on loan and playing against us in Europe, he was shunned by everyone in the dressing room.

What utter nonsense. The reason Bangura was sent on loan in the first place was because he was abject and useless. The reason he failed at Celtic is because he was abject and useless. His contract wasn’t terminated because the dressing room shunned him, or because he felt out of place at Lennoxtown, but because even his loan spell demonstrated just how abject and useless he was.

I don’t like to pour petrol on players who didn’t meet our standards and have since left, but Bangura was so far below our standards that it’s offensive anyone would try to pretend otherwise.

The second story concerns Philippe Clement, who sat in front of the media yesterday and claimed that “all of Europe” had been talking about the penalty incident from last weekend. Who is he trying to kid? He might not follow the sporting press outside Scotland, but I do, and I can tell you even our neighbours in England couldn’t care less.

The Guardian, for example, ran Ewan Murray’s match report and never mentioned the game again. It barely registers down there. Scottish football doesn’t even make it into an afterthought. The women’s game in England gets more coverage than we do.

As for the rest of Europe, the idea that anyone in Spain, Italy, Germany, or France is discussing this is laughable.

The only people talking about it are those with a connection to one of the two clubs involved and the only ones taking it seriously and not laughing about it are those of an Ibrox persuasion. The rest of the world is blissfully unaware and unconcerned about this little foot-stamping temper tantrum.

It’s nothing more than a local storm in a teacup.

Moving on, I saw yesterday that Johnny Kenny played against Chelsea the other night for Shamrock Rovers and missed a sitter, but neither he nor anyone around him seems particularly bothered. He’s confirmed that he’ll return to Celtic in January, and the narrative around his return now includes the fact he’s been scoring goals in Europe. He seems ready for a chance here in Scotland.

At the same time, Daniel Cummings continues to impress, scoring another goal in Europe and one in the Glasgow Cup final recently. I’ve had it confirmed that the club hasn’t yet offered him a new contract, but that’s surely a matter of time. It’ll be interesting to see how Brendan handles this situation.

Ideally, both Kenny and Cummings would return to challenge for first-team spots, but if the club has decided Kenny is the better prospect, it’s likely due to his European experience and performances at senior level.

At 21, he has the physical attributes and mental toughness to make an impression. Either way, this gives us an intriguing dilemma.

Finally, Alexandro Bernabei is reportedly at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war. This is amazing for a player most would agree has flopped at Celtic and isn’t likely to return to the first-team fold. Reports today suggest we’ve lowered our asking price, but with multiple clubs interested, I suspect we’ve floated a range rather than setting a firm figure.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens here. Anything over £800,000 would make me laugh uproariously, as that’s more than the Ibrox club managed for the half-dozen players they sold over the summer. There’s even talk of a mid-seven-figure fee, which would be a nice boost for Brendan’s January transfer kitty.

These are the four stories that didn’t feel like they needed full articles but seemed too interesting to ignore. If you enjoyed this format, let me know in the comments or on social media, and I’ll consider doing more of these in the future.