#Delboy REVEALED, OCTOBER’S PLAYER OF THE MONTH! A big thank you for all your votes, this is the first time we’ve tried this and we received a huge reaction. The winner of this month’s award goes to Virgil Van Djik by a clear mile – the big Dutchman has clearly put in the right performances to get the supporters on board after a slow start. Our first analytical review is from Kieran Caw – @Kieran_Celtic, and the effect it’s had on his Nigerian centre back partner: The Dutchman has been Celtic’s best buy of the summer. His performances during the month of October, particularly against Barcelona and Ajax, must have given Louis Van Gaal food for thought in terms of awarding the 22-year-old with his first senior international call-up. For Celtic, Van Dijk seems to have brought the best out of Efe Ambrose as well as solidifying what was feared to be a fairly weak defence as a result of Kelvin Wilson’s departure. Added to his excellent defensive abilities, Virgil van Dijk’s calmness when in possession of the ball along with his confidence to drive forward and take opponents on shows how much of a complete player he is at such an early stage of his career, which has resulted in widespread praise throughout Scotland and also in his native country. His performances domestically and in the Champions League have not gone unnoticed as a string of big clubs admit they are kicking themselves for missing out on Van Dijk, even Ajax fans have expressed their appreciation for his latest surge. At National level, the uncapped centre back is rumoured to be in amongst plans to finally earn his first Dutch cap ahead of the World Cup in 2014. Next up is Joe Ruddy – @joebhoy2412, with his opinion of why Virgil undoubtedly deserves the Player of the Month award for October – with a realistic view point that he may not be around for as long as Celtic fans may wish as he grabs the headlines and scouts line up to watch: Virgil Van Dijk signing for Celtic in the summer came as a surprise to many people in Holland. A lot of the journalists thought that he was ‘better’ than the Scottish Premiership, but nonetheless, he signed for Celtic. It’s no wonder that these people were surprised at his move however as he is a rock in the Celtic defence. Van Dijk is a phenomenal defender and he is extremely confident in himself. He has gone about his career at Celtic very professionally so far, and on numerous occasions he has said what he thinks about the Celtic fans. His performances week in week out have been brilliant, a great reader of the game. He is a big boy, very strong, and not afraid to put in a challenge. The scouts have found yet another gem. His performances for Celtic have seen the Dutch national team showing an interest in him, and its thought that he could now be part of Holland’s World Cup team.He is a defender, much like Ambrose, who loves to go on attacking runs. In the short time he has been at Celtic, I’d say that he’s trebled his market value already, and will continue to do so with these performances. Celtic have been known over the years for being weak at the back, but this year they are very strong with the ever impressive Virgil Van Dijk and Efe Ambrose. Van Dijk will be at Celtic no more than two seasons, in my opinion. A bit like the Victor Wanyama situation, he will eventually move on to a cash rich team, and Celtic will be in profit again from a player sale. Van Dijk is an excellent defender and will only continue to get better. The deserved first player of the month with Celtic Journal readers. If you haven’t already read Joe Ruddy’s interview with Virgil Van Dijk’s other half we highly recommend you do, it makes a rather interesting and revealing read. (Link) Finally we have Sean Murphy – @bhoymurphy87, giving us a wrap up of how this highly rated yet unproven defender is taking Scotland and Europe by storm: The the readers of the Celtic Journal have, like me, decided that Virgil Van Dijk has been our best player over the last month. Its hardly a surprise, after a pretty poor start in Karagandy, the big dutchman has asserted himself in the team, and is already looking like one of the best deals the club has done under Neil Lennon. He has formed a formidable partnership at the back alongside Efe Ambrose, with the often shaky Nigerian putting in his most consistent run of form since he came to Celtic alongside Virgil. In particular he has looked very comfortable at Champions League level, leaving many a club across Europe to wonder what they missed out on. The only downside for Celtic is that we may not be able to keep a hold of him for very long if he continues in the same vein, but the worst case scenario is that we will get in a very tidy profit on the dominant centre back. Well done Virgil, October’s player of the month!
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 19:26:53 +0000
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