SPL - Mowbray defends Zheng deal

Eurosport - Fri, 25 Sep 13:15:00 2009

Celtic boss Tony Mowbray has denied he signed Zheng Zhi with a view to marketing the Parkhead club in the Far East.

FOOTBALL Tony Mowbray Celtic manager 2009 - 0

The China captain was unveiled at Celtic Park on Friday morning after signing a one-year deal with a one-year option.

"It was a totally footballing decision," Mowbray said. "We were looking for a midfield player, basically. We lost Paul Hartley and Shunsuke Nakamura and we needed some footballers in that area of the pitch."

He added: "I'm trying to add quality to that area so it was a totally football decision.

"I tried to sign him for West Brom so he has an understanding that I respect him as a player.

"His versatility is one of the main reasons he is here. He played against my West Brom team for Charlton and he was the most effective playing behind a striker or as a holding midfielder, or as a wide player.

"He's just a good footballer and I've said from day one that I like good footballers."

The 29-year-old midfielder, who left English League One side Charlton when his contract expired in June, said through an interpreter: "It is a huge football club and I am delighted to be here and I am looking forward to working with my coach.

"I can play a few positions but it is up to my coach."

PA Sport

Comment 44 - 63 of 63

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  1. 57 - ZZGUSF, busy getting stuff ready for the Paris­ fashion week. The usual Friday night was thrown out the­ windae last night, because lots of our customers were­ panicking about getting stuff in from HK and China, and­ turning it around so that it will get delivered by 9am­ on Monday. I was working through to 12:45am today.­ After a 6am start, I was completely knackered!­ Unfortunately, the celtic shirts won't be featured­ at the fashion shows! LOL!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Sat 26 Sep 2:37PM

  2. Just what the website needs? a Neanderthal man with­ out-dated comments, just shows your age. toddy aged­ 79!! dissapear as they did muppet?

    From Matthew, on Sat 26 Sep 11:44AM

  3. #60 bawheid pr*ck for no brains,just answer the f*cking­ question ,who did sc*m rankers f*cking rotten­ buy????????????????????????????????????????????????????­ ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????­ ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????­ ????
    says it all blue nose f*cking sc*m

    From jim.todd79, on Sat 26 Sep 11:27AM

  4. You just have to laugh at toddy aged 79!!!!!!!!!!!­ (scotlands best second best fool, you were second­ remember) ZZ TOP played with charlton, probs alongside­ majid, never heard of him till celtic wanted him. If­ they WERE that good why are they not playing in the­ premier league in England? and toddy aged 79, grow up­ muppet.

    From Matthew, on Sat 26 Sep 10:18AM

  5. all these sc*m from ipox/ibroke oan here slagging­ scotlands best for signing ZZ.welcome to paradise ZZ,­ now who can tell us who the sc*m bought, dont think you­ need to think @#$% this wan,NO F*CKING MONEY & NO­ F*CKING TALENT shower of mhanky blue nose sc*m.

    OAN­ THE DONS GUB THE BAS

    From jim.todd79, on Sat 26 Sep 6:19AM

  6. #54 Aztec auld pal,see what yer sayin but,of the three­ thumbs up toddy got ,1 possibly 2 of them could well be­ the toadstool hiself. The other could be you,to­ facilitate a point. I don't know. But there were a­ few Celtic fans commentin. S o its unfair to say­ we've got mair faces than a big daft bell (big ben­ is the bell) Don't start sayin am paranoid. Who­ telt ye ah wis paranoid? Was it a tall guy with­ glasses. If it was,don't listen tae him. He's­ oot tae get me. Awright auld pal cheers.

    From sherbet_d, on Sat 26 Sep 4:58AM

  7. what you shifting ginger?celtic tops to china?

    From zzgus f, on Sat 26 Sep 2:02AM

  8. Well that was an interesting debate about football for­ a change. Apart from jimtodd we done okay. Well done­ everyone, let's keep it up.

    From frederick s, on Sat 26 Sep 1:17AM

  9. Gettin bad on here ! When the likes thumb up todd , it­ lets u know what kinda people we are dealing with on­ this forum, the people wae more faces than big ben !!

    From aztectrooper35, on Sat 26 Sep 12:26AM

  10. well duncan you might think the celtic shirt is an­ eyesore
    but its not on many wanted police posters like­ the rangers shirt now is it ???

    From simonk, on Fri 25 Sep 11:58PM

  11. ALAN R You surprise me with your insight for such a­ young age. How do you know what wages this guy is on,­ how can anybody possibly be 100%sure about selling­ millions of football shirts ? in this current WORLDWIDE­ recession .I`m afraid your visions of grandeur are­ quite inaccurate as you `re over estimating the draw­ and popularity of Celtic , and lets face it the shirt­ is a bit of an eyesore .

    "HAIL HAIL YER­ SHIRTS TOO DEAR"

    From Duncan, on Fri 25 Sep 10:21PM

  12. everybody knows why sceptic go for oriental players, so­ they can sell merchandise to the far east , its not a­ crime rangers should take a leaf out of their book, god­ knows who is in charge of their. ( cant think of the­ name) rangers stop thinking about g.b and start­ thinking about the rest of the planet.

    From jimbo, on Fri 25 Sep 9:53PM

  13. Hello Duncan, I can see what you are trying to say but­ daddy and I don't agree. For a start he was a free­ transfer, he won't be getting much in wages­ (compared to Celtic's other superstars, or is that­ Gary Caldwell?) and you can be 100% certain that­ Chinese television will pick up on this thereby meaning­ loads and loads of shirts will be sold. Money makes­ the world go round and Celtic FC is a worldwide brand­ (whether you like them or not). Even if this guy is­ pants, he'll still sell shirts in the far east. ­ Anyway Duncan and all other football fans, I'm off­ to bed now as daddy wants to go on ebay and check his­ share prices (again!) from earlier today....night night­ everyone.

    From Alan R, on Fri 25 Sep 9:34PM

  14. How can you say it`s a win/win situation when to sell­ their shirts they must surely progress in Europe ,and­ it looks as if that won`t happen , or what happens if­ the Chinaman can`t or does`nt adapt to the Scottish­ game ,hardly what you would consider as an asset

    PS­ ,Sorry I don`t do baby talk thats Gingers Dept.

    From Duncan, on Fri 25 Sep 8:24PM

  15. Duncan: A nerve obviously stuck with that so appology­ accepted My comments are banter and yiz ur Muppets (-:

    From Geester, on Fri 25 Sep 8:04PM

  16. Look guys, I'm only 10 months old but what are the­ facts? One-year deal minimum, if he's any good­ then we get another year out of him. He played for­ Charlton 3 years back and they weren't a bad side,­ scoring goals too....let's be honest he can't­ be any worse than Fortune, can he?? Plus he's the­ Chinese captain and they are expected to drive the­ world out of recession, also the world's most­ heavily populated country who are catching the football­ bug. If Celtic do sell a million shirts just through­ having one player on their books then are we the mugs??­ You do the maths out there (I canna because I canna­ even count yet!) but it's win-win deal all-round­ for Celtic. Would Rangers fans and anybody else be­ criticising us if they had signed him and the­ commercial opportunities arose?

    From Alan R, on Fri 25 Sep 7:36PM

  17. Ah Ginger you`re a Shipping Clerk , and here`s all of­ us thinking you were a rocket scientist, better­ concentrate on your imports in case you bring in any­ more old Chinese duds

    From Duncan, on Fri 25 Sep 7:35PM

  18. 44 - some of those early guys you refer to will either­ be squad players now, or they've moved on. Even a­ complete dunce like you should be able to comprehend­ this. BTW: the reason for my long absence is that­ I'm still at work, taking care of a few more­ import/export problems, so don't sweat it!

    From Singin' Ginger!!, on Fri 25 Sep 7:14PM

  19. GINGER , You`re getting slaughtered and you`re too­ stupid to realise it

    From Duncan, on Fri 25 Sep 7:02PM

  20. Ginger!!! your are harder to work out that a two hour­ Dalziel & Pascoe episode. Off to listen to even­ stupider comments on real radio?

    From Matthew, on Fri 25 Sep 6:58PM
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