Latest news with #Rieper
Daily Record
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Benjamin Nygren earns incredible Celtic transfer hype as legendary signing senses something special
Winger is close to finalising a deal to join Celtic and former defender Rieper insists he is perfect for Parkhead. He was nurtured in Nordsjaelland's Right to Dream Park. Now Benjamin Nygren is preparing to live that fantasy with Celtic in the Champions League. The winger is just the latest in a long production line of stars to head out of the Danish club with ambitions for bigger and better things. Nygren may have come through the ranks back in Sweden at IFK Gothenburg before moving on to Genk in Belgium and a loan spell at Dutch side Herenveen. But it was only after he moved to Nordsjaelland that he finally out down roots. And blossomed at a club former Celtic hero Marc Rieper is one of the best for developing young talent in the whole of Europe. One look at the Farum-based club's transfer business in recent years certainly backs that statement up. A year ago Conrad Harder left for Sporting Lisbon for £16.5m and lifted the Portuguese title. Weeks earlier Ibrahim Osman moved to Brighton for £17m. Twelve months before that a record £21m was banked in a deal that saw Ghana winger Ernest Nuamah move to Belgians Molenbeek and immediately head to parent club Lyon. Chuck in Southampton's Kamaldeen Sulemana who brought in £14.5m when he moved to Rennes in 2021 and fellow wide men Mohamed Kudus, Simon Adingra and Andreas Schjelderup who all moved for just shy of £10m and since 2021 Nordsjaelland have been bankrolled by a production line of wingers. Nygren is just the latest. But this time Brendan Rodgers looks to have got a snip at just shy of £2m if all clauses are emt. And it's a price Rieper reckons is an absolute bargain for a player he reckons will take Scottish football by storm. He said:: 'This is a really good signing for Celtic. Nygren was one of the top players in Denmark last season. A really exciting player. 'Nordsjaelland are unbelievable at developing players. They do it every year. 'They sell two or three every year for big money, £10million-plus. Then they just produce new stars at 17 or 18-year-old. 'They are probably the best in Europe at developing. They bought Nygren when he was an under 21 for Sweden but not really with a big reputation. They just nursed him and made him what he is now. 'They are really skilful at doing that. Now he is a full international with his country and doing well for them as well. 'I think Celtic have done really well to sign Nygren. I have actually been a bit surprised that Nordsjaelland have been able to keep him for so long. 'His contract was close to running out so they couldn't wait and let him lose for free. 'They opted to keep him last season when there was some interest and try to get in the top six. 'They managed that. Now it's time for him to move on.' The 23-year-old netted a career-best 16 goals across all competitions last season - having stuck 12 the previous campaign. HIs form saw him win a first call-up to the Swedish national team in March and he's since gone on to win four caps, netting another two goals. Celtic fans looking for a tricky, paced winger who knows the way to goal are in for a treat, according to Rieper, who was part of Wim Jansen 's title-winning Hoops side in 1997-98. The Dane said: 'Nygren was in the top seven or eight goalscorers in the Danish league last season. He has a good technique from distance. 'As a winger he goes past people because he has pace. 'He has good skills with the ball and is really neat passer, good at making connections with other players. He's an exciting player. I think the Celtic fans will really like him.'
Daily Record
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Record
Hibs given Midtjylland lowdown as insider details four stars David Gray's side will need to stop
Rieper reckons HIbs have a 30 per cent chance of advancing in next month's Euro qualifier. Marc Rieper reckons Midtjylland will be heavy favourites to beat Hibs in next month's Europa League second qualifying round. The Easter Road side return to Euro competition next month but have been handed a tough draw for starters. Thomas Thomasberg's side ran Copenhagen close, finishing just a point behind the champions, last season. And with a cast of stars including in-demand Oliver Sorensen, former Celtic defender Rieper reckons his countrymen will take some stopping if Hibs are to get past the first hurdle on their Euro return. David Gray 's side head to Middle Jutland for the first leg on July 24 before the return at Easter Road a week later. And Rieper said: 'Midtjylland have some really skilful players. Quite a lot of foreigners from their line-up with an academy in Africa. 'They get a lot of really good quality players from outwith Europe including Brazilians. 'It will be tough for Hibs. I would say maybe 70-30 in Midtjylland's favour. They are probably a similar level to Celtic and Rangers. Maybe just below. 'But they ran Copenhagen really, really close in the league last season. 'They have players coming back from the Premier League and others who are rising stars in Denmark. 'Adam Bursa is the Polish striker who scores a lot of goals. 'They have a really skilful midfielder called Aral Simsir, I mean really skilful, who they missed in the middle part of the season. 'And Oliver Sorensen in midfield is one of the most talented players in our league at the minute. Box to box. Every game he was running a mile more than anyone else. And a good finisher aswell. 'They also have quality at the back with Mads Bech Sorensen back from Brentford so they have some really top players. 'It'll be really tough for HIbs. But it's two games and anything can happen.'
Daily Record
01-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Brendan Rodgers must be Celtic contract priority as Hoops hero Marc Rieper warns of disruption he'll never forget
The Hoops manager is set to sit down with Dermot Desmond in the coming weeks with his own situation among the items on the agenda. Marc Rieper knows only too well the dressing room disruption that can be caused by a manager leaving amid a period of success. The big Dane has been both a beneficiary and a victim of much-loved gaffers cutting ties with their clubs suddenly and with drastic consequences. That's why the former Celtic defender reckons the best bit of business the Hoops could do this summer would be to tie Brendan Rodgers down beyond the end of his deal in 12 months' time. Rodgers will sit down with Parkhead supremo Dermot Desmond in the coming weeks and pour over a wide range of topics ahead of the new season. And chief among them is his own situation as he enters the third and final year of his deal. It may be a while off but uncertainty over what happens beyond next May is already reverberating through the fanbase. The longer the issue drags on the more it threatens to become an unwelcome sideshow. Rieper knows that can never be allowed to filter into the dressing room. He felt both sides of it not long after being signed for Celtic from West Ham by Wim Jansen in 1997. Midway through that first season and with Rangers chasing 10-in-a-row, the Ibrox club announced Walter Smith would be leaving at the end of the season. Not only did the Ibrox juggernaught hit the skids as Rangers blew their chance of history, they ended the season empty handed as Jansen's Celts stormed to one of the most important titles in Parkhead history. Yet just 48 hours after securing the championship Jansen dropped the bombshell that he too was off, due to a breakdown in relationship with the club hierarchy. Rieper will never forget the disruption that caused to the squad who would finish the next season empty handed. And it's why he hopes there's an extended deal agreed for Rodgers when the Northern Irishman sits down to chew the fat with Desmond. Rieper said: 'It's always important when you've had a good run and the manager is liked by everyone that you try to stick with him. 'Obviously, that's for them to find out. I'm sure Brendan Rodgers is a popular guy at other clubs as well. 'But it'll be important for Celtic to try and keep the consistency. 'You could see what happened when I played at Celtic in 1997-98. Back then we had Wim and Murdo MacLeod as assistant and suddenly one day after we won the league they decided to quit. 'It just disrupted the whole of the next season. 'We had a togetherness with the team and with the management and in that case there seemed no real reason for him to stop. 'Obviously he had his reasons, but it was something that was really difficult to understand. 'Although we had some good people coming in and Josef Venglos as manager it was really difficult for them to create that togetherness so quickly. 'Even though you try to get a manager that's got the same philosophy and style of play, it's always different. 'So it's very important that you have the consistency and you keep the uncertainty away from the players and fans.' Smith's departure from Rangers that same summer was nowhere near as sudden having been announced in the October. But the effect it had at Ibrox during those eight months was every bit as devastating. Paul Gascoigne left before the end of the season followed by Brian Laudrup. Rieper said: 'Again, that was uncertainty. It wasn't just the manager who left. Some of the players, they sort of thought 'maybe it's time for us to move on as well'. 'That's bound to create uncertainty in the dressing room and with the fans, you don't get as much credit if you perform badly for a game or two. You feel it straight away from the crowd. 'So it's really important that you've got a settled dressing room and a settled management.' Rodgers won't be around forever, of course. But he has given '200 per cent' assurances he won't leave midway through his third term just as he did in his first spell in charge. But with speculation over what could come at the end of the season already in overdrive, the concern is his own situation could become a weekly soap opera. Rieper said: 'Yeah, that can happen. It would have been good to have it sorted by now. But they've both got their reasons why not to do that. 'Hopefully they'll figure something out.' No matter what, Rodgers will be in the hotseat next season and has already set out his targets - primarily to dominate domestically again and be competitive in the Champions League. Rieper was impressed with what he saw of his old club last season. But he reckons the hurt of the Scottish Cup Final defeat to Aberdeen and missing out on the Treble will be fuel to their desire to do even better next year. He said: 'I think they are players who've got that hunger anyway. 'It's difficult but they will definitely try and win everything on a domestic level. Then obviously do well in the Champions League as well. 'That's probably the most important thing for players who've won as much as they have - to do well in Europe. That's massive. 'They've had a really good season. I know they slipped up in the cup final, but still it's a good season. 'When you've won two things and you're a massive favourite to win the third, it's obviously disappointing. 'But it's still a fantastic season, well above par.' Meanwhile, Rieper insists Celtic are in safe hands with Kasper Schmeichel - even if the veteran keeper's best years are in the past. The 38-year-old dropped a clanger in the Scottish Cup Final defeat to Aberdeen. But it was a rare blot on an otherwise impressive season that saw Schmeichel keep 24 clean sheets including six-in-a-row to begin the Premiership season. The 113-times capped Denmark legend's form for the national team saw him harshly criticised in his homeland. But fellow Dane Rieper - who won 61 caps and the majority of them alongside Schmeichel's dad Peter - reckons the former Leicester keeper will prove he's still far from finished next season. He said: 'The best games of his career are probably behind him now. But he's still a top class keeper and he'll be great for Celtic next season as well. 'Kasper has had an unbelievable career, from obviously being in the shadow of his dad to then just making a name for himself. 'He's not played in as big clubs as Peter has. But the way he's performed for the clubs he has and winning the league with Leicester, which is probably one of the biggest achievements in British football history, I think he's had an amazing career. 'You can only just take your hat off for him and be proud of what he's achieved, both in the clubs he's played for and with the Danish national team. He's been tremendous. 'We've got some young talent coming through in Denmark who's eventually going to take over Kasper's spot. 'Is that going to be now or is that going to be in a year's time? I don't know, I think they're all good keepers. 'We've got Filip Jørgensen at Chelsea who's just won the Conference League and who's performed really well. 'We've got a few keepers in Germany who are playing regularly too. But I'm sure there's a few caps left for Kasper.' Denmark and Scotland are vying for a World Cup spot when the qualifiers kick off in September. Steve Clarke takes his side to Copenhagen for the opening match on September 5 before the Danes head to Glasgow for what could be a do-or-die concluding fixture on November 18. Rieper will be at Hampden for that one. But there's no split loyalties when it comes to the outcome. He said: 'Oh it'll be red and white for me! 'It should be a good game, both sides have a lot of quality. It really is hard to tell who will come out on top. 'I'm coming over with a group of people and we're going to have a tour of Celtic Park. So that's going to be good. It's been a couple of years since I last visited.'
