Hmm, I wonder which bench O'Neill will be on? http://skysports.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=197258&cpid=8 -Digital
Let us dream Parkhead, let us dream. I'll tell you what, we'll swop you Pleat for O'Neill. And we'll throw in half the Spurs squad in a futile attempt to even things up. And £10mil. But in all honesty Parkhead, can you really see O'Neill at Celtic next season?
Yes, if the board pull the finger out and at least try to look like they are matching the managers and the fans ambitions, if they dont I dont fancy their chances of seeing the outskirts of glasgow alive.
I think MoN might still be there for at least another season, even without a decent transfer kitty, but replacing Henrik is going to be tough and I think ultimately he has his eyes on the a return to the Premiership. I reckon he'll hold out for ManYoo seeing as those two Irish blokes are keen on him, but if Liverpool ditch Houllier, then I can see him taking that challenge.
I always like to see a coach and player remain loyal to their teams, as I'm not much of a fan of the mercenary side of soccer. But realistically, both Rangers and Celtic are hugely important clubs that are in a media-poor league. TV revenues are the most important thing in soccer today, and let's face it, the SPL just doesn't generate enough to allow Rangers and Celtic to reach the heights that they deserve. I'm not here to spark yet another "Old Firm to the English Premiership" debate, but that's the real thing holding back the two Glasgow giants. They both have the hugely fanatical support, the large and overflowing stadia, and great merchandising. But they will not have the TV revenues that allow them to build a team capable of rivaling the top English Premiership teams. The only solutions for them are to either change their opponents (i.e. new league, G-14 breakaway league, expanded Champions League and reduced SPL, etc.) or to grow their opponents. By Grow, I mean have the Aberdeens and Hibernians of the league grow into similar giants as the Old Firm. It's not likely, but if the SPL's coverage continues as is, there's simply no way for someone like O'Neill to stay at Celtic. The only questions are: 1) will he continue to impress, and if so, 2) when will he move on? Since we can be fairly certain that O'Neill realizes these things, the "when" question becomes pretty relevant. He could not possibly achieve any more than he has this season. Also, his best player, the irreplacable Henrik Larsson, is moving on after this season. Additionally, several other starters or good prospects are moving on as well. The prospects look dimmer, and with Boumsong coming into Rangers, who knows what next season will look like for O'Neill. Better to leave while you're on top. I suspect O'Neill will be moving on after this season. But, the real question is where? Manchester United isn't likely to open up for the next 4 or 5 years, so no use waiting for that one. Arsenal isn't going to open up, and even if it did, who is to say that O'Neill could repeat Wenger's success. So the real targets appear to be Liverpool, where Houllier is in trouble, Chelsea, where despite doing phenomenally this season, Ranieri is in trouble, Newcastle, where Robson can't last too many more seasons, and Tottenham, the hugely popular and top 15 financially sleeping giant in his wife's preferred London. Sure, Chelsea would be a no brainer for O'Neill, but who is to say he's offered it. Tottenham is a realistic suitor. I sympathise with you Parkhead_Faithful, but it's really only a question of "when." And as a Spurs and Rangers supporter, I'd be darn happy about O'Neill running Spurs and being re-united with Keller and Keane. -Digital
I for one don't want Rangers and Celtic in the EPL, cos they're bigger than us. Saying that, can you imagine the games? Spurs v. Rangers, Celtic V. Manchester Utd, Rangers V. Arse. It'd be pretty awesome, lets face it.
Actually I would argue that the main reason Celtic and Rangers are as big as they are is because of how dominant they are. If they were in the Premiership they would be midtable for a good while, without title challenges and no european football I bet their support would be a lot smaller, and I'm sure a good number of their fairweather fans would gravitate to whoever was top of what's left of the SPL.
Are you kidden? We are getting rid of some dead wood this season and hopefully going to promote a few youngsters into the squad, David Marshall, for example, looked absoloutely top class against Barca, Kept us in that tie, then we have the maloneys, the beatties, the mcgeadys coming through, john kennedy unfortunately out for a season cos of what that romanian clown who plays for birmingham did to him in an international, he also looked class against barca and was taking the piss out of said romanian for scotland. The nucleus of a the side that has reached the uefa cup final and the quarter finals in successive seasons have for the most part committed their future to us for the next few years and we are guaranteed champions league football next season. Rangers have signed boumsong, they are also in nearly 80 million debt and stuck signing shitey bosmans and loan players, half their first teamers (if you can call them that are offski) and this week they announced a new scheme whereby they have to buy their own youth players from themselves (see the scotland board cos its just too much to explain here) one good signing is not going to change their fortunes and i predict right now they are going to be in a dogfight for 2nd next season if hearts of aberdeen can get their act together. The only way I see MON leaving is if he doesnt get the funds he wants, and as i stated before this would lead to mass supporter protests, and the last time we did that we got results, or if a liverpool or a man united come in for him.
Just saw this and it explained it all, youre living in cloud cuckoo land like the rest of the great filthy unwashed
O'Neill will leave, it's only a question of when Cloud am I? Well if you thought O'Neill was going to stay at Liecester then you would have been under a cloud. Likewise, if you think he's staying at Parkhead forever, you're the one under a cloud. O'Neill loves Celtic, but he'll make the move up when he can, and his wife is not enamoured with Glasgow. I think you ought to keep a close eye on the opening at Chelsea, because if he were given the chance, I suspect that's where he'd be. If not, then Liverpool would be his next option. But I doubt that he'll remain long at Celtic. As for talent, you have no answer to the Larsen leaving problem. That alone is a huge blow. While I don't doubt your pipeline of talent, by all reports Liam Miller was the most promising prospect to come down that pipeline in quite some time, and he is leaving as well. O'Neill has won with good players and great coaching, not the other way around. He makes the talent look even better than it is. You yourself realize that he plays a physical game against the likes of Barca because his roster doesn't have the talent of a Barca. Sure, Larsen does, but he's only one man, and he's leaving. The bottom line is that Celtic is performing at maximum efficiency, and too many variables can derail that. Eventually, they'll be limited by money, as all a "big" or "massive" club is really boils down to money. Chelsea isn't really a big club at the moment, but they have a rich owner enabling them to compete financially with any team in the world, including Real Madrid and Manchester United. So, if they come for O'Neill, you'd best be looking for a replacement. The only reason Spurs are even in the mix is that we happen to be extremely well supported despite playing crap soccer. This large and wealthy fan base allows a team to ramp up quickly. While Spurs would take a decade or more to catch up to Manchester United even in a best case scenario, we probably could achieve Arsenal's current financial position in only a few years. Of course, by then Arsenal would have a 60k+ Ashburton Grove and have moved ahead of that position. But even now, Spurs are wealthier than Celtic, and I think we can both agree that this is a banner time for Celtic, and a very poor time for Spurs. I'll grant you that if Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool come calling, then Spurs are out of the race. But if the choice is between Celtic and Spurs, I suspect the only things that could keep O'Neill at Parkhead would be either A) he's waiting for one of the other three to open up, or B) he's scared off by Spurs current stadium quandry. Otherwise, it's only a matter of time until O'Neill leaves. To deny that is either being blindly loyal or naiive. -Digital
Re: O'Neill will leave, it's only a question of when It's a shame really, if we had been playing Dundee then i would have gone. I'll be living there in the summer. Don't fancy going to Glasgae though.