Latest news with #Celts'
Glasgow Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Michel-Ange Balikwisha 'close' to Celtic transfer move
The Hoops were already targeting wide men - and Balikwisha has been on their radar for some time- before Kuhn's impending transfer to Como. After flying out to Italy earlier today, the German winger is poised to join the Serie A side in a £16.3million deal. Celts' need for wing reinforcements will therefore intensify but they could be about to rectify that quickly with Balikwisha. Voetbalkrant report the Scottish champions have held lengthy talks with Antwerp over the 24-year-old, but have made progress and are now close to sealing his signature. Read more: The Belgian side are said to be keen to push it through as they seek much needed funds to strengthen their squad. Plus, the player has intimated he will not be extending his contract, which expires next year, so this is their last chance to cash in. Meanwhile, Kuhn was earlier pictured flying out to finalise his move to Como. As well as Balikwisha, the Hoops could replace him with another winger from his former club. Isak Jansson was the man signed by Rapid Vienna to succeed Kuhn on their wing last year and Celtic reportedly now want to do the same for £3m.
New York Post
09-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
The Celtics are relying on a gimmick, not a game plan
In this, the Age of No Good Reason, it made for twisted logic: The Celtics, last year's champs, who recently sold for $6.1 billion, began their playoff round with the Knicks as heavy favorites. That's how well and often they shoot 3s in a league that has sacrificed righteous basketball to emulate a video game that would be rated IEE — for immature, easily entertained audiences. But the Boston crowd, a generation or two removed from Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek and Dennis Johnson, seemed at least as excited by the Celts' one-trick teams as those that first defined pro basketball as worthy of our time, money and full attention. And so, in Games 1 and 2, both at home vs. the Knicks, the Celtics — a professional, exorbitantly paid team — played without a Plan B.
Daily Record
25-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Celtic winning triggers horrible Rangers summers for man who wants stars to sing blues before takeover
Change is a coming down Ibrox way and for that, the Rangers faithful are mightily relieved. But in the here and now, Scottish football's status quo remains locked with Celtic secure as top dogs. That undeniable truth is likely to be underlined in bold today when Brendan Rodgers' team march out at Tannadice looking to wrap up a fourth straight Premiership title and leg two of a potential Treble. The Celts' champagne corks could very well be popping just as Barry Ferguson 's Rangers side kick-off at St Mirren. The interim boss will be in no rush to take a peek at the images of celebration 90 miles up the A9 having been forced to witness similar scenes of Hoops jubilation a few times himself as a player. But the former skipper hopes the players who have failed to keep pace with the champions-elect this term will take a look at their joyous rivals. Perhaps then, they might experience a fraction of the anger and pain that will be gripping the punters in the away end at the SMiSA Stadium. And maybe, just maybe, it might get through to them that campaigns as abject as this one will simply no longer be tolerated at Ibrox, even less so now that Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises are preparing to sweep a fresh broom along Edmiston Drive. 'Well, it would be painful for me,' said Ferguson as he was quizzed on the prospect of Celtic marching across the finish line today. 'It would be painful for my staff, it would be painful for the supporters. 'And I want it to be painful for my players, because you're at Rangers and we need to start challenging, properly challenging for trophies. 'What do I remember from these occasions as a player when we had to watch Celtic celebrating? Well they were horrible summers. 'I was ready to come back in and work my backside off to make sure that didn't happen again. 'It's sore when you see your fiercest rivals win trophies, you don't like to see that. It should make you even more determined and hopefully that's going to be the case next season.' Rangers' prospects next term will hinge on how much dosh Cavenagh and his partners from the NFL giants can cobble together and how well new sporting director Kevin Thelwell, in combination with current recruitment chief Nils Koppen, manage to spend it. It remains to be seen if Ferguson will play a part. But if asked for his opinion, he will advise the club's new owners to ensure they include a special X-factor in the algorithm they are relying to uncover new recruits. Fergie said: 'I've always said it, you can't just be a good player in Rangers. There's loads of other attributes you need, because there's expectations, there's demands on you, and over the last number of years the club haven't won enough trophies. 'It's something I identified when I first took the job, when I sat down with them I explained certain attributes you need to be dealing with because you're under pressure. 'There's demanding expectations every single time you cross that white line. You're expected to win games, you're expected to win trophies and if you don't, you're going to come in for criticism. 'When you get that criticism you need to handle it. I came in for a lot of criticism, it's not nice, but you know what? It made me even more determined to go and prove people wrong. That's what the group of players need to do in this short period of five games before the end of the season. 'It's not been good enough, so it's good to see that the club are starting to move forward, it's exciting times, and hopefully the changes that are going to be made will make a big difference. 'Obviously, I'm not part of the talks [with the new owners]. I've seen what was released at the Rangers forum this week. 'It looks positive. We just need to wait and see how long that's going to take. But it's certainly positive news and it's certainly something that the Rangers fans are welcoming. 'I've made clear that there needs to be outside investment, I've said it now for a couple of years. So it looks like it's going to be close now, it's just hopefully a matter of time. As a Rangers supporter of course I'm happy to see that talks are progressing well. 'I said last Thursday after the Bilbao game that there's a lot of changes needed, and that's one of the changes. We've seen a sporting director get announced in the last day or two. 'So I've always maintained if the club wants to go and challenge and move forward there's a hell of a lot of changes needed, but it's great to see that starting.' Ferguson has thrown his hat in the ring for the manager's job after backing himself to make Rangers 'a better club'. Now it's down to the players to show that they can play a part moving forward, with today's trip to Paisley the first of five final auditions before the new owners move into to perform the biggest overhaul Rangers has seen in years. 'The players need to go and show that they want to be part of this club going forward,' he added. 'I gave them a few days off after the Athletic Bilbao game, just to reflect, because obviously it was a disappointing night for us. 'But this week's been pretty positive, I've given them a challenge, we've got five games to go and we want 15 points.'
Axios
10-02-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Celtics trust championship core as they seek another NBA title
As chaos engulfed the NBA ahead of last week's trade deadline, the Celtics largely stood pat — betting that a proven roster is enough for another title run. Why it matters: Heading into the season's home stretch, the Celts' bet on stability will decide whether they can repeat as champions. This year's team hasn't been as spotless as last year's historic squad, which cruised through the regular season and dominated the playoffs. State of play: The Celts stand at 37-16 following Saturday night's nationally televised victory against the conference-rival New York Knicks. Despite a recent stretch of inconsistent performances, that's good enough for the Eastern Conference's second-best record. What they're saying: In the words of Celts president Brad Stevens, Thursday's trade deadline was "boring as hell" — by design. "We just weren't going to do anything major because at the end of the day, even through our ups and downs over the last six weeks, what gives us our best chance to win?" Zoom out: Some of the Celtics' rivals made moves to bolster their title chances — including the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs traded for DeAndre Hunter, a big, versatile scorer and defender who could guard Celts' stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown this postseason. Meanwhile, a shocking trade shook up the Western Conference, with Luka Dončić — who led Dallas to last year's finals against the Celtics — joining LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Yes, but: The Celtics likely won't miss facing Jimmy Butler in the East playoffs. The mercurial star — who bounced Boston from the postseason two years ago — was shipped from the Miami Heat to the West's Golden State Warriors. Startling stat: The Celtics are only 16-10 at TD Garden, one of the worst home records among the league's top contenders. That could be cause for concern after last year's team rode home-court advantage through the playoffs to a world title. What's next: The Celtics face the Jimmy-less Heat in Miami on Monday, then host San Antonio on Wednesday before the All-Star break. Tatum and Brown both made the lineup for this season's All-Star Game, which begins 8:20pm Sunday on TNT.
