IrishCelt67

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]Fine with me at that price, and I don''t feel shortchanged at all, quite the opposite in fact. Paying over the odds for players is how clubs get in trouble, that''s not a road I''d care to see us go down again. I''d rather keep our powder dry for the summer.[/quote]Well, in this instance, I think you''ll be waiting until the summer anyway. We could have taken the same ''over the odds'' attitude when we paid Scunthorpe £2.4m for him but that''s what taking a risk and trusting your judgement is all about. Scunthorpe set the price, we did the deal. I don''t think you''ll be alone in looking for him in the summer and I do expect him to end up in the EPL then.

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]Not sure you can claim that the Champions League qualifiers and group stages are of a higher quality than the Prem. In my opinion its highly unlikely that Spartak or Benfica would finish in the top half of the Prem, let alone trouble the top 6. That''s not taking anything away from your Barca result, but as St Mirren and Luton proved at the weekend, these things happen![/quote]It''s all about opinions but it does suit you to talk up the quality of the Prem. Most exciting league in the world? Possibly. Best league in the world? Hardly.  The defending is not of a good standard. Benfica were quarter finalists of the CL last season - the same season Man City couldn''t get out of the group stage. City and Chelsea couldn''t get out of the group stage again this year. Quite why you think Benfica wouldn''t qualify for the top half of the EPL is beyond me. West Brom, Swansea and Stoke are all better than Benfica?! Not for me. As for the Barca-Luton comparison, we played Barca twice so the one-off analogy is a bit off. They needed a 94th minute winner to beat us over there. Anyway, we''re probably straying off the point here. I can''t see Hooper going anywhere by the deadline tomorrow. If the bids your CEO has apparently put in are genuine, I think he''s seriously shortchanged your support. Celtic seem seriously unimpressed. Seems a bad way to do business.

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]Not upset at all, I''d personally have walked away at £5m. £8m is a huge amount of money for a player who''s never played at this level, and as such for a club with our finances he represents a gamble. I''ll have a fiver with you that you go out to Juve?[/quote]He''s played - and done well - at Champions League level, which is a higher level than the EPL where defences are, generally, not brilliant. If you''d have walked away at £5m that''s your choice, but amazed you find it excessive for a young English striker who had an excellent record in the Championship, moved to a huge club and is banging in goals in Europe.  All about opinions, I guess.As for the bet, of course on paper Juve will go through so the bet''s loaded in your favour. I don''t think it will be the foregone conclusion you think it will be though.

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]I''m not sure exactly what they are hoping to achieve by keeping him there if he wants to move. You''re getting knocked out of the Champions League in the next round whether he stays or not, and most of our local school teams could clinch the SPL from the position you''re in. He''s pretty much just chucking £3m-£4m down the toilet.[/quote]All the experts said we wouldn''t get out of the CL group. Nobody thought we''d beat Barca. There''s no guarantee of Juventus winning our tie. I get you''re upset because you''re not getting him but sometimes clubs have to take a stand when others start trying to take your first choice players for a relative pittance. And £5m is a relative pittance in this case.

He won''t be leaving tomorrow unless decent money is offered. And we''re talking £8m minimum.Even  then, going by Lenny''s quotes in the last few days, even that probably won''t push a deal through. The club seem resolute in keeping him until the summer at the earliest.

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Yellowbeagle"] [quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Mervmeister"]My moneys also on Hooper. Gut feeling.[/quote]Save your money. He won''t be going anywhere before tomorrow night. He''ll start for us at home to Kilmarnock tonight, incidentally.[/quote] I think your most likely right, but you never know in football. Also for money this would have been the best time to sell him from your side in terms of the fee you''ll get. In the summer Celtic will want to shift him as give it another 6 months and he can sign a precontract. [/quote]I get the feeling he will move in the summer. This might have been the time to sell for money if we''d had a decent offer. Putting in a bid of £5m and then a second bid of ''nowhere near £6m'' was never going to work. That is not a good fee for a guy who scores goals in European football and is on the verge of an England call-up. We''ll get £5m in the summer, easily. If you''d offered £8-9m off the bat, it might well have gone through. The other side of it is, Hooper''s changing agents and his current agent''s contract is up shortly. This is his last chance to get a percentage, which leads me to think he''s unsettled the player. It''s not beyond reason that he will sign a new contract at Celtic before the season is out.[/quote] He might well sign a new contract no one knows but it looks unlikely, a new agent could work in favour of celtic but also they could say stick it out another six months (especially if he gets an England callup) and we get a bumper pay packet instead of that money going to Celtic, robbing sods i know but thats how they often work. The summer will be interesting to see what happens and what he goes for, but without doubt Celtic will hold less cards and the agent, player and buying clubs will hold more. We''ve seen with Arsenal in the last few years what a fiasco happens when you let players run their contracts down. [/quote]That''s all true, my friend. I get the feeling the Norwich thing is an attempt by Hooper''s people to smoke out other EPL interest, to be honest. Celtic certainly didn''t leak the £5m fee and I doubt Norwich did. Some people were talking about Celtic wanting a bidding war but Celtic don''t want him to go at all. The ideal for us would be him signing a new contract. I think his people have been very busy in the last month. As for his contract running down, 6 months is a long time in football. We''ll have to see where we are with him in the summer.

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Mervmeister"]My moneys also on Hooper. Gut feeling.[/quote]Save your money. He won''t be going anywhere before tomorrow night. He''ll start for us at home to Kilmarnock tonight, incidentally.[/quote] I think your most likely right, but you never know in football. Also for money this would have been the best time to sell him from your side in terms of the fee you''ll get. In the summer Celtic will want to shift him as give it another 6 months and he can sign a precontract. [/quote]I get the feeling he will move in the summer. This might have been the time to sell for money if we''d had a decent offer. Putting in a bid of £5m and then a second bid of ''nowhere near £6m'' was never going to work. That is not a good fee for a guy who scores goals in European football and is on the verge of an England call-up. We''ll get £5m in the summer, easily. If you''d offered £8-9m off the bat, it might well have gone through. The other side of it is, Hooper''s changing agents and his current agent''s contract is up shortly. This is his last chance to get a percentage, which leads me to think he''s unsettled the player. It''s not beyond reason that he will sign a new contract at Celtic before the season is out.

[quote user="Mervmeister"]My moneys also on Hooper. Gut feeling.[/quote]Save your money. He won''t be going anywhere before tomorrow night. He''ll start for us at home to Kilmarnock tonight, incidentally.

[quote user="Mike "]Spirited discussion? You going to give it a go any time soon?[/quote]You could try reading my posts, I guess.

[quote user="Yellows"]Huh? I didnt mention Luton in the OP LOL. You''re embaressing yourself, please stop.[/quote]"Currently losing 3-1 against St Mirren. A team probably on a par with Luton. Enjoy that Gary, Celtic are such a massive club, apparently."You didn''t?!

[quote user="Hackedoff"]I know their only friendlies but pretty sure 2-0 and 1-0 comes to mind[/quote]Are you really clinging to results in friendlies?!

[quote user="mrs miggins"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="mrs miggins"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="mrs miggins"] [quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Yellows"]Currently losing 3-1 against St Mirren. A team probably on a par with Luton. Enjoy that Gary, Celtic are such a massive club, apparently.[/quote]Slagging Celtic for losing to St Mirren on the same weekend you got put out at home by Luton? Really?Ballsy!We didn''t show up today and got beaten. It happens. Minnows beat big teams sometimes. You''ll have to explain how Celtic aren''t a massive club by anyone''s reckoning. Or is this just a little tantrum because we haven''t accepted a derisory bid which is £3m less than Blackburn paid for Rhodes for our star striker from you lot?[/quote]   Well said, (about celtic losing to Mirren when we''ve just lost to Luton)   Although i am cringing about the fact that you think your a ''massive '' club.   .....awww i''m just grinding my teeth from that sentence [/quote]60,000 crowds for Champions League ties. 40,000 season ticket holders. Enormous support across the United States and Australia, etc.Define ''massive club'' for me.[/quote]   Massive club -   A club with fantastic support (not just large crowds for big games as i think someone said) A club with world class players (Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo, Kompany, etc) A club who plays in a competitive league so that they can prove that they are class, not just get lucky in a few one off games against CL teams. (although i think celtic have done ok in the CL so far this season.)     Celtic are not a ''massive'' club as you put it, i find it embarrassing that you think they are. Celtic are a fairly big club who would be massive, if only they were in england (rightly or wrongly).  Norwich are not as big as celtic but definitely has more pulling power at this point. [/quote]We get huge crowds for almost every home game. As for your drivel about getting lucky in a few one-off games in the CL - you don''t seem to understand how the competition works. We came through 2 qualifying rounds (4 ties) to qualify to get into a LEAGUE system with 6 games against some of the best teams in Europe. We had Barca, arguably the best team of all time, this season and Benfica who were CL quarter finalists last year. And the last time we were in the competition, we also got to the last 16. That''s a lot of ''getting lucky'' according to you.Embarrassing that we consider ourselves a massive club? We''ve been in 2 European Cup finals, we''ve won the European Cup, we were in the UEFA Cup final in 2003 taking 80,000 supporters to Seville. We''ve got 250 supporters clubs in 20 countries. Norwich has more pulling power than Celtic? No, with respect, I''m sorry, you don''t. The EPL has more pulling power right now. If Hooper had a choice between playing for Norwich or Fulham, it''s just as likely he''d want the glamour of living in London. That''s the harsh reality, as it is for us that players will always be drawn to the hype and money - because money plays a huge, huge part these days - of the EPL.[/quote] ''taking 80,000 supporters'' yep, that was just for the big game though wasn''t it. What the hell has Fulham got to do with it, of course they''ve got more pulling power, whats your point. We''re talking on this point about celtic and norwich.   "Norwich has more pulling power than Celtic? No, with respect, I''m sorry, you don''t. The EPL has more pulling power right now. If Hooper had a choice between playing for Norwich or Fulham, it''s just as likely he''d want the glamour of living in London. "   And you say I''ve talked drivel   Celtic are the best in that league and unfortunately will only get bigger due to Rangers overspending, but Celtic will never be a massive club. [/quote]"Celtic will never be a massive club".Aye, okay then. That''s me told. I must have imagined that European pedigree, huge stadium and lengthy history.

[quote user="Yellows"]You were the one who brought up the comparison on your first post on this thread! Bore off.[/quote]Actually, you were the one who brought up the comparison on the very first post on this thread.

[quote user="Yellows"]Yeah you''re right. Celtic are that massive that they shouldnt be losing to teams who are worse then Luton. A team who the captain played for Stockport County at the height of his career. The strikers they have played for teams like Plymouth, Northampton Town and you guessed it, Luton! Massive! Yes we lost to Luton with a reserve team but you lost to St Mirren with your first team, MASSIVE![/quote]You seem obsessed with the Luton-St Mirren comparison. Like I said, we had an offday and they did well to win. Shit happens. Does losing a cup game to lesser opponents mean the size of your club decreases?

[quote user="Mike "]If you don''t like our views feel free to stay on the massive huge enormous Celtic forums..... Good man![/quote]Don''t be afraid of a little spirited discussion, Mike. It''s only football, after all. :)

[quote user="mrs miggins"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="mrs miggins"] [quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Yellows"]Currently losing 3-1 against St Mirren. A team probably on a par with Luton. Enjoy that Gary, Celtic are such a massive club, apparently.[/quote]Slagging Celtic for losing to St Mirren on the same weekend you got put out at home by Luton? Really?Ballsy!We didn''t show up today and got beaten. It happens. Minnows beat big teams sometimes. You''ll have to explain how Celtic aren''t a massive club by anyone''s reckoning. Or is this just a little tantrum because we haven''t accepted a derisory bid which is £3m less than Blackburn paid for Rhodes for our star striker from you lot?[/quote]   Well said, (about celtic losing to Mirren when we''ve just lost to Luton)   Although i am cringing about the fact that you think your a ''massive '' club.   .....awww i''m just grinding my teeth from that sentence [/quote]60,000 crowds for Champions League ties. 40,000 season ticket holders. Enormous support across the United States and Australia, etc.Define ''massive club'' for me.[/quote]   Massive club -   A club with fantastic support (not just large crowds for big games as i think someone said) A club with world class players (Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo, Kompany, etc) A club who plays in a competitive league so that they can prove that they are class, not just get lucky in a few one off games against CL teams. (although i think celtic have done ok in the CL so far this season.)     Celtic are not a ''massive'' club as you put it, i find it embarrassing that you think they are. Celtic are a fairly big club who would be massive, if only they were in england (rightly or wrongly).  Norwich are not as big as celtic but definitely has more pulling power at this point. [/quote]We get huge crowds for almost every home game. As for your drivel about getting lucky in a few one-off games in the CL - you don''t seem to understand how the competition works. We came through 2 qualifying rounds (4 ties) to qualify to get into a LEAGUE system with 6 games against some of the best teams in Europe. We had Barca, arguably the best team of all time, this season and Benfica who were CL quarter finalists last year. And the last time we were in the competition, we also got to the last 16. That''s a lot of ''getting lucky'' according to you.Embarrassing that we consider ourselves a massive club? We''ve been in 2 European Cup finals, we''ve won the European Cup, we were in the UEFA Cup final in 2003 taking 80,000 supporters to Seville. We''ve got 250 supporters clubs in 20 countries. Norwich has more pulling power than Celtic? No, with respect, I''m sorry, you don''t. The EPL has more pulling power right now. If Hooper had a choice between playing for Norwich or Fulham, it''s just as likely he''d want the glamour of living in London. That''s the harsh reality, as it is for us that players will always be drawn to the hype and money - because money plays a huge, huge part these days - of the EPL.

[quote user="Yellowbeagle"]I think alot of the negativity to Celtic stems from Norwich fans having a look on Celtics forums and seeing a catalogue of bigoted anti-english premier league and arrogant derogatory comments about our club, i dont think they are the views of all Celtic fans in general and you shouldnt thinks of the views on here as being the majority of our club. At the end of the day theres alot of idiots support football clubs with very loud opinions and you being a club with massive support probably have three times as many tw*ts as we do, and thats more than enough to go around. Congratulations on a great season in europe by the way. [/quote]Good post, agree with that. Thanks for the congrats. As I posted here a while back, I think you''ll be okay in the EPL this season in the long-run. Just having a bad spell right  now.

[quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="IrishCelt67"]With respect, this is some generalised nonsense and as far from ''Celtic''s view'' of the Hooper situation as you can possibly hope to get.[/quote]   It''s posted by Norwich fans on a Norwich forum. Your generalised nonsense is posted with the arrogance that you think we care.     [/quote]I think it''s safe to assume you do when A. There''s a post about ''Celtic''s view'' here and B. You''re now replying to it.You''re well named :)

[quote user="mrs miggins"][quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="Yellows"]Currently losing 3-1 against St Mirren. A team probably on a par with Luton. Enjoy that Gary, Celtic are such a massive club, apparently.[/quote]Slagging Celtic for losing to St Mirren on the same weekend you got put out at home by Luton? Really?Ballsy!We didn''t show up today and got beaten. It happens. Minnows beat big teams sometimes. You''ll have to explain how Celtic aren''t a massive club by anyone''s reckoning. Or is this just a little tantrum because we haven''t accepted a derisory bid which is £3m less than Blackburn paid for Rhodes for our star striker from you lot?[/quote]   Well said, (about celtic losing to Mirren when we''ve just lost to Luton)   Although i am cringing about the fact that you think your a ''massive '' club.   .....awww i''m just grinding my teeth from that sentence [/quote]60,000 crowds for Champions League ties. 40,000 season ticket holders. Enormous support across the United States and Australia, etc.Define ''massive club'' for me.

With respect, this is some generalised nonsense and as far from ''Celtic''s view'' of the Hooper situation as you can possibly hope to get."It is an ethnic thing going on which makes their situation more difficult because those associated supporters who see their Club as their football Vatican have to be answered to. "Jesus wept. The club is open to all and always has been. It''s part of the official club charter. Football Vatican? How do you square that with the fact our most successful and revered manager, Jock Stein, who won the European Cup was Protestant? How do you square it with some of our most revered heroes - Danny McGrain, Kenny Dalglish - being Protestant?  "It is aggravating but SKY TV isn''t interested in the SPL for the aforementioned reasons. Like women''s football, too few people want to watch it. "Um, Sky TV broadcast the SPL. And have renewed the contract for another 3 years. "But, you have Europe because it is easy for you to qualify on a national level year after year. This season you have pulled off a remarkable qualifying run and cling to that like a drowning man to a life raft because it matches your world view of yourselves."It''s easy to qualify? We had to go through 2 qualifying rounds to get through this year - including beating the Swedish champions. I get that you''re an EPL fan so will automatically dismiss the Swedish champions as being useless but this simply betrays your own ignorance of football outside of your own country. In previous qualifiers we''ve had to go up against Arsenal. When Everton finished 4th and qualified for the CL they ended up facing Villarreal in the CL qualifiers and got put out. It is NOT an automatic entry into the group stages. Additionally, the last 2 times we''ve been in the CL now we''ve qualified for the last 16 - working our way through the qualifiers and then a 6-game league format to qualify. We''re fully entitled to feel we deserve to belong there on merit. Clinging to it like a drowning man on a life raft? How are we drowning exactly? We''re thriving despite the shitty circumstances modern football has delivered to big clubs like Celtic, Ajax, Porto etc by being mired in relatively poor leagues. All in all, this is not ''Celtic''s view'', it''s a Norwich fan''s view - and quite a smug one, apparently.As someone else on here pointed out a few days back, your turnover in League One was £18m, now it''s £75m. Can you guess where the majority of this increase has come from? Try Sky. The money and the hype seems to have gone to some of your heads, sadly.

[quote user="Yellows"]Currently losing 3-1 against St Mirren. A team probably on a par with Luton. Enjoy that Gary, Celtic are such a massive club, apparently.[/quote]Slagging Celtic for losing to St Mirren on the same weekend you got put out at home by Luton? Really?Ballsy!We didn''t show up today and got beaten. It happens. Minnows beat big teams sometimes. You''ll have to explain how Celtic aren''t a massive club by anyone''s reckoning. Or is this just a little tantrum because we haven''t accepted a derisory bid which is £3m less than Blackburn paid for Rhodes for our star striker from you lot?

[quote user="alartz"]Barcelona yes the other two teams?? Same level same sort of league set up as the spl. The Barcelona result was a 1 in a 100 result[/quote]Ok, I was gone but then I saw this. Are you serious?Really?Benfica and Spartak Moscow are the same level as the SPL?Benfica who were in the quarter finals of the Champions League last season?Spartak Moscow who have spent millions on players?Jesus. Have a look at football outside the EPL, mate. Your view is depressing. And with that, I am gone. So long!

[quote user="crabbycanary"]CL QFs is a great achievement, but the Barcelona ''night'' ( and all that gave) will not be repeated this season, even if you do beat Juve. Btw I am sure you will spend a long time walking up and down the corridors at Celtic Park, before you find someone saying that Celtic have got enough money and are not worried about losing a few million on a transfer fee![/quote]Aye same with all clubs these days - money talks but my point is we know we''ll get a good fee in the summer. Maybe not what we''d get now but there are other financial benefits to be gleaned from keeping him until the summer - the CL ties with Juve and sending out a message to other clubs and agents of our players that we''re not going to fold easily. Anyway, I''m off. Been good chatting with you boys. Best of luck for the rest of the season. If Hooper does sign for you, I''ll be back to swear and throw things. ;-)

[quote user="city4eva"]  its half time and dundee have not had a shot on target so looks there are garbage   [quote user="IrishCelt67"][quote user="alartz"]Have u seen what garbage they are playing?? Good defending then 3 yard tap in?[/quote]Have a little respect for other clubs mate, there are plenty out there who''d have a pop at Norwich given the chance.[/quote] [/quote]They''re also away at a Champions League team that got 10 points in a group containing Barcelona, Benfica and Spartak Moscow. It''s tough for the other SPL clubs. The stick they get for not being magnificent while making sweet f.a. is a bit ridiculous. Just because you lot get £40m from Rupert Murdoch just for turning up doesn''t mean other clubs are of the same standard.

[quote user="alartz"]Have u seen what garbage they are playing?? Good defending then 3 yard tap in?[/quote]Have a little respect for other clubs mate, there are plenty out there who''d have a pop at Norwich given the chance.