Burrows is possibly missing the game tonight to finalise a deal.
Possibly Joe Mason which could be a great signing if he gets his pre Wolves form back....... but maybe not as i've forgot where i read that.
Edit - It was here by Supermarv.
I just think with us surely being ahead of plan this season more focus should be on the playing side impact. You would want to balance the impact of Carson leaving now with no proper replacement lined up with extra quality for next season to help us push on.
Keeping Moult in the summer facilitated the cup run. Keeping Carson could also make us money so it's not as simple as just the fee.
Where am I saying that? I'm just saying that some of these clauses come back to bite us on the arse and you have to ask if we really need to make them if you are negotiating with a club that is about to go bust or players that are two steps away from bru office.
But then we give Les his cut and we are left with £180k which works out as the equivalent of one position in the league and winning the cup tie against Dundee ie fuck all in the grand scheme of things plus we don't have a guaranteed solid goalie until summer 2020.
The only way you can justify selling Carson is if it leaves us with a good bit of money to reinvest in the team this summer. If we were to get £400k after paying Les that would be a couple of marquee signings above what we would usually budget.
I think we occasionally sign players who are actually meant to go into the team and play for the duration of their contracts eg McHugh, Main, Tanner, Hartley, Tait.
Why?
Either we offered it or they did. Given that Burrows loves a contract clause - Moore, McDonald, Lasley, Dunne - it could well have been us. Hartlepool don't seem competent enough to negotiate something like that.
Surely the fact that's it's unexpected means it's unlikely to happen again?
The bid has only came in because Gordon got injured a few days before the window shut and Celtic need a reliable short term replacement who will be happy to got the bench when Gordon's back. It's a freak occurrence and I don't think many teams will be bidding for a 30 year old goalie when they have more time to plan.
I generally agree with that point but this feels a bit different.
I'd have kept Moult as he'd get his big contract at the end of the season and we could do with his goals but with Carson it's either move to Celtic in the next 24 hours or see out his career with us. Obviously that's not necessarily a bad thing but the guy is 29 and hasn't made any money out of the game, moving will change the rest of his life.
Would Celtic have bid without getting the nod from Carson's agent? I read an interview with him a while ago where he mentioned almost chucking football at one point because it wasn't working financially. It would be difficult for him to knock back Celtic after a career in the lower leagues.