Odin Thiago Holm.

Going to be honest, I didn't know McCowan was that old but I was more pointing out that McCowan took his place in the squad as a kind of back up midfielder, to play in cup games etc. Holm was there to do the same but with the idea of taking over from the likes of McGregor/Hatate and at 21/22 years of age, he should have made an impression on the squad at the very least.

Engels hasn't been perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I think there's a lot more to come from him but I think most of us can see that he has all the attributes at 21 to go on to become a really big part of what we do here. I don't think Holm has that same level in him. Again, I may be wrong but to have not even made it into squads while other midfielders were out injured is worrying. I'm not saying there isn't clear potential there, I just don't think he has the potential to make it here. He may do very well outside of us.

I also didn't know he had been out injured in LA for weeks. I see he's been back for around 6 weeks and is starting to get minutes on the pitch but you would have expected, certainly over the last couple of weeks, that he would have been getting a start. Don't think he's had any.

 

Mentioned in the players out on loan thread



but this loan for him to America has been pointless from a playing perspective



culture perspective he’s having a great time in a great place

 

We should be recalling him, makes zero sense to leave him out there if he's playing for the reserves.

Even on rare occasion he makes the bench he has no chance of getting on as he's 6th/7th choice at best.

 

The boys a *..

 

https://www.vg.no/sport/i/LMv4vQ/odin-thiago-holm-avsloerer-alvorlig-skade-i-ny-podkast

• Odin Thiago Holm talks about his long-term calf injury in the podcast "They were going to be the best in the world."
• He was diagnosed only after signing with Celtic, and has tried several treatments without lasting effect.
• Thiago Holm still hopes for a good future in football, despite the challenges

It's been a long time since the Celtic pro left the field. But in the podcast series "They were supposed to be the best in the world," he talks about the injury that has plagued him for years:

– I try to take one day at a time. But I notice that it's easy to get bogged down


From Vålerenga to Celtic
Trøndelag's Thiago Holm was on an exclusive list of the hundred greatest football talents in Europe in 2023. He has a past as a Vålerenga player, before signing a five-year contract with the major club Celtic in Scotland in June 2023.



He made several appearances for the team in the green and white stripes, and scored at Celtic Park . But in 2024 he struggled with playing time and began to feel pain in his calves. It was an injury he also experienced during his time at Vålerenga, but it was not until he was a Celtic player that he was diagnosed.

– There is a syndrome I have in my legs that makes it a little difficult to play football, unfortunately, he says.



The injury that won't go away
When he runs continuously during a football match, his calf muscles expand and put pressure on nerves and blood vessels. It's like blowing up a balloon in a narrow tube. Thiago Holm had problems with a lack of blood supply.




It's painful and disgusting. It feels like I'm losing control of my ankle joint. I can't seem to lift my ankle or my feet when I run. It feels like I'm half paralyzed, he says.



Last year, Thiago Holm traveled to Wyoming in the USA to test a treatment where the muscle relaxant Botox is injected into the calves.

Thiago Holm explains the treatment of the calves as follows:

Botox is injected into the parts of the muscle that compress blood vessels and nerves. These points in the muscle will be paralyzed, allowing normal blood circulation even during muscle pumping.





On a team with world stars
It took him about three months to shake off the side effects of the treatment. In order to avoid starting in the middle of the season and build up gradually, he was loaned to MLS club Los Angeles FC (LAFC). There, he became teammates with world stars such as Hugo Lloris , Oliver Giroud and Son Heoung-min in the winter



His legs felt good again, and for about seven months things went well. Thiago Holm came on as a substitute towards the end of several matches. But as playing time increased, the problems returned. The effect of the botox treatment turned out to be temporary – eventually he felt the pain again after just 10–15 minutes of play.



There are no treatments or surgeries that provide any guarantees, so we have tried a few different things.



In April, he received another Botox injection in his calves. This time with half the dose, to reduce the side effects afterwards. The treatment did not have the desired effect, and in September Thiago Holm therefore traveled to Wyoming for the third time. This time, he received a full dose of Botox, which means three more months on the sidelines and an uncertain future.



I'm just moving around in uncertainty and hoping for the best. It makes it a little harder, but I still have hope that it will be good.



Uncertain future
Thiago Holm still has a contract with Celtic until mid-2028. The plan is to return to Scotland after the MLS season in the United States is over, no later than December .

– I have a strong desire to make it happen at Celtic. But the primary goal now is to get my body in order.




Three weeks after the injections in September, Thiago Holm is optimistic.

"As of now, I am not experiencing any symptoms during exercises that I have previously experienced symptoms with. A very good sign, but I still need some time before the side effects of the injections wear off," Thiago Holm wrote in an SMS to VG this week.

 

Completely forgot about him, came with high hopes and did nothing, just highlights our scouting policy or lack off!

 

You should read the above. It could go some way to explaining that.

 

Good to see that celtics medical insurance can afford American based treatments. No wonder we didnt spend in the summer.

 

I did !

 

A football player who can't run.

Only us

 

Hard to blame the scouting then surely? Sounds like he has a serious medical issue that came to light some time after he was signed.

 

Very convenient that this has only become apparent now, I don’t have any medical knowledge but it seemed strange that at the start of his career at Celtic it was implied the guy had an attitude issue.

 

Brutal for the lad, tried treatment a few times and still no luck as well.

Looked a talent when he first came in and was weird how he was just dropped.

A bit like Kuhn, the club just allows negative stories to grow arms and legs, when they could easily have just announced the poor lad has a medical issue and the fans would likely have been more supportive towards him.

May not seem a lot, but I imagine fans thinking "* attitude" or "what a waste of a wage" isn't gonna help the guys mental state, but fans commenting "hope you get better lad" may give a positive feeling to the guy and who knows, eh.

Only Celtic though, will let someone else take the * instead of just coming out and admitting something themselves

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