Callum Osmand

Unbelievable the turnaround in his career . Yeah hope he kicks on .

 

I love his enthusiasm and the way he's not scared to take on the players in front of him - unlike Balikwisha

 

Is he good enough??? You can’t judge it on 2 sub appearance. I hope he is but the bandwagon this is creating is ridiculous.

 

I mean, in a season full of doom and gloom and some really * performances from a lot of our players, I think it's natural to get excited by a young player getting a chance and seizing it, while showing some real quality and a mature head.

We're not calling him the next Messi or anything, just nice to have some positive chat regards our squad and players again.

 

Great news for him and good to build on current momentum but really need to hope none of our other cbs pick up a short term injury or suspension.

Might have been more common sense approach to swap CCV for Pusey so we are not left too light in CB area

 

Iheanacho didn’t train today

 

I'd like to see him start wide right on Sunday.

We know it's a problem position. So far this season we have played Nygren, Forrest, Yang, Maeda and Balikwisha there to limited success.

We know we are going into January and a Glasgow derby without Jota, Balikwisha and Tounekti. We know there's a good chance Yang and Maeda are possibly for the off in January. We also know that Nygren is not a natural there and Forrest probably best utilised as an impact sub.

So it might be good to have tried him there and see if he's a short term viable option in a problem position. He has pace, his movement is sharp, he presses well and he has an eye for goal so he could be a decent option deployed there. He has the ability to run in behind and get on things at the back post.

 

Deserved opportunity. Hopefully he can build on the past week. Certainly his confidence will be sky high.

 

Quotes from MON today

You've added young Callum Osmand, obviously, to the squad. Was that a no-brainer, really, given the injuries and stuff like that?

That's true, yeah. So, we've got two centre-backs, and the big lad as well, who played at Hearts, so we've got that. But you're right, it was just an automatic thing for him to come in.

How's he been? It's been a big few days for him?

It's been amazing, really, for him. He's a really nice lad, and he's sharp, and he's good.

And, yeah, so... Yeah, I like him. I like him a great deal. It's early, yeah.

Martin, can you recall any previous player who has just suddenly made such an incredible impact, I mean, truly, in the professional game?

Well, I think the impact is because he scores against Rangers now, and that's very big in itself. And the fact that he slid in like a proper centre-forward, and put the ball in the net.

I mean, it's great for him. I think that he's got a really good attitude. You think that he's got this potential, that you feel as if you could work with him, and it might be a joy. But it might not be, and it might not be for the next manager coming up.

So I don't know. But he is not lacking in confidence, but he's not cocky or anything like that.

He knows what he wants to do, which is really pleasing. Now, would he be... Is he the short-term answer? Who knows? Who knows at this minute? But it's a great start for him, and he's delighted with it, and I'm delighted with him.

The European stage obviously is another level, but looking at him in training and his confidence, could you see him just making that leap again, no problem?

Well, you would have to hope to, or he would have to. Yeah, listen, I like him. This is my ninth day or something, I guess, here at the minute. I think I was introduced to him twice on the first day. So I kind of missed him first of all, and then I saw him after that.

But he's great. I'm really pleased with him, honestly, and he's delighted with the goal and, again, such illustrious opposition.

You're like an instant father figure for him?

I doubt that. I doubt that. Father figure. I've got two daughters who are lovely girls and are much older than him. So, yeah.

 

Glad we are able to add him as his pace will be handy for counter attacks

 

Hear me out right? Osmand and Kenny as a front 2. Is it something we're likely to see at some point? Because the thought of these two bhoys becoming a strike partnership is giving me a semi.

Pls Martin.

 

Glad he has got in. Worried about CCV.

He definitely has something Gary Hooper about him imo

 

So he's out for tomorrow then. Hopefully makes it for the weekend. It would be good to have a fresh striker available on Sunday.

 

Aye


Martin didn’t say so probably back for Sunday maybe

 

Wouldn't be the worst idea to leave him until after the international break.

 

Would be a handful for defenders but doubt we'll see it given we're threadbare already and they'll both need to be rotated to stay fresh.

 

Way to ruin a man's dreams cheers mate.

 

Craig Bellamy has been thwarted in his bid for Celtic forward Callum Osmand to represent Wales at senior level.

The 19-year-old was born in Jersey, which allowed him to represent Wales at both under-16 and under-17 level.

But a change in rules surrounding footballers born in the Channel Islands means he is now only available for England.

Osmand's Wales age-grade appearances were allowed because, previously, players born in the Crown Dependencies - that include the Channel Islands - could do so.

However, players from British Crown Dependencies which are not full Fifa or Uefa members can now only represent England as, unlike fellow Jersey-born Wales U21s player Luke Harris, Osmand has no Welsh heritage.

Similarly Australia-born Lyndon Dykes is eligible for Scotland through his Scottish parents.

"I like him, but unfortunately he's not on the radar to be able to play for us," said Bellamy.

"If he was it would have been a completely different conversation I would love to have had. I would liked to have talked about it all."




Since Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney succeeded former Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers at Celtic last month, Osmand has turned heads.

His first senior goal came at Hampden in their 3-1 Premier Sports Cup semi-final win over Rangers and Osmand has been rewarded with a spot in Celtic's Europa League squad.

The Channel Islands' place in football
The Crown Dependencies have a unique place in the structure of the British Isles – the King is head of state, but they have their own governments and are not part of the United Kingdom.

Jersey's attempts to join Uefa were thwarted in 2018 and the islands are seen as county football associations within the structure of the English Football Association.

For many years a Channel Island-born player could be eligible for any of the four home nations as they were British, but not specifically English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish.

In practise the rule was used very rarely – Guernsey's Ryan-Zico Black and Chris Tardif won youth caps for Northern Ireland around the turn of the millennium.

Osmond is the first in recent times to have used the rules to qualify at youth level for Wales.

All the Channel Islands' full internationals – Jersey's Graeme Le Saux and Maya and Matt Le Tissier from Guernsey – have gone on to play for England, which is seen as the natural place to play in islands that look directly north across the Channel for their football.

Currently Guernsey's Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott is looking closest to being the next islander to get a cap – he was part of England's victorious side at this summer's European Under-21 Championship.

 

A shame for the lad. Would have been nice to see him have a chance to play for Wales.