Nice touch. Anyways, he was offered a contract as a squad player. He didn't want it. He left to a club that could guarantee him more playing time as his spot with Norway (where he acts as captain) was under a bit of pressure after some poor performances. Celtic does not offer big wages, as you yourself have said in this thread. He is on 20.000 GBP per week. All of this is freely available as Celtic are a publicly traded company, it's not that difficult to find our financial info. Our expenditure on wages, from what I can tell, is roughly the same as Fulham's - around 40m gbp per year. Celtic do not spend outside their means, but then again that's why we're building museums, hotels, and temperature-controlled training domes while Fulham is servicing debt.
What agenda? Though I guess I can understand from your posting history why you might accuse someone who is simply pointing out that Hyndman is currently playing in a really poor league (a league whose quality has dropped significantly over the past decade) of having an "agenda".
Again, even assuming arguendo all of this is true, he wasn't "run out of Glasgow" as you stated earlier....
Posting history? Yeah, I've stated loudly and clearly that I rate Hyndman. Since long before the Rangers loan, in fact. But I certainly don't post on Hyndman to the exclusion of all other topics and I have been quick to point out when he has played poorly. In your last 60 posts, on the other hand, since about the day of Emo's first game of the loan, around 40 were in one Hyndman thread or another and aimed exclusively at attacking any positive comments on Hyndman's performance by denigrating the league he is playing in. I'd say that's an agenda. The other 20 or so posts, by the way, were focused on attacking and insulting any and all comers, including much more established and respected posters than myself, for such things as grammar, claiming the English don't like Lager, and - God Forbid - even a fleeting reference to WhoScored. Slam me all you want for my posting history. I've been denigrated by much better men than you.
But that's not what's being discussed. In every league there are good and bad situations. In MLS, I like having our players at FC Dallas, NYRB, and Atlanta. Chicago? Not so much. It's the same in Scotland. I wouldn't be arguing about ICT or St. Johnstone being particularly great places. But the top clubs, Celtic and Rangers, are good places. And I don't say that easily about Rangers. The Scottish Premier League is treated as if it were worse than the Norwegian 2nd division sometimes, and it's just baffling. You have shown that you don't really have any idea what's going on north of London, first saying that Celtic are terrible because they have the wage bill of a Championship club now, then saying that your best youth prospect left Fulham because they offer huge wages that Championship clubs like yours can't compete with. Why can't you just accept that for some, these clubs are seen as good places to develop? Whenever one of our prospects is linked with or signs for Celtic or Rangers, it is the same ignorance every time. That's why it's quite weird to see these connections made to Edu and Beasley's Rangers, because people said the same thing back then. Even when Celtic were coming within minutes of winning the UEFA Cup (predating the Europa League), people were saying that the league itself wasn't as strong as the 90s. Then people were saying it wasn't as strong as the 80s. Then we get to our base case of 1967, the end of this recursive denigration, the only time people have been able to admit that a side from Scotland is potentially kind of good. For as long as people want to make themselves feel good about their own football/soccer, whether that's a Fulham fan or an MLS fan, there will be those of us who step in to say that, no, it's not the worst situation in the world. And no, he's not better served by being at a League 1 club. And yes, if he performs out of his mind then he can be called up to the US without it resulting in the implosion of the universe and the USSF as we know it.
A lot of questions will be answered tomorrow in the Old Firm. Love that NBC will televise it. They seem to be really finding the groove of being a true football provider. Now if they could just steal the Champs League rights from Fux.
Fox has already lost the rights. In a very surprise move, Turner won the rights with a massive $60m bid. It will be Turners first real go at soccer since the 1990 WC. Turner takes over starting with the 2018/2019 UCL
I haven't seen anyone do that. Now, the Norwegian 1st division, that would make for a good argument. Obviously no team with the quality of Celtic, but below that... Now that's not what I said, is it? I pointed out the fact that they have a Championship level wage bill and then offered a reasoned opinion based on the quality of their squad that they are a Championship quality squad. You're they guy whose Celtic fandom (let me apologize for calling you "rabid" earlier) has led him to make some pretty, how can I put this delicately, questionable conclusions about the quality of your clubs playing staff...
No it wouldn't. I live in Oslo and am a Vålerenga supporter and like the league, but it's quite shit and players/managers who do well here tend not to when they leave. I have a laundry list of reasons why Tippeligaen has declined, but if I go down that road then you'll be completely justified in calling me rabid. Talk about a country with everything going for it, structurally organized, but just too unwilling to put in the mental effort to push things forward. But it is what you said. You directly said that Dembele left because Celtic were offering bigger wages. I'd be surprised if there weren't 4-5 players on Fulham (as there are on Celtic) who are easily making more than him. He's not in it for the early dollars. And every thing I put up was based on a fact. Gordon was a good Premier League player. Rogic was getting transfer interest. Lustig is an international for a fairly good side with 50+ caps. I didn't even mention Patrick "Paddy" Roberts the first time around, but I should even if he's a loan guy. The top two clubs (based on reputation) are traditionally stocked with fairly good long-term guys who wouldn't be out of place at a side like Stoke as well as 2-3 really good top-level prospects every year. It has been a stable place for young guys to develop and the factory line is actually working there, unlike somewhere like SKC where they seem to have no idea what the hell to do with Erik Palmer-Brown. SKC is better than Rangers, but would I want Hyndman there to develop? Probably not.
So not much different than the non old firm SPL? In all seriousness, my comment was a half joking response to your silly comment that folks here argue the SPL is worse than the Norwegian 2nd division. But in all seriousness, is there really that much of a difference between Molde and say a Partick or St. Johnstone? Come back when a deal actually goes down. Arsenal rumors sound nice, but Leeds is probably more realistic. Eh, Fulham (a Championship side) have an Icelandic (5 spots higher than Sweden in elo ratings) international in defense with 66 caps. Another Fulham product (talk about a quality place to develop, look at what that academy has produced recently). I'll be curious to see what his next move is. Ok, this is the kind of comment that makes me think I might want to trot out "rabid" again. A decade ago you might have had a point. Today, with the exception of Dembele, I'm not sure there's a player on Celtic who would make a Stoke gameday squad (ok, there's probably a couple others we could argue about). I wouldn't want him at Rangers, either, but fortunately for him this is just a short term loan...
Molde would be considered one of the top two-three sides, along with Rosenborg and whatever club is having a good year - recently that'd be Strømsgodset, but others can pop up. But I'd pick St. Johnstone over a Lillestrøm, most definitely. Southampton is more realistic, you're just being a bit petty here. Plenty of Celtic players have gone to Premier League sides, it's not such a bizarre thing to suggest. My point has never been that Fulham is a bad place to be though. Good for you. Although I would argue that Sweden is a deeper side, but that Iceland performs better as a team. I know he is, that was my point. If the SPL is such a step down, why have your three best prospects of recent times ended up there? Fulham produces good talent, but for some reason you can't keep them when it really matters. You got 250k for Dembele. There's simply no incentive for these sorts of high talents to stay with you. I don't think it's particularly rabid to put Celtic on par with mediocre Premier League sides. Between Tierney, Dembele, Roberts, Rogic, and Brown there is some quality. Could be worse, he could be stuck at Fulham!
Well, if by "mediocre" you're talking about teams with Stoke's quality, it's frankly nuts and reflects either rabid fandom or a lack of understand of anything happening in the game south of Glasgow (or both). If by mediocre you're talking bottom three or so, that's a more reasonable argument to make (though not one I'd necessarily agree with). Eh, he'd be on a much better team in a much better league... Though, I admit I'm not sure how much he'd be playing given the current quality of the squad.
By mediocre I mean the definition, as it exists in the dictionary. So no, that doesn't mean bottom three. It means average and below average, nothing extraordinary. 9th out of 20th and perennially between 15 and 8 or so is mediocre. Yeah, with Celtic rejects like Johansen taking his place. You are coming across as bitter about the fact that Dembele chose Celtic for reasons other than money and that I'm not saying that Johansen was some super important player who turned down a golden contract to play for the glorious Fulham FC. But Dembele did choose Celtic and the SPL for reasons other than money and Johansen wasn't anything special for Celtic and I'm happy he found a club that is more to his level. You can respond but I think I've been patient enough with this and I'll leave it at that.
I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt that you were using it incorrectly (as is often the case). If you seriously believe the current Celtic squad has comparable quality to a midtable PL side, you're, as I said above, either blinded by your fandom or lack an understanding of anything that's happening in the game south of Glasgow. Again, to take the Stoke example, I can't think of more than 3 or 4 players at the most (and that's being generous) from Celtic who would even make a gameday 18 for Stoke (and all except probably Dembele would be on the bench). If by reject you mean a player they wanted to sign to a contract extension but who preferred a move south, you'd be correct. That's funny. Nothing I've said here would suggest any bitterness toward Dembele and the decisions he's made. A bit confused is all. I'm glad it worked out for him. Now we're starting to see your true colors. This is the kind of irrational stuff you expect from a Celtic fan.. Nothing special except for the player of the season in the league two seasons ago... Now he's moved on to a better league where he'll actually be tested against quality opposition week in and week out.
Moving on, I found an article which compares the health and, fittingly, the position of younger players in the English leagues and in Scotland. It's worth a read and I'll only quote the last two paragraphs, the most relevant for Hyndmans purposes. https://www.theguardian.com/comment...sh-can-stop-sneering-at-scottish-football-now
Hyndman was pretty uninvolved for 75 minutes this morning, but then played a role in the equalizer. Hit in a great shot that Gordon saved well, only to have it rebound to Hill (of all people) for the goal. [Should have been a penalty for Celtic at the end there.] There was a day when a 20 year old American starting in the Old Firm game would have led to much joy on these boards. Now it goes basically unmentioned. Will be interesting to see where Emo goes from here. If he's not going to actually play for Bournemouth, I can see him making the move to Rangers permanent. American Celtic fans are used to USMNT players on Rangers
It was a really nice shot and he also drew the foul that set up the free kick which led to his shot. He had some decent defensive touches in the first half and was marking Dembele on some of the set pieces. He couldn't get back to close down Armstrong on Celtic's goal, but he was the only player to read it and get close to Armstrong, so there's that.
I think he was deliberatly being used deeper down the pitch for most of the game, which limited his effectiveness in the forward areas which made him seem a little less prominent. I think he was playing a role in a pretty well rounded defensive shape. It was pretty amazing how quickly Celtic would pounce on even the slightest mistake from Rangers though. When Emo slipped in the attacking end and the ball passed to him was intercepted, Celtic created a dangerous change in about 2 seconds that, of course, the Citeh reject Sinclair screwed up. But they were dangerous on the counter. Emo has some good poise and timely touches for Rangers. Didn't show up as well as I would have hoped here but again I think he was playing much more of a role than a rover.
Right now a tie away vs. Celtic is a good result for Rangers. Celtic has been the superior team all season, they even beat Rangers at Ibrox in he last day of last year.