Under-19 Squad

**ontheotherhand** · 04/08/2022, 6:00 PM

Originally Posted by CSAD

If you read my comment it you can clearly see that I’ve said if he’s not able to play for Celtic he should be on loan at an SPL team. I’m curious to know if playing for Sligo doesn’t get up to Celtic’s level on what universe does playing in the 5th division with kids will? If this is considered satisfactory for him development development by Celtic then it probably explains why Celtic are so bad at developing players.

Celtic just terrible at developing players and trying to deny this is just fooling yourself, that fact fans have to go back all the way to Kieran Tierney nearly 6 years ago now proves my point.

I agree with you that they don't seem to have a great pathway, just not that he was scoring for fun here. He absolutely has potential but saying he was dominant at our level isn't accurate. He was good for his age. Long way to go to be knocking on the door at Celtic's level. As we've seen with Scales.

**Eirambler** · 04/08/2022, 6:23 PM

Nobody is suggesting that these lads should be walking into the Celtic team. The point being made is that, if Celtic are going to sign them, they need to provide a clear pathway so that a player can develop and become a first team player in time if they become good enough.

But the current pathway seems to be either the Scottish fifth tier or a loan to one of the lower Scottish league divisions. Neither of those provide a platform for a talented young player to develop and there's no obvious sign that the Coaching at Celtic is doing anything much for them either.

Someone made a comparison to Southampton, but if a young Irish player goes to Southampton they can at least hope to be given decent loans in the English league if they're anyway decent. At Celtic they're unlikely to get a loan at that level - the equivalent in Scotland would be a bottom half SPL team and those clubs don't tend to loan Celtic players unless they have first team experience.

So basically Celtic don't have the structure in place to get the best out of young players - so any developing player would be well advised to steer well clear. To simply say that they'd be playing if they were good enough is just wilfully ignoring the underlying issues - if it was a club other than Celtic I doubt the same would be said.

**CSAD** · 04/08/2022, 6:32 PM

Originally Posted by ontheotherhand

I agree with you that they don't seem to have a great pathway, just not that he was scoring for fun here. He absolutely has potential but saying he was dominant at our level isn't accurate. He was good for his age. Long way to go to be knocking on the door at Celtic's level. As we've seen with Scales.

He’ll never be knocking at the door while at Celtic though, that’s my point. He should be on loan at another SPL side, that’s what will potentially get him to that level, this nonsense of playing in the 5th division is just a waste of his time.

**ontheotherhand** · 04/08/2022, 6:36 PM

Originally Posted by CSAD

He’ll never be knocking at the door while at Celtic though, that’s my point. He should be on loan at another SPL side, that’s what will potentially get him to that level, this nonsense of playing in the 5th division is just a waste of his time.

Yeah we agree. They should have loaned him back to Sligo if they didn't have a better place for him to go.

**CSAD** · 04/08/2022, 6:39 PM

Originally Posted by Eirambler

Nobody is suggesting that these lads should be walking into the Celtic team. The point being made is that, if Celtic are going to sign them, they need to provide a clear pathway so that a player can develop and become a first team player in time if they become good enough.

But the current pathway seems to be either the Scottish fifth tier or a loan to one of the lower Scottish league divisions. Neither of those provide a platform for a talented young player to develop and there's no obvious sign that the Coaching at Celtic is doing anything much for them either.

Someone made a comparison to Southampton, but if a young Irish player goes to Southampton they can at least hope to be given decent loans in the English league if they're anyway decent. At Celtic they're unlikely to get a loan at that level - the equivalent in Scotland would be a bottom half SPL team and those clubs don't tend to loan Celtic players unless they have first team experience.

So basically Celtic don't have the structure in place to get the best out of young players - so any developing player would be well advised to steer well clear. To simply say that they'd be playing if they were good enough is just wilfully ignoring the underlying issues - if it was a club other than Celtic I doubt the same would be said.

They don’t have a clear pathway though… that’s my point. Bosun Lawal is the captain and best placed player to play for Celtic based on his performances for the 2nd team and we saw when he played for Celtic during the summer just how difficult it was for him to step up… at 19 years old, if that doesn’t show how poor the pathway is then what does?

Like you said it’s willfully ignoring the underlying issues.

**tetsujin1979** · 02/09/2022, 11:18 PM

Few reports on twitter that Cristiano Fitzgerald has signed a professional contract with Boavista, and has been added to their senior squad. Nothing official from the club yet.
He does have some photos from training on his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristiano_fitzgerald/

**JR89** · 17/09/2022, 12:46 PM

Ferizaj turned down a call from Albania about switching to them to play with their senior team.

**tommy_c12000** · 17/09/2022, 12:54 PM

Interesting, source? Assume it’s his dad who’s very proactive on Twitter

**tommy_c12000** · 17/09/2022, 12:58 PM

Thoughts on best move for him when he turns 18 early next year? Probably England, although I wouldn’t be opposed to Germany. Italy not exactly a place to develop players well, as Zefi ties his boots to get ready to play against Verona under 18s today…..

**JR89** · 17/09/2022, 1:14 PM

Hopefully it's somewhere where the route to the senior team isn't that difficult. He'll only be 18 and could even afford to go somewhere like a Belgium for a couple of seasons. Dad says his agent wanted him to join Sampdoria but he begged him to remain with Rovers for the time being. Chelsea, City, and Roma have also showed some interest in him.

His dad is very vocal on Twitter and has said he wants the lad to give back to Ireland by playing with us as this country has given them so much.

**nigel-harps1954** · 17/09/2022, 1:34 PM

Genuinely, while they are winning leagues, and competing in Europe with a good chance of group stages again next year, he's better off sticking with Shamrock Rovers for another year, maybe even two or three. A settled 20/21 year old with 100 senior appearances and European football behind him would stand him in better stead than finding his feet at a new club and possibly being shoved into a youth setup somewhere else.

**Eirambler** · 17/09/2022, 1:50 PM

Originally Posted by JR89

Hopefully it's somewhere where the route to the senior team isn't that difficult. He'll only be 18 and could even afford to go somewhere like a Belgium for a couple of seasons. Dad says his agent wanted him to join Sampdoria but he begged him to remain with Rovers for the time being. Chelsea, City, and Roma have also showed some interest in him.

His dad is very vocal on Twitter and has said he wants the lad to give back to Ireland by playing with us as this country has given them so much.

Is his agent Ireland or Carr by any chance? They seem hell bent on sending young Irish lads off to Italy whether it's in their best interests or not.

**tommy_c12000** · 17/09/2022, 3:54 PM

Zefi scored his first of the season today in a 2-2 in their u18s opener vs Verona. Obviously no point getting too excited. More concerning to me that he isn’t automatically in their primavera team. Will hopefully progress to U19 soon, then loan spell next season

**JR89** · 10/10/2022, 5:15 PM

Wouldn't be able to sign for any team in England until December 2023 anyway till he turns 18.

**tetsujin1979** · 10/10/2022, 6:14 PM

Says in the article there's a chance he could sign for city's Belgium affiliated club Lommel SK before moving to the UK

**gastric** · 10/10/2022, 9:30 PM

It took a long time for a Meath player to play internationally for Ireland, and now we have Ferguson and Curtis with hopefully bright futures. Exciting!

**tetsujin1979** · 18/12/2022, 10:09 PM

Cristiano Fitzgerald played for Boavista in a friendly against Bordeux on Friday
Has some photos on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmRzlv0IzT_/

**JR89** · 19/12/2022, 5:02 PM

Originally Posted by tetsujin1979

Cristiano Fitzgerald played for Boavista in a friendly against Bordeux on Friday
Has some photos on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmRzlv0IzT_/

Signed a contract today till 2026.

**tetsujin1979** · 19/12/2022, 5:40 PM

Originally Posted by JR89

Signed a contract today till 2026.

that's two contacts in less than six months, pretty good going!
Wonder if he'll be involved in their league cup game tomorrow?

**tetsujin1979** · 11/01/2023, 10:56 AM

Cristiano Fitzgerald interviewed this morning on Off The Ball
Starts here at 1:04:50
https://www.goloudnow.com/podcasts/o...-otb-am-383362

It's not a great interview to be honest, at the end of the day he's a 19 year old kid being interviewed by two adults. He's not yet a great speaker and they're dragging answers out of him

On their YouTube channel now, if anything it's worse in video form. He clearly doesn't want to talk to them and they're almost answering their own questions.