Happy New Year folks!
So the two days I decided to take off to spend with family happened to be the two busiest for Celtic transfer activity. Talk about bad timing.
However, it is what it is and at least I got to enjoy the transfer news being broke through the eye’s of a fan, rather than a blogger and I have to say, it was quite refreshing.
Fan head off and blogging eyes on, I have to have a double take on what BBC pundit Michael Stewart had to say on Celtic’s transfer activity.
As reported by The Daily Record, Stewart had a very strange stance on the arrival of another three Japanese signings this week, “The guys he [Postecoglou] has brought in from Japan, by all accounts these are good signings, but I just think there has to be a little bit of an identity with Celtic.
“Under Brendan Rodgers and in the recent past, they have had a lot of domestic players.
“That helps the national side, and I don’t want to see that being discarded, to a certain extent.
“With more and more Japanese players coming in, which is clearly a market you would look to exploit because he knows it so well, I think I’d be keen to see the youth and domestic players kept in as well.”
Celtic have a long tradition of having a core of Scots in the squad that has benefitted the national team over the last decade.
Remember when Gordon Strachan finally decided to start picking the core players from Celtic for the Scotland side that then went on to within one match of qualification for a major tournament?
Also, look at the side at the moment. Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor, Dane Murray, Anthony Ralston, Adam Montgomery, David Turnbull, Mikey Johnston, James Forrest, Stephen Welsh and Ewan Henderson all home grown Scots that continue to have played a major part in Celtic’s team so far this season.
And that is before we have even gotten to Owen Moffat and Kerr McInroy from the B team.
The Japanese signings bring some much needed publicity to our game which raises the profile at home and abroad.
Stewart should be celebrating that rather than finding fault in it.
Agreed we have to keep our identity,But it raises our profile in Asia and also keeping one eye on the league for automatic champions league qualification
Let’s just get the best players in to Scottish football, not the local ones. I thought racism was not a good thing?
Michael Stewart is actually right on the money!
We sweat bullets every time there is an international break! Now we have three more reasons to sweat!
Because of complete stupidity from an Aussie manager, flying Rogic to join up with the Australian team a couple of years back, then not giving him a second of playing time while on the bench for two games, Tom was hurt in training and missed months for us!
Kyogo was injured last time out for Japan.
Travel is a hurdle, travel to downunder or the Orient becomes a much bigger hurdle!
I don’t give two fs about the national team. Celtic should sign the best we can get, not have one eye on the SFA’s team.