Anybody could score for celtic though (with the exception of brattbak).

 

Well after that season @ Chelsea i thought he`d neva score

 

i thinks sutton is still to get better and from what we've already seen hes a fantastic player. hes strong in the air and good at flick ons to larsson and some of his passes have suprised me greatly as he proves that he isnt just there to stick it in the net. he set up a goal with a great pass to lbo against jeunesse last week and he dribbled past a number of hearts defenders. we will have final judgement when he plays against some european sides with a bit of quality. i know jeunesse eshe arent very good but his pass cut right through the defence and it was his accuracy ad weighting of the ball which i appreciated

 

Well he certainly seems to have surprised a number of people, mainly because the papers were full of "Sutton - flops at Chelsea with 3 goals in 39 matches" But if you look deeper you realise this was a man Chelsea were prepared to spend 10 million pounds on.

I had a bet for Sutton as top scorer in the Premiership 3 years ago when it ended a draw between Owen, Dublin and Sutton and you could see although not blessed with bags of finesse he certainly had an eye for goal.

I have said before to my old firm pals that Celtic and Rangers best chance to get top players is to look for guys who have gone to really big clubs for a lot of money and who have maybe not been as succesful as was hoped or have not had a good experience there.

For example Brian Laudrup was a European Championship Winner with Denmark in 1992 and went to Fiorentina and then on loan to AC Milan but was unhappy at being made to play in a rigid system, this gave Rangers the chance to offer him a more relaxed setting away from the pressure of Serie A and to play in a position which suited him, and voila arguably one of the best players ever to play for Rangers.

Sutton has now had a similar experience and is desperate to repay Celtic for their faith in him and it has certainly started well.

Ronald De Boer now comes into this category after being unhappy at becoming a squad player at Barcelona.

Several good players have gone to clubs of a similar stature to the old firm after a scenario like these. All the old firm have to do is prove they can compete strongly with the second tier of european club sides and they will be even more attractive.

I for one hope they are both in the Champions League (proper) next season.

p.s Apparently Dennis Bergkamp is unhappy at being a sub for Arsenal already this season......


Regards
The Judge.

 

yeah good point judge. As a Celtic fan, i hope Rangers sign Bergkamp as he is vastly over-rated and cannot play well when rushed on the ball so could find major problems in Scotland. he is a very capable however who would serve rangers well in europe but i would not be particularly scared of him in old firms if he is closed down quickly. he also would cost big bucks around £12m and i know english will disagree but who played better against italy, larsson or berkamp even taking larssons goal out of the game

 

I'm not starting a larsson or bergkamp debate but juvebhoy you are selling bergkamp waaaaayyyy short there. (he can play well when rushed on the ball its just his form can be erratic at times).

 

Gildea has called it right.

Larsson is the best player currently in scottish football and has shown examples while playing for sweden which strongly suggest he would prosper playing league football at a higher level.

BUT...

Dennis Bergkamp is one of Hollands top international scorers ever and has played for Inter Milan in Serie A and Arsenal in the Premiership and I for one will never forget his goal against Argentina in the 98 World Cup when the defender rushed in to hurry him and try to prevent him from controlling the crossed ball the rest as they say is history.

This is not a Bergkamp -v- Larsson debate they are both players I would love to have if I was a club manager.

Regards
The Judge

 

4 goals in 4 years or something like that? i dont think mentioning inter milan was a good idea to boost his CV

 

but cvs don't always count for much.

(he says looking at brattbaks and suttons cv)

 

suttone cv hmmmmm "20-25 goals a season for 9 years then ONE bad season and is written off" - Graeme Spiers Scotland on sunday...whats your point caller?? we're talking 4 years so no slight settling problem over one year

 

I think if you take your time and think about a situation such as this:

Michael Owen, one of the most exciting prospects playing in one of the strongest leagues in Europe.

2 expressions of interest are received by Liverpool. One from Inter Milan and one from Celtic.

One of these enquiries will be taken seriously. Only one of these clubs could afford him (fee and wages) and there is only one he would consider going to.(This could change in 12 years).


Now I am not trying to diss Celtic but Internazionale could buy Celtic (based on their business value)with there player budget and they continually spend huge amounts on buying players who are rated as being potentially very good. Not many players leave Inter and go to a bigger club.

The fact that they bought Bergkamp at 22 was a testament to how highly he was regarded.

Ask yourself how many players in the Celtic side are serious contenders to be bought by Inter including Larsson who I repeat is in my opinion a fantasatic player but would in reality have cost less than the 13 million they spent on Robbie Keane from Coventry.

I think I have defended Bergkamp enough and I have unwittingly turned this into a Celtic -v- Inter forum. If you still do not rate him that is fair enough we have both stated our cases.

Regards
The Judge

 

OK i wasn't cussing sutton just trying to point out that cvs don't count for much cos he's playin' well currenty but because of the "what is your point caller" i checked out mr spiers's 'facts'.
Chris suttons last few seasons
app goals
season 99/00 chelsea 28 1
98/99 b'burn 17 3
97/98 35 17
96/97 25 11

Now i know it was speirs facts and i won't say get your facts right but that ain't 25 goals a season, ahhh screw it GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!!

 

ok gildea if you watched the celtic 6-2 highlights you would have heard graham spiers say this. i quoted speirs here so dont try and turn this on me cos i didnt say it. well done on checking the actual stats up but theyre not too bad are they??


p.s. doesnt that just show that his cv is pretty damn good? you got the facts.

ok judge, this isnt really a celtic-inter war (but we beat THEM in '67! hehehe) but i dont think anyone can see the scottish league coming near the itlaian leagiue so no, not many players would get a game there. lambert played for dortmund and played in the winning team who beat Juve, Roma have constantly been chasing Petrov, Larsson would be terrific in any league and he had me paniving many times against italy as he kept breaking down the best defence in the tournament, Valgaeren didnt do too bad against italy at euro2000 and attracted attention from some of the lesser italian teams, so Celtic arent too bad are they??? Larsson has had many offers refused in the £10m region. he is the star of the swedish squad and is definately wortyh around the 10mill mark.

Celtic also incidentally, have more season tickets than Milan, Inter and Juve. so potential is huge. the inter president massimo moratti is loaded but he would never get his hands on my shares.

 

It's a reasonable answer Juvebhoy but I have to respond.

Firstly I did not mean to give the impression that Celtic are not a good team or do not have good players. As you rightly state Lambert has the big medal in his cabinet, I think Petrov has excellent potential and I think I have made my thoughts on Henrik Larsson quite clear.

BUT...

I am quite sure no one has ever tabled a bid of 10 million pounds sterling for Larsson (could Celtic resist?)and it is because he falls into the same trap that Laudrup did which is that no Scottish fan doubts his ability but it is given no credence abroad because it is achieved in the Scottish Premier League.

Would you pay 10 million for a guy who scored 100 goals in 100 games in the Finnish league? If not why not?

Imagine the best players outside the old firm and consider how they would do in a big league like the English premiership.

Hibs - Latapy: at best might get bought by a high profile first division team.

Hearts - Cameron: Notts Forest of division one were looking at him.

St Johnstone - Main/Kernaghan/Kane/McBride: rejected by Dundee United/Man City (whilst in english division 2)/aberdeen/Celtic.

Over a season every club in the SPL outwith the old firm would get murdered by the teams in the premiership.

Picture this "And so Hibs who were leading the SPL until saturday line up against Middlesboro with their strikeforce of Pattelainen (ex-Bolton of Nationwide Div One) and Lehmann (ex-Fulham of Nationwide Div One).

The old firm undoubtedly have some very talented players who I believe could play at a higher level and who have surely been bought to try and acheive success at european level, but the perceived gap between Scottish and English football by english fans exists again at another level between English and Italian football.

Most Italian fans I have spoken to over the years believe that to be the best you must perform in Serie A, that is the pinnacle of club football. Sure the Premiership is exciting but players only go there after Serie A or if they are not good enough for Serie A or if they are English.

Regards
The Judge

 

quote of judge

"Most Italian fans I have spoken to over the years believe that to be the best you must perform in Serie A, that is the pinnacle of club football. Sure the Premiership is exciting but players only go there after Serie A or if they are not good enough for Serie A or if they are English. "


thanfully someone else expresses the same views as me. that the english league is a monry spinner for either lazy or second rate italian players.


"I am quite sure no one has ever tabled a bid of 10 million pounds sterling for Larsson (could Celtic resist?)and it is because he falls into the same trap that Laudrup did which is that no Scottish fan doubts his ability but it is given no credence abroad because it is achieved in the Scottish Premier League. "

this quote isnt too hot however. the italian team was full of praise for him at euro 2000. he is a terrific player at international level - this earns him his respect.

 

Lubo wants to be boss.

It was reported over the yuletide hols that Lubomir Moravcik wants to come back one day and be the manager of Celtic.

He has worked under some of the best coaches in the world including Martin O'Neil, John Barnes and Josef Venglos and feels he could use this experience to launch himself into a career in football management.

His plan is to go home and pick up some on the job experience before coming back and taking the reigns at the Parkhead giants.

How do the forums Celtic fans feel about this prospect?

Certainly if he is half as good a boss as he is a player you will be in for a treat.

 

bit early yet, i think anything lubo says, becomes a back page headline these days, but he could be a good boss, but let him learn any mistakes first over in france, celitc have a great manager, and it will hopefully be 10-15 years before we need a new one.

 

"His plan is to go home and pick up some on the job experience before coming back and taking the reigns at the Parkhead giants. "

Who says experience is needed to manage celtic??
They obviously didn't interview john barnes

Seriously, lubo is a well respected player, and if can cut his teeth in management properly i think he could be an excellent manager. Judging from his play he has a fair knowledge of tactics, it also suggests he would field a flair filled and creative side.

He also is no idiot, knowing that he needs to get the proper experience, john barnes take note.

 

Judging from his play he has a fair knowledge of tactics, it also suggests he would field a flair filled and creative side.

He certainly wouldn't be suited to management in Scotland then.