[Link] Hooper to Southampton

Those players I listed (with the exception of Rangers captain Steven Davis) were signed with Saints as either a 3rd tier or 2nd tier club.

Saints now are a newly promoted Premier League club, that allows them to sign an even higher calibre of player, like Gaston Ramirez. Those types of players will cost more if you are an EPL club or not.

They aren't solely going for big money signings, our first choice left back is a 17 year old academy product, our captain is an academy product and we have numerous other academy products around the fringes of the first team.

Other signings include Japanese international/captain of their Olympic team Maya Yoshida for £2m and the top scorer at the last African Cup of Nations Emmanuel Mayuka, Jay Rodriguez and Paulo Gazzaniga. All in their early 20's with big potential.

Oh, and the Holy Goalie on a free transfer!



The average age of our best XI that has been playing the majority of the last 6 games (which has seen 11 points earnt and only 4 goals conceded) is only 23.36. They aim to grow this team over the next few years, add in more academy products and other players in their early 20's brought in.

 

Sorry, to be the bad guy here, but your arrogance is * unbelievable. Southampton can't compete with Celtic. I'm not going to suggest that your a 'diddy club' like some have but this is just * stupid. Get off your Premier League high horse and stop dismissing Celtic's achievements as if they're * all.

Celtic Park is one of the great arenas of European football. It should be compared to the Camp Nou, the San Siro, Old Trafford, the Bernabéu, et al. not St. Mary's. Bigger and better. Always will be the latter. It's the fans that make the stadium, not the bricks.

I'd put a lot of * value into those trophies. If you don't, measure us on our European and World success. I'm fond of the one with the big ears. Two horse race or not, Rangers were one of the top sides in Europe for large parts of their history. Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, and Dundee United have all been European finalists. For a country of our size, our achievements in Europe have been outstanding. Our clubs have simply been * over financially.

38 games in the most high profile league in the world... and then back down to the glorious heights of the Championship.

They're are very, very few clubs in the world that are as big as Celtic - we share the history books and the pitch with FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan, Internazionale, Bayern Munich and Dortmund. Where's Southampton in that story?

As you've said England caps are a * joke.

I know that comes across as unfriendly, maybe a bit mean, but I'm not having someone rubbish Celtic as if it's some kind of * Port Vale nothing team, that's only been successful due to circumstance. Extremely ignorant, extremely arrogant. I can't wait for the Premier League bubble to burst and put an end to all this.

 

well said aul son !!!!!!

 

I'm not wanting to go into too much depth regarding each clubs respective players, I don't know enough about Southampton's and I'm pretty sure you don't about Celtic's.

What I will say though is that you have spent considerably more than us in recent years and have, with all due respect as I'm aware you're not a completely hopeless side, a considerably weaker squad. We've made a net profit of £6m in transfers over the previous two seasons while building a squad capable of competing with Europe's elite. We've possibly spent better than any club in recent times.

 

I haven't at any point in this thread dismissed Celtic's European succes, as it is clearly impressive.

Would I would say is that it is hard to value your domestic success too highly as the domestic game throughout pretty much its entire history is skewed by two clubs so much bigger than any other.

Again, at no point have I said Celtic Park isn't a good stadium or doesn't create a good atmosphere. I wouldn't so quickly dismiss the atmosphere at a packed St Mary's though and if we do ever expand like the pictures I posted earlier, it will be a similar size to your rivals at Ibrox. It is also more modern than either Ibrox or Celtic Park.

I wouldn't right Saints off quite so easily this season as you just have.

Nor would I mock the Championship, which bar Celtic is a better league than the SPL. As are some of the top League One sides over recent years.

Again, I've even stated in this thread Celtic are clearly the bigger club, all I said was EPL status and the estate of Markus Liebherr help level the differences.

As for "Southampton's story"... it is a city of 250k and a club that from 1885 to 2001 was restricted by playing at a small stadium. Since the move to St Mary's in 2001 it has unlocked a lot of the potential and aided the club to get the Liebherr's onboard.

Southampton are also in a far more competitive domestic league system. If Saints were suddenly moved to Scotland they'd be comfortably the 3rd biggest team. The same can be said of a large number of English provincial clubs.

It is, and it might not be paletable but Hooper has a better chance even at Southampton with England, than Celtic. Adam Lallana has already been called up this season, after only 3 Premier League games.

I've done no such thing.

Celtic fans have been very dismissive of the size club Southampton is however.

Depends exactly what you mean by this.

Theoretical here...

If for example since the 19th century it was a British League, Celtic and Rangers would both have been two of the top clubs. They would have both won some league titles, however it wouldn't just be those two like in Scotland, league titles would also be won by Liverpool, Man Utd etc.

Where as in a Scottish league system both clubs can rack up dozens of league titles and cup wins and pretty much guarantee themselves a place in Europe each and every season.

Being a large club and being pretty much guaranteed a place in Europe every season is inevitably going to lead to the occasional success. Please don't take that as completely devaluing your European trophy wins, they remain impressive.

But now compare that with a good sized English club, there are so many of them they can;t all get into Europe and can't build up the competition history a club with less in the way of domestic competition can.

The Old Firm are also able to hoover up all the talent in Scotland, harder for English teams to do with so many rivals.

How long have Scottish football fans been saying that? It isn't going to happen, the leagues below will suffer but the English clubs in the Premier League will remain money making machines due to worldwide interest. It is hard to see why interest would drop at any time soon. If anything it is increasing, if the new huge TV contract for 2013 to 2016 is anything to go by.

 

This is getting pretty tiring. As far as EPL fans coming on here Ted Bates has said nothing that we don't already know or that could be seen as disrespectful. We are only taking it as an insult because it isn't coming from one of our own.

As violent as the reaction is to Ted it has also been the same to Southampton, with a lot of us being disrespectful towards them, but that is to be expected on a CELTIC forum.

The fact is that, as far as this matter goes, we all agree! Hooper isn't going to Southampton unless they come in with a circa £12m bid and nobody thinks that they will do that.

 

Fighting relegation in a strong league is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of those saints players will have places in the Celtic team.

 

Again I would have to disagree. The Champions league is a level above the Premiership. Our players have proven they are more than capable of holding their own at that level. We can't even say at this stage if the Southampton team are capable of surviving in the EPL.

I would be very surprised in many Saints players would find their way into Celtic's first 11. Consider that only a few months ago we sold our 5th choice centre midfielder, Ki Sung Yueng, to Swansea. He's gone to a squad of players that imo is better than Southampton's currently, and managed to establish himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet in a matter of weeks.

 

What I will say, for the last 20 years the Premiership has been a 2 horse race. Man United + 1.

Does that diminish Man United's achievements?

 

I think Ted had been very honest and respectful in his assessment of both clubs and their current situations. As many have pointed out, this is a refreshing change from the majority of English fans who post on here. He deserves the same back.

Southampton aren't splashing their money around irresponsibly, as many have suggested. Their 'marquee' signing - Gaston Ramirez - is obviously a player of great quality, though £12m is a lot for a newly-promoted side to spend on one player.

A lot of their signings in recent years have actually been good value for money. Rickie Lambert being the best example, having scored the goals that fired them to back-to-back promotions.

Their signings after promotion have also been pretty smart.
If they can get Artur Boruc fit and focused they will have an incredible keeper on their hands and on a free transfer, too.
We all know about Steven Davis from his time with the Zombies, he is a steady signing and at a decent price.
Nathaniel Clyne is a good young full-back, with plenty of pace and is a snip at around £2-3 million.
I don't know anything about Gazzaniga, while Mayuka and Yoshida represent risks - albeit relatively inexpensive ones.

The one poor signing I think they've made is Jay Rodriguez. Massively inflated price-tag for a pretty average player.

But Saints deserve a lot of credit for supplementing the first-team with players from their academy. Adam Lallana, the captain, is a very good footballer. Very intelligent and very skillful. How they kept hold of him throughout their time in the lower leagues is beyond me.
They've also given Shaw and Ward-Prowse plenty of game time this season.

 

Mate, you're wrong here on so many levels.

Every major league in the world is dominated by a few large clubs. Spain has Barca/Real, Italy has Juve and the Milan clubs, Germany has Bayern/Dortmund. Without the intervention of a few foreign billionaires the Premiership would have Man Utd and probably the most toothless 'big side' in europe today, a team that were just eliminated by Bradford City Arsenal.

As far as stadium atmosphere goes, we ARE in a position to dismiss St Mary's being on par with a packed Celtic Park simply because the suggestion is so completely ludicrous. Take a look here and tell me you honestly believe St Mary's is the stadium to rival this: http://www.esport3.cat/video/4327390 and I'm not saying St Mary's doesn't have a good atmosphere, I'm sure it does, but does it have a host of the world's best players saying it has the single best atmosphere in world football?

Parkhead is THE best I've experienced. The players were just talking about that the other day - Vidic and Ronaldo were saying it's the best atmosphere they had ever played in. Credit to the supporters for that because they don't half raise the roof.
- Alex Ferguson

The atmosphere generated by the fans in Celtic’s stadium for our visit was the most impressive I’ve ever witnessed. The grounds of Liverpool and Manchester United are good and the hostile feeling of playing against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu is also excellent, but the atmosphere against Celtic was the best.
- Xavi

The Celtic fans are very special and the club and players can be very proud of them. They are the best I have ever heard - Iniesta

When we played at Celtic Park for Bayern in the Champions League it was unbelievable and I think all our players said the same thing afterwards. The atmosphere was just totally unique. I've played in lots of big games and stadiums but I've never witnessed fans making that much noise in 90 minutes - Owen Hargreaves

The incredible thing was the people, for an opposition player it is quite incredible, i have not seen a better atmosphere from the grounds I have visited - Steven Gerrard

Every professional footballer should seek to play at least one game at Celtic Park, I have never felt anything like it Paolo Maldini

There are literally dozens more from the biggest names in world football.

Again I would have to disagree with you on the Championship being superior to the SPL, but I can respect your opinion on it. What I would ask is how much SPL football have you actually watched? For me both leagues are actually very similar in quality, in fact watching an average championship level game is eerily similar to watching the SPL.

Regarding Saints moving to Scotland, consider this:
They would have to drastically, and I mean drastically, reduce their wage bill. Their would be a fire-sale and more than likely a number of players would be released, you're playing squad would more closely resemble your reserve squad than your current first team.
Many of the players you have highlighted would not even consider making the move.
There would be huuuuge cost cutting, no expensive youth facilities, no new stadium development, no transfer funds.
Their would be absolutely no foreign investment.
The level of sponsorship you could attract would likely be on par with Aberdeen.
There are already a number of clubs in the SPL historically bigger than the saints.

Basically, if somehow you were magically transported to the SPL, you would soon realise you were up *-creek without a paddle. Survival of the club would quickly be your goal, not challenging for domestic honours. The same can be said for a large number of english provincial clubs

Hooper would absolutely have a better chance of being called up to the England squad if he was playing at Southampton. Personally I would be * off at my national team manager if that were the case up here. It exemplifies the 'little englander' mentality. A guy scoring goals at the highest level is overlooked in favour of anybody in a Man Utd top and Andy Carroll. Even Forster was until recently overlooked in favour of a guy who had never played a senior competitive game

Regarding you're theoretical scenario - you're suggesting that Celtic have an easier time in attaining European honours because we have a better chance of playing european football each season. Did you not think that maybe the hundreds of millions of dished out annually to EPL clubs has slightly more bearing on the outcome of European competition than permitting us to jump through multiple qualification rounds to compete as bottom seeds on an absolute shoestring budget?

How can you actually try to diminish our European Cup achievement in any way? We won the competition with 10/11 players being born within 20 miles of the stadium itself. If anything it is the absolute single best achievement in the competition. Are you really more impressed by a Chelsea side that spent almost £1billion to achieve the same?

You're right regarding the financial situation. I believe it will end but I've been saying that for a long time. For me it will more likely happen from the money moving from English football to a new European-style league, rather than a complete collapse of the Sky bubble. I don't know though, for the sake of football on a global scale I'm sure I cant be the only one who hope the bubble bursts.

 

Fighting relegation in any league, regardless of it's strength is a bad thing, I'm sure Ted would much rather see Southampton survive comfortably.

Gastón Ramírez and Adam Lallana are the only ones who I think would walk straight into the starting XI. They have some very good players actually looking at their squad but I don't think there's any, other than the two I've mentioned, that would take Celtic up to the next level.

 

The Southampton goalie with the cropped hair and stupid ponytail thing reminds me of asking a corpse to tile a bathroom.

* hopeless.

 

For Ted to say that the bubble won't ever burst in England, I would not be so sure about that. At this moment in time, England do not need Celtic or want Celtic in their set up. All is well down there just now because people all over the world are still happy to watch the likes of Wigan v Stoke etc. That isn't me disrespectful, but lets be honest, it hasn't got great spectacle written all over it. If there comes a time in the future when people decide they have had enough of paying good money to see these type of games on tele then they have a problem. TV revenue is the main thing that keeps the likes of these teams heads above water. There may well come a time in the future when England need Celtic, it's a million miles away just now, but should there come a time when people tuning in to watch certain games in England, then there is no way Sky will continue to put in the same money, if that happens, the bubble will most certainly burst.

 

You may well have done so in the past, but now you're in the EPL, you're spending like the rest of them - ill-advisedly. Sure, Ramirez could go on to be worth a good bit more than £12m, but, as I said yesterday, you could have had 13 Wanyamas for that money. I'd be shocked if we sold him for less than £15m.

That's just much, much better business than the Ramirez deal: he's not going to go for almost 17 times what you spent on him!

And Ramirez was on a lot of clubs' radars. He doesn't come anywhere near the category of player I'm referring to: I'm talking about the market full of players out there with the potential to play at the top level who are available cheaply, from perhaps more overlooked places.

We just do our homework - and our business - better. The evidence proves this.

For what it's worth, I bear Southampton (and most EPL clubs) absolutely no ill-will at all, but man alive, Saints vs Celtic in terms of stature and player recruitment?! There's simply no contest - and I mean no offence whatsoever. Just a little surprised to hear that kind of comparison.

Best wishes for your club in the future - your team has a proud (and relatively illustrious) history, which I think all of us on here can respect.

 

If he is going to leave anytime soon... He can do alot better than Southampton

 

This is a non starter if he was to go it would be to a bigger team i can see MON trying to sign him for sunderland.

 

A bit in the record today about Southampton's apparent interest:


http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/celtic-boss-neil-lennon-closes-1489068


NEIL LENNON believes Celtic are close to agreeing a new deal for top scorer Gary Hooper.

The Parkhead gaffer is confident the 24-year-old is now on the verge of pledging his future to the club – and staving off interest from Premier League side Southampton.

Hooper has 18 months left on his current contract and has been integral to Lennon’s side reaching the last 16 of the Champions League this season.

The Hoops hitman has scored 63 goals in 102 starts for Celtic, since signing from Scunthorpe in 2010 for £2.4million.

Gary Hooper would be taking backward step if he moved to Southampton, says Neil Lennon
After having a bid rejected last January, Saints boss Nigel Adkins – Hooper’s ex-gaffer – could try to lure him back to England again next month. But Lennon revealed last night: “I think we can get an agreement pretty soon.

“I speak to Gary once a week on it and he’s comfortable with it. I hope to see Peter Lawwell in the next day or so and he’ll come up with a solution. I certainly don’t think we’re far away.”

Lennon insists he’s no intention of selling any of his top stars in January, including Hooper, midfielder Victor Wanyama, keeper Fraser Forster or striker Georgios Samaras.

He said: “I’d like to add to the squad. – to strengthen the left-hand side in the full-back or wide area. But if I don’t, I’m pretty happy with what I have.”