Arne Engels

I'm sick of saying it. A price tag makes no difference to what a player should or shouldn't be doing. Did Larsson play like his price tag? He made plenty of impressions in our CL campaign last year.

 

Ok, but price tag aside, he was signed as a first team player. So he should be judged on whether he has come straight into that first team and made the role his own. Which he hasnt yet.

I still have some hope for Engels. There is enough there in patches. However, if you bring in a midfielder with a european level pedigree to go straight into a celtic team I dont think it is too harsh a target to expect them to be running the midfield against teams like Livingston at home.

 

Their seems to be a breakdown between him and scales I’m constantly seeing Engels ask for the ball and scales never passes to him


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Watching the highlights he seems to be involved in most of the good play?
Seemed to be unlucky with his take just before the wonder save from yangs effort.

 

I mean that's so obviously wrong. The more you pay for a player the more you expect from them. That's pretty much how player sales work.

Does it always work out that way? No it doesn't but it's a pretty simple accepted premise.

 

He deffo wasn't as bad as the comments are suggesting for me..

In saying that, I thought Bernardo was absolute * but got a lot of ratings on here. Gave it away countless times. Got players swiped with loose passes. Was slow to release it and yet that was a good showing......

 

Really? How much did we pay for our best player last season Maeda? How much did we pay for McGregor who our manager expects the most from? More money does not mean you somehow expect more from them. Thats not the way it works. The expectations of being a Celtic player and what it takes to perform for us is the same across the board for all players. What we pay to get them in the door is absolutely irrelevant.

 

You're dancing round the fact we paid £11M for a 20 year old midfielder. Its not very often we buy players of that age and they come straight into the team and cement a place. As I mentioned, barring Osmand and Simpson-Pusey he's still the youngest player in the squad. So naturally he needs more time than signing someone older and more experienced. You can look at plenty of his performances last season, like away to Bayern Munich, and you can see that he can be effective in big games. I'm not denying his recent form has been patchy. But this notion of spending £11M and instantly meaning you get more is fantastical nonsense. We need to accept the fact that £11M is absolute peanuts in this day and age. Might be a big fee for a club of our size but in general scope it's nothing. Big European teams fork out quadruple for players of a similar age and pedigree.

 

So many posters coming up with a variety of inventive excuses and alibis for Engels, and performing mental gymnastics to defend him, its getting embarrassing really now. He can't really hold down a first team place anymore, and it appears Brendan is totally frustrated with him, no matter what amount of coaching, tuition, or whatever position he plays him in. There comes a time when you just have to face reality and accept the fact, that we have an £11M player/project on our hands, who is not contributing meaningfully to the team, even after an extended playing time. Can someone even tell me please, when did Engels even last score a goal from open play ?

 

See at the same age, our own captain was on loan to Notts County. Thankfully Celtic employ people who actually know what to look for in a player and don't have the mentality of a sweaty teenager sitting playing football manager wondering why his record £11M signing isn't winning a ballon d'or. You simply cannot say he didn't contribute meaningfully to the team for last season as its an outright lie.

 

You are kidding and deluding yourself if you think that.
How can it be an outright lie, when Engels has not kicked a ball meaningfully in earnest for Celtic since last year's League Cup Final, be careful with your choice of words/accusations, if you can't back them up with hard facts.For those with hard of hearing at the back, when did Engels last score a goal for Celtic in open play ? And incidentally who are the bright sparks employed by Celtic that shelled out £26M for Engels, Trusty and Idah, please enlighten me ?. For every McGregor you quote, there are plenty of SPL players, who have turned it on at 18,19,20 onwards. Engels is 22 next month, how long are you prepared to give him ? You do realise it is Celtic he plays for not Notts County ? And you want to know something else, if what some posters are now saying is true, that some Celtic players are not passing the ball anymore to Engels? That's because they no longer trust him to do anything constructive with the ball, and some others may be resenting the fact a non performing £11M player is keeping other hard working players like McCowan and Bernado out of the team, just because Rodgers and the Board have have to justify to themselves the initial £11M fee, but even they will come to a cut off point with Engels eventually, if they have not already concluded that. It's not a good atmosphere and culture to foster in the squad. And guess also why Brendan has brought in Nygren ? To do the things that Engels is not doing/unable to do for the team anymore.

 

I'm not reading that waffle. Enjoy your Sunday mate.

 

I'm having a great Sunday mate thanks very much, enjoying my coffee and looking forward to Wednesday.

Have a good one mate

Just had a thought there, I used to play 5 a side fitba at Goals, and when I had the ball and I looked up and saw some diddy in my team was screaming at me to pass the ball to him, I'd say to myself, I'm not passing it to that useless *, and take the ball on myself for a taste of glory.

 

Wednesday? Do you support the other lot that are playing on Wednesday lol?

I'm also having a great Sunday after seeing we're now 6 points clear, at least that lot have been a good laugh every week

Sounds like a decent tactic, one I'd like to see our forward players adopt when Idah is on the park.

 

Thats a fair argument if we were judging him against teams that pay quadruple for similar players. We are judging him against Falkirk and Livinston , two teams that could be bought in their entirety for 11m. Absolutely fine arguing that not much can be expected from an 11m player when compared to 44m players. But same rule has to apply when comparing an 11m player against an entire first 11 made up of free transfers with players earning 40k a year.

Im not especially negative on Engels but Ive expected more.

 

Tuesday then. Hard to keep up with all the different days and times they've got us playing at.

Bit hard on Idah I think. Larsson would have a hard time scoring in this Celtic team, given the lack of quality service from the midfield and wings.

Sort the midfield and wings out, and you sort the striker problems out.

 

He played very well against Falkirk and was ok yesterday. So don't see what the big outcry is. We won both games comfortably and he played a part, particularly against Falkirk. So I think theres an overreaction and an unfair expectation that he's going to be a glaring standout every game because of his transfer fee. Which just isn't going to be the case. He has a long, long way to go before he's the finished article, but the potential is clearly there.

 

Nope. McGregor finished his loan at Notts County when he was 20. Turned 21 the same summer he made his debut here (2014) , and scored 4 in his first 4 competitive games including two winners in UCL qualifiers , signed a five year deal that same month and never looked back. Miles ahead of Engels and made himself undroppable here within weeks of turning 21 and after only a few games. Engels is 22 next week, a year older than Cal was then.

 

I'm disappointed in his performances so far especially his lack of goals but I absolutely think his age should be taken into consideration. He's one of the youngest in the squad and has the burden of his price tag. I think he'll improve and there's every chance he won't reach his peak for another few years but he might not be here by then.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Brendan and the Board are secretly praying we get realistic bids for him soon.
He's hawding up the conveyor belt in midfield too. He's never going to make it here.