Help Sitemap Home Skip Navigation Contact Us Disability Statement


Hamilton reject Celtic offer for McCarthy

Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image
Click on thumbnail to view image

Published Date: 14 May 2009
HAMILTON boss Billy Reid today confirmed Celtic have made a bid for star midfielder James McCarthy.
Reid refused to divulge the amount of the offer but revealed it was set to be rejected by the Lanarkshire club.

He said: "The club have received an offer for James. I can say at this stage that it will be rejected."

Celtic's offer is the second to be knocked back by Accies in the past week after they rejected an approach from Portsmouth for a fee reportedly in the region of £500,000.

McCarthy, 18, is arguably the hottest property in Scottish football and recently capped a superb debut season in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League by winning the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award.

His agent Willie McKay has claimed the player would snub a move to the Barclays Premier League in order to join Celtic.

Reid added: "We're keeping James informed at all times of the situation.

"At this stage, he's just focusing on the final two games of the season."

Should Hamilton reject Celtic's initial bid, it remains to be see whether the Scottish champions will return with an improved offer.

Reid last week warned McCarthy's suitors to forget about landing the player on the cheap.

Despite interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe, Accies have managed to hold on to McCarthy since he made his debut as a 15-year-old in November 2006.

Reid is confident the latest bout of speculation will not faze the player.

"James has had this for two years and he'll not let it affect him," he said.

"We'll sit down at the end of the season and talk about James' future."

Page 1 of 1

 
1

TM, they'll never take away my freedom,

14/05/2009 13:25:07
Hamilton are doing what Hibs did with Fletcher - overpriced him and he'll end up going on a free under the Bosman ruling.

Silly Billy Reid.
2

Shape to Shoot,

14/05/2009 13:34:44
Playing professional football at 15 takes some doing. I was just hingin' oan tae ma place in the school team at that time, but to be out on the field with seasoned professionals must have been daunting to say the least...mabey not for this young fella.

I think a fair^price for him would be around £1m-£1.5m...call it quits at £1.25m. He's YPOTY and has impressed many wise heads in the game for quite some time.

The trouble for Celtic is that if he doesn't break into the first team and then we flog him on in two years, we'll get next to nothing for him as he'll have hardly kicked a ball unless he's had a good loan spell at a decent club. But that's a chance Celtic will have to take if they want him...If Strachan thinks he's got the goods to make it at Celtic, Lawell should be ready to pay a fair price...if it doesn't work out, them's the breaks.

3

Rhys Donaldson,

14/05/2009 13:56:07
"overpriced him and he'll end up going on a free under the Bosman ruling"

How the hell will Fletcher be leaving on a Bosman, hes under contract for another 4 years...
4

TM, they'll never take away my freedom,

14/05/2009 13:59:12
3

Doh! Are you really that stupid.

Fletcher is overpriced...NO one will buiy him...He will play out his contract for 4 years...then he'll be away on a FREE/Bosman...Geddit???
5

MIXTU,

14/05/2009 14:04:48
Has the lad decided to turn his back on Scotlands national team?
6

Daillyman,

14/05/2009 14:07:19
2 Patrick

Lawell is only interested in blue chip signings, on the cheap!
7

TM, they'll never take away my freedom,

14/05/2009 14:07:22
5

Dunno...are you not thinking of that scoring sensation Boydchenko?
8

Dublin 7 Hibby,

14/05/2009 14:08:51
4 - If you know your history, you'll know that Iron Rod Petrie does not screw up when it comes to selling players. It's buying that's his problem. Gary O'Connor,Ivan Sproule, Stephen Whittaker, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, even Shelton Martis. We even got some money for Bobby Williamson for crissake! £11m the lot!

Fletcher will be sold when the money and the time is right.
9

Rosscobhoy,

14/05/2009 14:35:57
If we sign him we should leave him with Hamilton(Or loan him to another SPL team) for the first year he comes across. As it stands he'd develop more playing every week than playing every month if he is lucky.
10

,

14/05/2009 14:39:08
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
11

Skip McClendon,

14/05/2009 15:21:18
#1

Overpricing him? By rejecting derisory bids in the region of £500,000?

He recently signed a new contract, so won't be leaving under freedom of contract any time soon. Even if he does play out his deal, Accies would still be entitled to compensation for his development as he would be under 23 when he left.

He's one of the best young players in Scotland, and is worth well more than the sums offered so far. Either Accies get a fair offer, or they keep him for at least another year.
12

Skip McClendon,

14/05/2009 15:40:39
#13

£2M would be fair, although I doubt Accies get that much in the end.

No doubt he will become "unsettled" by interest from the big clubs, and Accies will have to settle for a bit less than fair market value.

But, in terms of talent and production, McCarthy is a player worth around £2M IMO. He's every bit as good a prospect as Scott Brown was when he moved for way more than £2M.
13

Hamish 123,

London 14/05/2009 15:44:33
So the OF snap up another provincial player, who will be lucky to get regular game time. Anyway, if the boy's got any sense, he'll get out of Scotland. He gets enough grief playing with Accies, and it will be 10 times worse if he signs for Celtic. And the weather's rubbish in Glasgow.
14

Lion-O "Lord Of The ThunderCats,

14/05/2009 15:54:28
Tried to get this point on the Tom English debate, but it wasn't put on. The SPL should ban all transfers between member clubs.

Would make the league stronger and give the OF a better challenge, or don't they really want that?

Would also improve the national team if players had to leave Scotland to more technical leagues on the continent - it worked for France.
15

Hamish 123,

London 14/05/2009 16:03:02
Lion-O, totally agree. My view is that the OF don't really want the competition. Between them, they have bought up most of a Hibs team, and half a Dundee United team - with more to come. What's the chances of them letting Gomis stay at United, given he's run rings round both their midfields this season? And Sandaza will be a target before long as well. I'm staggered that anyone would want to play for either of these dinosaurs, rather than move to England or abroad. Then again, seeing the mass of daft tattoos on Fletcher's arms, one must question his sanity anyway.
16

,

14/05/2009 16:16:36
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
17

Hamish 123,

London 14/05/2009 16:45:56
#16

The fact that you think it's a terrible idea shows how divorced from reality the OF and their fans are. Having you lot buy up any decent player from your competitors reduces competition, and ultimatley weakens the league. Wouldn't it be better if the likes of Naismith, Robson, Flood, Wilson etc etc stayed where they were, or moved out of the league entirely to get a regular game? Frankly, I would like to see good players go anywhere but the OF.
18

Hamish 123,

London 14/05/2009 16:49:30
Sorry - last post was addrssed at #19
19

jerrymanders,

Dreaming of the big time 14/05/2009 17:11:03
#20

Tell that to the players in question. Set up for life and they can still go and play for these lesser teams if they don't make it. BTW the selling clubs appreciate the money too (if they don't end up on Bosmans because they paid them paltry wages in the first place). Look at Hibs.
20

Hamish 123,

London 14/05/2009 17:15:49
#22 Fair enough, players are set up for life, and the clubs get the money (sometimes). Doesn't make it it a better league though! Perhaps you are just more concerned about the players' and clubs' bank balances?

Or are you just an OF supporter trying to justify the pillaging of other clubs' players?
21

Rosscobhoy,

14/05/2009 17:29:32
#23

Without the money from Rangers and Celtic, Hibs would be in a far worse place. As much as you can speculate, you cannot guarentee they would have brought in £12m approx for the players they have sold in recent years if it wasn't for our teams.

Anyway, you should be blaming your own boards for running the clubs so badly that they are forced to sell on decent players. If so many teams were not desperate for the money due to being cr*p with money in the first place, they wouldn't grab the cr*p amounts we occasionally offer out of sheer desperation in the knowledge they could be a goner without it. Blame them, not Celtic or Rangers for taking advantage.
22

big bucks,

14/05/2009 18:01:20
#23 The same applies down in England where some regard the premier league the best in the world.
Ask Westham about losing players such as Carrick,Joe Cole,ferdinand,Lampard the list is endless.Even teams like aston Villa,spurs and to a lesser extent Arsenal have trouble holding on to there best players.
And with the bosman ruling it's hard to stop players going to a bigger club for more money,unfortuetly it's the way of the world.
23

,

14/05/2009 20:33:59
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
24

TM, they'll never take away my freedom,

14/05/2009 20:40:53
27

I think Celtic should sign Bamba, Rob Jones and Sandaza for 4million that would be money better spent than on say Fletcher or some wee guy from Hamilton who will never feature.
25

Andrew Sachs,

14/05/2009 22:37:25
Tim, I suspect that none of these three would improve Celtic at all but I agree with your point about Fletcher. Hes a tidy enough player, good first touch, decent eye for a pass and can weigh in with the odd goal. However, a striker he is not!


26

Silence of the Yams,

14/05/2009 23:31:43
#29 Jungle Jims like you should beware in case your words come back and haunt you on Sunday. An average Hibs display was enough for a point vs your Weegie pals last night. Flect is a mile better than the two impostors: Vinger & Samararse.
27

Andrew Sachs,

15/05/2009 00:36:51


I stand by my words; how many goals has he scored in 5 seasons?

Celtic have no pals in Scotland. There are no clubs worthy of such a tag!
28

,

15/05/2009 08:09:29
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:

 

Comment on this Story

 

In order to post comments you must Register or Sign In

 
 
RSS Feed of this article's comments
Delivery formats: RSS, Atom, Javascript & Email
 
  

 
 


Sister Newspapers:
Press Complaints Commission

This website and its associated newspaper adheres to the Press Complaints Commission’s Code of Practice. If you have a complaint about editorial content which relates to inaccuracy or intrusion, then contact the Editor by clicking here.

If you remain dissatisfied with the response provided then you can contact the PCC by clicking here.