Graham Humphrey 13 Posted January 22, 2013 I just cannot believe there are still people bleating this ambition stuff. Perhaps you would care to take a look at the amount of players we have bought since our promotion in 2011 and look at how much we have spent on them. Morison, Pilkington, Vaughan, Johnson, E. Bennett, Ayala, R. Bennett, Howson, Snodgrass, Butterfield, Whittaker, Bassong, Turner, Tettey, Bunn, plus several loan players. That''s 15 permanent signings, and some serious money has been spent there - certainly more money than we have ever spent on a group of players in the club''s entire history. This from being financially in a very bad way in 2009. On top of this, we''ve also managed to restructure and pay off a large amount of our debt in the meantime and I believe we are on track to be externally debt-free at the end of the season. The tip of the iceberg is that we''ve also managed to avoid selling any of our top players in this entire period with no major benefactor bankrolling the club.And now we have bid £5m each for two players (we''ve never spent £5m on one player, ever) and by all means nothing is cut and dried yet (Spurs interested in Hooper? Any proof of this before we throw a strop?). Honestly, what more do you want? You can be sure that lots of hard work is going on behind the scenes and there will be other targets in place too. So chill out, stop whining and realise that this club is doing everything it can to strengthen our squad still further. There''s still over a week left. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TIL 1010 4,657 Posted January 22, 2013 Well said Graham but my advice is put your tin hat on and take shelter under your bed. [:D] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Brownstone 0 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="Stig"]£5mil for Hooper and £5mil for Graham... that sounds like £10mil or are you now condoning my idea we were only ever really in for one?[/quote] I''m doing no such thing. Have you had a bang on the head or something? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,239 Posted January 22, 2013 Nobody is trying to put you down Stig and we all want the club to push on as far as it is possible to do so. What we don''t want to see is another Portsmouth down at CR.McNally has done well for us in recent years, I trust he will know how far to push things when we bid. We have to accept that there will always be clubs who can outbid us if they want too and not be drawn into paying over the odds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PurpleCanary 5,531 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="nutty nigel"]Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,352 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote] What was so good about 87-88 Purple? It was a right disappointment after finishing 5th the previous season. We were relegation candidates at one point. The last 3 season''s have been full of upward momentum. Of course I''m too young to remember the 50s. You could ask Tilly... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncfcstar 287 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="Graham Humphrey"]I just cannot believe there are still people bleating this ambition stuff. Perhaps you would care to take a look at the amount of players we have bought since our promotion in 2011 and look at how much we have spent on them. Morison, Pilkington, Vaughan, Johnson, E. Bennett, Ayala, R. Bennett, Howson, Snodgrass, Butterfield, Whittaker, Bassong, Turner, Tettey, Bunn, plus several loan players. That''s 15 permanent signings, and some serious money has been spent there - certainly more money than we have ever spent on a group of players in the club''s entire history. This from being financially in a very bad way in 2009. On top of this, we''ve also managed to restructure and pay off a large amount of our debt in the meantime and I believe we are on track to be externally debt-free at the end of the season. The tip of the iceberg is that we''ve also managed to avoid selling any of our top players in this entire period with no major benefactor bankrolling the club.And now we have bid £5m each for two players (we''ve never spent £5m on one player, ever) and by all means nothing is cut and dried yet (Spurs interested in Hooper? Any proof of this before we throw a strop?). Honestly, what more do you want? You can be sure that lots of hard work is going on behind the scenes and there will be other targets in place too. So chill out, stop whining and realise that this club is doing everything it can to strengthen our squad still further. There''s still over a week left.[/quote]I promised myself I wouldn''t post again until Feb 1st, but thank the Lord for some sanity still coming through on here. Top post. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,239 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"]Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote]but what about 1961-1971 10 years of rubbish enlivened only by any away cup win at Old Trafford and the Batista Trophy. Attendances declined from 20k to 13k and we made mid table Div 2 finishes an art form.Christ, I deserve a medal for standing in the rain and watching that decade of dross. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,352 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="ricardo"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote]but what about 1961-1971 10 years of rubbish enlivened only by any away cup win at Old Trafford and the Batista Trophy. Attendances declined from 20k to 13k and we made mid table Div 2 finishes an art form.Christ, I deserve a medal for standing in the rain and watching that decade of dross.[/quote] Because I knew nothing else I loved it Rickyyyy. Keelan, Bryceland, Lucas, Curran.... Happy days[Y] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,239 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote]but what about 1961-1971 10 years of rubbish enlivened only by any away cup win at Old Trafford and the Batista Trophy. Attendances declined from 20k to 13k and we made mid table Div 2 finishes an art form.Christ, I deserve a medal for standing in the rain and watching that decade of dross.[/quote] Because I knew nothing else I loved it Rickyyyy. Keelan, Bryceland, Lucas, Curran.... Happy days[Y] [/quote]Gerry Howshall, Colin Worrell, Ron Barnes, Christ!! and people complain about what we''ve got now...................If they only but Knew.[;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,352 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="ricardo"][quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote]but what about 1961-1971 10 years of rubbish enlivened only by any away cup win at Old Trafford and the Batista Trophy. Attendances declined from 20k to 13k and we made mid table Div 2 finishes an art form.Christ, I deserve a medal for standing in the rain and watching that decade of dross.[/quote] Because I knew nothing else I loved it Rickyyyy. Keelan, Bryceland, Lucas, Curran.... Happy days[Y] [/quote]Gerry Howshall, Colin Worrell, Ron Barnes, Christ!! and people complain about what we''ve got now...................If they only but Knew.[;)][/quote] You got Tangie''s dad to thank for that one[:O] But to be fair he was rated at WBA. Used to get top marks in the Sunday papers... until he signed for us[:@] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="shefcanary"]My estimate of January window budget - £12m [/quote]£12m - £13m plus any sales is what I have been thinking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,239 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="nutty nigel"][quote user="ricardo"][quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="nutty nigel"] Problem is Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyy we have just had quite possibly the three most successful consecutive seasons ever. It''s become the norm... [/quote] nutty, I know you''re way too young[|-)] to remember 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1960-61, but what about 1986-87, 1987-88 and 1988-89?[;)][/quote]but what about 1961-1971 10 years of rubbish enlivened only by any away cup win at Old Trafford and the Batista Trophy. Attendances declined from 20k to 13k and we made mid table Div 2 finishes an art form.Christ, I deserve a medal for standing in the rain and watching that decade of dross.[/quote] Because I knew nothing else I loved it Rickyyyy. Keelan, Bryceland, Lucas, Curran.... Happy days[Y] [/quote]Gerry Howshall, Colin Worrell, Ron Barnes, Christ!! and people complain about what we''ve got now...................If they only but Knew.[;)][/quote] You got Tangie''s dad to thank for that one[:O] But to be fair he was rated at WBA. Used to get top marks in the Sunday papers... until he signed for us[:@] [/quote]Was that in "Reynolds News or "The Sunday Pictorial"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Two penneth 0 Posted January 22, 2013 Villas-Boas is at Celtic Park tonight according to 5 live Scottish reporter at the match. Make of that what you will. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyboy 0 Posted January 22, 2013 wouldn''t it be ironic if he is on the pitch next wednesday at carrow road but for Spuds!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantiaci Canary 556 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="baldyboy"]wouldn''t it be ironic if he is on the pitch next wednesday at carrow road but for Spuds!![/quote] ''Ironic'' is one word for it! Can certainly see it happening. If AVB is actually at Celtic Park then it must be seriously likely that Spurs will let us do all the graft and dirty work before offering the Scots the same eventual winning bid but Hooper double the wages! What will the mood be like at Carrow Road if Hooper started upfront for Tottenham and we gave a debut to Marlon King!!! [;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Brownstone 0 Posted January 22, 2013 Could be watching Wanyama? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Stig 0 Posted January 22, 2013 [quote user="Cantiaci Canary"][quote user="baldyboy"]wouldn''t it be ironic if he is on the pitch next wednesday at carrow road but for Spuds!![/quote] ''Ironic'' is one word for it! Can certainly see it happening. If AVB is actually at Celtic Park then it must be seriously likely that Spurs will let us do all the graft and dirty work before offering the Scots the same eventual winning bid but Hooper double the wages! What will the mood be like at Carrow Road if Hooper started upfront for Tottenham and we gave a debut to Marlon King!!! [;)][/quote]Makes me feel a bit sick, actually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rivvo 257 Posted January 23, 2013 Or maybe they''re looking elsehwere?http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/426934/20130123/tottenham-transfer-news-bundesliga-striker-january-deal.htm? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PaddyMcCourt 0 Posted January 23, 2013 Celtic fan here in peace. I''d hazard a guess and say that this is the far more likely conclusion.The 3 main prospects at Celtic are Wanyama, Hooper and Forster. Wanyama is the stand out by a country mile, and is far too good for the SPL. There''s an acceptance here that he''s not going to be around for long and we should just appreciate having a player of that standard in the team while we can. Forster is also attracting a lot of attention and I don''t think he''ll be here for much longer either. Hooper has become a very good player and is still improving. On his current form, he''d be a big asset to the Norwich side in my humble opinion. In saying that though, I think Tottenham could do with a striker in his mould so it wouldn''t be the biggest surprise to see them in for him.The situation with his contract is this: Celtic''s highest earner is Scott Brown, who is paid £30k. Hooper wants more, and we have a very strict wage budget that won''t be shifted. Financial prudence is the name of the game up here, and contrary to what is being said, we''re in a very healthy financial position and there is no necessity whatsoever to sell any players. Rangers demise has been financially beneficial to us in that it has allowed squad rotation in the SPL and subsequently lucrative progress in the Champions League.It''s going to take £7.5-8m to buy him and about £40k per week. I have no idea about Norwich''s finances and whether or not that''s a realistic transfer for you guys, but either way I''ll be tracking his progress and hoping he does well wherever he goes.For anyone interested, here''s a highlights package of last nights match (Hooper scored twice): http://www.kirkintillochemerald.co.uk/showthread.php?p=35403#post35403 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PaddyMcCourt 0 Posted January 23, 2013 Quote fail. "This" in the first paragraph was referring to AVB being at the match last night to watch Victor Wanyama. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites