Great list … can’t disagree with much of it. But some honourable mentions - Sammy (so wonderfully enigmatic, awful and perfect all in the same game), Lenny (became a proper legend - look what he did for the club overall not just as a player) and Dembele (time cut short with us could and should have been a legend), also loved seeing Mulgrew come back from Aberdeen and he became a great utility player.
What is really terrifying is looking back through all the transfers and seeing who didn’t work out! So many many names and so much money wasted!!!
There were so many including those you mentioned. The fun part is we all have different preferences and memories. Looking back at clips of these players on YouTube as I was doing this was a great pick me up after last week.
Is a great list and very enjoyable read Ross. I couldn't have seen past Cameron Carter-Vickers, personally, and would have had Diazen Maeda higher than Shunsuke Nakamura but these are just personal preferences. Not the fault of players from the era but some of the football under Gordon Strachan was eye-wateringly awful. Get the chills thinking about writing match reports from so many games - even as Celtic won the league in 2006-07. Last three months was down there with early 1990s for unwatchability. And I know it was precisely the same time as Celtic came within a whisker of reaching the last eight of the Champions League - as they never really have before or since. Truly strange times.
So many factors at play and we've seen guys come here who we know had proven quality and end up leaving with a failure tag on their luggage. A few others who had potential but just never kicked on, or couldn't cope with the pressure which is a very unique one.
Even when you strip it back to the basics. Has x player who has played at the highest levels ever played in the manner we are going to ask him to play and do have a history of playing 3 games a week for most of the season with a huge demand to win almost every game. The answer for most is no, so for many I think it's less about ability and more about mentality or the environment.
Barkas was one I just couldn't get my head around at the time. Having watched a lot of his time at AEK who aren't an easy club to play for, I thought at worst he'd be alright, yet he played and it was scary to watch. Obviously COVID was a huge factor for the entire team that year and he never recovered. He's maybe found his happy place playing in an environment with less pressure in Eredivisie.
Haksabanovic was another who I think has a real good player in him, but wasn't quite the right fit for us because of the way Ange wanted to play. He appeared to lack the desire to be more than he was and put in the graft that is required to cement a place, it was always flashes of something but no consistency. Now he's struggling to get games for Malmo.
Iwata is a player I liked, and still do. I think Rodgers must have seen something in him for Chris Davies to take him to a very ambitious Birmingham team who have a lot of pressure on them to succeed. McGregor has that role nailed down and it's a difficult role to come in and play from cold storage and so we never really got the chance to see enough imo, yet he'd have been handy to have around last Sunday.
Lagerbielke is another. He'll do alright because he is a good defender, but he was never the defender for playing on the halfway line and being left 2 vs 2 situations. He lacked the pace and is still working on balancing that with his positioning being able to compensate for it, but Eredivisie is a great place to learn that imo and I'm glad he's getting games and looking happy out there. Had he joined a Strachan team then he'd have done alright imo.
Bernabei: Totally wrong fit for us, may have had more joy if we'd have played with wingbacks. That and so many environmental issues with him being so far away from his family and the struggles that go with it, but no shock to see him being more productive now he's back in South America. I still don't see him getting called up for Brazil (joke), or Argentina anytime soon but glad to see his career is back on track and that his life is more settled with his young family being closer to home.
Then you have a a few shockers like Amido Balde and Mo Bangura. I'm sure it was Danny McGrain who use to do drills with Balde and it was painful to watch. That goal in pre-season vs Liverpool was probably the highlight of his career. Bangura, when he came back and played against us while on loan.... normally I fear things like that, but then I seen him warm up and do his shooting practice. It was hilarious. I don't think he got a shot with 5 yards of the goal.
Nat Phillips was another that will haunt me. I've still no idea how he's played for the clubs he has and thank god it was just a loan.
Undoubtedly there must be players in that bracket. Just don't ask me to name names. Initially last season I did think there was some promise in Odin Thiago Holm, for instance. Clearly wasn't industrious enough for the manager, though.
Super Ross, being a nosey sod, I’d really like to know who actually scouted these guys from within the club… a few we know of with Ange and his knowledge of the J League, but who found Izzy, Nakamura and Chris Sutton ???
Gordon Strachan went nuts at me one day when I mentioned Nakamura being on Celtic's radar before he became manager - I think I heard from Martin O'Neill - because he wanted the credit! Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan, as the old saying goes.
Great list … can’t disagree with much of it. But some honourable mentions - Sammy (so wonderfully enigmatic, awful and perfect all in the same game), Lenny (became a proper legend - look what he did for the club overall not just as a player) and Dembele (time cut short with us could and should have been a legend), also loved seeing Mulgrew come back from Aberdeen and he became a great utility player.
What is really terrifying is looking back through all the transfers and seeing who didn’t work out! So many many names and so much money wasted!!!
There were so many including those you mentioned. The fun part is we all have different preferences and memories. Looking back at clips of these players on YouTube as I was doing this was a great pick me up after last week.
Is a great list and very enjoyable read Ross. I couldn't have seen past Cameron Carter-Vickers, personally, and would have had Diazen Maeda higher than Shunsuke Nakamura but these are just personal preferences. Not the fault of players from the era but some of the football under Gordon Strachan was eye-wateringly awful. Get the chills thinking about writing match reports from so many games - even as Celtic won the league in 2006-07. Last three months was down there with early 1990s for unwatchability. And I know it was precisely the same time as Celtic came within a whisker of reaching the last eight of the Champions League - as they never really have before or since. Truly strange times.
Do you think there are some players we signed (that didn't work out), that could've made it, just the wrong time or the wrong team?
100%
So many factors at play and we've seen guys come here who we know had proven quality and end up leaving with a failure tag on their luggage. A few others who had potential but just never kicked on, or couldn't cope with the pressure which is a very unique one.
Even when you strip it back to the basics. Has x player who has played at the highest levels ever played in the manner we are going to ask him to play and do have a history of playing 3 games a week for most of the season with a huge demand to win almost every game. The answer for most is no, so for many I think it's less about ability and more about mentality or the environment.
Barkas was one I just couldn't get my head around at the time. Having watched a lot of his time at AEK who aren't an easy club to play for, I thought at worst he'd be alright, yet he played and it was scary to watch. Obviously COVID was a huge factor for the entire team that year and he never recovered. He's maybe found his happy place playing in an environment with less pressure in Eredivisie.
Haksabanovic was another who I think has a real good player in him, but wasn't quite the right fit for us because of the way Ange wanted to play. He appeared to lack the desire to be more than he was and put in the graft that is required to cement a place, it was always flashes of something but no consistency. Now he's struggling to get games for Malmo.
Iwata is a player I liked, and still do. I think Rodgers must have seen something in him for Chris Davies to take him to a very ambitious Birmingham team who have a lot of pressure on them to succeed. McGregor has that role nailed down and it's a difficult role to come in and play from cold storage and so we never really got the chance to see enough imo, yet he'd have been handy to have around last Sunday.
Lagerbielke is another. He'll do alright because he is a good defender, but he was never the defender for playing on the halfway line and being left 2 vs 2 situations. He lacked the pace and is still working on balancing that with his positioning being able to compensate for it, but Eredivisie is a great place to learn that imo and I'm glad he's getting games and looking happy out there. Had he joined a Strachan team then he'd have done alright imo.
Bernabei: Totally wrong fit for us, may have had more joy if we'd have played with wingbacks. That and so many environmental issues with him being so far away from his family and the struggles that go with it, but no shock to see him being more productive now he's back in South America. I still don't see him getting called up for Brazil (joke), or Argentina anytime soon but glad to see his career is back on track and that his life is more settled with his young family being closer to home.
Then you have a a few shockers like Amido Balde and Mo Bangura. I'm sure it was Danny McGrain who use to do drills with Balde and it was painful to watch. That goal in pre-season vs Liverpool was probably the highlight of his career. Bangura, when he came back and played against us while on loan.... normally I fear things like that, but then I seen him warm up and do his shooting practice. It was hilarious. I don't think he got a shot with 5 yards of the goal.
Nat Phillips was another that will haunt me. I've still no idea how he's played for the clubs he has and thank god it was just a loan.
Undoubtedly there must be players in that bracket. Just don't ask me to name names. Initially last season I did think there was some promise in Odin Thiago Holm, for instance. Clearly wasn't industrious enough for the manager, though.
That’s an article in itself Andrew… !!
Super Ross, being a nosey sod, I’d really like to know who actually scouted these guys from within the club… a few we know of with Ange and his knowledge of the J League, but who found Izzy, Nakamura and Chris Sutton ???
Gordon Strachan went nuts at me one day when I mentioned Nakamura being on Celtic's radar before he became manager - I think I heard from Martin O'Neill - because he wanted the credit! Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan, as the old saying goes.