CELTIC CONFIDENTIAL: Why it's no surprise that Odsonne Edouard isn't on Brendan Rodgers' radar ... and the Bhoy whose dream is to drive in Formula One

Brendan Rodgers’ assertion following Wednesday night’s win over Sporting Lisbon that Odsonne Edouard is ‘not on his radar’ came as no great surprise – considering the wages the former Celtic star is on at current club Crystal Palace.

Edouard has been made available by Palace after a nightmare year and there were rumblings within the Parkhead support about the appeal of offering him a return to Paradise.

Edouard was a popular figure during his previous four-year stay at Celtic Park and contributed heavily to three title wins – although his final campaign was a disappointment with Rangers reclaiming the crown.

He headed off to Selhurst Park in a £14million-plus deal in 2021.

However, the Frenchman was sent out on loan to Leicester City last term and endured an awful campaign, appearing just eight times in all competitions and making only four substitute outings in the English Premier League.

He was given seven minutes against Everton, one minute against Arsenal and 16 minutes against Bournemouth before making his final appearance of the league campaign in a two-minute cameo against Manchester United in November.

Rodgers is looking for another striker despite signing Japanese forward Shin Yamada in a £1.3m deal from Kawasaki Frontale.

However, reports state that Edouard, with a year left on his current deal, is on a salary of around £90,000-a-week at Palace inclusive of bonuses.

That, coupled with the need to fork out a transfer fee, puts him out of Celtic’s reach.

What the champions are willing to pay for further firepower, however, remains to be seen.

Rodgers is on the record as saying he is not so much interested in a big-name player as someone who will contribute to the team.

Supporters are becoming antsy, though, over the lack of higher-level spending and ‘high-quality’ individuals that Rodgers had spoken about bringing in at the end of last season.

So far, the window has been decidedly underwhelming.

New Bhoy admits his dream is to be a Formula One driver 

Callum Osmand is at Celtic to try to get his career into the fast lane – but admits he also holds a secret fantasy of living life as a Formula One driver.

The 19-year-old striker called time on his stay at Fulham earlier in the summer after admitting that he felt it was time to make the breakthrough at top-team level after a successful and prolific spell in the youth ranks at Craven Cottage.

However, in a Q&A feature with the club’s official media team, he admitted that his dream sporting pursuit would be flying round the track at Silverstone on the F1 scene.

Asked what he’d be if he wasn’t a footballer, Osmand replied: ‘Realistic answer or unrealistic? Unrealistic, I would love to be a Formula One driver – or a golfer.

‘Realistic, I don’t know. I’d like to go into coaching. Coaching would be good.’

Osmand played the second half of Celtic’s 2-1 friendly win at Cork City and was given a starting slot in the 3-2 loss to Estrela in Portugal.

Manager Brendan Rodgers has made it clear the youngster is not currently being looked at a starter in his team and has spoken about the need to study him closely in pre-season and make a plan for his future development.

However, it is clear Osmand would love to get some game time in this Saturday’s visit of Newcastle United to Parkhead and get a taste of the big-match atmosphere in front of a fanbase he has already grown to admire and respect.

‘Passionate is the best word,’ said Osmand when quizzed about the Celtic support. ‘They’re crazy. It’s great. The show-up at Cork was incredible and the support is going to be massive.’

East End of Glasgow is preparing for a Geordie invasion 

A sizeable chunk of the Geordie nation will invade Glasgow’s east end on Saturday for the friendly between Celtic and Newcastle United.

The Premier League club revealed that an initial allocation of 7,200 tickets had been sold out and that they had been granted more for the game at Celtic Park.

The suggestion is that more than 10,000 Newcastle fans will make the short trip from the north-east of England for their team’s first pre-season game.

While the prize on offer is the Adidas Trophy, sponsored by both teams’ kit manufacturer, it is first and foremost an attractive day out for Newcastle’s well-travelled fans.

The last time they visited Celtic Park for a friendly was in 2004 when Bobby Robson was their manager. He was sacked four games into the subsequent season.

This time it will be Eddie Howe in the dugout, four years after he turned down the Celtic job because he hadn’t been able to bring his own backroom staff with him.

While that was seen as something of a snub at the time, Celtic fans will be happy with how it worked out. Howe’s decision opened the door for Ange Postecoglou, who went on to win five trophies in his two seasons as manager.

It will be the first public outing of the season for Newcastle, whose only other action has been in a closed-doors game against Carlisle United, when Joelinton made his return from injury.

The next step for Howe will be to introduce Anthony Elanga, the club’s £55million signing from Nottingham Forest, as well as some of the big names who have been on international duty this summer.

Celtic are a little deeper into their schedule, having already played Queen’s Park, Cork City, Estrela da Amadora and Sporting Lisbon. Newcastle’s visit will be followed by a trip to Italy for the Como Cup. There, Brendan Rodgers’ side will contest two matches, one of them against Ajax, ahead of their Premiership opener against St Mirren on August 3.

Massimo Donati looking to revive a sleeping giant

Former Celtic midfielder Massimo Donati has made a big step forward in his managerial career by taking charge of Sampdoria.

The 44-year-old, who played for Celtic between 2007 and 2009, has signed a one-year contract as head coach of the Italian Serie B side.

Having worked already at Sambenedettese, Legnano, and Kallithea, Donatti’s task in Genoa will be to rebuild one of the country’s fallen giants.

Sampdoria, one of Donati’s many former clubs, would have been in Serie C had it not been for the financial irregularities that relegated Brescia instead.

He has been appointed along with CEO Jesper Fredberg and sporting director Andrea Mancini as part of a package intended to bring back Serie A football to the Luigi Ferraris Stadium.

Donati’s career as a player in Italy’s top flight included a £10m transfer from Atalanta to Milan, who sold him to Celtic for a fraction of that six years later.

The highlight of his two-year spell in Glasgow was a dramatic late winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a Champions League match at Celtic Park.

While he never quite lived up to expectation at Celtic, Donati forged a strong relationship with the club and with Scotland, where he also had spells at Hamilton and St Mirren late in his playing days.

Since then, he has tried to establish himself as a manager. While there have been mixed results, he has a reputation for developing players, as Sampdoria president Matteo Manfredi explained when announcing his appointment to the fans.

‘Concurrent with the appointment of Jesper Fredberg, we welcome Massimo Donati, a young coach with a deep understanding of Italian and international football,’ said Manfredi.

‘A former midfielder, including for our own Sampdoria, Massimo has built a promising coaching career, defined by clear ideas, professionalism, and the ability to bring out the best in young talent. His work in recent years has not gone unnoticed, and we are confident that his passion and leadership will make the difference.’

Bobby Gillespie was a fan of Stein's rock 'n' roll football

Rock star Bobby Gillespie swaggered in to help deliver an advertising trailer for Celtic’s new away strip that was released earlier this week.

His love for the Parkhead club was driven by the fact he felt Jock Stein turned the club into the footballing equivalent of a high-energy rock and roll band.

The Primal Scream lead singer takes a starring role in a film entitled ‘Everywhere We Go’ to promote the Bhoys’ new black jersey, narrating the action and appearing as a DJ at a party who passes his headphones to legendary striker Henrik Larsson.

Glasgow-born Gillespie has been a long-term Celtic fan and admits he was captivated as a child by the style Stein stamped upon the club during his days as manager.

In an interview with Virgin Radio back in 2021, he said: ‘Jock Stein was a progressive football manager - fast, attacking football.

‘There was a great interview with him before the European Cup Final in Lisbon in 1967. Stein said what’s important is not to win, but to win in such a style that the neutral who is watching the match sees beauty in the way that we’re playing and they can see that this is how the game should be played.

‘It should be entertaining, it should be high energy, intelligent and it should be fun. Celtic were up against Inter Milan who played Catenaccio style, which was developed by the great Italian clubs. It was defensive football. It was like a war of attrition. You wear the opponents down and it’s kinda dull. But it works - it’s kinda like, I would say, Tory football.

‘That whole idea of attacking football to me, it was like the MC5 or the Clash - high energy rock ‘n roll. You come out all guns blazing and you thrill the audience. It’s transcendent and it’s fun and that’s what Jock Stein’s football philosophy was.’