Wham! Bam! It’s Ntcham!
Celts boss Bren wants South African stopper
CELTIC are eyeing up South African defender Rivaldo Coetzee. And Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers last night admitted he could do business before Wednesday’s Champions League crunch against Astana. The Parkhead boss is hunting new faces before the close of the transfer window and the 20-year-old is on the radar along with Patrick Roberts.
Coetzee, who has 22 caps, is ready to leave homeland club Ajax Cape Town.
Celtic are keeping tabs on the
stopper’s situation with a view to a potential move.
Rodgers is also waiting for word from Manchester City on the availability of winger Roberts who is wanted for a second spell.
City are yet to decide on where Roberts will go next – having had an 18-month loan spell in Glasgow – and other options are now also being assessed.
With Moussa Dembele out with a hamstring injury and Leigh Griffiths’s calf issues keeping him out of the starting line-up for last night’s 1-0 win over Partick, the Hoops boss is also stepping up moves for attackers.
Having initially claimed he was happy with just two main strikers in the squad he said: “I will definitely have to look at it a little closer.
“My vision is to have two strikers available and fit, pushing each other.
“If there’s an unavailability and it’s consistent then I need to seriously look at that.
“The guys are doing great for us but the dynamic of the team is obviously better when you have a No.9 who can actually play the role.
“We wanted Leigh to get 90 minutes but his calf was playing up again. That’s always the danger sign. You always have to be careful with that so we assessed it and thought it was maybe too big a risk.
“He felt fine on Friday morning so he got his half hour at the end.
“It’s really about the availability of a player. We’ll look to bring in quality if it becomes available.”
Asked if something could happen next week, Rodgers added: “Maybe. It’s something we have been working towards over the course of the last few weeks.”
Rodgers was able to enjoy a win last night but rival boss Alan Archibald was annoyed at ref Andrew Dallas’s refusal to award the Jags a last-gasp penalty.
The whistler waved aside strong claims in stoppage time after new signing Miles Storey appeared to be caught in the box by Nir Bitton.
Thistle could have snatched a leveller but Dallas said no.
Archibald said: “It’s a foul anywhere else on the pitch so I don’t know why he has not given it.
“It is a big call because it is the last minute of the game against Celtic.
“I am past anger. I didn’t expect to get it. We are at Partick, with the small club mentality.
“I don’t think you expect it in the last minute against Celtic. It is a big call to give.
“We got a penalty the other night – I don’t think we will get two penalties in four days.
“We’ve had about three in three years.”
Rodgers had a different view on the incident but said: “I haven’t seen it again.
“From where I was it looked as though he’s got a nick on the ball and the guy’s gone over.
“But sometimes away from home you never know. You saw it at Ross County last season, they can be given against you.
“It’s a game we were in control of without being at our best but if you don’t take your chances.
‘At 1-0 with five minutes to go you have to stand up and we did that. The maturity of the team came through in that they can manage it through to the end.”