Amido Balde

Zander · Jun 16, 2013

Damnati said: ↑

Have people actually read that article or are they just blinded by hate for Hugh Keevins?
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I read it, It's horseshit.

Zander · Jun 17, 2013

I read in the paper yesterday(or saturday) that he thinks the Level in Scotland might be better than In Portugal. Boy is he in for a shock

murphy88 · Jun 17, 2013

I started to read it, then thought, wait a minute, this is the same Hugh Keevins that said, and I quote:

"I don't know what I find more laughable; the fact that Celtic cannot find £500,000 from their biscuit tin to sign a proven talent like John Spencer, or the fact that they then spent £300,000 on one of Dr. Jo's old pals, the unknown Lubomir Moravcik"
(Hugh Keevins, Sunday Mail; Nov 1998)

That just makes his point about Balde an irrelevance. * that he is.

Bangarangura · Jun 17, 2013

new interview, well for those that dont have celtic tv anyway, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCrtsIYcs9s"]Celtic FC - Amido Balde Signing Interview - YouTube[/ame]

Sonny Crockett · Jun 17, 2013

I hope he does well now that he's a Celtic player but I think Russel would have been the better oprion.

MartinR · Jun 17, 2013

Really hope he does well. Hope he scores goals for fun 20+ a season

But something reminds me of Sammy when I look at him and no matter how well the big man done this year he's not a natural goal scorer.

Anyway I've got faith in him

Dáibhí · Jun 17, 2013

I have to say, Keevins has to surely be on the wind-up with that article? He'll no doubt have written that looking to generate some interest in himself. Why else would he be writing * like this? For those who haven't actually read what he said, check it out for a laugh;

It remains to be seen whether Celtic have made a big mistake by going for Amido Balde instead of Johnny Russell.

Only time, and goal stats, will establish whether the half-hearted attempt to sign Russell from Dundee United before Derby County took him to the Championship should have been more serious.

But Russell’s already gone well in front of his Portuguese rival when it comes to credibility and common sense.

He made a dignified departure from Tannadice by using the social network to thank the club for the 10 years they had spent developing him as a player while also expressing his gratitude over joining such a decent club down south.

Compare that to the scarf-wearing, badge-kissing, trumpet-blowing arrival that Balde has made in Scotland.

Balde is going to have to be twice as good a player as he clearly thinks he is if he’s to live up to his own gargantuan hype.

I’d like to think most of what we’ve read so far from the former Vitoria Guimaraes striker has been lost in translation, given that he speaks no English.

Or, better still, that a lot of the guff was simply made up by his handlers to satisfy the needy among the fans who are desperate to hear Celtic have signed a world beater.

But the heart sank when Balde needed no encouragement to start kissing the badge on a Celtic scarf outside Glasgow Airport when he touched down on Monday.

The bit about knowing about Celtic for years and watching their games on television is standard material for the purpose of
ingratiating yourself with the fans.

It’s the same as Nacho Novo apparently being the only kid in Spain who ran around his village while wearing a Rangers top.

A revelation he delivered when he signed on at Ibrox, having gone without mention when he was at Raith Rovers and Dundee.

It all comes under the heading of “If you believe that, you’ll believe anything” and is relatively harmless fun to keep tongues
wagging over the summer.

Balde’s also promised to be everything from the old Jorge Cadete to the new Zlatan Ibrahimovic, which is difficult to contradict as nobody really knows much about him.

Now, on top of everything else, he hasn’t been done any favours by Ilidio Vale, his coach at Under-20 level with Portugal.

Vale believes Balde can be Celtic’s best attacker since Henrik Larsson.

On the basis that Henrik scored 242 goals for Celtic in 315 appearances, and was practically canonised a saint, I can give Vale a cast-iron guarantee. The Henriks of this world only come along once in a blue moon because they are bone fide geniuses.

I’d bet my house against his that Vale’s prediction about Balde emulating Larsson will be exposed as a nonsense.

Larsson arrived without a fanfare because Celtic had gone nine consecutive seasons without winning a championship.

He didn’t even start well, selling the jerseys against Hibs in his first game and gifting Chic Charnley the chance to score the winning goal at Easter Road.

But nobody bothered because no-one had any expectations in the first place. If Balde doesn’t hit a hat-trick in his first match the gullible who’ve lapped up the guff will be suing for breach of promise.

Larsson also knew the meaning of humility and never got carried away with himself.

Balde should watch and learn. Just for once, I wish somebody would sign for a new club and an independent witness feel moved to say: “I wouldn’t touch him with a bargepole.”

It would be better than lumbering a player with unrealistic targets.

Or drawing laughable comparisons with those who’ve written their name into a club’s history in indelible ink.

Especially when the one being lumbered already appears to have a big enough opinion of himself.

The new Henrik? Give us peace.
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GodBlessJinky · Jun 17, 2013

This guy has a big mouth this deal is all wrong for Celtic. I hope im wrong but I dont think I will be.

Bangarangura · Jun 17, 2013

in all the interviews ive seen with balde , he seems quite shy, reserved and humble to be honest

Cmcgregor90 · Jun 17, 2013

WeekendOffender said: ↑

Keevins is an absolute *. He is one of those who is going on about why did we sign him instead of Russell. Beginning to * annoy me that argument They are two entirely different players why can't people see that If Lennon felt that we needed a player like Russell he would have got him, he obviously feels that a player like Balde with a huge physical presence is what is needed, and I for one completely agree. I will admit, I really wanted Russell here but it clearly was not a situation where we went for 'one rather than the other'. We could have gotten both if we really wanted to I am sure.
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Ahhhh is Keevins using the old you should have signed him instead ... Hmm I wonder who says something similar the last time when a wee guy called lubo came along this * says we should have signed John spence:smiley-laughing002:

Cmcgregor90 · Jun 17, 2013

BigStubsy said: ↑

I hope he does well now that he's a Celtic player but I think Russel would have been the better oprion.
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Right now yes I agree no dought about it! Later? Who knows... It's the simple fact Keevins is acting like we choose him over russell

McChiellini.. · Jun 17, 2013

murphy88 said: ↑

I started to read it, then thought, wait a minute, this is the same Hugh Keevins that said, and I quote:

"I don't know what I find more laughable; the fact that Celtic cannot find £500,000 from their biscuit tin to sign a proven talent like John Spencer, or the fact that they then spent £300,000 on one of Dr. Jo's old pals, the unknown Lubomir Moravcik"
(Hugh Keevins, Sunday Mail; Nov 1998)

That just makes his point about Balde an irrelevance. * that he is.
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What a clown!

Ruxin · Jun 17, 2013

Keevins opinion on anything is worthless, guy is a grade A *.

Random Review · Jun 17, 2013

Moros said: ↑

He has previous for this, he had a go at us in the past for signing Lubo Moravcik instead of John Spencer.
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murphy88 said: ↑

I started to read it, then thought, wait a minute, this is the same Hugh Keevins that said, and I quote:

"I don't know what I find more laughable; the fact that Celtic cannot find £500,000 from their biscuit tin to sign a proven talent like John Spencer, or the fact that they then spent £300,000 on one of Dr. Jo's old pals, the unknown Lubomir Moravcik"
(Hugh Keevins, Sunday Mail; Nov 1998)

That just makes his point about Balde an irrelevance. * that he is.
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Wow, just wow. I don't remember that, but what an absolute moron.

murphy88 · Jun 17, 2013

random review said: ↑

Wow, just wow. I don't remember that, but what an absolute moron.
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That's why I stopped reading his piece on Balde after about the first sentence and I knew how it was going to go.

Cathairbhoy · Jun 17, 2013

GodBlessJinky said: ↑

This guy has a big mouth this deal is all wrong for Celtic. I hope im wrong but I dont think I will be.
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FFS wish people would actually do a bit more reading beyond the headlines of the Daily Ranger.

He didn't say anything about being better than Hooper, nor did he say he'd be the best player at the club or any other * you may have read. It was all made up and he confirmed he hadn't even spoken to a Brit journo when it was printed.

Mr Shelby · Jun 18, 2013

The reports of this boy having a "big mouth" are way off. His old coach even said he is a good hard working player who is quite quiet.

Bangarangura · Jun 18, 2013

WeekendOffender said: ↑

The reports of this boy having a "big mouth" are way off. His old coach even said he is a good hard working player who is quite quiet.
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yip, he seems like quite a reserved guy

Celtic Bhoy 94 · Jun 18, 2013

Bangarangura said: ↑

yip, he seems like quite a reserved guy
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He's seems a mature and generally nice guy but if you stuck me in a foreign country with a language I couldn't speak i would be quite 'reserved' too

Celticbhoy17 · Jun 18, 2013

He said in an interview with celtic tv that 'he has followed celtic for three years' and 'everyone in Guinea-Bissau loves celtic with pride'

BULLSHIT

Amido Balde

Mr Shelby Moderator Moderator Gold Member