Thetownend.com

Hello the Swindown brigade!
Just decided to pop round to see how the former bhoys are getting on (Ferry, Cuthbert, Caddis). Glad they went to a decent club and are advancing their footballing skill and attitudes.

Just wanted to ask how have they been and how they improved? If you dont mind can you please produce a mini-report that i can take back to a Celtic forum. Especially keen to find out how Ferry is getting along had really high hopes for him and was really saddened when I found out he was going South with Caddis! Never expect Swindon to buy them.

Also the recent talk about Charlie Austion coming to Celtic, your views? Is he any good and do you think he can cut it in the SPL which is a bit rough..

Good luck on your Leauge 1 campaign, keep the faith!

Kind regards,
amcc

Austin would score more goals than Henrick Larrssone.

Hi.....Caddis can only get better and Ferry has done fairly well...but like when with you looks a player destined to pick up injury's.
I like Cuthbert a lot and last year he was superb,he probably needs an older partner beside him to bring him on.
Looks destined for a good career.
As for Austin the stats don't really do him justice because his goal record is not backed up by the work rate and assists.
Would he go to Celtic....of course...could Celtic afford him...maybe around two million...not so sure.
To be honest if being honest the Celtic trio have not really done the biz thus far..but it's not yet Xmas and we are not that far off the playoff places...so they all may still have a big part to play.

He cant be that good, if he was Barcalona and Man Utd would be after him  :hmmm:

Infact it would be stupid to compate Charlie Austin to a Celtic great like Larsson - the guy run riot in Europe.

Do yous think hes better than Gary Hooper?

Undecided on Caddis, seems to have quality but not shown it consistently. Seen some good and some bad, but as lee says looks to be improving. Ferry is generally good when he gets to play but seems to be frozen out a bit at the moment, perhaps unfairly because those ahead of him are blowing hot and cold. I like Cuthbert, solid and the best of what hasn't been a great back line this season but seems to be missing Greer.

Charlie would tear the SPL apart, he's far too good for you lot

Charlie austin is not better than larsson. I'm 80% sure you're wumming, but just in case, sort yourself out.

I'd say austin and hooper are pretty similar, in both style of play and general levels of goodness

I'm deadly serious.

Unfortunately you are also being deadly delusional..

I really like & rate Caddis, but has shown only on occasions. Ferry is great but is struggling to get into what on paper is a strong midfield, but in reality a midfield that has been far too inconsistent. Cuthbert is in my opinion better than morrison who is supposed to be the one who will eventually go to a "big" club.
As for austin, he is an instictive goalscorer, & will IMHO score at any level. I love his persistence, he will not give up a seemingly lost cause, when a defender has the ball. I would not let him go for less than 3 million, but in reality his current price would be just below 2 mill.

Charlie Austin is better than Jesus,Cake,Elephants,Bowl Haircuts and Boobs.

Cuthbert B+
Ferry C (last year A-)
Caddis C+

Austin is a goalscorer. Who knows how he'll do elsewhere, Playing as he is you'd think he'd score for fun in the spl. With good service he'd score in any team. He'd be a great signing for you that I have no doubt, but there's a long list of interested clubs so who knows where he'll end up. Probably QPR ;)

Injuries aside Ferry seems to have been frozen out by DW, I think that he has been hard done by really. Prutton has been favoured by the manager so far this season, although one or two very good games, he has fallen well short of what Ferry has done and can offer (IMO). Ferry is a good player at this level and gives the midfield far more balance.

Out of the 3, Cuthbert is the star man. He was absolute quality last year and I think PNE put in a bid of £500k for him. This season he has been nowhere near as good but seems to be improving. Our defense is a fucking shambles this season and I think Cuthbert could play at a higher level and in fact, would excel with better players around him.
Ferry was good last season but we've not seen much of him this season. He seems like a good character to have in the dressing room. I rate the guy but there are games where he goes missing but he's still a young lad. So, basically has yet to live up to the standards he set last season.
As for Caddis, he's played in midfield and full back. For me, the jury is out but on the positive side he looks as thuogh he's settling in at right back now.
For Ferry and Caddis, I'd come back in a few months for a better assessment. Cuthbert is quality so thank for letting us have him.
Interestingly, in view of other signings we weren't desperate for Caddis or Ferry.
As for Charlie - he was an excellent goalscorer last season. This season, his all round game is better and he's beefed up a bit. In the SPL he would score absolute shitloads and I think it would be a good move for him if you were to stump up £2m. He will run his heart out and you would love his attitude. But, in my opinion, you would be a staging post for a season or so where he will go on to even bigger things - but you wouldn't lose money on him.
Best of luck. If you've got a centre half you could put our way, we'd be grateful.     

Cuthbert was quality last season, a bit more mixed this season but he's got more to do in leading the line and taking care of less able defensive partners.

Caddis has looked tidy on a few occasions and a bit lightweight on others.

Ferry is a good player, suffering because he's not playing. I guess we all have our own ideas of who should start. The fact that one of our starting central midfielders was injured midweek and he still didn't come on is a mystery to me.

Both Caddis and Ferry are suffering from a lack of a consistent run of games.
-----
Austin scores goals. Its that simple. He'll also handle the physical side of the league I've no doubt.

To be honest if Celtic hadnt taken so bloody long to do a deal over the summer then Ferry would probably be playing every week. Waiting for them to make their mind up we signed David Prutton, who I think is still an inferior player to Ferry. But Prutton is older, with a big reputation and a big character in the dressing room, he's mates with our other best player and captain, Jonathon Douglas, so Prutton plays most weeks. Ferry was brilliant last season, him and Douglas just steam rollered midfields. Ferry's persistance and energy with Douglas who is just a damn hard bastard who batters the oppostion. Ferry has also had some niggling injuries this season.

Caddis, to be honest the jury is still out. He's good going forward but all season we have struggled to form any kind of unit in our back 4. We are pretty crap at the back. I like him, but a lot of fans think hes too lightweight at full back. He showed a touch of arrogance when he went away with Scotland and said he had no idea why he wasnt starting at Swindon. Its because he's struggled to get into a second rate defence, the main reason we are bottom half of the table. He is a defender and working with the other lads to achieve shut outs is his main priority, which maybe he had forgotten?

Scott Cuthbert is the player who should be getting the call ups for Scotland. He is the one player in our back 5 we have been able to depend on every week. Fantastic in the air, and he rarely makes a mistake. Fit, fast, just a class act, I think he is our second most valuable player on the transfer market after Austin.

Charlie Austin has been a dream signing for the club. You can watch the goals for yourself on youtube, is main secret is his desire, his quick feet and his confidence to take a shot early. Right foot, left foot, headers. What you wont see is his build up play, which is absolutely superb, he wins almost every single header, he works tremendously hard and he hardly ever loses the ball, he plays simple but effective passes. But I am 99% certain that he wont be comming to Celtic. Firstly because as proven with Cox, Celtic like to band about their interest to unsettle players and then put in very low bids. We will get a good bid from a southern English club, because he is class. The main reason Austin wont be unsettled by Celtic is because he is a southerner, a small town local boy and he would be mad to come up to that gold fish bowl up there. Theres no way he would be able to handle it. He relies on a lot of other people down here for guidance and without them he wont be the same player.

Another reason why you wont unsettle him is because Charlie is in his early 20's, he's grown up with the domination of the Premier League. I grew up watching Laudrup, Di Canio, Gazza, the titanic stuggle to stop/make the 10 in a row. The last 10 years, at times the SPL/Old Firm has been an embaressment and it wont hold that pull for him as a Premiership club would have.

By the way, our local has just having a few bottles of West Breweries St Mungo Lager from your way, very nice indeed.

Charlie's mum and dad go to most games, if he played in Scotland that would make it very difficult for them. Besides it's friggin freezing up there. I don't think it would be very high on his list of clubs, sorry

Simon Cox was £1.9m and I'd personally say Austin is better.

Thanks for very detailed response!

Ferry had a very good pre-season against top drawer teams so dont really think that hurt him - although he could have started mingling with his footballing peers earlier. He normally started in the North American tour and also featured in the Emirates Cup and match vs Sporting Lisbon. Great experience for such a youngster.

I personally think Celtic would be a fantastic move for Celtic (Although my views a biased!). Firstly playing infront of 50,000 fans each week (Home) and a packed stadium during OF matches is something a football can only dream about.

Celtic also have word class coaches, many of which are ex-Celtic players notably Danny McGrain. Through whom he can widen his knoledge and insight of the game. While having a good wage and living in a city which is not at all a GoldFish ball -invented by McGeady as an excuse to move to Spartak.

Europe - another major highlight which is a huge attraction to any player although we did not qualify this year due to transition in staff and so on.. I have no hesitation he will be lured in by this.

Finally the club itself, its Celtic for goodness sake the club with biggest fanbase in the world! Easily greater than half of the EPL teams who can go down any season. It will be good on his CV - there is no point in moving to Millwall or QPR. All tiny teams.

Would Austin get a starting place at Celtic or would he be a reserve?

Cox was mightily unlucky with his move to WBA which we all thought was a cracking move at the time. His career has gone nowhere fast since. The odd glimpses I've seen of him on MOTD confirm he's still got the touch and confidence. He needs a move back to the Championship and to play regularly there and prove himself at that level.

It doesn't matter how many fans a team has worldwide, a striker will make a name for himself by scoring goals at whatever level.

Cox did fairly well at WBA in the Championship but now he seems to be the fourth choice striker - he didn't even get a game yesterday and Odemwingie was injured. The championship is the most suited league for Cox in my opinion but I'm sure Austin can score masses of goals at any level.

Hardly a regular in the championship though!

I think sometimes we have a tendency to over-estimate the capabilities of our top players at higher levels.  Charlie is highly regarded not just in Swindon but by just about anyone who takes in interest in lower league football.  But would he really walk in to the Celtic side?  I doubt it, to be honest.  He would hopefully do well, but he would not have the superstar status he has with us, and would have to fight for his place in the starting line up against players who are just as, if not more, talented.  I appreciate that we've struck up a decent relationship with Celtic over the last few years, but I'm not convinced that a Premiership or Scot Prem move would be best for him.  I know others would disagree here, but I think the Championship would be far enough for him at this point.

Simon Cox was loved in pretty much the same way.  He's done OK at West Brom, but he's not regularly banging in the Goal of the Month on Match of the Day as some were predicting a few years ago.  Sam Parkin: adored at Swindon; went nowhere.  (OK, St Johnstone, via a very circuitous route.)  In fact, other than the loanee starlets like James Milner who we took on for short periods, do we not have to go back as far as Summerbee (N) and Calderwood - nearly 20 years - to find players who went on from us to succeed at the highest level?

But you have to remember that just over a year ago Charlie was banging in goals at non-league Poole Town and nobody thought he would to nearly aswell as he has done in League 1 he has done just as good and we are about 4 leagues ahead of Poole but the teams that are interested in him now (Celtic, Milwall) are only slightly above us and the level of the teams Celtic play are also about our level. Remember, Sam Parkin is now banging in goals at St. Johnstone in the SPL.

Charlie has shown that he can go up the levels and play consistently which gives him an advantage over players like Cox, Paynter etc

I think there's something wrong with the logic their. I'm sure that if Cox, Paynter, Parkin or whoever could have all scored a fair few for poole town. I'm not sure you can use the fact that Charlie did as a reason he's better qualified to play at a higher level.

The fact that he's fucking ace playing for Swindon is enough. I'm not sure Poole really come into it.

heard celtic are seriously looking at taking austin.

Yep and west brom strangely

 You can go back years to see STFC strikers who've left, but very few end up with more in their goals column for new clubs than what they achieved with us.

 I go back to Ernie Hunt, which was the start of the time when players moved more...and since then there's probably been 2....Peter Thorne and Jimmy Quinn.

 Some like Davis Moss scored a few more for a new club, but he was a winger, others like Arthur Horsfield and Peter Noble, scored a couple more, but by then were playing in defence and in the case of Noble taking pens.

 Which is not to say that the likes of Hunt, Eastoe, Mayes, Rideout, Gordon, Bamber, Fjortoft, Allison, Ndah, Hay, Parkin, Cox...haven't had useful careers and earned some money, just that they didn't score more after leaving us, for sizeable fees, than any one new club.

Rideout and Bamber scored a lot more goals after leaving Swindon than they scored for us.

and ofcourse jamie cureton

Not with the clubs they left us for,for big money...Rideout never scored more for any one club than STFC.  Bambi got a few for Blackpool at the end of his career.

Austin I expect to fit the same template....we make some money and move on. It's what we've always done....oh and you can fit Duncan Shearer into the list.

I could try to explain why Cureton doesn't fit the list, but life's too short.

In fairness to Cox and Parkin they really did not get the rub of the green in regards to being injured or actually being rated by the new manager,

I'm started to get fairly worried about the prospect of losing Austin in January, plenty of stories doing the rounds and I know some aren't reliable sources but they keep coming up and it was sky sports who reported the latest interest.

I'm resigned to losing him in the summer but him going next month would really fuck up our season.

agreed

Yeah, atleast if we keep him until the end of the season we will have to atleast attempt to replace him.

Not necessary, Paynter/Greer comes to mind.

Id rather he did go in January if hes going to go. Otherwise you can guarantee what will happen. Big clubs will put in paltry bids all summer, and just when were about to start the season, and we havnt had the money to spend on anyone else, a big club will come in with a wacking great big bid a week before the transfer window shuts. That fucks up next season straight away. Puts everyone on a massive downer. This season we should be able to avoid relegation without Austin.

I hope he doesnt go to Celtic because I dont think he'll do well. As I said, he's a small town boy, and inspite of his celebrity, he's been able to continue his normal life pretty much as it has been before. Up there, everyone will love or hate him and Im not sure he'll be able to handle it. Cox was different, he would have done well up there.

Celtic fans can say its not a goldfish bowl all they want, but it is. The whole central belt of Scotland is! Everything old firm is blown so far out of proportion. We have been watching the referee situation with disbelief.

I'd rather he didn't go at all, at least not straight away. I wouldn't want him to do what Don Rodgers did with his talent and stay at a Division 3ish side for most of his career when he could be playing top flight football.

I don't think Austin would flop like the likes of Beckford and Nugent have done after joining big teams from being in  lower leagues because Austin has proved he can score goals at any level - he has kept going up the levels and has had an amazing scoring record in every league he's played in.

I think you are getting carried away.

Obviously no Town fan wants to see him go.

One level within the Football League does not count proven at 'any level'.

Austin departing in January means this season is over as far as a play off push is concerned. I don't think Wilson would be too happy with him leaving mid-season, seeing as he's already had one of his best players and captain sold before this season started.

An equally good second half of the season will only increase his value, and put us in the mix for the play offs whilst he's at it.

That said, if we don't bring in a couple of players in January then we may as well get rid because play offs aren't happening without reinforcements.

I admire the optimism on here. But I do think its fairly deluded, what have we shown to make you think we can go 3 months unbeaten?

We can make the play offs, if we sign Danny Ward, get Dave Lucas fit, keep Charlie Austin, get a new left back, sell Morrison and replace him with a solid centre back, get Caddis and Matt Ritchie (who is still on a short term loan) to show some consistancy.

Realistically, this season is gone. We need to really focus on winning the home games, give the crowd some entertainment, try and get everyone renewing those season tickets. And obviously, stay up.

The only crumb of hope is if we can find some home form then we do have quite a few home fixtures coming up.

Unfortunately I'm inclined to agree with Spence though. Just when you think we've possibly turned a corner (Sheffield Wednesday) we put in a terrible performance (Crawley Town). Looking at my money situation there's little motivation to go to away games either.

Personally Charlie will not be going to Celtic as he will be taking a sidewards step. The SPL's level is the equivalent on League One, with two big teams dominating. IMHO Charlie is much better than Hooper, especially his work rate.

Charlie will go to a good southern Championship club, but there is not many that could afford him as I can see the club holding out for approx. £2m.

Everybody bar one coxy, I'll let you guess who the one might be.
Surely bar the Old Firm, the Scottish Premier league is probably one of the most uncompetitive leagues in the world, with the rest of the teams maybe only slightly above League One standard. Guess the only draw would be Europe. Mind you the English Premier League is heading in that direction, being perhaps a four horse race rather than just two, with maybe only Man City able to break up the party

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Come on. Seriously. Have you been to Celtic Park? Not to mention Old Firm games, not to mention European games, not to mention some of the most fanatical fans in the world, not to mention his wages going up by a gazillion pounds a year. I hear what your saying about the SPL not being competitive but Swindon to Celtic can't possibly be called a sideways move. Much as I want to see Charlie stay as much as the next man.

I think he was fishing for the Celtic lad, not you.

Maybe we'll sell him to celtic on the cheap provided that they'll take ferris and caddy back at the same time.

Oh really? D'oh! ::)

It is a shit league tho

That's what I was getting at. The SPL in League One standard, and it's about to get worse with the Scottish FA's new proposals...that is why it's a sidewards step.

And OST, you talk about Europe...well that's only about 4 games a season, two in the Champions League and 2 in the Europa Cup...and out !!

Yeah, fair enough. But imagine Charlie being given the tour of Celtic Park (which I hope never happens), the museum, the trophy room, changing room, seeing the seats where Rod Stewart and Billy Connolly sit, a nice little pad up by Loch Lomond next to the golf course...and then being offered a bloody great wedge of money at the end of it..is he going to give a fuck about 'only' playing 4 games in Europe? (Not that he would see it that way any way. He would think he could help get them futher and that would add to the appeal)

I don't think he would necessarily see it as a sideways move. And that's what matters.

And being on a goal bonus...in that lge.

Conversly he'll talk to the likes of Caddis, Cuthbert and Ferry on why they play in England.

Yeah, but he came from Poole Town who are many, many leagues below us and as soon as he started playing for Swindon he was scoring goals, and consistently at that so if he can move from Poole Town to Swindon and show consistency then I'm sure he will do just as well - if not better - in the Championship or Premiership.

Beckford scored loads for a non league team and then for a few seasons in League One. He was proven (and not yet finished in the Premiership unfortunately).

Personally I think Austin will turn out to be a decent Premiership player some day, but it's all presumptuous.

...and they would tell him how they would have given their right arms for the chance to play in the first team on a regular basis, what a great club it is and how, if he gets the chance to play on a regular basis (which he would if they spent a couple of mil on him) then he should take it. I'm only guessing of course.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want Charlie going anywhere but let's not kid ourselves that a move to Celtic would be a sideways move.

He has the potential to. However, it's all hypothetical until he actually does it. There's no way people genuinely thought Austin would make the impact he did at Swindon - especially with our Non-League track record.

'Injuries and bad luck' aside, Parkin and Cox were going to be world beaters when they left Swindon.

I actually think a spell in Scotland wouldn't be too bad for Charlie's development- he's scored goals and been popular with fans wherever he's been, and a poor start at a new club might set him back considerably: there are enough bad sides in the SPL that even with a poor start he'd still score enough to keep the confidence going and stop any fans getting on his back.

That said, I'm sure staying at Swindon for another year would be much better for his development if not his bank balance

I'm not kidding myself and suggesting it's a sideways step. More like it wouldn't be a first choice move from a career development perspective.

I think we all agree he would score goals in the SPL, so he would (in theory) be scoring goals on a regular basis for a high profile team. There are loads of unknowns and intangibles that can come in to play but on the face of it, it wouldn't look like a particularly bad career move to me.

caddis,ferry,and cuthbert wouldn't have come here if they could cut it at celtic.

I'm not saying that Celtic wouldn't be a good move nor that it wouldn't be a step up or that it wouldn't further his career. But there will be other teams after him so Celtic may not possibly be the first choice move that's all.

The former Celtic players we have couldn't cut it there but they probably would have stayed in Scotland if the football was better and there was more money up there.

If Celtic come in and offer him big bucks he'd be stupid to turn it down. His career could end any given Saturday and he has the (hypothetical) opportunity to provide security for his family for life.

Obviously we'd all be gutted but I couldn't hold it against him as long as he leaves in the right way.

I'm not overly optimistic, but seeing just how shite the standard in this league is this season and the fact we are 6 points off of the play offs depsite being poor for most of the season must give some hope?

I haven't seen us play one side who look decent, Charlton were the best I have seen and their side got torn apart over the summer.

Although, as I said, we need a couple of signings - if they don't arrive, then I will agree that this seasons is 'gone'.

Agree with above. In fact though the best side I've seen us play is probably Crawley.

How many games a season do we play in Europe a season you complete tool?

Have to agree with DMR the post from Summerof69 has to be one of the most ridiculous posts I have ever seen.  To suggest Celtic is a sideways step is delusion of the highest order.  No matter what Summerof69's opinion is of the Scottish Premier League Rangers and Celtic are still huge clubs.  You are talking about 50k gates most weeks, trophies, medals, european football and playing on the TV most weeks. 

Ok i know this forum and my views will obviously be different but to compare the SPL to Leauge One is a bit a low.

SPL is on par with the Championship with the Old Firm pipping into the Premiership. Hearts, Hibernian, Dundee Utd and Motherwell i actually think would do decently well in the Championship.

Europe 4 games? Haha dont make me laugh! MON & GS made us a European force to be feared - it was only 2 seasons ago we failed to qualify. Im 100% posoitve next season we will be back to our best.

Who beat the likes of Man Utd, AC Milan, Benefica, Shaktar Donetsk and many more which i cba naming..
And remeber Europa Leage final in 2003or '67 which the English media have never publicised?

How many of those games were won on the continent of Europe and not in your backyard?

Would Charlie run the risk of leaving though due to the ex player curse...see Parkin, Cox, Greer for examples of how your career does not always move forward when you leave.

Who was the last player to leave that has gone on to have a succesful career and improve themself away from town

Urm... Brian Howard?

The closest I can think of having some actual success. Scored that winner at Anfield, still plying his trade in the Championship?

Absolute rubbish.

Here's an example for you, start of 09/10 season a player left us to join the side that finished 4th in the SPL the previous season. The player in question was arguably 4/5th choice in his position here and surplus to requirements. What does that say about the standard of your league? That's not my only example as there is plenty.

The amount of has beens in the SPL is on par with League 1/2. To suggest the SPL is on par with the Championship is a laughable statement.

The standard up there is getting worse and worse.

Who was 4th or 5th choice? you referring to Ifil who was practically in and out the first time his whole time here and can hardly be classed as a reserve.  Plus it was Mark McGhee who bought him and he is a clueless cunt, it still doesn't make the rest of the league shit!

Greer
Cuthbert
Jean-Francois
Morrison
Ifil/Aljofree?

Quite stupid how you didnt qoute his name? If you are talking about Ifil or whatever his name is - he is proper shite.

Although with their youths are goning to big names in a few years time: Macguire, Fyvie, Jack, Grimmer, Pawlet, Paton.

Parkin i'll give you. Cox is more debateable, though can understand how you'd come to that conclusion. Greer? fuck right off

Hearts are going to beat Celtic to second this season anyhow! 'Mon the JTs!

We'll see  :toocool:

2 things say everything about the standard of the SPL.  Firstly Kris Boyd & Scott McDonald pretty much end any argument alone if I'm honest...... 2 big scorers in the SPL over recent seasons but looking out of their depth and struggling in the Championship by all accounts. Factor in the dream management duo of Terry Butcher & Maurice Malpas plying their trade in the SPL and you know everything you need to know about the standard of the league.

I've got a soft spot for Scottish football as my mums side of the family have season tickets at Aberdeen but honestly take out out Rangers, Celtic & possibly Hearts and your mid-table league 1 standard at best.

Unfair comments on Boyd and McDonald as Middlesbrough have been utter gash this year so it has been challenging for them to even get shots let alone goals.  Boyd remains one of the best poachers you will see at any level.  Boyd has 5 goals in 14 starts this season which is not an awful record either in a terrible team.

To mock the management duo of Butcher and Malpas is short sighted to say the least as well as they are currently doing one of the best management jobs around, for them to have got a club like Inverness consistently getting good results in Scotts Prem is nothing short of miraculous.

Parkin was the best striker we'd had for yonks. Injuries ruined him - no-one can argue he didn't warrant taking the step up when he left.

Cox is gonna be quality.

He was saying there careers haven't progressed, not whether they deserved a step up

Correct, Cox has not played many games since he left, Greer has been cursed with sendings off and injury only just getting settled, Parkin has been best with injuries

I can't recall a player leaving here for many years who has (so far) been a sucess where they went, do we go back to the era of Horlock & Calderwood or even Mooney ?

Brian Howard is one.

Cox has been pretty much involved in every game this season in the premier league. Bet he is gutted

and i'm sure his bank balance isn't suffering either...

12k a week or something

Greer is captain at top of the league too, he probably has few regrets

and a 3 year contract on more money than here

But Cox isn't starting so at the moment he hasn't 'made it' although I'm sure in time he will, Greer seems to be settling in now but I suppose he has been a bit hit and miss due to his suspensions but again given time I expect he will be fine, so really you couldn't class them as having made it yet, Brian Howard ? Hmm he didn't do well at Sheff Utd but is seemingly doing fine at Reading - but he's not pulling up tree's though is he so has he 'made it' ?

But he did at Barnsley

Forgot he played for Barnsley - but he's not done well for himself since though really, I think at Barnsley he was really highly rated and expected to go on to bigger things.....and he ends up at the plastics

Howard has consistantly played at a higher level since leaving us. Therefore he is doing better than we are, not exactly rocket science is it?

he has no other better option than Celtic.

If you think otherwise explain,

Yeah he does, Rangers are interested.

Over rated and his discipline is suspect,certainly had a good season for us but if he wants off fuck him...and how do you know he is on better money at Brighton?.....the wheels will come of at Brighton...they have an average team and when the offer comes Poyet will be gone.

As in QPR Lick my Arse Orifice, you deluded  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

No, Glasgow. Much bigger club, better prospects...

Your a fool then, if you think they will pay you the £2M for Austin than you clearly doon't follow Scottish football. Anyway Rangers said there would be no signatures in January and infact theres no source of him going to Rangers so your just talking out your arse.  :bye:

Next?

Well played Nemo

If a handful of clubs put in acceptable bids for Charlie Austin (and he wanted out)... I'd like to see him go to a club like Celtic.

For one thing, I like the relationship the two clubs currently have plus they're a massive club with yearly European football.

I don't fully believe it would be the most beneficial move for him but I'd rather see him go there than Hull City.

Hook, line and sinker

He's off to Exeter in a swap deal for Jamie Cureton, bigger club bigger prospects

I get the point you're trying to make here, and same with the guy who mentioned Sam Parkin, but this logic doesn't work in football.

I could mention Jason Scotland, only 8 goals with Dundee United in the SPL, yet pushing for Championship top scorer when he ventures south. Chris Iweulmo's another, 2 goals in 30 (albeit only 20 years old at the time) when he left St Mirren, and now a Championship top scorer contender more often than not. Ross McCormack went from 11 goals in the SPL to over 20 in his first season in the championship. Charlie Adam went from Rangers forgotten back up man to Championship player of the year nominee, and now being linked with Liverpool.

Yet I couldn't use those examples to legitimately claim the championship is easier than the SPL, of course the championship is a better all round league, some players just don't gel for whatever reason in different leagues. That method of comparison holds no water.


First post here, all the best Swindon, always look out for your results each Saturday.

Welcome to the TEF at this unearthly hour.

Id ignore our results, its not going to plan!

A perfectly sensible post, are you sure you are a Celtic Fan?

Is the pub turnstyles still there out of interest? Been there a couple of times before Celtic games when I lived in Scotland.

Haha, I'm sure.

Is that turnstyles literally right outside Celtic Park? It's still there but sometimes it's only open when we have home games, it's like a part-time pub.

Yeah, bars on the window style pub. Real old fashioned football pub. When I went they had the party tunes pumping and from memory large glass bottles of Tennents was less than £2.