Karamoko Dembele!!

Get him a ticket for a charity match or a DVD to watch.

 

Looks class. Hopefully he grows a little bit more, 10cm and he'll be the same height as Messi

 

IN the wake of Celtic’s 2-1 win over Hearts on Trophy Day, Neil Lennon praised Karamoko Dembele following his first-team debut. The 16-year-old came on at the start of the second-half to replace the injured Olly Burke, and his performance had Paradise in raptures.

"He’s great to watch,” said the manger after the game. “He is the type of player that you want at Celtic. He gets the crowd off their feet with his football intelligence. Everyone talks about the skill, but his football intelligence is very good.

“I’m delighted for him. Obviously we need to keep a lid on it, but it's great for the fans that they have seen the glimpse of the future. It was a great time, at the end of the season, and to get 45 minutes. The kid is 16, we know how talented he is and we just want to develop him in the right way.

"He has been training with the first team and he has had a very good season with the reserve team, and I had no hesitation giving him 45 minutes. There was always a plan to give him some game-time, but with Burkey going off, we thought we should throw him in there and let him play.”

 

Once you've read it you're *, round and round yer head all day

 

Love it!

We’re gonna have to listen to Corey singing it now though aren’t we

 

Wee guy's class but his singing leaves a bit to be desired

We had him out with us for the sheep semi the other week..

 

I would rather watch this Thatcher programme on BBC 2 whilst fisting ma *. @StPauli1916.

 

Every nights a * night for you, isn’t it.

 

Not every night, I do nightshift.

 

.See my reply to JC in the Next manger thread, and those to Onefootwonder in the "Tommy Robinson" threads Gyp

You can't just ignore the far-right and hope they will just go away. Any attempts to try and understand what makes them tick doesn't make you right-wing mate.

 

But consider Xavi and Messi who are on the smaller side of the spectrum, they are still a good bit taller than him. I think a few inches would make a massive difference and really help him physically.

 

Hope he gets picked by Clarke for the European 2020 matches in June.
That would at least guarantee we have him for Scotland national team instead of going to England.

 

Callum McGregor insists Celtic’s teenage star Karamoko Dembele won’t be fazed at the prospect of becoming a Hampden history Bhoy in the Scottish Cup Final.

The Hoops kid earned rave reviews after Neil Lennon handed him his top-team debut as a half-time sub for Oliver Burke during the Parkhead title party game against Hearts last weekend.

That was a dress rehearsal for Saturday’s clash with the Jambos in the season’s showpiece and if Dembele plays any part he will become the youngest player to feature in a senior British cup final.

John Fleck set the record when he came on as a sub for Rangers against Queen of the South in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final at 16 years, 274 days but Dembele will be 181 days younger on Saturday.


McGregor – going for his 10th major trophy as Celtic look to complete a treble Treble – says he, his senior team-mates and the club have a duty to nurture the much-hyped Dembele and keep his feet on the ground, as evidenced by a last-minute pep talk before he made his bow.

And he reckons lessons will be learned from wonderkid Islam Feruz’s failure to fulfil his potential after he snubbed Celtic to join Chelsea on big money at just 15.


Feruz flopped in numerous loan spells away from Stamford Bridge and is now without a club after his contract expired at the Blues. But McGregor believes Demeble has the right attitude with the youngster signing a deal until to keep him at Celtic until at least 2021.


And, as the Scotland star modelled the new Hoops kit, he said: “If Karamoko was to get on at the weekend it would be an amazing achievement.

“Could he handle it? He certainly seems like nothing fazes him. As soon as he came into first-team training he looked comfortable and isn’t overawed by the players which you might expect from young kids.


“At such a young age, to come on and play with the maturity he did against Hearts was great. You can see his football brain working before the ball even comes to him.

“It’s a massive talent to have at such a young age. He’s been brilliant and we’ve got a good group and the lads have helped him settle in.

“A lot of us have made that step so we know how it feels and it’s important when the young ones come in that we make them feel comfortable.

“The management of the club might look at the situation with Islam Feruz and learn from how they handled that but Karamoko is undoubtedly a top talent and ultimately people will be looking and talking about him. But you just want to play football at that age and he’ll get a lot more game time at Celtic at an earlier age which will help him develop.

“You could see Karamoko’s talent at the weekend. At 16 to come on and play like that shows you’re a top talent and he’s got the mentality to handle everything.

“But it’s important we manage him properly and everyone doesn’t get carried away and expect him to be in the team every week.



He’s still a young kid and he has to learn and grow and it’s our job as senior players and a club to look after him, mentor him to get the best out of him.”

The fact McGregor also started Sunday’s game on the bench meant he could pass on some last-minute advice before Dembele took to the field at Celtic Park.

McGregor said: “We were walking out and the sports scientist said it would be one of us three coming on. I just said to him ‘you’ll be all right son’ and not to worry.

“When it was him who went on I gave him a few words and tried to help him calm any nerves. You could see when he came on he was excellent.

“Even if one of those words helped him settle then it was worth it. For us it’s about trying to pass on that experience to such a good talent. If he can take it on and add it to his game then perfect.”

Dembele has played at Scotland youth level but also qualifies for England and captained their Under-16s last month against Ivory Coast, whom he can also play for.


McGregor would love him to choose Scotland long term but said: “He’s got a bit of a choice to make. Obviously we’d love him to play for Scotland. But it’ll be his decision with his people who he sits down and speaks with.”

 

NEIL LENNON has confirmed Celtic wonderkid Karamoko Dembele is in his selection thoughts ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final with Hearts.

The Hoops starlet was outstanding on his debut as a substitute against the Jambos on Sunday at Parkhead.

Asked if Dembele was in the frame for the Hampden showpiece, Lennon told Celtic TV: “Very much so, yeah.

“He’s training this week, he’s fit, he’s available.


So to come in at 16 and have a debut like that was pretty spectacular, very mature.

“I’ve no hesitation in bringing him into the squad this week.

“He’s had a good season with the development team and I think all the first-team players are aware of his capabilities as well.”

 

Agreed.