The transfer window slammed shut last night but this morning, Sky Sports News continue to drain the last few hours of repeating themselves over and over again about who went where. The biggest talking points concerning Celtic is the lack of activity with so many players under performing and wanting away from the club. I expected more to leave and I had hoped to see a winger, a central defender and a goalkeeper come in alongside right back Jon Joe Kenny who arrived from Everton on loan.
Following on from the departure of Jeremie Frimpong, the new right back should go straight into the team for tonight’s visit to Kilmarnock and that terrible plastic pitch which will allow Kristoffer Ajer to slot back into central defence at the expense of the the under performing Shane Duffy or Nir Bitton.
The expected signing of Ben Davies from Preston on a pre-contract went tits up when he signed for Liverpool for £2 million yesterday. The most frustrating thing is we had a full month to tie him up and sell him the club and agree terms before Liverpool entered the race. A full month!
The goalkeeping situation is still a serious concern with only two clean sheets out of six in an abysmal January. Scott Bain is the No. 1 at the moment but it might have been so different if the club had agreed terms with Southampton and Frazer Forster to bring the big stopper back in the Summer or at the very least hold onto the experienced Craig Gordon for such an important season.
When news filtered through that Davies was on his way to Anfield, panic set in at Celtic Park and we were linked with Spurs defender, Japhet Tanganga but that news soon fizzled out.
Instead of a goalkeeper coming in, a young one went out Liam Hughes is a player I know little about but Liverpool have seen something in him and signed him to develop in their under 23 squad.
The only other news of Celtic interest from the transfer window is Olivier Ntcham finally getting his move away from Celtic on loan to Marseille until the end of the season at least. He had been expected to exit in the Summer.
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Celtic fan Boyle_67 on twitter summed up how many Celtic fans are feeling right now with this tweet.
“Olivier Ntcham wants to go to Marseille their fans were setting fire to their training ground yesterday and that’s still a more attractive prospect than staying at Celtic.”
For me Ntcham’s winning goal in Rome last season against Lazio will live long into the memory as will his goal against the Rangers a few seasons ago. The French man was another player who split the opinion of the fans, no doubt about his talent but sadly he spent a lot of his time warming the bench. Good luck to him, I can still taste that bottle of red wine I celebrated with late into the night in Rome. When we could travel, watch the Celtic, squash into sweaty pubs like sardines and hug complete strangers!
Andrew Milne started More than 90 Minutes in 2001. He has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic. He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Malone’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.
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