Killa to Celtic?

[Toronto Blade]

According to the Daily Mail Celtic have made a £4million approach for Sheffield United defender Matthew Kilgallon.

Former Leeds man Kilgallon, 25, impressed Celtic scouts once again during Friday night's 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough and the club have followed up with an offer.

Sheffield United, however, are looking for around £5m but that could be eased if Wolves follow up their interest in Celtic's Stephen McMahus.

 

[Bladesman]

he can do better

 

[GAZBLADE]

I'd be gutted if he left us to play for them in that shower of a league.

 

[La_Blade]

It wooried me a bit that O'Neill was at the rriverside on Fri night, hope he was watching someone else not killa.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I've a feeling O'Neill was watching Wheater. Hope he didn't change his mind

 

[matth]

If we sell Killa, I fear it'll be the final straw for many fans. All of McCabe's hard work will be undone, and he'll be remembered as the man who sold the best defence in the league down the river.

£4m is a lot of money for a player who's in the last year of his contract, but this isn't a business, it's football. If we sell Killa, we might as well sell all of our players and replace them with youth lads.

 

[GRUMPY BLADE]

[If we sell Killa, we might as well sell all of our players and replace them with youth lads.]

Slight problem with that, all the youths will be sold as well!

 

[shorehamview]

He might be tempted by the chance of European football and more money. Let's face it, the lure of beating beaten by a side of Lithuanian goatherds and milkmen must be a big one.

 

[MobileBlade]

£4m is a lot of money for a player who's in the last year of his contract, but this isn't a business, it's football. .

Sadly it is a business. And you have to cut your cloth.

 

[matth]

Cutting your cloth is one thing; selling all of your assets to cash in on them quite another.

If we're in such a situation that we need to sell £12m worth of players just to stay afloat, then some serious questions have to be asked about the stewardship of the club. If that's the case, then presumably had we not sold the Kyles, and won compensation from Southampton, we'd now have entered administration?

 

[DuncDisorderly]

... won compensation from Southampton...

Did I miss something..?

 

[matth]

Hmm, not sure where that came from! I meant of course West Ham

 

[Bladesman]

We shouldn't need to sell.

Really Id rather use some of the money we have got to be used to tempt Killa to stay.

 

[JinBlade]

Cutting your cloth is one thing; selling all of your assets to cash in on them quite another.

If we're in such a situation that we need to sell £12m worth of players just to stay afloat, then some serious questions have to be asked about the stewardship of the club. If that's the case, then presumably had we not sold the Kyles, and won compensation from Southampton, we'd now have entered administration?

According to McCabe if an agent convinces a player that he can do better then there's nothing the club can do - contract or not - to stop them leaving.. Except of course match the money, but that could spiral into the clubs financial ruin.

I must say - if this is true - it's a pretty bleak picture... Will no real point to a contract except to entice a player to stay. Why aren't there serious clauses built into the contracts that make it very hard for agents/players to break them?

 

[Bladesman]

Agents & players run the club it seems.

 

[SotonBlade]

Agents & players run the club it seems.

No they run the players, and as a manager/chairman, you try telling a player who's been offered probably 2 maybe 3 times his current wage, that you're not going to match or let him leave. You get an unhappy player who is either going to suffer a drop in form, or kick off on the training ground, get left out of the side and disrupt harmony in the rest of squad.

Added to the fact the Killa is approaching the end of his contract, if we can't offer him the wages to stay, then we have to sell him.

 

[Vistoma]

No they run the players, and as a manager/chairman, you try telling a player who's been offered probably 2 maybe 3 times his current wage, that you're not going to match or let him leave. You get an unhappy player who is either going to suffer a drop in form, or kick off on the training ground, get left out of the side and disrupt harmony in the rest of squad.

Added to the fact the Killa is approaching the end of his contract, if we can't offer him the wages to stay, then we have to sell him.

This is all true, the only thing in out favour is that the Scottish Prem is no better than our Championship just look at all the players leaving it to join lower clubs in our League. So, if he is looking for a shop window for the prem then he is better off here. The only fly in the ointment is European Football, IMO this will be a far better indicator of KMc's ambition than the sale of the 2 Kyles

 

[Robbie]

If we got £4 million for Killa, I don't think we could complain.

It would be a different case if he wanted to sign another contract.... but £4 million for a player coming into the final year of his deal would be good business.

I'd prefer him to sign a new contract though and stay

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

I'm with Robbie on this one. If he isn't going to sign a new contract, £4m at this stage would be a good deal, enabling the club to get a decent replacement and have a little left in the pot!

 

[rachyblade]

Celtic deny bid reports.

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.2524804.0.celts_deny_4million_swoop_for_defender.php

Celtic today denied reports that they have made a £4million move for Sheffield United defender Matthew Kilgallon.

The former Leeds stopper was watched by the Parkhead club during Friday night's 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough, and reports suggested that Celtic had tabled a bid for the 25-year-old. However, sources today denied they had moved for Kilgallon, although it will come as no surprise to anyone that Celtic are in the hunt for defensive cover.

Tony Mowbray has a serious problem facing for the club's SPL opener against Aberdeen with Glenn Loovens and Gary Caldwell suspended while Stephen McManus is still sidelined.

The club have decided to appeal against the ban handed out to Loovens after his kick at Maurice Edu during the final Old Firm game of the season.

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The incident was caught on TV and although Celtic will appeal, which may buy them enough time to field the player at Pittodrie, Mowbray has revealed that decision wasn't taken by him but by "the powers that be."

John Kennedy was today on his way back to Colorado with another meeting with surgeon Dr Richard Steadman in order to assess his current knee injury.

One possible solution would be to pair Darren O'Dea and Massimo Donati at the heart of defence, as Celtic did against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon. It was a pairing that got by against the Premiership side, but there is no doubt that Mowbray would prefer further cover in ahead of the weekend's kick-off.

Meanwhile, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy will make a decision this week on Bobo Balde.

The former Celtic defender has been training with the newly promoted side as he bids to earn a move to the Premiership, but McCarthy will make a decision on the 33-year-old this week.

"We've had a look at Bobo and we'll do what we think is best for the club," said McCarthy. Balde was not part of the Wolves side that lost to Real Valladolid in a friendly on Saturday.

McCarthy has also been linked with a move for McManus. It has been reported that the Wolves boss is an admirer of the Scotland international and he could be tempted to make an offer for him.

Publication date 10/08/09

 

[matth]

I'm with Robbie on this one. If he isn't going to sign a new contract, £4m at this stage would be a good deal, enabling the club to get a decent replacement and have a little left in the pot!

For what, though? Another few quid in the pot? We'd have to find a replacement, and then they'd need time to gel with the squad. We'd go from having probably the best defence in the league last season to having one that could really be quite catastrophically bad, and all for the sake of having some more money in the bank?

If a replacement already existed, surely someone else would have snapped them up? We've seen plenty of targets elude us this summer; it's only going to get worse as clubs start to scramble for players as the deadline looms.

 

[Robbie]

For what, though? Another few quid in the pot? We'd have to find a replacement, and then they'd need time to gel with the squad. We'd go from having probably the best defence in the league last season to having one that could really be quite catastrophically bad, and all for the sake of having some more money in the bank?

If a replacement already existed, surely someone else would have snapped them up? We've seen plenty of targets elude us this summer; it's only going to get worse as clubs start to scramble for players as the deadline looms.

£4 million now or leave next summer on a free?

Ideally he would sign a new contract and we could knock the bid out of the park - but this isn't an ideal situation.

 

[matth]

Next season on a free, every time. Or, even better, we get promoted with him in the side and then he stays as he gets Premiership football.

 

[Bladesman]

£4 million now or leave next summer on a free?

Ideally he would sign a new contract and we could knock the bid out of the park - but this isn't an ideal situation.

If we went up this season? Surely might make him change his mind perhaps though.

*Snap with what Matt just said*

Also it would show our ambition abit that we are prepared to take a gamble and not sell him.

 

[Robbie]

Or, even better, we get promoted with him in the side and then he stays as he gets Premiership football.

If we went up this season? Surely might make him change his mind perhaps though.

IF we went up.... that's a big if.

Especially considering who is in charge.

 

[matth]

In that case, we might as well just give up now and sell any of our players who are worth anything. Forget being a competitive football club, we'll just admit that we're a business for whom the balance sheet is more important than the team sheet, and we can look for our results in the business pages rather than the sports pages.

If we do sell Killa - and I'm aware that this is a big 'if' - then the fans will react. We're ok this season, as we've already sold our quota of season tickets, but next season if we don't go up and we've sold all our assets? Sales will be right down. Is it worth cashing in to lose a large part of your customer base?

 

[Robbie]

If we do sell Killa - and I'm aware that this is a big 'if' - then the fans will react. We're ok this season, as we've already sold our quota of season tickets, but next season if we don't go up and we've sold all our assets? Sales will be right down. Is it worth cashing in to lose a large part of your customer base?

And 'if' we keep him and don't go up, we 'may' still lose him for nothing, and may well then lose the customer base too.....

 

[matth]

So are we setting our stall out as a club with a risk appetite of zero? I've no wish for us to end up like Leeds or the Pigs by over-stretching ourselves, but it seems that we go too far in the opposite direction sometimes.

 

[HoodedClaw]

Personally think Killa will be going nowhere, even if he doesnt sign a new contract Ive just go a feeling that He wont be sold and if then will be let go for free when his contract runs out, as a worse case scenario.

McCabe is not stupid, he's well aware of how important our defence was last season and what an integral component Killa is in it.

Just keep the pie man out of the picture and all will be well.

 

[puppet]

Personally think Killa will be going nowhere, even if he doesnt sign a new contract Ive just go a feeling that He wont be sold and if then will be let go for free when his contract runs out, as a worse case scenario.

McCabe is not stupid, he's well aware of how important our defence was last season and what an integral component Killa is in it.

Just keep the pie man out of the picture and all will be well.

he'll go in january for £1m i reckon