Celtic: Samaras And Ledley - Would They Be Missed?

I recently wrote an article talking about the transitional state that Celtic are in and how losing some crucial players affected the recent Champions League performances, and now according to media speculation, we could be set to lose two more in Georgios Samaras and Joe Ledley. The loss of any of these players, especially both, would a very problematic situation for Celtic as we would in my opinion be losing two top quality players. I would imagine Peter Lawwell himself would be especially upset to see them leave on a free transfer. Some fans might disagree to a certain extent with my view on either of the pair. However, there is no doubt for me that they have contributed huge amounts to the team, although in contrasting ways. Ledley has been a mainstay in Celtic's midfield for quite some time, whether some Celtic fans have actually noticed that or not over the years. He is a player that even I don't realise is on the pitch sometimes, but I actually mean that in a good way. Ledley is the containing player. He is the man that runs around rampant, trying to put himself between the opposing player with the ball and the player he's trying to pass it to. He often gets stuck-in with a tackle too with often great effectiveness, but doesn't usually rush into anything once he gains possession, he just makes sure he gets the safe pass away afterwards. He does all the dirty work behind the scenes and without standing out, so that the rest of the players can flaunt their attacks. It's just now that the majority fellow fans have started to notice his huge contribution in recent games now that they know he could be leaving to Cardiff, and boy has he been performing. He's scored a few goals and set up a fair few, as well as continuing his very consistent and high level of play. Samaras on the other hand is a different breed of animal, and one that I still struggle to fathom even after all the time he's played in the Hoops. Is he a striker? A winger? Or just whatever he feels like on the day? I have no idea, but what we all know is that he offers the element of surprise. This is especially apparent in big games, which I know always spurs the question from fans - "why can't he do that every week?". Week in, week out on domestic duty, Samaras cannot deal with the deep defence that Scottish Premier clubs plant on the pitch every single game. He is the type of player that when confronted by a high line, can knock the ball past a player with a three yard start on him and out-muscle him to the ball creating a break. When there is a deep line, this method is mostly flawed as there is not enough distance between the defence and the goal line for him to do this, making him resort to mazy/stuttering runs and getting caught in midfield. This is the reason fans either love him or hate him, he frustrates us, but then makes us forget about it all when he plays in Europe.

When he is on his game though, he can be exceptional. He was our top scorer in the Champions League last year and was even listed as the player that Barcelona fans wanted their club to sign the most, notching up 41% of their votes. His loyalty to our team is also worth noting; he has had many opportunities to leave the club for teams in better leagues but has decided to stay, even through times when seemingly fans of all corners of Celtic Park screamed for him to be sold. So we have Mr. Consistency and Mr. Surprise, but can they be replaced if they leave? I personally think that Samaras can be replaced, not for a player of a similar style, but with the instant-hit striker that we so crave at the moment. I believe that buying a tall target man can give us a replacement for two players - Samaras and Hooper. A certain Sunderland striker comes to mind... Ledley though, is a considerably more difficult player to replace in my opinion. It would be hard to find another player that can offer so many different elements to the team - pressure, tackles, passing, game speed control and even the odd goal here and there. So now I put it to you Celtic fans. How important is it for you that we get these guys on a new contract? Will you miss the elements they offer to our play, or is the lack of re-sale value more of a problem? Or are you simply not bothered about any of them and think we can do better? Looking forward to reading your views.