Karamoko Dembele!!

Regardless of what happens with Karamoko this Summer, the lad gave the club a chance to develop him in the first team by signing a 3 year deal on his 16th birthday (something Ben Doak isn't even willing to do), unfortunately we as a club, with the appointment of Lennon, let him down by hiring a football dinosaur with very little interest in giving youth an opportunity, this season has been purely bad luck from an injury perspective, so if he does decide to leave this Summer, I won't be giving him any *

If we are to convince him to stay, I think Ange is going to have to be bold by giving him a few starts ahead of Abada and Forrest, then hopefully with the league title and Champions League football secured, that's enough to convince him to commit to another contract.

 

He’s not in front of Abada. One cameo and some think he’s in front of Abada? Abada has been very impressive, has end product, and done it in all competitions.

Was last night’s cameo encouraging? Absolutely! But he’s come on when the defence is tired and still got physically shrugged off.

I wouldn’t want starts handed out to him just to keep him here, like everyone he has to earn them and his development will happen more naturally. He’s definitely got potential to be 1st or 2nd choice with the number of games we play, he’s going to get top chances and needs to take them. This cameo was a good start.

 

Yeah, we can't just hand him starts when Abada is on form and on the left both Maeda and Jota are playing well. I also don't think Forrest has been bad either.
We are only 3 points up at this point, we can't afford to drop any. Our 3 games before the split are Ross County, who have 10 points from 5 games, the hun and St Johnstone. Game time, sure he deserves some.
I'd like to keep him, but Ange should concentrate on what he thinks will win the league, not what may keep a youth player here.

 

Article from the athletic


How should your average young footballer be considered and evaluated? Specifically an academy prospect who turned 19 in February and has just 132 first-team minutes during their nascent career across four seasons. What weight of expectation should they carry?

Only Karamoko Dembele is not your average young footballer. When the teenager has almost as many Instagram followers as their parent club — 614,000 to Celtic’s 634,000 — and the second most followers of any team-mate except former Premier League winner and England international Joe Hart (1.4 million), that signals an abnormal situation.

As does the fact that he has been earmarked as a child prodigy since compilation videos were retweeted and shared of him as a 13-year-old skinning entire teams of players twice his size at U17 level before thundering shots into top corners. Or that he made his debut with the reserves at 14. Or that he featured in a Nike advert, who began sponsoring him before his senior debut, alongside Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo when he was 15. Or that Barcelona, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were all reportedly monitoring his progress at this stage.

The hype train has not just left the station, it has been hurtling forward. Even in his 15-minute cameo against Dundee United last week, Dembele showed glimpses of that potential; watching his close control, drops of shoulder and turns of pace, his talent was stark and thrilling.

Yet in 2021, when Dembele’s contract was approaching its expiration at Celtic, Barcelona, Manchester City and Bayern Munich were nowhere to be seen. Their interest had faded, as it had from most European elite teams. Bayern were more interested in Dembele’s 2003 contemporary Liam Morrison, or the even younger winger Barry Hepburn. By last summer, Dembele believed his best solution for his career was renewing for one more season at Celtic, and for Saturday’s 4-0 win over Ross County, Dembele was back with the B team even after his exciting flashes against United. What happened?




He has not developed to the level expected, but there have been underlying issues. There is no doubting his technical ability or self-belief. However, it is understood those European giants noted concern about his physical development. Although he has worked hard to bulk up, there will always be doubts over someone to reach that elite level who is 5ft 5in.

Over the years, sources close to the youth teams and B team have cited issues over application in training and in B-team games, and this was an issue noted by sources close to the academies of some of those European sides. However, those same sources close to Celtic also mention an improvement in that work ethic under Ange Postecoglou, even with Dembele’s limited time under the Australian given his protracted spell on the sidelines this season.

There have been season-specific obstacles too.

When the league is already sown up there is an annual tradition of treating the final matchday of the season as an opportunity to hand the biggest academy prospects first-team minutes. That 2018-19 fixture, a 2-1 win over Hearts, featured a 45-minute showing from a 16-year-old Dembele who was thrillingly direct. There was no such opportunity in 2019-20, when the league season was curtailed due to COVID-19, but Dembele still found time to make his European bow in a 2-0 loss to Cluj in the Europa League group stages, after Celtic qualification from the group had been sealed.

The following season was underlined as Dembele’s potential breakthrough, and he enjoyed a four-minute cameo in the 5-1 win league opener against Hamilton Academical. Things quickly soured.



After Celtic’s 1-1 draw away to Kilmarnock in their second league fixture in which he was an unused sub, Dembele knocked on manager Neil Lennon’s office door and told him he believed he should be starting more games. Lennon did not take kindly to a 17-year-old telling him how to do his job, and Dembele only played 11 minutes more — a brief showing against Hibernian the previous month when Celtic had 12 first-team players isolation after Christopher Jullien caught COVID-19 in Dubai — before Lennon’s sacking last February. American Cameron Harper was trusted to start in front of Dembele that day.

John Kennedy as interim coach was more forgiving and handed Dembele minutes in three of the four final league games of Celtic’s dreadful 2020-21 season, and Dembele justified such faith with a lovely finish in a 4-0 win against St Johnstone, his only senior goal.



Dembele’s decision to renew his contract appeared to be vindicated by Postecoglou featuring him heavily in Celtic’s pre-season, but another obstacle presented itself to then-18-year-old. He suffered an ankle fracture in a pre-season against Bristol City in July, and then in October it was revealed his recovery was complicated and he would have to have surgery again.

He returned to training late last month and featured in a matchday squad for the first time since his injury in Celtic’s ill-fated 3-1 home defeat to Bodo/Glimt. He has featured in two of the last four games, but the question is, with eight (or potentially nine depending on how their Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangersfares) games of the season remaining before the end of his contract, how much will he play, and will Celtic renew?

Dembele returned to first-team involvement the matchday after Ben Doak’s final appearance in a first-team squad. With Doak looking likely to join Liverpool, it is difficult not to see the symbolism of one prodigious winger replacing another in Postecoglou’s thinking.

Indeed, Postecoglou’s comments when asked about Doak’s prospective move were as instructive on his thoughts on Dembele as they were on Doak: “I’ve said all along, my role in this is to look after the footballers who want to be here. The footballers that don’t want to be here? There’s another avenue there for them.”

Dembele, despite his contract being up this summer and despite sources close to the club being sceptical that both parties would be interested in renewing, is being handed minutes, and as the quote above testifies, that is no frivolous action. Postecoglou keeps surprising those sources with his faith in Dembele, and maybe the winger will surprise everyone by giving it another go at Celtic and under a coach who loves working with dynamic attacking players.

Postecoglou’s comments after Dembele’s ankle fracture remain relevant eight months on: “He has youth and time on his side so hopefully they will work hard and get back.” It has not worked out for him yet, but if you remove all the overwrought expectation, as Postecoglou rightly highlights he is still a teenager.

His future is unclear but whether or not he stays, it might be in the best interests of everyone — himself, fans, curious social media onlookers and whichever club he is at next season, Celtic or otherwise — to ignore the baggage of being a Nike-sponsored wunderkind. Maybe it is for the best to pull the brakes on the hype train, and everyone lets him be an exciting young player learning on his own terms.

 

Should just give him a ultimatum. No * around. Want to stay, you will get lots of game time. Dont want to stay, just * off. Tired of teenagers even thinking about leaving. * ridiculous greedy *

 

There are loads of players who thought they were either better than what they were or were just greedy and wanted the big bucks who have since disappeared into obscurity. Dembele and Doak obviously have some talent however, they haven't been regulars due to injury on Dembele's case and Doak's relatively new inclusion to the first team. So, they can either acknowledge that they still aren't the finished article, still have loads to learn, stick with the club that's nurtured them and that they will eventually be given opportunities. If they just want the big bucks or think they are better than what they really are, then don't let the door slam their arses on the way out.

 

Between both they could be the next mcgeady/forrest or better. Ange has proven he will give anyone a chance and even abada was only 19 when we signed him. So there's your benchmark. Stay at celtic and become heroes under anges teams

 

Instagram followers doesn’t get you game time.

 

Ange is the type of manager a wee guy like Dembele would thrive under. Hope he stays.

 

I think Ange seems to be handling the situation well. It’s upto the lad himself if he has the hunger to prove himself here.

I’ve heard a lot of arsey stories about him that shows him to have a bit of an attitude, but I don’t think Ange would stand for that, so he must have improved in that aspect.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens with Dembele this summer. There is definitely some talent there and potential but thats all it is at the moment potential. Ange though clearly has shown if a player has talent, is committed and is willing to work hard enough within his system then he can flourish at Celtic.

 

Guy turning out for Ivory Coast with a Scottish accent, class!

 

Didyehey dragbah wiz always ma eyedol

 

Hope he signs a new deal with us this summer and gives it a real go in pre-season to make positive inroads into the team. Think it would be a good move for him experience wise to play for Ivory Coast as well. Better flag to represent then the one he is currently too

 

Doesn't seem likely but would rather he chose to represent Scotland.

 

Forgot totally that was an option

 

ANGE POSTECOGLOU has offered no assurances over Karamoko Dembele's first-team involvement - with his Celtic contract to expire in the summer.

The 19-year-old is contracted at Parkhead until the end of the season and has made just two appearances for the first-team so far this term.

It's led to questions over his future at Celtic - both in the short-term in the remaining fixtures and where he'll be next season.

Quizzed on whether Dembele would feature in the run-in to the end of the season, Postecoglou offered no guarantees but urged the attacker to be ready.


The Celtic boss explained: "That depends. I mean with Karamoko and a few of the guys, luckily we can get him some game time in the B Team, Johnny Kenny is another one.

"But they are training with us every day. As I said, training is super competitive, we've got 26/27 players who all want to be - not just part of the first-team - but part of the squad on the weekend.

"We've got some fantastic players who are missing out on the squad. Stephen Welsh has been outstanding for us this year and unfortunately we can't fit him into the squad at the moment because of the balance.


That's how competitive it is so whether it's Karamoko or anyone else in this group; they're only way of thinking they can go with is to just be ready.

"Train hard every day and be ready. I can't...I don't know whether he'll be involved like I don't know about any players. What we do is we approach every game and try and select a team and a squad that I think will get the job done for us.

"We do that, then we analyse it and we do the same the following week. All the players, every day are in front of me and have the opportunity to show the best they can be and then it's up to me to make those decisions.

"He's training with us every day. It's great he can play with the B Team, they've got some good games coming up. Johnny Kenny (is in a) similar boat so with that game time it gives them another opportunity to be ready if the opportunity arises."

 

Sounds like he may have played his last game for us.

 

Yipp doesn't look good! Could have got a fare whack for him in a few years I reckon..