Celtics Ajer

[BigGrantsTash 70]

3 hours ago, sgncfc said:

If you look at page one of this thread there are a few extracts on there so there are some for you. I'm not sure which of the dozen or so Celtic forums you read, but this a messageboard about opinions too and I'm sure some of their fans also disagree, but the overall impression I got from the ones I read and people I know who are fans themselves and games I've seen him play is that he isn't at the level we need to be an improvement of what we have.

Everyone is talking now about him maybe getting good enough to play for us in a couple of years. So we're really going to pay £13 - £15m for a player who is not a starter? Webber says only today they are going to buy players to improve the squad - there is no chance he would start ahead of Hanley or Gibson, so that's presumably the end of it. 

I was reading Celtic Talk which seemed quite a biggy but I’m sure a club the size of Celtic has many other forums which I didn’t read. The overall impression I got from reading on there was him being one of their better players and one they need to keep etc. I only know one Celtic fan personally and he certainly rated him. As you say there will be different opinions on him. There is on this forum about our players. 
 

I disagree with your last paragraph. You say Webber says he will only sign players that improve our squad. Then you say it’s a non starter because he’s never going to start ahead of Hanley or Gibson. For me, when Webber refers to squad he’s referring to the squad of 25 players and not just the starting 11 and Ajer without a doubt improve the squad in my opinion. He can also play midfield.

I agree £15 million is too much. Somewhere between £8-12 million I would be considering it. I also don’t know if it’s a forgone conclusion he would never start ahead of those 2. Hanley and Zimmerman didn’t look at premier league level last time we were there. All three of our centre halfs have a history with injuries. Injuries to our back line cost us last time and Tettey had to drop back in there. I definitely think we need cover in that position this time.

Conclusion: Do I think Ajer is definitely good enough for us in the Prem? No idea. Until they’re thrown into the fire it’s impossible to know. For me it’s about who comes into the 11 if there’s an injury to a starter, which does happen to us a lot. We don’t want it to be a big drop off in quality/ability like we’ve had before. Shoe horning fullbacks and midfielders into centre half in the prem when you’re Norwich is a disaster imo.

Last bit. I think any player Norwich City buys whilst being a Premier League club comes with a risk of not being good enough. I can’t think of a single player who we could afford, who would want to come to us, that we all think would be a guaranteed starter and good enough for the Prem. Is there any player in the champ, outside of the promoted teams, who you think would definitely be good enough to start ahead of what we have and be good enough for the Prem? I can’t think of any of the top of my head. We will be shopping in the Dutch league, the Portuguese league, Scotland and Scandinavia and the 2nd tiers of Germany and Spain. All those players come with a risk and we won’t be able to say for definite they will be starters.

I think we will look to players who have perhaps not reached their peak yet and are of an age similar to Ajer because if it doesn’t work out they should still retain some sell on value.

 

[sgncfc 1,264]

15 hours ago, BigGrantsTash said:

I was reading Celtic Talk which seemed quite a biggy but I’m sure a club the size of Celtic has many other forums which I didn’t read. The overall impression I got from reading on there was him being one of their better players and one they need to keep etc. I only know one Celtic fan personally and he certainly rated him. As you say there will be different opinions on him. There is on this forum about our players. 
 

I disagree with your last paragraph. You say Webber says he will only sign players that improve our squad. Then you say it’s a non starter because he’s never going to start ahead of Hanley or Gibson. For me, when Webber refers to squad he’s referring to the squad of 25 players and not just the starting 11 and Ajer without a doubt improve the squad in my opinion. He can also play midfield.

I agree £15 million is too much. Somewhere between £8-12 million I would be considering it. I also don’t know if it’s a forgone conclusion he would never start ahead of those 2. Hanley and Zimmerman didn’t look at premier league level last time we were there. All three of our centre halfs have a history with injuries. Injuries to our back line cost us last time and Tettey had to drop back in there. I definitely think we need cover in that position this time.

Conclusion: Do I think Ajer is definitely good enough for us in the Prem? No idea. Until they’re thrown into the fire it’s impossible to know. For me it’s about who comes into the 11 if there’s an injury to a starter, which does happen to us a lot. We don’t want it to be a big drop off in quality/ability like we’ve had before. Shoe horning fullbacks and midfielders into centre half in the prem when you’re Norwich is a disaster imo.

Last bit. I think any player Norwich City buys whilst being a Premier League club comes with a risk of not being good enough. I can’t think of a single player who we could afford, who would want to come to us, that we all think would be a guaranteed starter and good enough for the Prem. Is there any player in the champ, outside of the promoted teams, who you think would definitely be good enough to start ahead of what we have and be good enough for the Prem? I can’t think of any of the top of my head. We will be shopping in the Dutch league, the Portuguese league, Scotland and Scandinavia and the 2nd tiers of Germany and Spain. All those players come with a risk and we won’t be able to say for definite they will be starters.

I think we will look to players who have perhaps not reached their peak yet and are of an age similar to Ajer because if it doesn’t work out they should still retain some sell on value.

 

Good post, and I agree with most of it. I'm just struggling to see Ajer as a good buy; and with Andrew O and Famewo possibly moving forward very quickly I'm not sure he would improve the squad. I'd rather get a more experienced loan player in from a top 10 team than a permanent who's likely not good enough to get in the way of them. Luckily, not our decision!

And in answer to your question - this is one I always ask myself when I compare teams - are there any players in their team who would start in ours? In the Championship, clearly very few, if any. I like Fry at Middlesbro and Morrison at Cardiff (though he's knocking on a bit now) plus Helik at Barnsley. I'd rather have any of them than Ajer.