Celtic News: Season 2013-14

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Results / Fixtures


July

UCL 2nd Q: Cliftonville 0-3 Celtic (Lustig, Samaras, Forrest) Assists: Commons 2, Stokes - Att: 5000
UCL 2nd Q: Celtic 2-0 Cliftonville (Ambrose, Samaras) Assists: Stokes, Commons - Att: 44,389
UCL 3rd Q: Celtic 1-0 Elfsborg (Commons) Assist: Izaguirre - Att: 40,153



August

Premiership: Celtic 2-1 Ross County (Stokes 2) Assist: Commons - Att: 45,705
UCL 3rd Q: Elfsborg 0-0 Celtic - Att: 9,040
Premiership: Aberdeen 0-2 Celtic (Commons, Forrest) Assists: Samaras, Ledley - Att: 20,017
UCL Play-Off: S.Karagandy 2-0 Celtic Att: 20,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-2 Inverness C.T (Mulgrew, Matthews) Assists: Izaguirre, Brown - Att: 45,160
UCL Play-Off: Celtic 3-0 S.Karagandy (Commons, Samaras, Forrest) Assists: Samaras, Lustig, Stokes - Att: 58,000
Premiership: Dundee Utd 0-1 Celtic (Stokes) Att: 10,586



September

Premiership: Hearts 1-3 Celtic (Commons, Stokes, Pukki) Assists: Stokes 2, Commons - Att: 15,982
Champions League: AC Milan 2-0 Celtic Att: 43,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-1 St Johnstone (Pukki, Mulgrew) Assist: Stokes 2 - Att: 45,220
League Cup: Celtic 0-1 Morton (AET) - Att- 16,998
Premiership: Kilmarnock 2-5 Celtic (Commons, Samaras 3, Baldè) Assist: Samaras Commons 2 Mulgrew Lustig - Att: 6,149



October

Champions League: Celtic 0-1 Barcelona Att: 60,000
Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Motherwell (Stokes, Commons) Assist:  Brown - Att: 46,608
Premiership: Hibernian 1-1 Celtic (Forrest) Att: 14,220
Champions League: Celtic 2-1 Ajax (Forrest, Kayal) Assist: Stokes, Samaras Att: 60,000
Premiership: Partick Thistle 1-2 Celtic (Samaras, Baldè) Assist Izaguirre 2 Att: 7,978



November

Premiership: Celtic 1-1 Dundee Utd (Mulgrew) Assist: Izaguirre Att: 47,386
Champions League: Ajax 1-0 Celtic Att: 52,058
Premiership: Ross County 1-4 Celtic (Van Dijk 2, Ledley 2) Assist: Izaguirre 2, Mulgrew, Fisher Att: 5,982
Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Aberdeen (Commons 2, Boerrigter) Att: 49,638
Champions League: Celtic 0-3 AC Milan Att: 60,000



December

Scottish Cup: Hearts 0-7 Celtic (Commons 3, Brown 2, Ledley , Lustig) Assist: Ledley 2, Mulgrew 2, Lustig Att: 10,636
Premiership: Motherwell 0-5 Celtic (Commons 2, Ambrose, Stokes, Atajic) Assist: Stokes 2, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Pukki - Att: 9,117
Champions League: Barcelona 6-1 Celtic (Samaras) Assist: Commons
Premiership: Celtic 1-0 Hibs (Pukki) Assist: Ledley Att: 46,065
Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Hearts (Commons, Forrest) Assist: Brown, Samaras Att: 46,058
Premiership: St Johnstone 0-1 Celtic (Van Dijk) Att: 7,034
Premiership: Inverness C.T 0-1 Celtic (Commons) - Assist: Samaras Att: 6,384



January

Premiership: Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle (Ledley) - Att: 52,670
Premiership: St Mirren 0-4 Celtic (Mulgrew, Stokes, Commons 2) - Assist: Matthews, Ledley, Izaguirre, Forrest Att: 5,778
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 Motherwell (Commons 2, McManus OG) - Assist: Stokes 2 - Att: 47,489
Premiership: Hibernian 0-4 Celtic (Commons 2, Van Dijk, Pukki) - Assist: Izaguirre, Pukki - Att: 12,542
Premiership: Celtic 4-0 Kilmarnock (Ledley, Ashcroft OG, Mulgrew, Baldè) - Assist: Forrest 2, Ledley, Commons - Att: 44,271



February

Premiership: Celtic 1-0 St Mirren (Commons) - Att: 45,014
Scottish Cup: Celtic 1-2 Aberdeen (Stokes) - Assit: Samaras Att: 30,413
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 St Johnstone (Stokes 3) - Assist: - Griffiths, Brown Att: - 45,239
Premiership: Hearts 0-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Pukki) - Assist: - Stokes, Baldè Att: 15,801
Premiership: Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic (Forrest) - Assist:- Brown Att: 16,638



March
Premiership: Celtic 5-0 Inverness C.T (Griffiths 3, Mulgrew, Commons) - Assist Izaguirre, Forrest 2, Commons Att: 46,552
Premiership: Kilmarnock 0-3 Celtic (Commons 3) - Assist: Griffiths, Matthews, Mulgrew Att: 7,495
Premiership: Celtic 3-0 St Mirren (Johansen, Griffiths, Stokes) - Assits:Griffiths, Stokes, Samaras Att: 46,538
Premiership: Partick Thistle 1-5 Celtic (Stokes 2, Henderson, Johansen, Commons) - Assists: Izaguirre, Johansen, Griffiths, Samaras 2 Att: 7,549
Premiership: Celtic 1-1 Ross County (Commons) -  Assist: Griffiths - Att: 49,270



April
Premiership: Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic (Samaras, Stokes) - Assist: Commons - Att:11,033
Premiership: Motherwell 3-3 Celtic (Stokes, Samaras, Griffiths) - Assist: Brown, Stokes 2 - Att: 7,493
Premiership: Celtic 6-0 Inverness C.T (Stokes 3, Griffiths, Ambrose, Pukki) - Assist: Griffths 2, Johansen, Stokes, Commons 2 - Att: 45,712


May
Premiership: Celtic 5-2 Aberdeen (Brown 2, Stokes, Commons) - Assist: Matthews 2, Stokes, Kayal - Att: 47,468
Premiership: St Johnstone 3-3 Celtic (Commons, Pukki, Van Dijk) - Assist: Mulgrew, Brown - Att: 4,624
Premiership: Celtic 3-1 Dundee Utd (Stokes, Samaras, Commons) - Assist: Commons, Stokes - Att: 52,400




Goalscorers:

32 - Commons
21 - Stokes
20 - Griffiths (13 for Wolves)
11 - Samaras
7 - Forrest; Pukki
6 - Mulgrew
5 - Ledley; Van Dijk
4 - Ambrose; Brown
3 - Balde
2 - Lustig; Johansen
1 - Atajic; Matthews; Kayal; Boerrigter; Henderson




Assists:

18 - Stokes
15 -Commons
11 - Izaguirre
10 - Samaras
7 - Griffiths; Brown
5 - Forrest
4 - Ledley; Mulgrew
2 - Lustig; Matthews; Johansen
1 - Fisher; Pukki; Baldè






Man of the Match:

vs Cliftonville - Georgios Samaras
vs Cliftonville - Kelvin Wilson
vs Elfsborg - Kris Commons
vs Ross County - Anthony Stokes
vs Elfsborg - Mikeal Lustig
vs Aberdeen - Charlie Mulgrew
vs S.Karagandy - Kris Commoms
vs Inverness C.T - Tom Rogic
vs S.Karagandy - Kris Commons
vs Dundee Utd - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Hearts - Anthony Stokes
vs AC Milan - Adam Matthews
vs St Johnstone - Virgil Van Dyke
vs Kilmarnock - Georgios Samaras
vs Barcelona - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Motherwell - Kris Commons
vs Hibernian - James Forrest
vs Ajax - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Partick Thistle - Emilio Izaguirre
vs Dundee Utd - Anthony Stokes
vs Ajax - Mikeal Lustig
vs Ross County -Virgil Van Dijk
vs Aberdeen -Efe Ambrose
vs AC Milan -Emilio Izaguirre
vs Hearts - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Anthony Stokes
vs Barcelona - Fraser Forster
vs Hibs - Mikeal Lustig
vs Hearts - Kris Commons
vs St Johnstone - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Inverness C.T - Kris Commons
vs Partick Thistle - Joe Ledley
vs St Mirren - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Kris Commons
vs Hibernian - Virgil Van Dijk
vs Kilmarnock - Joe Ledley
vs St Mirren - Stefan Johansen
vs Aberdeen - Virgil Van Dijk
vs St Johnstone - Anthony Stokes
vs Hearts - Leigh Griffiths
vs Aberdeen - Nir Biton
vs Inverness C.T - Leigh Griffiths
vs Kilmarnock - Kris Commons
vs St Mirren - Anthony Stokes
vs Partick Thistle - Anthony Stokes
vs Ross County - Virgil Vam Dyke
vs Dundee Utd - Kris Commons
vs Motherwell - Anthony Stokes
vs Inverness C.T - Anthony Stokes
vs Aberdeen - Scott Brown
vs St Johnstone - Kris Commons
vs Dundee Utd - Anthony Stokes



Average League Attendance for Season 2013/14: 47,079 from 19 games (894,501)
Total Home Attendance for All Competitions in 2013/14: (1,264,454)
Average Home Attendance for the UEFA Champions League in 2013/14: 60,00 from 3 games (180,000)
Average Home Attendance for the UEFA Champions League Qualifiers in 2013/14: 47,514 from 3 games (142,542)

Appearances:

Player's Names	SPFL Premiership (Subs)/Goals	Champions League (subs)/Goals	Scottish FA Cup (Subs)/Goals	Scottish League Cup (Subs)/Goals	Total Appearances (Subs)/Goals
1. Fraser Forster	37	12	2	-	51
2. Adam Matthews	20 (2) / 1	4 (2)	(1)	1	25 (5) / 1
3. Emilio Izaguirre	34	10	2	-	46
4. Efe Ambrose	37 (1) / 3	11 / 1	2	1	51 (1) / 4
5. Virgil Van Dijk	35 (1)/ 5	7 (1)	2	1	45 (2) / 5
6. Nir Biton	9 (7)	1 (2)	1	1	12 (9)
8. Scott Brown	37 (1)/ 2	9	2 / 2	1	49 (1)/ 4
9. Georgios Samaras	10 (10) / 7	12 / 4	1	-	23 (10) / 11
10. Anthony Stokes	30 (3) / 20	8 (3)	2 / 1	(1)	40 (7) / 21
11. Derk Boerrigter	4 (10) / 1	2 (3)	(2)	1	7 (15) / 1
15. Kris Commons	32 (2) / 27	10 (1) / 2	2 / 2	(1)	44 (4) / 32
17. Amido Balde	3 (17) / 3	(3)	(1)	-	3 (21) / 3
18. Tom Rogic	1(2)	(3)	-	1	2 (5)
20. Teemu Pukki	13 (12) / 7	2 (3)	(1)	1	16 (16) / 7
21. Charlie Mulrew	27 (1) / 6	8 (2)	1	1	37 (3) / 6
22. Steven Mouyokolo	1	1	-	-	2
23. Mikeal Lustig	9 (7)	12 / 1	1 / 1	1	23 (7) / 2
24. Lukas Zaluska	1	-	-	1	2
25. Stefan Johansen	13 (3) / 2	-	1	-	14 (3) / 2
28. Leigh Griffiths	11 (2) / 7	-	(1)	-	11 (3) / 7
32. Tony Watt	1 (1)	(1)	-	-	1 (2)
33. Beram Kayal	7 (6)	6 (1) / 1	-	-	13 (7) / 1
37. Bahrudin Atajic	(3) / 1	-	-	-	(3) / 1
41. Darnel Fisher	10 (2)	-	(1)	-	10 (3)
46. Dylan McGeouch	(1)	(1)	-	1	1 (2)
49. James Forrest	10 (6) / 4	10 (1)/ 3	1	-	21 (7) / 7
53. Liam Henderson	4 (4) / 1	-	-	-	4 (4) / 1
56. Filip Twardzik	1	-	-	-	1
Players On Loan
18. Tom Rogic - Melbourne Victory	7 (1)	3	-	-	10 (1)
32. Tony Watt - Lierse	8 (8) / 8	-	(1) / 1	-	8 (9) / 9
37. Bahrudin Atajic - Shrewsbury	3 (10)	-	-	-	3 (10)
42. Callum McGregor - Notts County	32 (5) / 12	- [	-	2 / 1	34 (5) / 14
46. Dylan McGeouch - Coventry	(8)	(8)	-	-	(8)
Players Sold
Joe Ledley	18 (2) / 4	4 (4)	1 / 1	-	23 (6) / 5
Kelvin Wilson	-	4	-	-	4
Gary Hooper	-	(1)	-	-	(1)

We need to improve definitely

I find it a bit hard to criticise to be fair because we've played well a lot too, I thought we could have scored 4 or 5 easily and it wouldn't have been a shock

League Cup tonight, don't expect too many major changes, we've got a pretry thin squad.

I think Matthews might get a rest tonight, not sure if Lustig will be back, probably just go with Ambrose at right back and Mulgrew in thw middle with Van Dijk, I expect Forster to play too, Zaluska never seems to get these games, I'd imagine Dylan McGeouch might get a start tonight, think Brown might sit out but that depends if Kayal is fit again...if not I think him and Biton will start centrally...hope Commons plays, surely Balde will get a full 90 minutes too, would like to see Stokes partner him but wouldn't be against Pukki getting another start either.

Would like to see Fisher in at RB. Pick of the youth players in pre season for me. Rogic in for Commons as well.

Yeah I forgot about that lad, wouldn't mind seeing him either, we need to find a way of getting 1 of Ambrose, Van Dijk and Mulgrew a rest from time to time

I like Rogic, I dont think he'll go with Rogic and Biton though as both are fairly inexperienced, I thought Biton was the cause of how poorly we were 2nd half on Saturday, noy his fault but I just felt we fell back too muchpto offer him extra protection on his home debut

I hope you guys realise you've cost me £35 tonight by not being able to beat MORTON at home in normal time. Psh

Shouldn't be sticking on a 1/8 shot anyway

Morton done well last night, keeper was heroic, near the end of extra time I staryed hoping they'd pull it off, we were brutal.

You were my banker

But Hooper scored two last night so all swings and roundabouts innit

Excellent performance yesterday from Celtic, Stokes' goal was an absolute beltet, Commons scored a cracker too, should have been 4 or 5, not killing teams the way we should be right now but we're making loads of chances

Team for yesterday

Van Dijk was absolutely immense again

Van Dijk is the man at the moment.

Up tha Hoops!!!

How good is he? The boy just oozes class, hoping to see him get a call up soon

Really looking forward to getting back to business on Saturday, love going to Easter Road, should be a good game.

Great result

I thought our back four and the keeper were magnificent and so was Kayal and Charlie Mulgrew in the middle of the park, Samaras never shirks responsibility in these situations either, felt Stokes and Pukki came onto a game, Stokes' all round game tonight was much better than the first 2 CL games and he did well to win the penalty and possibly could have had another one too.

Van Dijk is special and I think Fraser Forster deserves a full cap for England in November aftwr another top CL performamce

Ratings vs Ajax

1. Forster - 8 - Made some vital saves at important times, England Cap next month is long overdue
23. Lustig - 8 - Hard to believe he played with am injury, great performance and a real warrior
3. Izaguirre - 7 - Dragged inside a few times but was solid and stuck to his task well
4. Ambrose - 7 - Only one moment where he dwelled on the ball, improved 10 fold from last season
5. Van Dijk - 8 - Gets better and better, reads the game so well, excellent passes, Dutch call up beckons
23. Mulgrew - 8 - Didn't waste a pass all night, won plenty of challenges too, always available for a pass
33. Kayal - 9 - Best performance since his first season, pace, power, goal, last ditch tackle, brilliant!
49. Forrest - 8 - Can be very frustrating but World Class penalty and they feared him running at them
9. Samaras - 8 - Relishes these occassions, Ajax were terrified of him when he ran at them, set up 2nd
10. Stokes - 7 - Won 1 penalty and should have had two, led the line well, didn't get a chance to score
20. Pukki - 7 - Worked hard, some nice touches, always very busy, missed a great chance early doors

Subs.

16. Ledley - 5 - replaced Kayal, no idea why, slotted in but didn't impact the match
6. Biton - 1 - Came on for Lustig, made a rash challenge, done his team mates no favours
17. Baldè - 1 - late sub for Pukki, touched the ball once and that was to restart the game after Ajax goal

Whats the thoughts on tomorrow?

I'm heading over for the game in the morning, feel nervous, I think if we had Wanyama & Hooper we'd cuff this mob but I just don't think we're that strong a side now, Ajax looked good when we stood off them a couple of weeks ago but when we pressed them they looked nervous, I feel if we can keep it 0-0 fpr the first 25/30 minutes we could frustrate the crowd and in turn upset the team.

I hope Lennon doesn't go with Samaras up front on his own, he has to surely have learnt from his mistakes in Europe already this season about that.

Elfsborg like Ajax were terrified of Samaras in the games at Parkhead when he was running at them but when we moved him up top away from home in Sweden and in Karahandy we never got close enough to him and he spent the whole games running towards his own goal, completely nullifying him, both teams thought they won a watch with the way Samaras was used, hopefully Neil doesn't make the same mistale for a third time in what will be 5 European away games.

I think Lennon will definitely go with Mulgrew, Kayal and Ledley in the middle, and Samaras is a definite starter so that leaves Stokes, Commons and Forrest to fight over 2 places, I like Stokes but im still not 100% convinced of him in the Champions League, particularly away from home, so I can see Forrest and Commons getting the other two starting positions, now if that happens what role does Samaras play?

I think Kris Commons has the guile and craft to place that false number 9 role that so many teams deploy now, if they do go down that road then it at least allows Samaras to stay left and drift, Forrest's pace will be invaluable on the break too, my worry though is Celtic's midfield, if they play with a false number 9 I don't think in Kayal, Ledley or Mulgrew they have a natural instinct to get beyond Commons.

I personally don't feel Ledley has looked anywhere near his own standards so far so if Lennon does feel the same he could always just play Stokes up top with Commons in behind and Mulgrew and Kayal in the middle, there is plenty of options when you bring Boerrigter and Pukki into the equation too, thats why I feel Lennon might just go with the 3 water carriers in midfield to start with in order to break any rythme Ajax try and create

Absolutely dire last night, far too many players didn't turn up and once again the manager sells the jerseys with making the wrong subs at the wrong time, why take Stokes off when Samaras and Commons and even Forrest (who I would have kept on) were playing far worse than him? Why take Kayal off when he was bossing the midfield? We were rotten in the first half, far too timid butbafter losing the goal we came right into it but taking off Kayal surrendered the midfield, utterly ridiculous substitutions from Lennon. Thats Milan and now Ajax when we really could have taken something from these games and his changes have cost us

Bit quiet on here isn't it?

Only 3 or 4 Tim posters on the board, I keep the OP updated but mainly just use Pie & Bovril.

Celtic after 8 home games have an average attendance of 46,480 - last seasons average after 8 games was 46,557 thats a drop of 77

Last Seasons Average Attendance was 46,916, this seasons prospective Average attendance (based on last seasons figures for the day they won the Title and the day they were presented with the trophy) is either 47,034 or 47,482 depending on whether they have a home fixture they day they can clinch the Inaugural SPFL Premiership

I think for the Celtic/Hearts game, the Attendance needs altered to 46,058 empty seats.

Celtic have had a £250,000 bid for Leigh Griffiths rejected by Wolves, Swansea and Villa are interested but Griffiths apparently wants to come back to Scotland, I heard on Saturday that we'll sign him for £800k so it'll be interesting to see how it goes

What's the view on him Kay Fabe? Haven't seen much of him for Wolves.

I like him a lot, he's Wolves top goalscorer with 13 so far but for some reason theyve started flitting him in and out the team despite being a regular at the start of the season, rumours are that he privately told them he'd like a move back to Scotland and thats why they've kept him out.

Looking at his record with Livingston, Dundee, Hibs and Wolves, it shows that he is a pure goalscorer, 105 goals in 185 games, he's scored at every level he's been tested at including 28 goals whilst playing in our league last season, at 23 I think he's worth a punt.

I watched him play for Scotland and while he worked his socks off I didn't think he looked ready for that level but playing for Scotland requires a different kind of player than what Celtic need, he was stranded with them and it was all about chasing down defenders, with Celtic he'll get more of the ball and far more chances, I think he'll score a lot of goals if he signs.

People on Twitter are saying he isn't as good as Stokes but that isn't fair in my opinion, Stokes is a better footballer, he'll be attracted to the play and go looking for the ball, Griffiths on the otherhand will play on the shoulder and is all about scoring goals, having that natural ability to be in the right place at the right time.

That's what we need as far as I'm concerned. An out and out goal scorer Stokesy is not, for all of his attributes.

I like Stokes but as its shown this season, he is far more deadly when playing off a striker like Gary Hooper, obviously Griffiths isn't as good as Hooper was last year for us but Hooper wasnt as good as that either when he arrived, he was always a goal grabber but he improved all the time, I think LG coild be the same, im sick of signing strikers that aren't natural or proven goalscorers, Bangura, Baldè, Pukki, Daryl freaking Murphy or Lassad - I'd rather we signed a goalscorer who you can rely on, people say he's not good enough for the CL but neither was Hooper back in 2010 but we improved him, anyway he's never been tested at that level.

Celtic sign Leigh Griffiths for £800k - £550k up front with the rest in installments over 2 years

Celtic sold Joe Ledley to Crystall Palace for £850,000 all up front with a further £250k added if Palace stay up and he plays in at least 50% of their League matches.

Celtic apparently knocked back an enquirey from Fulham for Efe Ambrose which was around £4.5m

I can't see Palace staying up that's the problem. We got a good fee for Ledley either way.

Write off of a Season now for me.

The League Title is won before a ball is kicked so that's a gimme

Knocked out two cup competitons at home, struggled to get past a team of incompetents from Kazakhstan to get into the Champions League and then the complete non event that was the Champions League proper.

Very very underwhelming

Roll on death.

Good to see Kris Commons win the Scottish Player of the Year, felt he was majorly overlooked last season but he was my tip for it this season before a ball was even kicked, the volume of goals alone has been phenomenal.

To be fair he has tailed off a lot since we signed Griffiths, he has been playing a bit deeper and its effected his game, on the plus side Stokes has been revitalised by Griffiths, I think Stokes was playing well in the 1st half of the season but he wasn't scoring any goals, he is more suited to playing off the main striker, since we signed Griffiths though he's managed 12 goals in 12 games to take him up to 19, he needs 20 for the season though, that's the minimum requirement for a Celtic first choice striker

Season over, most of our excitement was in the first half of the Season, as always the Champions League qualifiers are our big games, they dictate our revenue, our soending and whether or not our fans will have excitement.

Delighted for Stokesy, felt he needed to break the 20 goal mark since he was finally being given his chance to be the main man, he finished with 21 and 18 assists, that said, he didn't come into his own until we signed Griffiths and he took more of a role that he had alongside Hooper.

Kris Commons has been unbelievable, 32 goals, the most goals in a season since Henrik Larsson, the guy is just a machine, 51 goals in two seasons has just been immense.


The Cup competitions were a disaster though, killed our Season stone dead

Snoddys gonna be wasted in the Scottish league

If you'd sign Lennon to a long term deal that'd be fantastic

You hearing anything your end about Snodgrass Olly?

You sure you don't want Lenny? I'll drive him down myself

Can't say I am Kay Fabe, all I know is he's got a year left on his deal here so he's leaving this summer or staying for good.

He did attend the end of season dinner tonight, along with Hooper, Redmond and others but that means nothing

Lennon is the only guy I am dead against. Can't stand the bloke. Some Norwich fans are desperate for him. I'd rather have Malky everyday of the week over him!

What's his deficiencies as a manger?

I'd say his deficiencies are his naivety, after four years in the job he still gets caught out using the same tactic, often he'll leave himself short in midfield while trying to play an attack minded game, him going with 2 CM's and two attack minded wide players has often left us badly short, the last instance was in the Scottish Cup against Aberdeen, now just to give you a heads up, the Dons were flying at this point of the Season but they relied strongly on their midfield 3, hard working grafters who were also very aggressive, he left Scott Brown basically on his own in there, Johansen looks a cracking player but he was still finding his feet at this point and it was losing the midfield that cost us the game.

He also got out of jail in the CL qualifiers, we took a 1-0 lead to Elfsborg, Samaras was the star man playing wide left, over in Sweden he stuck Samaras up top on his own, he's had aboutn3 good games for Celtic as a lone striker, it was a stupid move that almost cost us dearly.

the next round against Karagandy he failed to learn his lesson, Sammy up top again on hos own, hopeless, add to that he decided to pair Virgil Vam Dijk and Steven Mouyokolo up for the first time in central defence, a Champions League Play-Off first Leg Away from home in a different continent on a plastic pitch and he decides to try out a new CB pairing altogether, never mind thr fact that Mouyokolo was injured for the best part of 3 years with a dodgy knee and Van Dijk had just got over an injury, it was just utter madness, we escaped with a 2-0 loss and luckily enough turned it around in the second leg.

From what I've read, he relies heavily on Johan Mjallby and Garry Parker for his tactics, he has his good points too, but to me he just comes across as a Me Me Me guy, its always all about Neil

Interesting confirms what I've read on other sites

I'm really not sure who we'll get to be honest, really is up in the air. I kind of want it to be Malky over the likes of Zola, Lennon, Sherwood etc

Snodgrass I think will leave, but whether you'll pay enough for him is another story. I'd imagine a few Prem clubs will be sniffing and we'll sell to the highest bidder no doubt

You'd think in normal circumstances the highest bidder wins all day long but the fact Celtic could sign him on a pre-contract in January might just mean Norwich will do business around the £3.5m mark I heard was allegedly agreed months ago.

Stokes and Griffiths have done a Rooney

Scottish football must be in a right state if lennons quitting to join Norwich or west brom.

Moyes for the job?

I don't know if he'd want to go to Scotland.

Ultimately its somewhat of a deadend job. No domestic competition of note, no expectations for the CL. Mopping up the SPL wasn't enough to convince PL teams, so his best route there is via the Championship.

I'm one happy bhoy today, didn't like Lennon as a player or a manager, he did an alright job but it was pretty impossible to fail in the League in the past 2 years.

Moyes has always said he wants to manage Celtic at sone point, with a multi-million pound cheque in his back pocket from Man Utd this might be the perfect job for him to re-establish himself in a 5+ year job.

I think it'll be someone youngish and cheap tho'...Jackie McNamara looks like the ideal candidate, can't believe the King of Kings is favourite, at least he'll put bums on seats

Sorry if I am being offensive here but why are Celtic fans ALWAYS obsessed with getting a manager with club connections?? The best manager they have had in recent times was Strachan - no Celtic connections. Look at how John Barnes, Kenny Dalglish and Tony Mowbray (all with Celtic connections flopped). I rest my case.

John Barnes didn't have Celtic connections, Dalglish hardly flopped, he took over the sinking ship that Barnes created, which was going brilliantly by the way until Henrik Larsson broke his leg in Lyon and the following week Jorge Albertz fractured Paul Lamberts cheek bone,  back to Kenny Dal, he was in charge for 3 months and won a Cup...was he good enough? Its impossible to say, I wasn't a big fan but he had 3 months and that was without the best player at the club (Henrik) and he managed to win us a trophy, the first of the New Millennium. ...that was only the 4th trophy Celtic had won in 11 years so it was quite a big deal.

I think its a bit of a myth to suggest Celtic only go after guys with previois connections to the club, out of their last 11 managers, six didn't have connections to the club, Liam Brady, Wim Jansen, Jozef Venglos, John Barnes, Martin O'Neil and Gordon Strachan

Even then, in 2009 both Owen Coyle and Roberto Martinez were contacted by the club before they went for Tony Mowbray, as for Neil Lennon getting the job, he simply took the reigns when Mowbray got sacked, bit like the Giggs situation at Old Trafford, Lennon won 10 of his 11 games and kinda bought himself a chance, unlike what happens at Old Trafford Celtic can't afford or attract a top name so sometimes must make do.

Fair points but perhaps should have worded it better that the fans always want someone with Celtic connections. On that list remember Liam Brady and Martin O'Neil had that other much-craved element - they were IRISH. Just like Celtic fans will insist O'Neill was better than Strachan when statistically it was baloney perhaps again because Strachan was far from an ideal Celtic manager in that A. He never played for Celtic and B. Wasn't Irish.

Hunt around websites now and check fans opinions and you will find all the chief contenders coincidentally were ex-Celtic men ie Larsson, Mackay, McNamara, Moyes and Lambert.

Baloney you say? Cant say I agree with you, Martin O'Neill took charge of a.Celtic team that had juat finished 21 points behind Rangers, a Rangers team that spent £80m and then went on to spend £30m in O'Neill's first season, O'Neill spent about £18m himself but recouped £6m of that on Viduka...O'Neill then went on to win the Treble, the first Celtic manager to do that in 32 years, he then became the first manager in over 20 years to retain the title, he also became the first manager to qualify for the Champions League, which we won 9 points, Celtic had five oponents in Europe that Season, Ajax, Juventus, Porto, Rosenborg and Valencia, we beat them all at home, I'm sure everyone of those clubs went on to win their domestic Leagues.

the Following year saw O'Neill lead Celtic to their first European Final in 33 years

onto the fourth Season, another Domestic double and another 9 points in the Champions League

fifth Season was always going to be tough, MONs wife had cancer which quite rightly so took up all his time, our planning for that Season was poor and it also ended strangely, threw away the title in the last 2 weeks of the Season and won the Scottish Cup, finished bottom of the CL group

after 5 years -

3 League Titles
3 Scottish Cups
1 League Cup
1 European Final
First ever qualification to the Champions League
3 Champions League Group campaigns


Strachan did brilliantly, he was always going to be judged against what MON had achieved but he did brilliantly well, he was lucky though that in his first two years it was the weakest Rangers side in 20 years

he also qualified for the Champions League last 16 twice, this was a fantastic achievement which should never be over looked

after 4 years at Celtic

3 League Titles
1 Scottish Cup
1 League Cup
2 times qualified for Champions League  last 16
3 Champions League group campaigns

MON won  487 points out of 570
he averaged 97.4 points per season out a possible 114
Celtic scored 472 goals in this period averaging 94.4 per Season
Celtic conceded 133 goals in this period averaging 26.6 per Season

Strachan won 346 points out of 456
he averaged 86 points per season out a possible 114
Celtic scored 322 goals in this period averaging 80.5 goals per season
Celtic conceded 130 goals in this period averaging 32.5 goals per Season

Gordon Strachans greatest achievement was most definitely qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League but he never done anything differently to O'Neill, he won his home games and lost his away games, both got 9 points twice, it was enough for one manager, it wasnt enough for the other.

I'd strongly dispute any notion that Strachan was statistically better than MON but I will totally refute any nonsense that MON was favoured because he was Irish, thats completwly nonsensical and a myth non Celtic fans pedal for their own agenda, whatever that may be, whatever it is though it certainly isn't backed up with facts.

I am sorry it is evidently the case about the Irish element. Hence why they swarmed around after Roy Keane and Robbie Keane - Irishmen...why? Keane (Roy) was a pale shadow of the player he was so that was a waste. Also again if as you say there is no bias and records are so close as I see it between O'Neill and Strachan is one seen as a heroic idol whilst Strachan was as good as hounded out?

And look around whatever forums/websites you like or social networks and why are all fans preferred options all ex-Celtic men ie Malky Mackay, Paul Lambert, Jackie McNamara and Henrik Larrson. That is just too weird. None have set any managerial job alight so why clamber to get them. After all we keep hearing Celtic are one of the supposed biggest clubs in the world so why not have the ambition to go for a mager with REAL qualifications. That is my point.

Celtic would be doing well to get Mackay or Lambert I reckon