Virgil van Dijk

Again, I think it comes down to the player. If he goes it won't be a case of the board selling him from underneath the manager. If the guy doesn't want to stay you really can't keep him and expect him to be a productive member of your side.

 

That's true, *, Europa was already going to be a tough task, but without Virgil it could be horrible.

 

While I agree, it sums up the club for what it is now in the modern era - weak and desperate.

I know it's all about success and success is keeping your best players, but if the guy has no heart in the club, he'll have none either on the pitch, today being a perfect example, when he wasn't even chosen and for me, as sentimental as it sounds, I'd rather have a youngster from our reserves or academy in there because they're gonna want to play for the jersey and the club they've been at for years, not some * child that needs to be placed on the naughty step every now and again and be reminded of the contract he signed ffs.

But I agree with your logical side, it's just off-putting as much seeing the way we're almost at ransom to these * who only see us as a stepping stone.

 

Actually I wonder if Celtic PLC are trying to sell VVD for as much profit as possible so they can then spend no money on a replacement and also no money on a striker. Such happy times to support the corporate entity that is Celtic PLC

 

We saw against Dundee how our defence copes without Virgil. If he leaves, we will be butchered in the Europa League.

 

The SPL as well, lol

 

If Virgil leaves Aberdeen will win the league :smiley-laughing002:

 

If Aberdeen win the league, I'll hump a sheep :smiley-laughing002:

1000th post.

 

The more the merrier.

 

This ^

WGS said the same thing on the Scotsman/BTSport roundup.

Expect him to be gone - and it won't be the manager, nor Lawell's fault if he does.
If he doesn't want to be a Celtic player, then move him & take the best price for him.

 

Despite Strachan saying that, you can fully expect the board/Deila to face the brunt of it.

Obviously it'll be their fault for not stopping the player and his agent making inroads into the EPL.

The argument will be that we should keep him against his will, which will obviously be another factor we can use when trying to sign promising young talent, eh?

"Come to Celtic! We can offer you the SPFL, less wages than stoke City and a fanbase who'll be on your case if you drop any league points. We can also offer you the chance of Champions League football, but if we fail to qualify we'll hold you here against your will, forcing you to remain at Celtic even if you don't want to. But hey, sign for us!"

 

I'd punt him. Getting in a replacement would worry me because of how the current window has gone.

RD shouldn't have said anything regarding him staying. I agree with you, we don't need attitudes from forcing players to stay in what is a very difficult time for us.

 

You can keep a player who's wanting to go, worked out perfectly for Liverpool with Luis Suarez last year, got £30m more than they would have the summer beforeand the extra year he was there he was player of the year.

 

wrong

the argument is the board refusing to bring quality back in to replace players that leave, saying there is no cash. more lies from lawell.

 

You do realise that situation was discussed as being the exception rather than the rule though, right? There are more players who actively engineer a move out of a club than are forced to stay.

What?

 

Aye but it's not impossible. Show a bit of backbone for * sake.

 

Of course it's not impossible, but each situation is different. Liverpool were supposed to have had an unwritten agreement with Suarez that he could leave for Spain in the summer as early as November last year. He was given a wage rise and tasked with ensuring Champions League qualification.

What we're asking Van Dijk to do is basically spend a year in purgatory. Make no mistake, he joined us mainly for Champions League football.

That isn't on offer, so he has no reason to stay.

 

If we do sell Van Dijk, he won't be getting replaced at this stage in the window, I'm almost certain of that. Makes you wonder if Denayer was only brought here to replace Van Dijk for this season only. As I said, I can't wait until January, after big Pete confirming that every penny will be reinvested into the team, January should be a fun window

 

Exactly, and had we shown a small bit of ambition in this window, we would be in the Champions League. That to me, is failure at board level. We were not fully prepared for the qualifiers, even after getting a second bite at the cherry, we didn't push the boat out to bring in the striker we so desperately need, which might well have seen us through to the group stages. It's no wonder Van Dijk is wanting away, when he sees what is going on here.