The last thing Celtic need is to sign an expensive has-been…
As Niall J reported earlier on The Celtic Star, Charlie Nicholas has commented in his Scottish Daily Express column that Celtic need a bit of ‘stardust’ in their ranks and thinks Cesc Fabregas could be the answer. I honestly don’t even know where to start in regards to how ludicrous this statement from the former Celtic striker is. Firstly we will take a look at what he said regarding the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea star below…
“I would like to go into the market and try to get somebody like Cesc Fabregas,” Nicholas wrote. “I spoke to him in December when we were both at an Arsenal game. He is still fit as a flea but he isn’t getting a game at Monaco.
“I know speaking to him that he wants to keep playing for the next year or two. I know Celtic maybe couldn’t afford his salary but maybe they could come to an agreement with Monaco.
“I feel the team needs a Lubo Moravcik-type and Cesc would be perfect. I would like to see Ange Postecoglou and Celtic do more business. If Ange was looking for star dust then I would ask Cesc the question. He is still only 34.”
To start with I get the sense the only reason Charlie is bringing this up at all is to make it sound like he has the inside track to some of footballs biggest stars, an ‘in the know’ type of character that regularly discusses future career moves with footballing royalty. I highly doubt this.
Firstly he states Fabregas is ‘fit as a flea’ but ‘isnt getting a game at Monaco’. Right, well maybe some of your conversation got lost in translation Charlie because Fabregas has been injured since September and that’s why he’s out of the team. The last thing Celtic need is to be trying to lure a player in this month who will be joining the queue looking a table in the already full physio room at Lennoxtown.
READ THIS…“I felt I was harshly treated at Celtic,” Charlie Nicholas
If we look closer at Fabregas over the past few years since joining Monaco he has played a total of 68 times which isn’t bad in two and a half seasons but if we look closer more than half of these were substitute appearances with him only getting a few minutes here and there especially in the past two seasons. He has had multiple injuries during this period with the main one being a reoccurring hamstring injury.
Yep thats right, the injury which has inflicted multiple players in our squad already this season. A player such as Fabregas with that specific injury trying to get up to speed under the demands Ange Postecoglou places on his players is a recipe for disaster.
READ THIS…Fabregas to Celtic is fanciful but the balance of the backline is a constructive criticism
Charlie then mentions Cesc Fabregas’ salary and thinks we could come to some sort of agreement. The former Spanish international is on over £100,000 a week at Monaco. Is he honestly going to consider taking a probable 75% pay cut to leave the millionaires paradise to turn up to a wet and windy Glasgow in January? No.
Nicholas then makes a statement that we need a Lubo Moravcik type to add a bit of stardust to our team. I’m lost once again with this statement. Does he mean as a Moravcik type player or a big name like Moravcik? Either way neither adds up. Lubo was relatively unknown on these shores when he rocked up to Celtic in the twilight of his career but unlike Fabregas was fresh for a player of that age. He had something to prove. Cesc is on the career wind down.
If he means a Moravcik type player he is again mistaken. Firstly we already have one of them, someone who dazzles the crowd with bits of magic and game changing moments. His name is Tom Rogic. Fabregas is not that type of player. Not anymore. Nowadays Fabregas, when fit enough to play, usually covers centre midfield in a more defensive role.
Finally I think the last thing Celtic need is to be signing expensive has beens. Ange Postecoglou’s style isn’t set up for someone who maybe still has all their skills and footballing brain but no longer has the legs. ‘Angeball’ is a young man’s game. Also historically Celtic have been burnt on many occasions with these types of signings. Ian Wright, Juninho, Roy Keane and Freddie Ljungberg are just a few of the players who came to Celtic Park in the twilight of their careers and offered us little on the pitch yet a serious dent to our finances.
Charlie, let’s leave the recruitment to Ange Postecoglou. He has proven already to have an eye for a player and although recent signings may not have provided you with that ‘wow’ factor, as I guarantee you had never heard of any of them, I would rather young and hungry players from Japan than your injury prone ex-Premier League ‘mates’ such as Fabregas.
Conall McGinty
champagne charlie hasn’t been in the know at paradise since he left for engerland almost 40 yrs ago….fed up with these so-called ex-players popping out the woodwork when they’re pals in media want to stir the pot….just read what cocaine-fuelled frank macavennie said of young ralston…..no encouraging remarks or well done son just being a prick as usual back in your box losers!
When was the last time Charlie Nicholas said anything that made sense?
No-one listens to his garbage.