Pat McCourt joined!

My only problem with this signing is on the face of it our transfer policy seems not to have changed.

IMO we have been guilty of buying quantity not quality over the last few seasons and our first signing of the summer may indicate a similar pattern as the value of our first signing suggests.

Not saying McCourt will not turn out to be a superstar, hear is hoping he does. However I would hope we will bring in some experienced quality players over the summer as that is what has been missing for a few seasons now, especially for Europe.

BTW I don’t know how reliable this is so don’t hold me to it but I have heard a strong rumour. That Bobo Balde and perhaps Derek Riorden are off to Birmingham in a deal that will see James McFadden move to Celtic. This deal is supposed to be happening over the next 48 hours or so. The good thing about this rumour, is we don’t have to wait to long to find out if it’s bullshit.

 

Back up for aiden i suspect.

 

I just read he can play on either wings or just behind the strikers. Everyone I've spoken to about the lad says hes some player so I think we may have found a diamond in the rough.

 

If you You Tube him he can move like Jinky.

 

On the celtic website it says he can play on both wings, i dont imagine he will get regular first team football for a while yet, maybe try him in the odd game or two. I think WGS is got the right idea building a young squad of football hungry future prospects, a bit like what alex ferguson once did. But we do need some top drawer quality for the champions league there is no doubt & i think we'll get it!!!
Its okay just to buy foreign imports for some instant success but u gotta have a good mix of players who know the british game.
We havn't burst the bank wi him so lets see how it pans out i think.

 

Well I'm delighted about this signing, I know for a fact that this is an extra bit of buisness and will not effect any other transfer target and I just find it strange that there are so many supporters moaning about this signing. From what people from Ireland have said to me about the lad alot of supporters will be very happy once they see him play.

Its not always about big transfer fees and big wages.

 

the Derry City fans call him paddy the magician, Im lookin forward to seein this guy in action hes a tim so its good news all round, i feel you should look to sign Celtic fans before anything else. As they play for the club rather than their wage packet.

 

Yep!

 

That rumour is too good to be true, unlikely to happen.

 

Jesus for a moment there a thought it was Pat Sharpe no Pat McCourt

 

Hes already signed mate

 

try pavel nedved

 

he will be a good signing this kid

 

herd he can play just behind the strikers where hes supposed to be a better player than on the wing why not take the 10 million for mcgeady anyway and bring in a better winger

 

1 post is that you pat, i like your style :bbpd:

 

Au contraire my friend. I believe over the past few seasons we have been changing our policy (and completely changed MoNs old policy) into signing 2 tiers of players:

1 - Up and coming players (often young) with big first team potential to be developed long-term in the reserves and to supplement our own youth system:
Mizuno, Hutchison, Mccourt, Sno, Pavlov, etc

2 - Established players to immediately challenge the first team: Obviously the guys who cost a lot of money.


I don't remember any time in the past us concentrating so much on youth. We've just developed a world class training facility. We are taking in youngsters from all over the world - Japan, England, Ireland, Holland, Bulgaria, China and we've been striving to get youngsters from just about everywhere else.

In interviews Strachan is strictly aware that we can't compete with other top European clubs for what I said were established players. Hes leading us on the right tracks.

 

Sounds Good , Im off to youtube to investigate !

 

Bang on. We're lucky we have two far-sighted people in Strachan and Lawell. They can see the way football economics is going. Our top bracket fiancial outlay is on middling internationals, or if we manage to steal a march on other clubs, we'll get the occassional bargain. By developing youth, we can create our own. Imaginary land borders are no longer a barrier to us, as we have scouts the world over, doing a fantastic job. We don't have the resources to act like Liverpool/Man Utd./etc., but then this is a blessing in disguise as I'd rather we identified real talent and nurtured it, rather than paying through the nose for a half dozen promising youngsters, of whom one might make it on to bigger things. We are financially the world's smallest "big" club, but on our night, we can compete with the best. The AC Milans and Man Utds of this world get a stark reminder of what a football CLUB is when they visit Parkhead and all the American billions of dollars they have behind them will never buy that. They've sold their souls to big business and attempt to buy their way out of trouble every time, instead of cultivating homegrown talent. Who's the last player Man Utd brought through the ranks? We are a club, we are a family, whereas every Champions League team down south is a business that attempts to trade on nostalgia.

I'm sorry. Wildly off-topic. On yerself McCourt. I think you'll be excellent for us.

 

Being from Dublin and being a Shamrock Rovers supporter(one of McCourt's former clubs) I have seen him play quite a lot over the last 3 seasons. His skill alone is far better than anybody else's in our eircom league and he does deserve to move on to better things. However, he does tend to drift in and out of games. McCourt may only be seen for 20 mins in an entire match and does tend to be a little lazy without the ball. His goal scoring record for derry city tells its own story.

However, I, like most Irish from the Republic, want to see Celtic win trophies and I also want to see Paddy McCourt do well as he has always had a fond spot for Shamrock Rovers since his time with us so I wish him the best of luck!!