Arne Engels

Its a good question..

 

Aye he wasn't great, but he's not in the same boat as Idah.

If we sold Idah tomorrow, we'd be lucky to get even half of his fee back.

If we sold sold Engels, it would close to what we paid for him, he still had a good season last year and has a few caps for Belgium.

He needs to start imposing himself more in games.

 

It's his second season ffs.

 

McCowan was brutal today too..

Seems to do it every time he gets a start.

 

I was hoping he was at the kid.
We'll be waiting for the coos to come home, before Engels comes good.

 

Haskabanovic style

 

Looks like his head has went to *. Think the pressure is squashing him and unsure whether he's able to overcome it.

 

Not just based on today tho. I'd be expecting our record signing Belgian international to be well clear of a million pound squad signing from Dundee.

 

His 3rd season will be dynamite trust me.

Seriously, a lot of posters knew this last season
And shot down because of the length of time he’s been here.

The excuse was needed time to gel.

I’ve seen enough of this boy and he’s extremely poor.
we need to get rid.

 

It is an issue, with all three when they get a start tho.. McCowan, Engels and Bernardo.. but aye we would expect more for Engels.

 

See this is the problem. You're comparing mythical price tags. It doesn't work. They're not real. McCowan is coming into his prime as a footballer and played in Scotland his whole career. Its of no surprise to me he looks a better player at times. Engels is 6 years younger and been here a season. Sure he struggles sometimes but there's plenty of positives to take from him. £11M is absolute peanuts for a promising up and coming player we're just conditioned to think its a fortune as we're stuck in Celtic's bubble of buying cheap players.

 

100% my only gripe with him tbh. Think he's been unfairly judged because of his price tag.

He doesn't do anything badly to warrant the amount of stick he gets, just doesn't take a game by the scruff of the neck often enough.

 

To be Duncan Bannatyne, here's where I'm at.
(Discounting transfer fees) I would expect a Belgian cap from the Bundesliga to outshine a player signed from another SPL club. What are the positives you're seeing, I feel like we need to see more than being good at penalties and a few good corners.

 

Again though, you're comparing circumstantial evidence. What you're highlighting is Engels has a higher level of experience at 21 years old than McCowan has now at 27, I get that. But that's it, nothing you've said is relevant when they're standing on the pitch and the ref blows the whistle. Engels did well here last season. Was excellent in the Champs League games and dropped off at other times and has been a bit inconsistent. I'm afraid that's perfectly normal for a 21 year old. Rodgers relied on Engels for the big games last year and McCowan sat on the bench. Even today in a rare game where they both started I think Engels had a better day than McCowan did. What we paid £11M for is potential. In 6 years time Engels won't be the same player he is now, he'll then be at the same stage of his career that McCowan is and if he lives up to even half of that potential he'll be at a bigger club than Celtic. Thats the reality. McCowan's potential is Celtic are the biggest team he'll play for and he'd struggle stepping up into a more difficult league. Thats why we paid different amounts for two completely different players. Engels is a good passer of the ball, the only good set piece taker we have, the only reliable penalty taker and has good stamina to get about the pitch. As you said yourself, you don't get selected for Belgium at a young age without displaying good attributes. McCowan is 27 and never been called up for Scotland.

 

He was awful today. Looked short of sharpness and confidence.

 

1 of the things he was decent at last season was combing with AJ and Khun and getting into positions to open his body and get ball into the box. Really don't think playing as LCM helps him at all

 

Still not convinced, but this season is make or break, simple as that.

 

So have we just to give him a pass for the next 6 years until he maybe realises this potential when he won't even be playing for us by then anyway and watch him get ragdolled off spl cloggers, giving away silly fouls etc every week in the meantime?
He will go on to have a good career and he was good in the CL last year, but that was last year and he needs to step up now, he can't even nail down a starting place currently.
Anyway, the long and the short of it is that I want and expect more from him than having good stamina and being able to take a better penalty than his team mates.

 

I never said he gets a free pass, but he's only going to develop one way, and thats with regular game time. McCowan is a good example, if he was a 21 year old on our bench he wouldn't have developed the same as playing regular football like he did at Ayr and wherever else. So our choices are play him regularly, or move him along. So it will be a big season for Arne here and I agree he needs to do more and get more involved. But at his age he will need more game time in order to do that. Expecting him to sit on the bench every week and starting every 3rd or 4th game and expecting him to be the best player on the park because he cost £11M just isn't realistic.