Posted on Thursday, 18th August 2011 by Squire
So Fraser Forster returns to Celtic.
I have some mixed feelings about it. He was not in any way a terrible keeper; he was also not a terribly busy keeper. As I am writing this at CPT – 8 hours I am unsure of all the details at this time. I simply know that he is our number one. Again. Forster joins in on a season long loan with the option to buy him for the tidy sum of £2m at the end of the season. It sounds a bit similar to the asking price of a younger Polish net minder that we had our eyes on not too terribly long ago.
I guess my frustration with the situation is really that the board seems only interested in the familiar faces that have graced our grounds in the past. While I have no direct complaint with Fraser himself, I would have preferred risking the coins on Sandomierski.
While he may be largely unproven, I would like to believe the Polish National side would not just throw the weakest of the bunch between the pipes, while having several other choices, including two currently at Arsenal and once upon a time our very own Artur Boruc.
He [Sandomierski] may be young, and may not have been in the net during a Champions League Final, but thrice capped and having seen action in Europa screams out to me to give the kid a chance.
Maybe I personally lean towards rash decision making, and am up for a bit of risk, and when it comes down to opening up the coin purse and making a choice, I would in a heartbeat have put the money on Grzegorz.
Some may only look on and see the chance involved in signing, and putting the immense pressure of starting goalie at Celtic Park, feeling it may be too much for him as a developing player. I think that if someone has the goods, play him and see what happens.
If he’s a bust ok, bummer, at least we didn’t have to sell the farm to get him. It becomes another case of simply move along with a lesson learned. But, the question begs asking, what of the alternative?
In a time where our current situation demands the League title ensuring us a spot in the Champions League along with the available dollars to be gained from it. Can we really just resort to the market of keepers that have seen their best days behind them as theirs are the ones whose price we can match and guarantee them starting time?
I again feel that this is the wrong move. I much prefer a bit of a gamble in hopes of having a fantastic player for the better part of a decade to rolling out similar sums for someone that has a run of two years ahead.
Moving away from all this for fear of alienating nearly everyone, I would like to have a quick look ahead at the upcoming game against Sion. There has been some controversy as to the Swiss side’s position and eligibility in the league this year.
I will try and cast a bit of clarity on their crisis as well as have a look ahead to the game.
In 2009 Sion were found guilty of suggesting Essam El-Hadary break his contract with Al Ahli the Egyptian goalie’s team at the time. As a result, FIFA barred the club from registering players for two full transfer windows
They [Sion Management] believed the barring had lapsed this summer, and quickly backed the money truck up and opened the doors in signing six players including the likes of Mario Mutsch, a Belgian born midfielder capped over thirty times for Luxembourg. In addition to Mutsch, they inked out deals with Gabri (Spanish International), and another former trialist of ours Pascal Feindouno, a Guinea International attacking winger that spent a large part of his career in Ligue 1, finding the net over fifty times in games for St. Etienne, Lorient, and Bordeaux.
The players so far have been made to sit out the initial league games for Sion, after FIFA declared the ban run ‘til the end of 2011.
FC Sion decided to pursue the matter in the Swiss courts, having the decision overturned. However FIFA’s rules remain; clubs in member associations cannot fall back to civil courts to challenge penalties imposed by association or international association.
FIFA and UEFA in a joint letter sent to the club stating the rigid use of the regulations and informed the Swiss Football Association they are expected to comply and take measures to respect them. “FIFA does not put any pressure on the Swiss Football Association but, jointly with UEFA, only refers to existing regulations.”
If Sion are to play any of the six signings registered to play against Celtic this Thursday they face their disqualification from the tournament, with the advancement being awarded to Celtic.
Odds are that we will be in for the full 90 played out on the pitch, as going against the FIFA machine would be folly. However I still believe that, troubles aside this is not a team to completely overlook.
We now hold the initial advantage of the home grounds in spite of being slated to start away in the first leg of the tie, Lenny having stated his preference to begin the contest on Swiss soil. With neither Celtic nor the orc’s wishing to reverse their stance on it, enter UEFA, ruling in favor of the h?^s based on the Mordor side having been drawn first.
So the pressure to pour on the style early and often comes into play. With the added weight of H88per being sidelined for a possible number of weeks, this serves to add to not only our injury superfecta, but potentially stresses our front pairing to a critical level.
I can only imagine that we will see the return of Samaras at the front though I would personally prefer seeing a set up of a 4-3-2-1 with Stokes alone up top supported closely by an attack minded Ki and Forrest. Let Broony, Ledley, and Commons in the center mid balance offensive/defensive support. And I would add while I’m at it that we may as well run Matthews, Majstorovic, K.Wilson, and Mulgrew out in the back four.
I have not been able to find a lot, film wise in regards to Sion, but I can say that should they find themselves in our area on a dead ball, we will need to be vigilant. As goal after goal recently seem to rain in from corner to corner, and free’s outside the box have managed to find their way into the net from either a head above the pack, or a loose foot at the far post.
I don’t foresee a massive full out attack mentality from the Swiss in this game, but the probing long range ball is never out of vogue and we have been susceptible to it recently, fortunately yielding no goals largely thanks to big Dan holding court at the back.
I naturally cannot say with any certainty what the outcome will be, but I like the result of 2-0, with the bhoys in green and white walking away happy. I think that our defenders will find their rhythm and manage to lock the Sion side down, but mistakes can be made and prove costly, but I think the thunder in Glasgow will win the night.
SjH (twitter @dizinhoops and for podcast and website updates @TheLostBhoys)
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Posted in Squire | Comments (3)
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August 18th, 2011 at 10:21 am
I find the signing a bit strange. If he is the keeper NL wanted all along, why are we going for another year’s loan then a permanent signing in the region of 2m quid. Surely, if Newcastle have decided they don’t want him they’d be happier doing a deal for a bit less money now.
Are Celtic hedging their bets again? Could we decide after another season that he isn’t what we want and look for a cheaper option again?
As for tonight, I expect a tough match but it’s definitely do-able over 2 legs. Mon the Hoops!!
[Reply]
August 18th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Why would you pay £2m now when you can get him for free this year and still only pay £2m next year?
It is basic economics – the time value of money
[Reply]
August 18th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
Full expect to see us going after Craig Gordon when he’s fit. Which he’s not right now, so buying him now would be folly. Maybe in January, and sell on Zaluska for a nominal fee. Then we can decide if we want Forster this time next year. All makes sense to me.
Just taking Forster into account, I’m with Lennon on this one. We have a goalkeeper who’s a bit better than what we have already, with a reasonable fee which we don’t have to pay until next year now, and most importantly he’s one we know what we’re getting. This time last year Forster was a gamble – the same gamble that Sandomierski would have been this year, except this time we’d have bought the keeper rather than loaning him. Three caps for Poland? So what, that’s only two more than Zaluska. And Poland are pish right now.
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