Luca Connell (D/M Barnsley b.2001)

[Eirambler]

A bit of a puff piece here from the Celtic PR machine on Connell, just to remind everyone that he still exists I suppose. You can't help but feel that he was badly advised by Coleman and Duffy if the quotes are correct

http://www.celticfc.net/news/18515

Meanwhile Neil Lennon is in the market for what feels like his millionth transfer target of the summer, and it's another young midfielder to move in front of Connell in the pecking order - 20 year old Alfie Doughty from Charlton. Hopefully for Doughty's sake he has the sense to stay well away.

[tommy_c12000]

Kicked out of Europa squad to facilitate new signing. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.67hailhail.com/news/report-luca-connell-makes-way-for-diego-laxalt-in-celtics-europa-league-list/amp/

Is the Scottish league open for another 10 days like England for domestic loans/transfers?

[Eirambler]

No. Closed until January.

[Trequartista20]

The guy's wasting his career. He's been incredibly poorly advised. He's frittered away a good 18 months of his development, and the sooner he moves away from Scottish football the better.

[tommy_c12000]

I’m personally delighted to see Celtic losing at Hibs. Hopefully it will spell the end of Lennon at Celtic, from a purely selfish Irish perspective.

I saw Luca was injured again during Irish duty, anyone with any insight? He seems to be pretty injury prone for a guy who hasn’t played football in a couple of years!

[seanfhear]

I’m personally delighted to see Celtic losing at Hibs. Hopefully it will spell the end of Lennon at Celtic, from a purely selfish Irish perspective.

I saw Luca was injured again during Irish duty, anyone with any insight? He seems to be pretty injury prone for a guy who hasn’t played football in a couple of years!
Perhaps thats why he is not playing regularly ? Perhaps he has some physical issues that ned time to sort out.

[Stuttgart88]

Finished 2-2!

[Bielsa´s irish]

I’m personally delighted to see Celtic losing at Hibs. Hopefully it will spell the end of Lennon at Celtic, from a purely selfish Irish perspective.

I
I saw Luca was injured again during Irish duty, anyone with any insight? He seems to be pretty injury prone for a guy who hasn’t played football in a couple of years!

I understand that but we arent sure a new manager will give chances to the irish guns. Could be the other way round

Anyway I think Lennon will be the ireland republic manager after Stephen. He is a good coach.

[Razors left peg]

I understand that but we arent sure a new manager will give chances to the irish guns. Could be the other way round

Anyway I think Lennon will be the ireland republic manager after Stephen. He is a good coach.
Based on how well he did at Bolton and Hibs?

[Bielsa´s irish]

Based on how well he did at Bolton and Hibs?
Well he got a trophy for Hibs, didnt he?

[Razors left peg]

I suppose you could call winning the Scottish Championship a trophy....

[nigel-harps1954]

Neil Lennon is a hopeless excuse for a manager and probably won't get another decent job after the botch effort at Celtic again.

[Exgrad]

See this thread with updates and hope Connell is in the first team picture, alas no. Would be better off playing league 2 with Bolton, the standard hes playing at looks Leinster Senior League level, from the few clips ive seen.

[tommy_c12000]

The circus at Celtic continues under Lennon.

13 senior players self isolating after Julien (who has a long term injury but still traveled for the bants) got Covid during their bizarre Dubai training camp. Unofficial reports show Luca not to be one of the unlucky 13.

Could this mean Luca makes his long awaited appearance today against Hibs?

[Eirambler]

It really depends who the 13 players out are. He would need them to be down a lot of midfielders because, if say 5 of the 13 isolating players are midfielders, he probably still doesn't make the team. He's basically their 10th choice central midfielder.

Should at least make the bench though with that many out, unless he's isolating, which would be further than he has gone before.

[Exgrad]

It really depends who the 13 players out are. He would need them to be down a lot of midfielders because, if say 5 of the 13 isolating players are midfielders, he probably still doesn't make the team. Should at least make the bench though, unless he's isolating, which would be further than he has gone before.

Jesus, this guy was playing in the championship two years ago, and he's this far off playing in Scottish league now? I know its been said before, but what a terrible move. From Championship player to spending two years at Leinster Senior League Level, if that.

[Eirambler]

Yes, it has been a disaster for him after he had got a break at Bolton at a young age. But it's not an exaggeration - if you look through their squad list he does appear to be 10th choice in his preferred position and in typical Lennon fashion, Celtic are in the market for another central midfielder this window.

He's probably slightly higher up the pecking order at left back.

The fact that Celtic are odds on favourites for a match against the fourth best team in the league, despite being down at least 14 players, speaks volumes about the overall division as well.

[John83]

There is no sense in having a 10th choice centre mid on the books. It's a waste of money.

[seanfhear]

There is no sense in having a 10th choice centre mid on the books. It's a waste of money.
Its all bit of a mystery! Does the lad have the shin-splints or something like that ?

[Eirambler]

He was held onto as he was second choice left back right up to the end of the summer transfer window after the Bolingoli incident. Then, on transfer deadline day, they signed Laxalt, whelich meant Connell was no longer needed, but it was too late for him to go out on loan.

They even took his Europa League squad place away and gave it to Laxalt.

They have no interest in youth development, yet young Irish players continue to sign with them.

Anyway he's on the bench along with Coffey and Oko-Flex. Basically anyone at the club, over 18 and fit is on the bench tonight though.

[boynemunich]

Its all bit of a mystery! Does the lad have the shin-splints or something like that ?

Nope, Celtic is just the worst place on Earth to go to if you are a developing footballer at the minute as there's no u23 league or any equivalent. I remember Connell played well in a pre-season game and the fans were singing his praises so I'd say the majority would like to see him get a chance. They've nothing else to play for this season also so they should really be giving lads like him game time and see what they have to offer.

And as I submit this I see he has made the bench tonight hopefully gets game time.

[nigel-harps1954]

One player that just has to get a move in the current window. Even if he went to somewhere like Dundalk or Shamrock Rovers he'd be far better off, but surely a League One club at minimum could be looking at a player with Championship experience and still room to improve.

One of the worst moves we've seen from any young Irish footballer in the past decade.

[Razors left peg]

One player that just has to get a move in the current window. Even if he went to somewhere like Dundalk or Shamrock Rovers he'd be far better off, but surely a League One club at minimum could be looking at a player with Championship experience and still room to improve.

One of the worst moves we've seen from any young Irish footballer in the past decade.

No point going to League of Ireland. Unlikely the league will start until at least April

[Eirambler]

Celtic bring on an 18 year old (Okoflex), a 17 year old and a 20 year old (central midfielder) but no debut for poor old Luca.

Maybe Bolton could loan him back down in League 2...

[seanfhear]

There has to be more to this than meets the eye !

[Fixer82]

There has to be more to this than meets the eye !

Maybe he's not as good as those

[elatedscum]

Maybe he's not as good as those

They were chasing the game and Oxoflex and Dembele are more attacking players

[seanfhear]

There has to be more to this than meets the eye !
I sorta meant the whole situation with Luca Connell rather than this particular match.

[kennedmc]

I sorta meant the whole situation with Luca Connell rather than this particular match.

Like what for example?

[sadloserkid]

His Championship experience is a bit of a misnomer too - he played 10 games for a Bolton side who were relegated very comfortably and pretty much in freefall as a club. Shane O'Connor played 12 games for Ipswich at the same level in his breakthrough season. O'Connor managed 5 more league games at that level before settling into the League of Ireland second tier (with only 10 games with Portadown and 18 in the League of Ireland Premier Division spread across Cork, Rovers and Limerick as a buffer). I'm not saying that Connell is necessarily headed for that career trajectory but it's at least as likely that he's just not good enough for even as mediocre a team as this Celtic one as him getting shamefully overlooked. He's young and I hope he turns out to as important to Ireland as he is in my current Football Manager game (60+ caps and Irish captain in late 2028) but he has proven very little so far.

[seanfhear]

Like what for example?
Is Luca is some sort of witness protection scheme. Celtic have virtually made the young man disappear !

[Eminence Grise]

With Lennon in charge I think you'll find it's a witless protection scheme.

[kennedmc]

His Championship experience is a bit of a misnomer too - he played 10 games for a Bolton side who were relegated very comfortably and pretty much in freefall as a club. Shane O'Connor played 12 games for Ipswich at the same level in his breakthrough season. O'Connor managed 5 more league games at that level before settling into the League of Ireland second tier (with only 10 games with Portadown and 18 in the League of Ireland Premier Division spread across Cork, Rovers and Limerick as a buffer). I'm not saying that Connell is necessarily headed for that career trajectory but it's at least as likely that he's just not good enough for even as mediocre a team as this Celtic one as him getting shamefully overlooked. He's young and I hope he turns out to as important to Ireland as he is in my current Football Manager game (60+ caps and Irish captain in late 2028) but he has proven very little so far.

I feel this is probably a fair assessment of the situation re Connell.

Celtic seemed to have favoured young Irish players recently ( Aged 18 - 20 so not cominng thoough academy) without doing too much due diligence on the quality of player. They signed O'Connor and he is struggling at league 1 level. Even if they hadn't of signed Frimpong, O'Connor was still miles away. Sign of a poorly run club and I'm guessing it is not Lennon doing all the recruiting at that level. Strange one.

[Eirambler]

I don't think Lennon had anything to do with those lads being signed. If anything it was more likely to have been Damien Duff's influence at the time in the cases of O'Connor, Afolabi and Connell. Rodgers signed Okoflex with personal assurances about first team chances (and then left the club).

It's hard to know for sure if Celtic made the mistake in signing the players or if the players made the mistake in signing for Celtic. Maybe a bit of both. It's noticeable that the best young players at Celtic are leaving these days, they have lost two of their best underage players to Bayern Munich recently and Karamoko Dembele is likely to be leaving this summer as well. Possibly Okoflex also. Similarly Billy Gilmour left Rangers for Chelsea.

There is no structure to the youth setup at Celtic or Rangers, they weren't playing in the Scottish development leagues even before they were suspended. They don't play much football apart from the odd game against each other's youth team. It's hard to see how any player could develop to their potential in that situation. There are also next to no first team opportunities as the cups in Scotland are taken a lot more seriously than in England so the reserves don't usually get a run out in either the League Cup or Scottish Cup.

So I'd say the jury is out on Connell, he has been kept with the first team squad for two seasons now, so they must see something in him, but Lennon is notoriously loyal to his favourite players, so no opportunities for Luca. The concern though is that any opportunities that do come up in his position go to Ewan Henderson and not to him.

The cases of O'Connor and Afolabi are slightly different. The club have obviously looked at them, decided they're not good enough for the first team squad and sent them out on loan. The loans haven't been at a high level but at least they're playing football. Neither has particularly impressed on loan and neither is a regular starter despite being loaned to clubs at a low enough level. Both are a year older than Connell. I wouldn't be at all hopeful for either player at this stage.

[Olé Olé]

O'Connor and Afolabi are both 20. Hardly time to write either off. They have a lot of time.

[passinginterest]

The O'Connor and Aflolabi signings were strange. I heard from a reliable source that not only did Lennon have nothing to do with them neither did Duff. The first Duff knew of their signing was when he got a knock on his office door to introduce him to the two new Irish lads. Seems to be a bizarre system for signing players and you'd have to question the players, and whoever was advising them, on making that choice to go there when there was no obvious interest from the senior management in the club.

[Eirambler]

O'Connor and Afolabi are both 20. Hardly time to write either off. They have a lot of time.

Yes, Afolabi turns 21 this month I think but both currently 20. Their loans haven't been great though - Afolabi got some first team games at Dunfermline but was considerably overshadowed by Kevin Nisbet. Now he's not in the first eleven at Dundee. That's a bit concerning given how weak the Scottish second tier is. O'Connor has struggled on both of his loans - wasn't highly rated at Partick Thistle and is seen as a weak link in the team at Tranmere.

Obviously they still have time to develop but they're not 17 year old kids either. Given the level they are playing at I would have hoped that they would both stand out, but they haven't at all.

[passinginterest]

Might be about to actually play some football, even if it's miles below the level we'd like to see him at; https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021/0318/1204752-celtic-teen-luca-connell-goes-on-loan-to-queens-park/

[ColourfulPeanut]

Championship debut at 16 and 10 appearances in his first season. Who would have thought it'd be 3 years until his next senior appearance and it would be in the Scottish 4th tier?

Depressing. Wouldn't advise any young player to sign for Celtic.

[Exgrad]

Yeah it's not a good look, 4th division of Scottish football, standard somewhere around 1st Division LOI, or maybe Leinster Senior League??? Queens Park were amateur up to last year, but maybe there is something behind them now and are on way up. TBH it will help his fitness levels but that's about it. To be more negative about the move it possibly reduces his chances of getting a loan move to a higher level next year.

Its hard not to question the advice a number of our younger players have got. Lot to be said for having a good agent, can make or break careers a lot more than people realise.

[Eirambler]

Luca Connell to Celtic must at this stage honestly be one of the worst transfers in the history of Irish youth football. Not in the Under 21 squad either.

[Razors left peg]

Luca Connell to Celtic must at this stage honestly be one of the worst transfers in the history of Irish youth football. Not in the Under 21 squad either.

Hes still only 19 but at this point if he doesnt get a half decent move in the summer you would have to question whether he'll even have a career. Has happened to a lot of lads

[boynemunich]

Hes still only 19 but at this point if he doesnt get a half decent move in the summer you would have to question whether he'll even have a career. Has happened to a lot of lads

I'm sure there's rules as to why he went to that level such as loan transfer windows or something. He could do worse than coming to LOI for a while, if he is to have a good career he would prove it at LOI level and could be back over by the time he's 21/22 . Youth is definitely on his side.

[Exgrad]

Luca Connell to Celtic must at this stage honestly be one of the worst transfers in the history of Irish youth football. Not in the Under 21 squad either.

Its really hard to think of a worse one. Look at the list of clubs who were monitoring him two years ago:

https://www.thesun.ie/sport/football/4082998/tottenham-will-swoop-for-bolton-starlet-luca-connell-after-trotters-went-into-administration/

He hasn't played a competitive game since.

[Trequartista20]

He was incredibly ill-advised in moving to a team playing in so low quality a league and one that has no proper U-23 team. The boy's wasted years of his career.

And to think, we were worried about his defecting at one stage!

[Olé Olé]

I checked this with a Queen's Park supporter I deal with through work. He said that Queen's Park are going to be playing matches three times a week for the next few months to get the season finished.

On the face of it, it is quite disappointing that it has to got to this and that Connell is signing for a team playing at that level. But there are a few positives to take from it (plenty games, Hampden Park, stays in Glasgow, moves with a teammate, Canice Carroll is there) and he is still only 19. Hopefully he can make the most of this.

[seanfhear]

If he turns in to a Super-Star everybody will be saying this was a brilliant strategy and everyone will be copying it ! !

[Exgrad]

If he turns in to a Super-Star everybody will be saying this was a brilliant strategy and everyone will be copying it ! !

They won't, they really won't.

[tetsujin1979]

this is was what was discussed in the mods forum:

Full disclosure - I have a close friend from Liverpool, and there's at least two other members of the forum who know him.
He was at Hillsbrough, not in the Leppings Lane end, and obviously never buys that paper. I've donated to the Justice for the 96 campaign, and a few years ago took part in the memorial walk in the Phoenix Park - https://twitter.com/tetsujin1979/status/455009219700613120
I don't buy the paper, and don't read articles on their site. I've told people who send me links via text/email/whatsapp/etc to their site that I'm not going to open it and not to send me links to the site.
Disabling the links is my way of supporting the movement - I'm not stopping anyone from reading the article, the link itself is still there as text. Most browsers will still allow you to select the text and open it as a link.

The other mods have supported disabling the links, as long as each change is clarified with the following "Links to that site disabled on the Ireland subforum in support of the Justice for the 96 campaign"

I should have been clearer about the reasons behind the change, my apologies

I'll add all this to the stickied post later

[John83]

Just to confirm, that's been the nature of the mod conversation. Short of Dahamsta nixing it, it'll continue like that.