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Hartley ready to sign for Bristol City

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Published Date: 04 July 2009
By Angus Wright
HEARTS look to have lost out to Bristol City in the race to sign former Celtic midfielder Paul Hartley.
The 32-year-old Scotland internationalist, available on a free transfer after seeing out his contract at Parkhead, spent four years at Tynecastle before moving to Celtic, but a return to Edinburgh now appears off.

Greek side Iraklis Saloniki had
also made an offer for Hartley, but

the player is due to head to Bristol early next week for a medical ahead of moving to the Championship club, for whom he is expected to sign a two-year deal.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo does however hope to have new players on board the squad's flight to Germany on Monday.

Meanwhile, Scott McDonald has been named Celtic captain for their pre-season match in his native Australia.

The striker will lead out his team-mates for the clash against Brisbane Roar on 12 July. Regular captain Stephen McManus will miss the trip with a knee injury, allowing McDonald to wear the armband. "I am absolutely delighted," he said. "As a life-long Celtic supporter, I realise just how great an honour it is to be given the captaincy for this match.

"I'd like to thank the manager for this opportunity. My family will be among the thousands of supporters who are all looking forward to the club's visit and it will, personally, be a real honour to lead the team out on this trip to Australia."





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  • Last Updated: 03 July 2009 10:46 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Van City Hibee,

Laughing at the yams's signings...'reach for the s 04/07/2009 00:31:57
Why would he sign up for the Gorgie Circus again??. They've got thier sights set on a much much higher calibre of player. Like a 3rd division Spanish player or, perhaps a player form the 3rd tier in Austria.

Classic stuff, absolutely classic.
2

StockportJambo,

04/07/2009 00:45:30
Angus Wright.

Need I say more...
3

gorgiegobbler,

edinburgh 04/07/2009 08:33:37
van city hibee.... FALKIRK? HA HA HA HA ya muppet !!!!
4

RolIand,

04/07/2009 09:05:01
Hartley's best days are behind them and we had those from him at Hearts, no great loss.
5

Bleeding Heart,

04/07/2009 09:33:02
#4 - I'd agree that Hartley's best days are behind him.

But I don't think that's the point here.

In my view, if Hearts allow themselves to be associated with a player, then they should be serious about it and make the signing happen.

I read yesterday that despite being linked with Hearts, Hartley hadn't even been offered a contract by them! What's that all about?

I can't help but feel that Romanov is messing with our heads here. Leaking stories about Hearts being "interested" in a player and nothing coming of it.

How many is that now? Hartley, Quinn, Hughes, Feeney..?

What is the truth behind these stories? If Csaba HAS been pursuing these players, then he should come out and tell the fans what is going on and say why we've apparently failed to sign them.
6

,

04/07/2009 10:08:34
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
7

Bleeding Heart,

04/07/2009 10:22:19
#6 - "Hearts and Rearrangerz fanz have always had a lot in common with each other."

Not as much as appears in Celtic mythology...
8

scottish turk,

altinkum bar one 04/07/2009 10:28:17
#6 barking mad

Rearrangerz??? as you call them

really Scottish champions, your name says it all, oil tanker

follow follow
9

Shape to Shoot,

04/07/2009 10:42:56
The rangers fans rather fetchingly refer to the hearts fans as 'part time proddies'. It would seem that east coast racial and sectarian hatred lacks a certain je ne se pas for their 'elder' cousins in the west. I tend to disagree as whenever I have attended tynecastle I have invariably found the hosts to be foaming at the mouth with anti-catholic/anti-irish hostility...I think the hearts fans do a jolly good job when it comes to stoking the fires of sectarianism to be quite honest. Granted, in terms of numbers, they can't match Scotland's Shame and possibly never will....but, with limited resources they try jolly hard and I think it loathsome that certain of Scotland's Shame shovel so much criticism onto good minded jambos.
10

Rixy boy,

04/07/2009 11:00:08
wow how massive a team must bristol city be.

HMFC "Big Team" ?
11

my chosen name is not available...,

04/07/2009 11:29:59
#1 Would you prefer we signed Falkirk reserves?

#5 Hearts didn't offer Hartley a contract. We weren't in a race to get him. It was all newspaper talk - like the other players. Generally, clubs don't let on what players they are or are not interested in. It's agents drumming up interest, meanign Hearts will be linked with every striker around between now and the start of the season. get used to it.

#9 I don't think I've ever read such a lot of ignorant, bigoted, semi-literate nonsense on this website, and that's really saying something.
12

Shape to Shoot,

04/07/2009 11:47:33
11

To say anything is to say something....really.
13

Daillyman,

04/07/2009 12:38:55
9

I understand your frustration Patrick, a poor season for the tic in the league, Cl qualifiers to be played with a possibility of no European football for the GFITW this season.

A long drawn out hunt for a 3rd choice manager, players out the door and no signings yet. But what does your post about sectarianism have to do with the lack of quality players coming into Parkhead.

Cheer up at least you will have an Aussie lead the tic out in their first friendly in the close season.
14

Shape to Shoot,

04/07/2009 13:13:33
brian i don't think that three weeks is a terribly long time to wait for a new manager. The laptoployal , true to form, milked the story for all it was worth, day in, day out....the media coverage was so extensive that it seemed drawn out but in truth the length of time involved was nothing exceptional.

I am excited about the coming season. As I've said before, I thank Strachan for he achieved and I recognise the great success he brought to the club, but at the same time, things had become very stale for a long time, he was unable to turn things around and IMHO it was the right time for him to leave.

We have a new manager with a reputation for exciting, pacey, skillful football, something we've long since wished the return of at CP. Those last two games of the season perfectly encapsulated what Celtic had become : as dull as dishwater. There were many times last season when I could hardly bring myself to watch Celtic. It was dreadful.

Mowbray is exactly the type of bloke we need. If he has us playing the way he likes to a high standard, rangers will need to be par excellence to stand a chance of retaining the title.
15

Daillyman,

04/07/2009 17:11:33
15

You say if "either one of them would have taken the Celtic job if offered"

So says you.

As a boss what would you prefer, to manage a club in one of the best leagues in the world, going up against some of the best bosses week in and week out. Have a fairly substantial budget to work with for bringing players in, or be a big fish in a 2 team league.

Mowbray has big shoes to fill with the departure of WGS, and some of the support may rue running him out of Glasgow.
16

Van City Hibee,

big team big signings AGAIN mwa ha ha ha 04/07/2009 18:21:46
#3 keep reaching for the starts gobbleboy

#11 who has signed Falkirk reserves ??
17

Shape to Shoot,

04/07/2009 18:42:23
Had it been rangers, we all know how the scottish meeja would have approached it....the time taken to appoint the new manager would've demonstrated Minty's heroic, patient, wisdom....none of this 'drawn out' or 'indecision' malarky.

An army of 'insiders' would've been quoted chapter and verse about how martinez and coyle were desperate to get the job, and that they would be keeping burnley and wigan on tender hooks until cap'n minty made up his mind.

A few other 'insiders' would be telling us that other premiership club managers were straightening up their ties, hoping that minty might cast a glance in their direction.

Finally, when the announcement was made, Minty would be lauded from the roof-tops, his chosen candidate would be 'imaginative', 'clever', 'insightful', 'brave', and all the other claptrap the laptoployal churn out at the drop of a hat in the hope of a cheap made-to-measure suit or a plate of roast lamb at chez minty.
18

,

04/07/2009 18:52:10
Comment Removed By Administrator
Reason:
19

stephen mccall,

04/07/2009 21:48:13
Wish Hartley all the best down south.Re Hearts sectarian support i suppose that is 100% percent true,a fact surely not lost on Hartley who still went about his business as a true professional in their colors.Is it not possible to be proud of your faith and heritage without demeaning the other side?
20

Daillyman,

04/07/2009 22:37:48
19

Patrick, TM has been appointed the Celtic boss so the club moves on. I just dont think he was the number one choice for the job, most Celtic fans will disagree with that point, but its just my opinion.
21

Bleeding Heart,

05/07/2009 00:39:50
#11 - "Hearts didn't offer Hartley a contract. We weren't in a race to get him."

You sound very sure of this. What makes you say this?
22

Bleeding Heart,

05/07/2009 01:18:18
#9 - "whenever I have attended tynecastle I have invariably found the hosts to be foaming at the mouth with anti-catholic/anti-irish hostility...I think the hearts fans do a jolly good job when it comes to stoking the fires of sectarianism to be quite honest."

I wouldn't deny that this happens. I wouldn't deny that a small section of the Hearts' support harbours a latent anti-Catholicism which is vented in matches against Celtic.

A larger section of the Hearts support - not normally given to expressing anti-Catholic views - may even join in with the bigots as a means of "attacking" the Celtic fans.

However, this attitude only seems to manifest itself in these matches and in my experience is largely as a reaction to the antics of the Celtic away support.

My point therefore is that the Celtic fans attending these matches could do with asking themselves whether THEIR behaviour is likely to provoke an unsavoury response.

That isn't an excuse for the behaviour of some morons within the Hearts support. But, as they say, it "takes two to tango".
23

Daillyman,

05/07/2009 02:24:02
23

Why did the Celtic officials request permission to talk to Martinez while he was still the boss at Swansea?

To just say hello to him.

As far as recruitment goes Todd, I think I may know a little more than what I read in the papers.

As far as any agenda goes, its good to see you follow the party line set down by Mr. Lawwell.

I still dont believe TM was the first choice, even though he might turn out to be a good manager.
24

Daillyman,

05/07/2009 14:14:41
27 Todd

Is it not in the realm of a possibility, that at least one of the candidates Coyle or Martinez were offered the job and turned it down.

I know it does not fit with the agenda out forth by Lawwell, but surely any reasonable man must think that it may have happened.

Does not matter as TM has the job, but you and I dont know if he was the tics first choice.
25

Bleeding Heart,

06/07/2009 19:06:41
#32 - Sadly, I suspect what that storyline really means to say is that every Rangers player has his price.

Wouldn't you say so?

A firesale at Ibrox would be fun, but it's not on the cards - sadly.

Still, I wonder how many mugs bought papers today on the strength of the "Every Rangers Player is Up For Sale" disinformation?

 

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