18 replies to this topic

[Linksco]

CELTIC have taken Fulham’s Algerian international central defender Rafik Halliche on trial.

The 25-year-old was given the chance to seal a deal in the bounce game against Hibs at Lennoxtown today.

Halliche is under contract at Craven Cottage for another 18 months, but Fulham boss Martin Jol is willing to offload him.

And, if the imposing, 6ft 2in defender impresses Neil Lennon, he could be brought to Parkhead as soon as the transfer window re-opens in three weeks.

Halliche was signed by then-Fulham boss Mark Hughes in August last year after impressing at the 2010 World Cup finals.

Partnering Madjid Bougherra, he played in all three group games for Algeria, including the goalless draw against England.

That intensified the race to sign him from Benfica, who had loaned him to Nacional immediately after signing him in 2008.

Arsenal were reported to be leading the chase, but it was Fulham who got in first and bought Halliche for an initial payment of £1.3million, with the same amount again due on completion of a specified number of games.

However, injuries severely curtailed Halliche’s first season in England. And, when Hughes was replaced by Jol, he fell down the pecking order behind the likes of Brede Hangeland, Chris Baird, Aaron Hughes and Zdenek Grygera.

Jol agreed to allow Halliche to sign for Swansea on loan in August. But a delay in finalising the deal meant it could not be completed before the transfer window closed.

Swansea continued to try and push it through, supported by the FA and the English Premier League.

However, Fifa refused to issue an international clearance certificate, and eventually Swansea had to admit defeat.

Halliche has remained in the reserves at Fulham this season. And, with no prospect of forcing his way into Jol’s plans, a quick exit is considered best for all parties concerned.

Halliche was a first-pick in the Algerian national side and has accumulated more 21 caps for his country.

But his lack of games has seen him lose his place in Vahid Halilhodzic’s team, and he is desperate to move to a club where he can once again play regularly.

Algeria – who are currently 30th in Fifa’s rankings list – just missed out on qualification for the African Cup of Nations, which takes place next month, so Halliche would not be arriving at a new club just in time to head off for four weeks on international duty.

As Halliche hopes to move into Celtic, Badr El Kaddouri appears to be nearing the end of his time with the Hoops.

The Moroccan full-back has struggled to command a starting place since signing on loan from Dynamo Kiev in August as cover for the injured Emilio Izaguirre.

And, with the Honduran defender ready to resume playing in the next couple of weeks, and left-back Andre Blackman already signed until the end of the season, El Kaddouri could be headed for St Etienne, who have declared an interest.

[Linksco]

out of otdays evening times. dont know much about the guy

[amcc]

Yes please from what i seen of him in World Cup it's a yes!

[YB67]

dont know much about him but he does look like a bit of a beast from some photo's I seen.

Bougherra seemed to handle the SPL well with the scum so this guy would probably do us a job I suspect. Plus if we can get him for free I dont see why not..

[mcdermott]

Hope wee get him coz he looks strong n looks like he knows how to play his lines so might be good with the offside track must be better than loovens or mastro

[WillyCFC1888]

Here Is A Video I found:

[Alzi]

he looks a good player from that video in my opinion, he can string some passing moved together and he can make some runs as well which is good as it shows he is a quick cb

[Lamberto]

seems agile for such a big guy, and looks confident on the ball aswell. I like the look of him, I take it he isn't a Fulham regular though?

[helen]

he looks really impressive

[Jordo1888]

Looks big, strong, confident in the air i hope and has a good bit of pace about him. Think he was a bench warmer under Mark Hughes and is completely frozen out now.

[YB67]

find it difficult to judge players COMPLETELY from videos although I do remember him from the world cup slightly when algeria managed to withstand the english.

gotta be worth a shot? especially when we have loovens and dan at CB.

[dundalk celt]

This guy looks like he could do a job , would just wonder if he could handle the physical side of the scotish game.

[WillyCFC1888]

He got injured a couple of times which kept him out of he Fulham squad and he never got going at them

[MusselburghBhoy]

I remember watching the Engerlund v Algeria game at the world cup and saying that there was an algerian centre half that looked quality, marked Rooney out the game (it wasn't fat Bougera), not sure if it was Halliche or not?

[Lamberto]

MusselburghBhoy, on 08 December 2011 - 03:29 PM, said:

I remember watching the Engerlund v Algeria game at the world cup and saying that there was an algerian centre half that looked quality, marked Rooney out the game (it wasn't fat Bougera), not sure if it was Halliche or not?

http://news.bbc.co.u...atches/match_23

Yeah he was, they had 3 centre backs on the pitch though, so he might have been playing right back. the person you remember was probably him or their captain Yahia.

[BuchananBhoy]

Good shout with that highlights video of the Algeria - England game Lamberto. Watching that you can see that Halliche is squad no. 5, and he's the one that makes several important interceptions on shots/passes on goal. But would be good to actually see him in action. Hopefully something will happen as we need to start next season with a solid defence, and obviously the rest of this season!

[Lamberto]

BuchananBhoy, on 09 December 2011 - 11:46 AM, said:

Good shout with that highlights video of the Algeria - England game Lamberto. Watching that you can see that Halliche is squad no. 5, and he's the one that makes several important interceptions on shots/passes on goal. But would be good to actually see him in action. Hopefully something will happen as we need to start next season with a solid defence, and obviously the rest of this season!

haha, I didn't even think about watching the video, just looked at the squad list. Will give it a watch just now.

cheers, and welcome to the forum!

[Alzi]

so whats happening with this guy? is he just being watched or do we actually have a general interest unlike zenden and other trialists lol

[Lamberto]

http://www.express.c...ame-for-Celtic?

looks like he'll be allowed to leave this month, so I reckon we could get him for £500k or even less. would be great to get him in and boot majstorovic and loosens. would give mulgrew and wilson a run for a starting spot, and would be mean if one of them is injured or suspended, we wouldn't have to resort to dropping Wanyama down to defence.