£6m Manchester City FLOP agrees Celtic switch
by jakepjohnson on July 15th, 2008
| 160 words |
Despite complaining for most of his loan spell, Celtic have clinched the signing of Manchester City’s out-of-favour Greek striker.
Georgios Samaras has signed a three-year contract with the Glasgow club, despite scoring only 6 goals last season and failing to break up the first-choice strike partnership of Scott McDonald and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
The move represents a big loss for Manchester City, who allowed Stuart Pearce to give £6 million to Dutch side Heerenveen in January 2006. However, Samaras was never a hit, scoring only 12 goals during his time at Eastlands.
The move is an odd one from a Celtic point-of-view. Yes, his goals were crucial in the title run-in, but he was complaining about getting too much time on the bench in March. With McDonald and Vennegoor sharing a great strike rate, does Gordon Strachan have cause to change his first-choice strikers?
But at only 23-years-old, there is plenty of time for his attitude to change and his potential to return.
We're giving you £25 free so show some bollocks and BET NOW!
Tagged Under: Celtic FC, eastlands, Georgios Samaras, Glasgow, Gordon Strachan
bhassbhoy - July 15th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
bitter? you? ouch….
his goals to games ratio was pretty decent at Celtic - hopefully he’ll challenge the strikers for a starting spot next season.
Dave - July 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I love the way you use the word “flop” in capital letters, you obviously didn’t like the guy. He scored goals for fun in the Dutch league and I don’t remember him getting a lot of games at Man City for whatever reason. He’s done pretty well for Celtic in the games I’ve seen and clearly has good technique and presence. If he does as well as Chris Sutton, the last so called “flop” we bought, I’ll be very happy.
Stiggers - July 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Author’s a numpty!! End of story!
chivs - July 15th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
He will be a magnifecent signing as he probly will double i work rate that jan venegoor does and he will score more than jan two,,, infact a wid bet right now he would score more if he is given the chance ,,, i am delighted that they have tied him down but they did take there time which worries me,,, i have seen enough of him to no how good he is,,, and if wee got him for £1 million thatz a steal,, coz i thought wee were paying£3 milliom
ian - July 15th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
A typical bigotted view by a typical sectarian hun by the sound it
Stevie Mac - July 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I can sense the bitterness.
£6m + wages paid out, £1m in return and maybe another £1m.
Come on, he didn’t complain that much. He was no revelation but then I can name many others that have been worse. If you ask any Celtic fan, Samaras will not be remembered during his loan spell as amoaner about not enough games.
If anything, Celtic learned their lesson from loan players where if you stagger there games, the value becomes less. In other words, we didn’t rely upon him. When we had Bellamy on loan, he was used that much that he was so important that6 Newcastle held us to ransom. Not so with Samaras.
He did a decent job and I have faith he will learn more. Don’t be bitter guys. We have no reason to dislike Man City. U lot are the good guys like us. I can understand he was a let down for you. But let it go…..
jakepjohnson - July 15th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Hardly a view I’d call bigotted
15th April 2008: “My first choice is to stay here. I feel okay at a club who trust me. But I don’t know what I am going to do after the summer. I don’t think I’ll stay if I’m back-up striker. I want to play football and I want to play in the first 11.”
I’d call that complaining considering it was due to having not started for only two weeks.
Alabama - July 15th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Not a bigoted view at all Jake but I still think it is a good deal for Celtic. Considering he hadn’t played much before he came to Celtic in January, I think he did OK. A pre-season and a fresh start at the beginning of the season and we could have a real bargain.
Joe - July 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
What was he supposed to say???
I enjoy my time on the bench and I don’t want to be in the starting line up?
I wouldn’t really class that as complaining, now Ronaldo being a slave….
Jason, West London - July 15th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
In an era when guys like harewood & sidwell go for £4/5 million it seems like a bargain getting a 23 year old international who has already proven it in Holland for £1 million. If it doesn’t work out we will get at least that back for him. win/win situation. Besides he can only improve under WGS and at such a top club.
Mick - July 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
A rough diamond was what Stuart PIerce called him ,i kept waiting week after week for this diamond to shine but unfortunately came to the conclusion that this bloke was the biggest fuckin waste of space ive ever seen in 35 years of following football.Nowhere near premiership quality and Stuart Pierce should hang his head in shame £6 million was a joke,the dutch league is piss poor anyone can look half decent their,but the premiership is a different kettle of fish .
Don - July 15th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Bit harsh that Mick old boy,
Although clearly not going to take long about forgetting him,he did show some little promise when he first arrived,but then Pearce got hold of him and coached all the talent and confidence out of him.
I felt for the kid although he tried he also looked like a headless chicken running around that was way out of his depth.
The Celtic move will be good for him,hes gone to a huge club that obviously liked him.And he will get his confidence back by scoring goals in a league(no disrespect )which he will be far more suited to.
I still think he will come good i just dont think he was ready for the premiership.
Anonymous - July 15th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
if he becomes a success in spl it just proves what a joke that league is
utter shite
Big Gerry -no messing wae me - July 15th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Anonymous 07.15.08 at 5:25 pm if he becomes a success in spl it just proves what a joke that league is utter shite
so why are the majority of the EPL chairmen running scared of Celtic and Rangers being invited to improve the standard of that league. I’ll tell you -because bar the top 4 all the rest are terrified (and in the case of Rangers fans running amok I sympatise) of relegation / making way for the SPL Giants and losing their [precious Sky money which allows mid table clubs like Man City to splash out / squander £6m on Big Sammy who they then ruin.
This is an excellent deal for Celtic and for Sammy. He will be a success and will grace the Champions league. Not his fault City didn’t know how to get the best out of him.
And btw -lead article is pure keek.
PS Daniel Cousin anyone ?
hairlikespaghetti - July 15th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
seems to be a distinct hint of bitterness from the Mancs for some reason - fair enough, he didnt excel in his time with you, but I do remember he started well and semed to drop out of favour. 23 year old EURO 08 striker for £1M whereas the mancs seem to be attempting a football version of Brewsters Millions. You have to remember that Celtic make approx £2M a year from the TV deal, whereas the perennial under-achievers on the blue side of manchester earn anything between 30-40M a season. We shop at a different level, but still manage to make it into the top echelons of Europe season after season. You lot get excited if you finish above Blackburn & Everton, but whatever floats your boat guys!!
Samaras will be playing the likes of Inter, Barca, Real Madrid or AC this season - beats struggling for an away win at Hull anytime!!
Floridabhoy - July 15th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Anonymous, you are an utter shite bag, by not revealing your name, The SPL is full of footballers not hooray Henry money lusting scum.
Stevie Mac - July 15th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
There’s no doubt when a player doesn’t do as expected, you want to berrate them. That’s fair enough - that happens at any club. The EPL is a good league with good players, good TV coverage and a shed load of money. But to say the SPL is a joke is unfair. Scotland doesn’t have the population or funding to make it a success. I watch EPL games a fair bit and if you’re trying to tell me that the quality of football served up is always good then you know nothing about football whatsoever.
Most players are in the EPL for wages, as are most footballers. Samaras has yet to prove himself at Celtic, but he is getting that chance. As Jock Stein once said: ” They have their game, and we have our. It’s not important.”
Although you like to think so, football doesn’t revolve around England. True football fans know about leagues all over the world, especially the ones on your doorstep. England fans are so consumed by their own league, they can’t see the wood for the trees.
And if the SPL is so shit, why do Celtic always give a good account of themselves against Englaish teams?
Father Ted - July 15th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Big Sam got five or was it six important goals for Celts. Needs to improve his first touch . Bundles of enthusiasm and worth the gamble. Just look at the revelation of McDonald scoring goals for fun in the SPL and the Champs League.
BIG fuckin Gerry - July 15th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Seems you are a little touchy when some prick leaves a silly comment ,it was in bad taste ,but lets be honest the SPL is mundane to say the least to anyone thats not scottish.
I for one would relish the two Glasgow clubs joining our league and if every glasgow fan was honest so would they.
You have 4 big games a season in the league and then if you meet each other in the cups,
You could attract some of the best players in the world if you were in a better league.
unfortunately its a case of 2 massive clubs in a crap league.
weetim67 - July 15th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Obviously the moment Georgios decided he wanted to leave City he became an instant FLOP. After all, who in their right mind would want to switch the mediocrity of the mid-table, empty cabinet Manchester City for top of the table, title winning, Champions League regular, medal winning, best supported team in the world? Ths Samaras guy has to be dumb! Yeah, he must be.
Mickeybhoy - July 16th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Samaras scored 5 goals in 16 appearances… not a bad return in my book.
I wouldn’t exactly call him a FLOP…
saying that his first choice is to stay and that he wants to be in the first 11 states his ambitions… It’s nice to hear someone with a bit of fight as opposed to someone who is just happy to take their wages and sit back…
As for the decision being a strange one from a Celtic point of view, please can you explain… given his goal scoring to date (1 in every 3 at Celtic) and his ambitions, and his age I believe that it has been a very shrewd move by Celtic.
As a matter of interest Jake… who do you support?
jakepjohnson - July 16th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’m a Bristol City fan, so I find it hilarious when I write articles that go against some fans opinions, I get called a derogatory name that relates to their rival team.
According to comments I’ve had, I supportMman Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, etc. Always good for a giggle.
I was referring to him flopping at Eastlands, not at Celtic. He did well at Celtic as he recovered from being ignored by Sven. However, you’d expect people wanting to secure a move to a club to sit out their loan move and not irritate their potentional employees by saying you want a starting place or nothing. He ran the risk of being sent back to Manchester to rot in the reserves, but I think Strachan saw something in him like Celtic previously did Sutton and Hartson. The players were ‘flops’ at Chelsea and West Ham (Sutton more so) but they were great in Glasgow. Samaras can reignite his career at Celtic. He just needs to get his head down, work hard and repay the faith.
Stevie Mac makes a good point though. Bellamy came to Celtic Park and played a huge part in the title run-in and this pushed his price right up. So it could be that Strachan has kept that in mind in regards to Samaras. Perhaps he saw enough to convince him he wanted him in his squad so he played him sporadically to steal a bargain.
£1million is an amazing price considering thats what Cardiff nearly paid for Marcus Bent!
Gibbons the Hoop - July 16th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Whyyyyy? Ok for 1m thats brilliant but I don’t want Jan or Skippy out the team as they are a brilliant team withunderstanding and experience and if they ARE going to get broken I want a proven goalscorer in there league, national side and hopefully In Europe aswell. Only few would come that fit that and one is a favourite of mine and a man willing to come for a good fee. Alex Frei who is big scorer in french, Swiss, German sides and is a big part of the Swiss international side! He can score Long range goals and a wicked free kick taker to replace Naka when he leaves for Japan. Don’t want to see Sammy either brake up the menacing two or not play but it’s going to be either, so i guess I wont like that next season.
Gibbons the Hoop - July 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Frie’s reported fee is 5m but reckon we could get that down to 3m or 4m.