Celtic Football Club - Season 2014-15

Transfers In:




Craig Gordon -  Free
Jo Inge Berget - On Loan From Cardiff City
Aleksander Tonev - On Loan From Aston Villa
Jason Denayer - On Loan From Manchester City
Mubarak Wakaso - On Loan from Ruban Kazan
John Guidetti -  On Loan from Manchester City
Stefan Scepovic - £2.2m  From Sporting Gijon
Michael Duffy -  £150,000  From Derry City
Gary Mackay-Steven -  £250,000  From Dundee Utd
Stuart Armstrong -  £1.85m  From Dundee Utd

Total: £4.45m


Transfers Out:


Georgios Samaras - Free
Steven Mouyokolo - Free
Tony Watt - £1.2m - Standard Leige
Denny Johnstone - £300,000 - Birmingham
Fraser Forster - £10m - Southampton
Amido Baldé - On Loan - Waasland-Beveran  (Loan Fee £250k)
Holmbert Fridjonnson - On Loan - Brondby IF
Dylan McGeouch - On Loan - Hibernian
Lewis Toshney  -  Free
Teemu Pukki  -  On Loan - Brondby IF  (Loan Fee £500k)
Bahrudin Atajic  -   Free
Jo Inge Berget - Malmo took on his loan
Filip Twardzik  - Free - Bolton Wanderers

Total: £12.25m

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Results/Fixtures


July
UCL Qualifier Second Round 1st Leg: KR Reykjavik 0-1 Celtic (McGregor) - Att: 1,600
UCL Qualifier Second Round 2nd Leg: Celtic 4-0 KR Reykavik (Van Dijk 2, Pukki 2) - Assist: Mulgrew, Lustig, McGregor, Commons - Att: 42,000
UCL Qualifier Third Round 1st Leg: Legia Warsaw 4-1 Celtic (McGregor) - Att: 31,000

August
UCL Qualifier Third Round 2nd Leg:  Celtic 3-0 Legia Warsaw - UEFA forfeit   - Att: 41,723
SPFL Premiership: St Johnstone 0-3 Celtic (Stokes, Biton, McGregor) - Assist: Commons, Boerrigter, Matthews - Att: 6,890
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 6-1 Dundee Utd (Denayer, Commons, Johansen, Stokes, Berget 2) - Assist: Stokes, Ambrose, Kayal - Att: 44,484
UCL Play-Off Round 1st Leg: NK Maribor 1-1 Celtic (McGregor) - Att: 11,500
SPFL Premiership: Inverness C.T 1-0 Celtic - Att: 5,862 
UCL Play-Off Round 2nd Leg: Celtic 0-1 NK Maribor - Att: 55,415
SPFL Premiership: Dundee 1-1 Celtic (Griffiths)  - Att:  9,276

September
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 2-1 Aberdeen (Denayer, Commons) - Assist: Ambrose, McGregor - Att: 43,640
UEFA Europa League: Redbull Salzburg 2-2 Celtic (Wakaso, Brown) -  Att: 17,886
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 1-1 Motherwell (Commons) - Att:  41,719
Scottish League Cup: Celtic 3-0 Hearts (Guidetti, Commons,  OG )  -Assist: Stokes - Att: 15,522
SPFL Premiership: St Mirren 1-2 Celtic (Guidetti 2)  - Assist: Wakaso, Stokes - Att: 5,280

October
[UEFA Europa League: Celtic 1-0 Dynamo Zagreb (Commons) - Assist: Stokes - Att:37,000
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 0-1 Hamilton - Att: 42,412
SPFL Premiership: Ross County 0-5 Celtic (Guidetti, McGregor, Stokes 2, Denayer)  - Assist: Stokes, Guidetti, Johansen - Att: 5,693
UEFA Europa League: Celtic 2-1 FC Astra (Scepovic, Johansen) Assist: Stokes, Tonev - Att: 32,000
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Kilmarnock (Guidetti, Scepovic) - Assist: Wakaso - Att: 42,800
Scottish League Cup: Celtic 6-0 Partick Thistle (Guidetti 3, Izaguirre, Griffiths) - Ass: Stokes, Izaguirre - Att: 16,805


November
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 1-0 I.C.T  (Guidetti) - Assist:  Stokes -  Att:  42,553
UEFA Europa League: FC Astra 1-1 Celtic  (Johansen)  - Att:  2,500
SPFL Premiership: Aberdeen 1-2 Celtic  (Johansen, Van Dijk) -  Assist:   Stokes, Johansen  - Att: 19,051
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 2-1 Dundee  (Stokes, Guidetti)  - Assist:  Commons, Matthews  - Att: 43,787
UEFA Europa League: Celtic 1-3 Red Bull Salzburg (Johansen) - Assist:  Izaguirre  - Att: 32,414
Scottish Cup 4th round: Hearts 0-4 Celtic (Van Dijk 2, Guidetti, Stokes)  - Assist:  Stokes, Brown, Johansen  - Att: 12,676


December
SPFL Premiership:  Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle  (Van Dijk)  - Assist: Johansen  - Att: 40,633
SPFL Premiership:  Motherwell 0-1 Celtic (Stokes) - Assist:  Johansen - Att: 7,704
UEFA Europa League: Dinamo Moscow 4-3 Celtic (Commons, Scepovic, OG) - Assist: Bitton, Izaguirre - Att: 4,054
SPFL Premiership:  Celtic 4-1 St Mirren (Brown 2, Forrest, Stokes) Assist: Stokes, Guidetti, Forrest, Johansen - Att: 44,827
SPFL Premiership: Dundee Utd 2-1 Celtic (Griffiths) -Assist: Scepovic - Att: 12,098
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 0-0 Ross County - Att: 45,798


January
SPFL Premiership: Kilmarnock 0-2 Celtic (Izaguirre, Scepovic) - Assist: Johansen, Ambrose - Att: 5,329
SPFL Premiership: Hamilton 0-2 Celtic (Matthews, Henderson) - Assist: Commons, Izaguirre - Att: 6,007
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 4-0 Motherwell (Van Dijk, Griffiths, Lustig 2) - Assist: Stokes 2, Forrest,  Griffiths -Att: 42,296
SPFL Premiership: Ross County 0-1 (Commons) - Att: 5,289

February
Scottish League Cup Semi-Final Celtic 2-0 Rangers (Griffiths< Commons) -  Assist: Johansen, Brown - Att: 50,925
SPFL Premiership:Partick Thistle 0-3 Celtic (Mackay-Steven, Armstrong, Johansen)
Scottish Cup 4th Round: Dundee 0-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Johansen)
SPFL Premiership: St Johnstone 1-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Johansen)
UEFA Europa League: Celtic 3-3 Inter Milan (Armstrong 2, Guidetti)  - Assist: Matthews 2, Henderson  - Att:  60,000
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 4-0 Hamilton (Commons 2, Johansen, Guidetti - Assit: Van Dijk 2, Izaguirre,  Matthews Att: 47,998
UEFA Europa League: Inter Milan 1-0 Celtic Att: 39,711

March
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 4-0 Aberdeen (Denayer, Griffiths, Mackay-Steven, Johansen) - Assist Armstrong, Matthews - Att: 50,256
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 0-1 St Johnstone Att: 41,849
Scottish Cup Quarter Final: Dundee Utd 1-1 Celtic (Griffiths) - Assist: Johansen - Att: 10,504
Scottish League Cup Final: Dundee Utd 0-2 Celtic (Commons, Forrest) - Assist: Stokes, Guidetti  - Att: 49,259
Scottish Cup Quarter Final Replay: Celtic 4-0 Dundee Utd (Denayer, Griffiths, Commons, Van Dijk) - Assist: Stokes, Brown, Guidetti, Denayer  - Att: 28,847
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 3-0 Dundee Utd ( MaMackay-Steven,  Guidetti, Denayer) - Assist: Mackay-Steven  - Att:  45,884

April
SPFL Premiership: St Mirren 0-2 Celtic (Forrest, Johansen) - Assist: Matthews - Att: 5,874
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 2-0 Partick Thistle (Commons, Johansen)  - Assist: Guidetti - Att:  43,784
SPFL Premiership: Inverness 1-1 Celtic (Griffiths) - Att: 6,059
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 4-1 Kilmarnock (Commons, Griffiths 3) - Assist: Brown 2, Commons, Bitton  - Att: 42,464
Scottish Cup Semi Final: Inverness C.T 3-2 Celtic (Van Dijk, Guidetti) - Att: 28,643
SPFL Premiership: Dundee 1-2 Celtic (Mackay-Steven, Van Dijk) - Assist: Van Dijk - Att: 8,908
SPFL Premiership: Dundee Utd 0-3 Celtic (Griffiths 3) - Assist: Johansen, Van Dijk, Mackay-Steven - Att: 8,329

May
SPFL Premiership: Celtic 5-0 Dundee (Griffiths, Brown, Commons, Forrest, Bitton) - Assist: Izaguirre, Griffiths -Att: 44,299
Aberdeen 0-1 Celtic (Brown) - Assist: Armstrong  - Att: 16,742
St Johnstone 0-0 Celtic
Celtic 5-0 Inverness C.T (Scepovic 2, Johansen Griffiths, Forrest) - Assist: Van Dijk, Izaguire, Forrest - Att: 55,638

Goals
 
20 - Leigh Griffiths
16 - Kris Commons
15 - John Guidetti; Stefan Johansen
10 - Virgil Van Dijk
8 -  Anthony Stokes
6 -  Jason Denayer
5 - Callum McGregor; Scott Brown; Stefan Scepovic
4 - Gary Mackay-Steven
3  - Stefan Scepovic;  Stuart Armstrong; 
2 -  Emilio Izaguirre;  Nir Bitton
1 - Liam Henderson

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Assists

9 - Anthony Stokes
7 - Stefan Johansen
3 - Kris Commons;  Callum McGregor;  Emilio Izaguirre; Adam Matthews
2 - Efe Ambrose;  John Guidetti;  Scott Brown
1 - Charlie Mulgrew;  Mikeal Lustig;  Derk Boerrigter; Beram Kayal; Mubarak Wakaso;  Aleksander Tonev;  Nir Bitton

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Man Of The Match


Game 1  - UCL Qualifier 1st Leg: vs KR Reykjavik  - Kris Commons
Game 2 - UCL Qualifier 2nd Leg: vs KR REYKJAVIK - Viirgil Van Dijk
Game 3 - UCL Qualifier 1st Leg: vs Legia Warsaw - Fraser Forster
Game 4 - UCL Qualifier 2nd Leg: vs LEGIA WARSAW - Adam Matthews
Game 5 - SPFL Premiership: vs St Johnstone - Callum McGregor
Game 6 - SPFL Premiership: vs DUNDEE UTD  - Anthony Stokes
Game 7 - UCL Play-Off 1st Leg:  vs NK Maribor - Beram Kayal
Game 8 - SPFL Premiership:  vs Inverness C.T -  Nir Bitton
Game 9 - UCL Play-Off 2nd Leg: vs NK MARIBOR  - Mikeal Lustig
Game 10 - SPFL Premiership: vs Dundee -  Leigh Griffiths


Game 11 - SPFL Premiership:  vs ABERDEEN - Kris Commons
Game 12 - UEFA Europa League vs Red Bull Salzburg - Craig Gordon
Game 13 - SPFL Premiership: vs MOTHERWELL - Emilio Izaguirre
Game 14 - Scottish League Cup: vs HEARTS - Anthony Stokes
Game 15 - SPFL Premiership: vs St Mirren - John Guidetti
Game 16 - UEFA Europa League: vs DYNAMO MOSCOW - Jason Denayer
Game 17 - SPFL Premiership: vs HAMILTON ACCIES - 
Game 18 - SPFL Premiership: vs Ross County - Anthony Stokes
Game 19 - UEFA Europa League: vs FC ASTRA  - Stefan Johansen
Game 20 - SPFL Premiership: vs KILMARNOCK - John Guidetti


Game 21 - Scottish League Cup: vs PARTICK THISTLE - John Guidetti
Game 22 - SPFL Premiership: vs INVERNESS C.T - Virgil Van Dijk
Game 23 - UEFA Europa League: vs FC Astra - Stefan Johansen
Game 24 - SPFL Premiership: vs Aberdeen - Stefan Johansen
Game 25 - SPFL Premiership: vs DUNDEE - James Forrest
Game 26 - UEFA Europa League: vs RED BULL SALZBURG - Leigh Griffiths
Game 27 - Scottish Cup: vs Hearts - Virgil Van Dijk
Game 28 - SPFL Premiership: vs  PARTICK THISTLE - Virgil Van Dijk
Game 29 - SPFL Premiership: vs  Motherwell -  Stefan Johansen
Game 30 - UEFA Europa League:  vs Dinamo Zagreb - Nir Bitton


Game 31 - SPFL Premiership:  vs  ST MIRREN - Scott Brown
Game 32 - SPFL Premiership:  vs  Dundee Utd -  Leigh Griffiths
Game 33 - SPFL Premiership:  vs ROSS COUNTY - Emilio Izaguirre
Game 34 - SPFL Premiership:  vs Kilmarnock - Kris Commons
Game 35 - SPFL Premiership:  vs Hamilton - Liam Henderson
Game 36 - SPFL Premiership:  vs MOTHERWELL - Leigh Griffiths
Game 37 - SPFL Premiership:  vs Ross County - Virgil Van Dyke
Game 38 - Scottish League Cup Semi Final: vs RANGERS - Scott Brown
Game 39 - SPFL Premiership:  vs Partick Thistle  - John Guidetti
Game 40 - Scottish Cup:  vs  Dundee  - Stefan Johansen


Game 41 -  SPFL Premiership:  vs St Johnstone - Leigh Griffiths
Game 42 - UEFA Europa League:  vs INTER MILAN - Nit Bitton
Game 43 - SPFL Premiership:  vs  HAMILTON ACCIES - Virgil Van Dijk
Game 44 - UEFA Europa League:  vs Inter Milan - Jason Denayer
Game 45 - SPFL Premiership:  vs  ABERDEEN  - Gary MacKay-Steven
Game 46 - SPFL Premiership:  vs  ST JOHNSTONE - Craig Gordon
Game 47 - Scottish Cup:  vs  Dundee Utd - Nir Bitton
Game 48 - Scottish League Cup Final: vs DUNDEE UTD - Nir Bitton
Game 49 - Scottish Cup Replay:  vs  DUNDEE UTD - Jason Denayer
Game 50 - SPFL Premiership:  vs DUNDEE UTD  - Gary Mackay-Steven


Game 51 - SPFL Premiership:  vs St Mirren - James Forrest
Game 52 - SPFL Premiership:  vs PARTICK THISTLE  - Stefan Johansen
Game 53 - SPFL Premiership: vs Inverness C.T - Nir Bitton
Game 54 - SPFL Premiershipvs KILMARNOCK - Leigh Griffiths
Game 55 - Scottish Cup Semi Final: vs INVERNESS C.T - James Forrest
Game 56 - SPFL Premiership: vs Dundee - Gary Mackay-Steven
Game 57 - SPFL Premiership: vs Dundee Utd - Leigh Griffiths
Game 58 - SPFL Premiership: vs DUNDEE - Kris Commons
Game 59 - SPFL Premiership: vs Aberdeen - Scott Brown 
Game 60 - SPFL Premiership: vs St Johnstone - Lukas Zaluska
Game 61 - SPFL Premiership: vs INVERNESS C.T - Emilio Izaguirre

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Appearances:

Player's Names	SPFL Premiership (Subs)/Goals	European Football (subs)/Goals	Scottish FA Cup (Subs)/Goals	Scottish League Cup (Subs)/Goals	Total Appearances (Subs)/Goals
GOALKEEPERS:
24. Lukas Zaluska	5	-	(1)	-	5 (1)
26. Craig Gordon	33	10	5	4	52
38. Leo Fason	-	-	-	-	-
DEFENDERS:
2. Adam Matthews	24 (5)/1	6 (3)	3 (1)	(1)	32 (8)/1
3. Emilio Izaguirre	33 (1)/1	13 (2)	5	4/1	55 (3)/2
4. Efe Ambrose	21 (4)	8 (3)	3	2	34 (7)
5. Virgil Van Dijk	34/4	14/2	5/4	4	58/10
22. Jason Denayer	28/5	7	4/1	4	44/5
23. Mikeal Lustig	2 (2)/2	8	1	2	13 (2)/2
34. Eoghan O'Connell	2 (1)	-	-	(1)	2 (2)
41. Darnel Fisher	1 (5)	(1)	(2)	-	1 (8)
MIDFIELDERS:
6. Nir Bitton	24 (8)/2	4 (1)	5	1	34 (9)/2
8. Scott Brown	31 (1)/4	7/1	5	3	46 (1)/5
11. Derk Boerrigter	(1)	(2)	-	-	(3)
14. Stuart Armstrong	12 (3)/1	2/2	-	-	14 (3)/3
15. Kris Commons	22 (7)/10	7 (3)/2	3 (1)/1	2/2	34 (11)/15
16. Gary Mackay-Steven	10 (4)/4	2	-	-	12 (4)/4
18. Tom Rogic	-	-	-	-	-
21. Charlie Mulrew	7 (3)	9	-	1	17 (3)
25. Stefan Johansen	34 (1)/9	14/3	4/1	4	55 (1)/15
27. Aleksander Tonev	3 (2)	1 (3)	(2)	(1)	4 (7)
32. Mubarak Wakaso	4 (1)	4 (1)/1	-	(1)	8 (3)/1
42. Callum McGregor	8 (10)/2	11/3	-	2	21 (10)/5
49. James Forrest	12 (7)/3	(3)	4 (1)	(2)/1	16 (13)/4
53. Liam Henderson	3 (4)/1	(2)	(1)	-	3 (7)/1
FORWARDS:
9. John Guidetti	20 (5)/8	1 (1)/1	1(3)/2	2(2)/4	23 (9)/15
10. Anthony Stokes	18 (2)/7	7 (2)	3(1)/1	4	32 (5)/8
12. Stefan Scepovic	5 (11)/4	4/2	-	(2)	7 (14)/6
28. Leigh Griffiths	15 (10)/13	4(4)	4(1)/3	2(1)/3	25 (16)/20
PLAYERS SOLD:
Fraser Forster	-	4	-	-	4
16. Jo Inge Berget	2 (2)/2	3 (1)	-	-	5 (1)/2
Tony Watt	-	-	-	-	-
Beram Kayal	2 (4)	2 (5)	-	-	4 (9)
Filip Twardzik	1	-	-	-	1
Denny Johnston	-	-	-	-	-
PLAYERS ON LOAN:
Teemu Pukki	1	-	-	-	-
Amido Balde	-	-	-	-	-
Dylan McGeouch	1	-	-	-	-
Holmbert Fridjonnson	-	-	-	-	-

First competitive game of the Season for Celtic tonight in a tricky Champions League Qualifier in Iceland against KR Reykjavik.

The Icelandic Champions are half way through their season and are only 3 points off the top spot, Celtic have only had five friendlies so far, winning three and drawing twice, it'll be interesting to see how different our shape is under new manager Ronny Deila

Celtic team to play KR Reykjavik


Prediction: KR Reykjavik 0-3 Celtic (Stokes Griffiths Pukki)

Wasn't the greatest result, 1-0 but it could have been 5 or 6, we hit the woodwork 3 times and the keeper made about 4 decent saves, competent enough performance considering it was the first competitive match of the Season away from home against a team half way through their season.

I also think the formation we played wasn't suited to the players, we would have won more comfortably if Griffiths and Stokes were played as a partnership however Deila wants to implement his own style which is more than fair enough.

Formation played was:

Good professional performance from the boys tonight,  hiding to nothing in games like this but played some very good football, particularly the first half.

Only negative was Leigh Griffiths, the best will in the World wont transform him into a right winger

Team vs RK Reykjavik:

Celtic sell Tony Watt to Standard Liege for £1.2m

This is a joke, the downsizing continues, Watt's attitude was supposed to be stinking, feels like a witch hunt to me, he has the pitential to be the best striker Scotland have, almost certain he'll be worth 4 times that figure this time next Summer.

Oh, we've signed Norweigian striker Jo Inge Berget on loan from Cardiff until January - good to see Celtic doing all they can to attract fans back to games

Huge game for Celtic in Poland tonight, Legia Warsaw in the first leg of the 3rd round Champions League Qualifiers.

Celtic have looked decent in spells throughout pre-season and they blew KR Reykjavik away in the last round but I'd say Legia are of better standard than any side we've faced in a CL qualifier in the last 3 seasons - our squad is far weaker than it was 2 years ago and I think qualifying for the Champions League this Season would be a better achievement than at any other time, I cant see ua getting in this year to be honest.

4-1

Ouch

They were dreadful, Ambrose and Mulgrew nowhere near Champions league quality, they were lucky it wasn't more. Obviously playing 50 minutes with ten doesn't help but they were winning anyway, very sad, our coefficient will be even worse.

Been saying for a few years that Scotland are going to find it progressively more difficult to get a team in the Champions League, similar to Denmark and Norway, too many qualifying rounds and every year they fail makes the following ones more difficult, less money, more qualifying rounds, lower coefficient, poorer players. Vicious circle.

Completely disagree with you, with Celtic's turn-over and wage bill they should be attracting players of a standard that should be able to confidently sail through these rounds in the Champions League Qualifiers, the "Champions Route" has given Scottish clubs a far better prospect of entering the Champions League proper than it ever did before, this abject failure by Celtic this Summer is down to the business model, on the whole it has been pretty successful but it badly needs tweaked.

For the last two years we've went almost solely down the route of signing unknown projects with the hope that they'll turn into a Wanyama or a Fraser Forster.

The model has worked but we need more players that can cut it from the get go ala Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley, Kris Commons type players, players who can have an immediate impact and in turn help develop the younger players/projects - The only players we've signed in the last two years who can be viewed as those type of signings are Fraser Forster (who was already here on loan for the two years previous) and Virgil Van Dijk, those guys raised the bar for their positions, we need more of that, they where viewed as projects but they where projects who were at a stage where we were confident they'd make an immediate impact on the first XI - the same cannot be said about the likes of Teemu Pukki, Amido Balde, Nir Biton, Derk Boerrigter, Tom Rogic (who if given the chance could be an absolute star)

We also have to raise the wage cap, its commendable that Celtic saw their wage bill was to obscene for Scottish Football and not sustainable and reduced it considerably, now there's 6 tiers to Celtic's wage bill, at the top of it is Scott Brown, he's on £25k per week, he is the only Celtic player to get over £20K - the ceiling for the 2nd tier is £18k and that is more or less the top pay at the club, in time they're looking at reducing Browns wage to bring it closer to tier 2's

This has led to guys leaving who otherwise wanted to stay and where happy in Glasgow, Ledley, Hooper, Samaras etc... guys who could earn double/treble/quadrauple what they could earn here elsewhere but Celtic's refusal to up their wage cap

The solution might not be as simple as it sounds but in the most basic terms Celtic need to pay around £5-10k more per week to attract and keep the better standard of player available to them, they have to cut adrift the dross and stop taking so many projects on, shed squad players, less quantity and hopefully use the funds to attract more quality

By the way, I expected Celtic to get beaten last week, the team is weak, its a tired team, it badly needs investment, the fans are jaded with it too, the result last week was a joke though, Ronny Deila needs to take a look at himself, while I don't envy him having the job of getting that team into the Champions League, he was like a rabbit caught in the headlights, he is determined to play a 4-2-3-1 and likes to play with wingers, he has stressed enough times how important pacey wide men will be to his set-up. The problem is he has no fit wingers, Samaras was at his best wide left, he's gone, Forrest is injured again and Boerrigter is as good as gone if anyone is willing to take him, he simply doesn't have the personnel available to use that system, he stubbornly stuck to it though.

He must know by now though that the players he has available to him are not comfortable with this formation, I have no problem with him implementing this style but for a crucial CL Qualifier then Deila should have the know how to stick to a system that his players are most comfortable and confident in, not one single Celtic player looks truly comfortable in this formation and the CL Qualifiers isn't the time to be gambling on them suddenly "getting it".

Well we shall soon see, repeated failure in Europe will result in it being a less attractive club with a lower ability to attract and pay potential players.
Much of the problem is outwith Celtic's control, that being the abyssmal and diminishing quality of the league. No decent player will want to play for the 23rd ranked league in Europe.

Its not repeated failure though is it? It was one horrendous result which most Celtic fans could see coming, the last two years have been Champions League years, one of them was a run to the last 16 as well - you always seem ready to jump on the negative side of things, you don't and never seem to want to talk about the positives.

I get tired debating Scottish Football with you because it feels like despite having such a big opinion on it you don't really know or understand much about it, to say no decent player will want to play in the League is inaccurate and without foundation, also, most clubs came to the conclusion about 10 years ago that in order to get decent players they'll need to nurture their own - more emphasis was placed on that and in the last 2/3/4 years you've seen a major increase in the quality coming through the ranks into the first team.

Scotland will never again be able to attract high profile players at the top of their game, although to believe we ever could is disingenuous, in the mid 80s Rangers with their new millions could attract the best England had to offer but that was only because of European ban imposed on English clubs after Hysel and in the late 90s when SKY bought the rights to the new SPL - from 98-2000 an obscene amount of money was spunked in Scotland because many stupidly believed that Scotland was going to see the same kind of backing as the Premiership down in England, SKY then put us in our place for asking for more money, pulled out and out even more into the EPL

Scotland has forever been a Nation that has been a stepping stone to England whether its been Bobby Collins in the 50, Jim Baxter or Dave MacKay in the 60s Kenny Dalglish or Lou Macari in the 70s Charlie Nicholas, Maurice Johnstone, Gordon Strachan, Brian McClair, Gary McAllister or Jim Leighton in the 80s...this isn't a new thing - the League has fallen big time but you can hardly fault Scottish Football for the big boom in Television Rights in the last 20 years, it turned Footnall into Survival of the biggest Nations - the best populated Countries got stronger.

I do feel we seriously short change ourselves in terms of what we get in TV money, look.at Countries like Norway who almost get treble what we get but I also think we are hampered by SKY and being so close to the Premiership, Norweigians DO get EPL but don't pay anywhere near as much for it as we do as British residents.

Scottish Football is very well supported, per head of population I think you'll find its in the top 4/5 in Europe, also, the increase in attendances from Non Old Firm clubs in the last two years has been fantastic, the growth in support has been there for all too see, it could be better, goes without saying but there is no doubt it has improved and thats down to Clubs becoming mor3 connected with their communities and being more progressive in pricing too.

We just sold SPFL rights to Germany, apart from England, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany the SPFL is screened in more Countries than anyone else, even France in what most would deem a better league than ours and it has a massively bigger population - we need our game marketed in a far superior way, we do a lot right but we do a whole lot wrong too - anyone who thinks Scottish Football is or should be defined by the calibar of player it can attract though has seriously flawed views, if there is a player out there good enough to play EPL and us wanted then they'll never come here, a weekly wage in the EPL could easily dwarf an annual wage in Scotland for a lot of our Premiership clubs - what we need to do to attract these players is show that we are an attractive proposition and a shop window for clubs in bigger leagues

I see it as a general trend, I wasn't suggesting it as certain, but the worse Celtic do in Europe, even though they reached the First Round last year, they were awful and this year it looks unfeasible to progress and will be reflected in a reduced coefficient making it even harder in future years to qualify.
The prospect of Scottish teams not getting into CL proper is very real indeed, and there will be big implications for the team/league as a result of that.

Further problems arise if they get to the final round of qualifying they'll come up against a seeded team. I can't see a Scottish team getting through too many of them in future.

Has the price of season tickets reduced in line with the quality of the team? If not, how much longer will fans take the diminishing returns.

I'm not having a go at Scottish football, simply making an observation if where I see it going.

I'd be be very interested to see the viewing figures of the SPL in France and Germany.

Celtic reduced Season Tickets by £100 last season and kept it reduced, Hearts have obviously reduced theres, season Ticket sakes are up on almost every club in the Country though apart from Celtic and Rangers and Hibs

I don't see it as a general trend either to be honest, 4 years ago Celtic got knocked out of the CL qualifiers by Braga, they then got knocked out of the EL qualifiers by Utrecht, a year later their run in the EL gave them the platform to learn about European Football, it stood then in good stead for probably their best run in Europe since the year they got to the Final of the UEFA cup in 2003 - last years run was very poor, it was glittered with simple individual errors though - this Season has shown they simply aren't good enough but most fans know that, the problem isn't that Celtic aren't capable, they are, they simply need to tweak the blueprint they've been using for the last 4 years, it works it just needs to evolve.

Aberdeen have done well as have St Johnstone, Aberdeen went to Holland and beat a decent Groningen team who finished 7th in the 9th ranked Eredivisie and then won the Europa League Play-Off place and were simply outclassed away from Home by a better team from a much better League in Real Sociedad.

St Johnstone knocked FC Luzern out of Europe this year, they're from a Country ranked 11th and finished 4th in their League,  St Johnstone finished 5th in a League ranked 23rd yet knocked them out in a tie they really didn't ever look likely of losing.

It really isn't all doom and gloom and you have to look at the bigger picture, we do need Celtic to be doing better but unfortunately with the bluerpint they follow there will always be a down turn, the better we do the more likely our best players will be spotted which is the nature of the beast, we just have to be a bit more adventurous with our recruitment policy and push the boat out a little on certain players and certain positions.

4 years ago after being outclassed and embarassed by Braga and Utrecht many felt it'd be a long time until we ever reach the CL again, in that time they went on an impressive 5 game undefeated run away from home in Europe, drawing against the likes of Udinese while winning their first ever away UCL group stage game and qualifying to the latter stages of that competiton - one bad result doesn't mean Scottish Football is on the slide, Aberdeen and St Johnstone are testimont to that, all it means is that the well has run dry at Celtic and its time to get back to the drawing board.

Unfortunately no-one in Scottish Football will ever likely speculate to accumulate again so the "slow and steady" approach is what people are going to have to accept, I realise its not everyones cup of tea, a lot of people need to be seduced by the razzmatazz of the bright lights of Bigger better leagues, thats fine but despite being on our door step its incomparable.

I challenge anyone to say the Scottish game hasn't been entertaining though, the last two years, particularly last Season was compelling viewing, the Cup competitions were a bit of fairytale stuff too, people who criticise it often do so without actually knowing what they're actually criticising, they often have dated views on most of the League's percieved problems.

Well in good news for Celtic. Legia are being investigated for playing an ineligble player.

Fernando wrote:Well in good news for Celtic. Legia are being investigated for playing an ineligble player.

Hopefully, nothing will come of it as it would be a farce if it did. Legia won the tie 6-1 and the inelligible player came on with 2 minutes left to play of the second leg. He never made any difference to the result so it should stand. This comes from someone who would have been pleased for Scottish football if Celtic had gone through.

We don't deserve to be in the competiton but rules are rules and you can't pick and choose a punishment- unfortunately fielding an ineligible player should always result in the same punishment in the interests of fairness and this punishment is a 3-0 defeat, which incidently is what Celtic needed to qualify... Celtic are hopeless but unfortunately Legia Warsaw broke a fundament rule of the competiton

Precedent has been set on this


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/aug/04/newsstory.sport2

Before you boost your hopes Kay,  more recently a team did similar (Decren think the club was called) in Europe League match) and very much like this tie they had won so comfortably that UEFA deemed it had no bearing on the end result and fined the club £15,000 and the club were allowed to go through. That is the much more likely scenario here.

You're thinking of the Debrecan case mate, that was entirely different though so i fail to see how its more likely, the player in question simply wasn't registered but this situation is completely different as the player in question is actually under a UEFA suspension and thats a fundamental rule in their competiton - a rule that has the generic punishment of an automatic 3-0 defeat.

Make no mistake Craig, I'm not jumping through hoops at the posibility of a reprieve, our new manager is trying to impliment a style/formation that suits absolutely no-one at the club and if Legia Warsaw were ejected from the competiton then we'd only be killing time until we're knocled off in the next round.

UEFA could go against the grain and give Legia a fine and slap on the wrist but it goes against their own Precedent and leaves them open to all sorts of appeals thay could hold up both their competitons

3 more instances of clubs punished with a an automatic 3-0 reverse having fielded a player during a suspension period.


http://www.uefa.org/disciplinary/news/newsid=1845491.html

http://www.uefa.org/news/newsid=317763.html

http://www.uefa.org/news/newsid%3D215771.html

Just done a bit of late night research,  UEFA have never backed down from awarding a team a 3-0 win if an opponent has fielded a suspended player.


This quote is from the UEFA rulebook

"A match is declared forfeit if a player who has been suspended following a disciplinary decision participates in the match."

I stand corrected then. We shall see. It would leave a bitter taste though if the result was over-turned considering how emphatic a win it was for Legia in both legs of the tie.

Kay Fabe wrote:
Just done a bit of late night research,  UEFA have never backed down from awarding a team a 3-0 win if an opponent has fielded a suspended player.


This quote is from the UEFA rulebook

"A match is declared forfeit if a player who has been suspended following a disciplinary decision participates in the match."

It would be pretty sad, desperate and pathetic if Celtic pursued this. They were well and truly pumped by the time this player came on and simply don't deserve to be in the next round. Warsaw could have take off 5 players at that stage and still held on.

WOuld a 3-0 punishment apply to the leg in concern or both legs? THey only broke the rules in one leg after all.

Kay Fabe wrote:You're thinking of the Debrecan case mate, that was entirely different though so i fail to see how its more likely, the player in question simply wasn't registered but this situation is completely different as the player in question is actually under a UEFA suspension and thats a fundamental rule in their competiton - a rule that has the generic punishment of an automatic 3-0 defeat.

Apparently the guy had a three game suspension, so they left him out of their first three European games this season. Unfortunately for them they didn't register him in their squad for the first two (because he was suspended) so UEFA didn't count them.

super_realist wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:
Just done a bit of late night research,  UEFA have never backed down from awarding a team a 3-0 win if an opponent has fielded a suspended player.


This quote is from the UEFA rulebook

"A match is declared forfeit if a player who has been suspended following a disciplinary decision participates in the match."

It would be pretty sad, desperate and pathetic if Celtic pursued this. They were well and truly pumped by the time this player came on and simply don't deserve to be in the next round. Warsaw could have take off 5 players at that stage and still held on.

WOuld a 3-0 punishment apply to the leg in concern or both legs? THey only broke the rules in one leg after all.

I take it it would be the leg on which the offence took place. Legia would then lost the tie on away goals laughably.

It would be atrocious for football, not to mention common sense, if Celtic still managed to get through.

super_realist wrote:

Kay Fabe wrote:
Just done a bit of late night research,  UEFA have never backed down from awarding a team a 3-0 win if an opponent has fielded a suspended player.


This quote is from the UEFA rulebook

"A match is declared forfeit if a player who has been suspended following a disciplinary decision participates in the match."

It would be pretty sad, desperate and pathetic if Celtic pursued this. They were well and truly pumped by the time this player came on and simply don't deserve to be in the next round. Warsaw could have take off 5 players at that stage and still held on.

WOuld a 3-0 punishment apply to the leg in concern or both legs? THey only broke the rules in one leg after all.

You sound positively gutted, its embarassing but rukes are rules, you can't deviate from them or you leave yourself open for lawsuits for all who have been excluded in the past.

A 3-0 forfeit would only apply for the game he took part in

Oooops step away from the ledge

Duty281 wrote:It would be atrocious for football, not to mention common sense, if Celtic still managed to get through.

  

When your lucks in I guess.

Though if they got hammered by that lot, doesn't exactly bode well for the next round.

Hopefully UEFA will see sense and uphold the result. They didn't wilfully "cheat" and Celtic were already home before the postcards.

Sneaking through on away goals would be as embarassing as Celtic's display.

Still, if they do get through, it could be their last appearance as next year their coefficient will be so bad they definitely won't be seeds.

They are through S_R. Personally I would've just given their next opponents a bye. Don't really see how Celtic merit a reprieve.

This is just embarassing for all concerned really.

Embarrassing. And personally blackens anything Celtic get out of European competition this year. It is not their fault I know but their pathetic showing in the tie merits nothing.

Sums it up nicely that Celtic go through on away goals after receiving a 3-0 default win.

Most impactful 2 minute sub ever? Resulted in a 5 goal swing.

Awful decision, lacking any common sense or reasoning.

Here's hoping Celtic get knocked out in the next round, it would be a travesty if they got to the group stages.

Shambolic decision, suppose Uefa can make more money out of Celtic.

Hopefully they'll draw Maribor or Malmo, two good teams who are already well into their seasons and will give Celtic the hiding they deserve.

I know it would never happen in sport, but the fairest thing to do would have neither Legia nor Celtic going through. Legia broke the rules, Celtic were too embarrassing to be in the tournament in the first place.

This is the really stupid part, because he wasn't registered in the squad for the 2 games against an Irish side in the previous round, UEFA decided they didn't count towards his suspension.

Wonder if UEFA would have kicked out Real or Barca had they done the same. 

Shows how bad Scottish football is when twice in the last 4 years qualifying rounds they've got through on a technicality after being gubbed.

Well they play Maribor anyway

To be fair, at least UEFA are being consistent.

super_realist wrote:Shows how bad Scottish football is when twice in the last 4 years qualifying rounds they've got through on a technicality after being gubbed.

tthats right, I remember your moonman nonsense when Celtic got a reprieve agaibst Sion, never mind the fact that Sion had a signing ban which they mockingly ignored and thus had a team in place capable of beating Celtic that they otherwise shouldn't have been allowed to sign let alone field.


The UEFA rule book is clear, there is no grey areas, if a club field a player who is currently serving a suspension then the match results in a 3-0 forfeit,  its really that simple.

Do Celtic deserve to be in the Competiton?  No, but the rules are the rules and once you deviate from them it has the potential to open up all sorts of lawsuits, UEFA have ALWAYS punished a team who fields a suspended player with a 3-0 forfeit,  100% percent of the time - thems the breaks.


All this talk of Celtic should refuse the place is idealistic Bullsh1t - No team in European Football would pass up an opportunity like this, no team has previously and I'd be 100% certain no team will in the future.


Legia Warsaw players and fans are desperately unlucky but it was a fundamental rule break, no more no less

Hopefully we buy two players at least and the manager takes his head out of his Football Utopia mindset and reverts to the system that suits his curre t personnell and gives the club the best opportunity possible to win the tie.


If Celtic progress to the UCL proper the UEFA Solidarity fund will see the other 11 Premiership clubs earn around £200k which would be a much needed boost for all, here's hoping

Also, criticise Celtic for being a poor team and criticise there signing policy, thats fine, the club itself however DO NOT deserve to be criticised for anything that happened today, it wasn't there fault, it wasn't their call and it wasn't anyonr connected to the club that brought this to UEFA's attention, there only crime in all of this was participating in a game that their opponents broke a fundamental UEFA rule.


The mock outrage is amusing

I can't argue with the rules Kay, nor can I argue with UEFA applying them.

I didn't say Celtic should turn it down, merely that they don't deserve it, and if it wasn't a situation in sport then an adult with any self respect would turn it down.

Can't blame Celtic for taking the place, but it's rather an indictment that Celtic have required two technicalities in the last 4 years to progress.
Hopefully Maribor will beat them though, as Celtic on this showing don't deserve to be anywhere near the group stage and they'd be more of an embarrassment than England in the World Cup or Ireland in the Euro's

Sion was completely different, why you can't understand that is beyond me, they only had a team capable of beatong Celtic due to the players they bought and played while under a signing embargo, they blatelntly ignored the embargo and brazenly flaunted the rules, one of the ineligible players actually scored two of the goals, yet you somehow believe it was a sad indictment Celtic were reinstated at their expense.

This situation is 100% different, I have every sympathy with the Legia fans, there team was far superior to mine, UEFA's rule book though can't allow them to deviate from this, there is just far to many potential Lawsuits if they did, all the examples I posted on thisbthread last night prove this.

Shame for Legia but you can't twist rules to suit a certain narrative

Like I said, rules are rules and they have to be applied. Doesn't mean Celtic deserve to go through, and of course I can't blame Celtic for that even if they did play like they'd never met.

I guess we'll see just how bad Celtic?Scottish Football is in future years once they've lost that "seeded" tag for Qualifying.

I actually feel a bit of sympathy for Celtic fans, a once big team progressively getting more and more provincial, I just hope they don't start living in the past as much as teams like Liverpool have done.