Marc-Antoine Fortune

I read the paper today and he said The thing that has surprised me most in Scotland is the way opposition teams play against Celtic. They just never give up. You can play against Falkirk and lose.
"If you don't play at the top of your game you will have problems. This season every time we've played like the real Celtic we've won but whenever we haven't been well prepared and on form things have been difficult.
"There isn't a lot of information about Scottish football in France. So before I came here I thought it was just about Rangers and Celtic and while the other teams were good, it would be easy for the Old Firm.
"But that is certainly not the case. It's the first thing I say to people now whenever they ask me about the Scottish league.
"I tell them there are other teams who can make it difficult for Rangers and Celtic.
"I'd describe my first season as difficult. It's not the best start when you play two games then are out injured for three months. On top of that I knew there was a lot expected of me so I tried to do my best but it was really difficult.
"However, I think I will be better for it next season. You always learn during hard times. This was a new league for me but now I know how you have to play and prepare for games.
"Despite the way this season has gone I've never regretted my move to Scotland.
"Whenever I've joined a new club, if the first three months or even the first year is difficult I've always come back better for it the next season.
"I'm confident that will be the case again at Celtic. When I went to Holland with Utrecht it was my first time in a foreign country and I had to settle.
"There are things outside football which are also factors. My kids go to school here, my wife had a baby here and things are now great so those things can all help me get better."
Fortune knows Celtic must win at Tannadice - where they crashed 2-1 on their last visit - to make sure Rangers aren't handed the title before even kicking off against Hibs. There is also the small matter of securing second place ahead of the Arabs.
Fortune said: "It's important to finish second because every year Celtic must be in Europe.
"The league isn't over yet because there are four games left but if we don't win the title then everyone at Celtic will be determined to do it next season. When you lose out twice in a row it makes you even more determined.
"We know if we lose at Tannadice then Rangers can have the title. We're going to do everything we can to win and make them work for it.
"I'm not thinking about who our manager will be. I just get on with playing.
"As for the Ross County game, that is out of my mind now. It really hurt because it was a great chance to win something.
"But we have to look forward because we will lose more games if we keep thinking about the Ross County defeat."The thing that has surprised me most in Scotland is the way opposition teams play against Celtic. They just never give up. You can play against Falkirk and lose.
"If you don't play at the top of your game you will have problems. This season every time we've played like the real Celtic we've won but whenever we haven't been well prepared and on form things have been difficult.
"There isn't a lot of information about Scottish football in France. So before I came here I thought it was just about Rangers and Celtic and while the other teams were good, it would be easy for the Old Firm.
"But that is certainly not the case. It's the first thing I say to people now whenever they ask me about the Scottish league.
"I tell them there are other teams who can make it difficult for Rangers and Celtic.
"I'd describe my first season as difficult. It's not the best start when you play two games then are out injured for three months. On top of that I knew there was a lot expected of me so I tried to do my best but it was really difficult.
"However, I think I will be better for it next season. You always learn during hard times. This was a new league for me but now I know how you have to play and prepare for games.
"Despite the way this season has gone I've never regretted my move to Scotland.
"Whenever I've joined a new club, if the first three months or even the first year is difficult I've always come back better for it the next season.
"I'm confident that will be the case again at Celtic. When I went to Holland with Utrecht it was my first time in a foreign country and I had to settle.
"There are things outside football which are also factors. My kids go to school here, my wife had a baby here and things are now great so those things can all help me get better."
Fortune knows Celtic must win at Tannadice - where they crashed 2-1 on their last visit - to make sure Rangers aren't handed the title before even kicking off against Hibs. There is also the small matter of securing second place ahead of the Arabs.
Fortune said: "It's important to finish second because every year Celtic must be in Europe.
"The league isn't over yet because there are four games left but if we don't win the title then everyone at Celtic will be determined to do it next season. When you lose out twice in a row it makes you even more determined.
"We know if we lose at Tannadice then Rangers can have the title. We're going to do everything we can to win and make them work for it.
"I'm not thinking about who our manager will be. I just get on with playing.
"As for the Ross County game, that is out of my mind now. It really hurt because it was a great chance to win something.
"But we have to look forward because we will lose more games if we keep thinking about the Ross County defeat."
He also mentioned that he always does better after his first season with a club so he looks into a bright future with Celtic. Says the Scottish Sun.
Why should we keep him? He is not met the expectations of a striker. Only scored 11 goals this season. Robbie Keane has already scored more. What is your opinion on him?

 

Other teams maybe do try harder against Celtic but that still doesn't excuse Fortune's inability to finish off the simplest of chances. He just does not have a killer instinct in front of the goals and that's a pretty big drawback for a forward to have.

 

id keep big fortune. i reckon injury free, we'll see a better player next season. samaras out.

 

great post , hope he does better next season IF HES STILL HERE

 

I really like the guy. Intelligent play, great at holding the ball up with his strength. Can dribble, bit of pace. Completely unselfish.
If he sorts out his lack of composure we could have a real player on our hands.

I'd like to think he'll improve next season too.

 

i cant help but notice his reaction after scoring the equaliser against hibs he was dis- interested and didnt look a like a striker who believes in his team, any other striker wud knock down walls to get to the ball in the net and take it back to the half way line. Although we do already know this team has no heart or fight .

 

i like Fortune personally. He may not be the most prolific but i think Rasmussen would complement Fortune's style of play. He is the best player in the SPL at holding players off and tunring them with his back to the goal. His finishing isn't great but he has scored some crackers. He does tend to miss a lot of headers

 

He guy is not too bad but I don't like why he was brought here. Tm said he doesn't score that often, fair enough, but when the season before when we codnt hit a barn door we needed a pure clinical striker to play as well as skippy. Maybe wih the right partner he could become a good player for Celtic but I an offer came in I don't think we should be too hasty to knock it back

 

sammy out keep fortune and rasmussen up front nxt year (H) think fortune will do a bit holdin the ball 4 razzy! n * pop them away

 

I think he's good.Good pace,good strenth and he's not selfish with the ball but like Lennon says projects are for wee kids at school...The fans need to see some immediacy and fortune knows it.
Thats why hes not celebrating goals IMO,He knows he hasnt done enough yet...
But i think he'll be good for us,tho' i'd still sell him in a minute!!!

 

he is srtong and quick but is a poor finisher, i can only imagine his awful misses have cost us point, if some one comes in for him, i'd let him go

 

I thought he didn't over-celebrate because he had missed alot of chances earlier in the game and was disappointed in himself , probably felt he had to make up for it , if you get what I mean ?

 

Maybe it was because it was the simplest of finishes in a game that does not matter

 

I personally think that in the correct position, with the correct partner and support. He will be a great player for us. His game is really well suited to the SPL.

Yes I did say great !!!

 

He's a poor finisher, we need our front two strikers to score at least 40 between them if Celtic are ever to win the SPL title. He lacks the fighting qualities, just like Samaras. When the chips are down you really can't depend on them, move them on !!!

 

I would keep Samaras before Fortune.There is little between the two, but I would say Samaras is the better player.

Fortune has far from impressed this season, and when you take into account that Samaras is younger, faster, taller, more agile and cheaper (rumoured to be around 9k a week cheaper), and believe it or not, probably a better finisher than Fortune, with international and soon to be World Cup expierience, then Sammy at £1 million looks a bargain against Fortune at £3.8 million.

 

IMO he didn't celebrate against hibs because we were simply running out of time for a winner. I think if he equalised a lot earlier in the match he might have had a wee celebration for it

 

when you say he didnt celebrate becoz we had nothing to play for, dont we still have to go an win every game and not just give the title to rangers ,we also at celtic should be settling for nothing less than a win although not always possible,and also theyre playing for lennons job!

 

i don't like this guy one little bit.imo he is a big part of the reason why our season was such a spectacular failure,mowbray spent too much time in the summer pursueing him and too much money on him when that time and money could have been better spent addressing other areas of the team ie a proper goalscoring forward or a mid who is capaple of contributing a few.cant understand an earlier post saying he has the ability to hold the ball up and shows intelligent play, for me his second touch is generally a tackle and when in possesion just seems to put his head down and run in the direction he is facing. the only problem now is the money spent will never be even halfway recouped.i recently checked his career stats and 11 goals is the most he has ever scored in any one season,not good enough for a celtic player should have let him go to hull were he could have done * all for their relegation fight and not * up our season.

 

I quite like the guy actually. I know plenty Gers fans who also say he's one of the players they would prefer not to face, which - out of the current 11 - puts him on a relative pedestal in all honesty. He's no composed goal scorer, but that was known before he came. However, i firmly believe that if here next season, he would do a good job, and that THIS season, he is almost a scapegoat of the Mowbray era.