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I wish our squad looked like this

Discussion in 'Celtic Chat' started by Bhoyyo, Aug 17, 2012.

Discuss I wish our squad looked like this in the Celtic Chat area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Bhoyyo

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    Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly happy with the squad, but I got thinking about some of Strachan's bhoys that got away, then I thought to myself, "How good would the squad be if some of those bhoys were still here?"

    So I took our current squad, and replaced IMO the worst players with the best from Strachan's time. I think this would be a very formidable squad, comparable with O'Neill's.

    GKs
    Boruc, Forster
    -Boruc would obviously be number 1. His form did become quite patchy towards the end there, so with Forster deputising I think we'd be stronger in this position than most clubs in the UK.

    Defenders
    Matthews, Rogne, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, McManus, Hinkel, and the current youngsters.

    -Hinkel in for Lustig. Might be a bit unfair seeing as Lustig hasn't properly proved himself yet and there's still time for that. Wilson had to go obviously. We haven't had any stand out CBs in Strachan's time, so it was between Caldwell and McManus. I went for McManus. Imagine McManus and Mulgrew pairing up in defense, can you think of a more celtic-daft partnership?

    Midfield
    Brown, Commons, Ledley, McGeady, Nakamura, Wanyama, Kayal, Forrest, and the current youngsters

    -McGeady was obviously gonna make the list. We did depend on him a bit much, but with Commons, Naka, and Forrest in I don't think we'd have that problem anymore. In order to fit Naka and McGeady in I had to ditch Ki and McCourt. It was a difficult choice, and there's others who I could have included too - Robson in for Brown maybe?

    Attackers

    Hooper, Stokes, Samaras, McDonald, Bangura, JVOH, and the youngsters
    -Dropped Rasmussen and Murphy. Bangura might come good yet. McDonald would be useful for when Hooper is off-form. JVOH is getting on a bit now but he'd still be useful back-up.


    I couldn't think of anyone to include from Mowbray's year who left. N'guemo looked decent at times, but we have Victor and Beram now. Keano was just on loan. Fox didn't do too well during his time here but he looked the part for Scotland the other night, would make a decent back up IMO.

    So there you have it, if we didn't let some of these guys go we'd have a really tidy squad. Imagine this:

    Boruc
    Matthews McManus Mulgrew Izzy
    Forrest Kayal Wanyama Commons
    Hooper McDonald
    subs: Forster, Rogne, Hinkel, McGeady, Ledley, Naka, Stokes
    rest of squad: Brown, Samaras, Bangura, JVOH, the youngsters


    That would be a UEFA cup winning squad, IMO.
     
  2. aliceinsound

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    Only 3 strachan era players in the first team? I'm not sure this current team would be capable of beating man united, benfica x2, ac milan and villareal. would love to be proved wrong ofcourse! *Ah wait after reading it again, I see what you are getting at. I still mcgeady and naka would be in the team though.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2012
  3. marti~bhoy

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    McGeady and Naka on the bench is utterly absurd.

    Good idea for a thread though :50:

    Boruc
    Matthews Mulgrew Caldwell Izzy
    Kayal Wanyama Naka
    Mcgeady Hooper Samaras

    Boom.
     
  4. Seosamh Máirtín

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    No way would McGeady be on the bench! :56:And Naka would play ahead of McDonald or Hooper.
     
  5. HectorTheTaxman Formerly The Spider

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    Boruc
    Matthews Caldwell Mulgrew Izzy
    McGeady Kayal Ledley Naka
    Hooper JVOH

    Some team that would be
     
  6. Ry The Bhoy

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    Gary Hand-up!? You high?

    Would love Naka back though, one of my all time favourite players.
     
  7. Keen

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    I rate Stokes more than McDonald
     
  8. Seosamh Máirtín

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    Glad I'm not the only one to feel this way. Personally, I'd have the team line-up like so:

    Boruc

    Matthews, Rogne, Mulgrew, Izaguirre

    Wanyama

    McGeady, Kayal, Ledley

    Nakamura

    Hooper


    I honestly never really rated Strachan or his team. I did not find it a particularly inspiring time, but then my pivotal, real shaping days of becoming a Celtic fan were during the O'Neill days, so it was a hard act to follow.

    Neil Lennon's Bhoys are blooming nicely, though. :celt_2:

    ETA: I'd love to have McManus as back-up, and big Jan as a 2nd option, though!
     
  9. PaddyJamieson

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    Great idea for a thread. The thing about Strachan's team, which I think isn't the same as this one, is that he had a few players with world class ability. McGeady and Naka in particular could change a game like that and I'm not sure we have players of the same quality now.

    A team of mine would go something like this:

    ----------------------Boruc
    ----Hinkel------Caldwell----Mulgrew-----Izzy
    -----------Kayal------Wanyama---Ledley
    ------Naka------------------------McGeady
    ------------------Hooper------------------

    With JVoH as a replacement up front if things got tough, of course. Now a team like that could have a real shot at doing well in Europe.
     
  10. sarcasmotron

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    *, I know this is offtopic, but this post just reminded me of my dreams tonight. I dreamt about Shunsuke Nakamura, he was wearing that green and black away shirt when he knocked on my door. :D
     
  11. idlewildered

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    I think I'd play mcmanus beside charlie to be honest. not because I think he's necessarily a better option but I think, particularly against the stronger sides in Europe, they'd compliment each other ridiculously well.

    mcmanus throwing his face at an AC Milan skelper giving muldini the opportunity to tidy it up and get it out of defence.

    it could be a thing of beauty.............
     
  12. idlewildered

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    :38: nobody should be allowed to use * and talk about Naka in the same post :icon_mrgreen:
     
  13. bhoy81

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    untill stokes does it in the champions league then he is nowhere near as good as skippy
     
  14. Brydo

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    Boruc
    Mathews caldwell mulgrew izzy

    Wanyama

    Ledley crosas

    Nakamura mcgeady

    Hooper

    Kayal for crosas or wanyama, would love to see if crosas could get his game together in that team.



    Posted from Talkceltic.net App for Android
     
  15. bhoy81

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    parts in bold, really? i like the guy cause he is celtic daft but we have got better players to pick from than him
     
  16. idlewildered

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    he'd work well in a different team, his passing range is phenomenal and if you have someone in the destroyer role he would work very well off of that
     
  17. bhoy81

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    I get what you are saying but i still feel we have better players to pick from than him, like kayal
     
  18. idlewildered

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    in complete agreement, I was just thinking that in this mash up scenario I'd be really interested to see what a centre three of ledley, wanyama and crosas could be like.

    turn crosas into more of a playmaker due to the other two doing the less flashy work and you could be on to something
     
  19. GAZZAR88

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    Only player who would be a guaranteed a start in this team from Strachan's team would be Boruc for me.
     
  20. elbhoydo

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    I would have skippy ahead of stokes aswell..Barry Robson as back up for Ledley too..both great engines and fine celtic players..
    It pains me to agree with Caldwell in there although he wouldn't of got a sniff in MoNs teams