Celtic Football Club - Season 2015-16

Incoming Players:

Bought:
Jozo Simunovic   - £2.8m Dinamo Zagreb
Dedryck Boyata    - £1.5m Manchester City
Nadir Çiftçi            - £1.2m Dundee Utd
Ryan Christie        - £500,000 Inverness C.T
Scott Allan            - £275,000 from Hibernian + Dylan McGeouch
Logan Bailly          - £250,000 OH Leuven
Saidy Janko          - £200,000 from Manchester United
Logan Bailly          - £250,000 from OH Leuven
Erik Sviatchenko  - £1.5m  from Midtjylland
Colin Kazim-Richards - Free from Feyenoord


On Loan:
Tyler Blackett        - Manchester Utd (*£3m future transfer in July 2016)
Patrick Roberts      - Manchester City (18 months)


Total Transfer Fee Spent: £6,975,000

Outgoing Players:

Sold:
Virgil Van Dijk       - £13m + 15% Sell On Clause to Southampton
Adam Matthews   - £2.15m to Sunderland
Teemu Pukki         - £550,000 to Brondby
Dylan McGeouch - to Hibs (Part exchange for Scott Allan)
Jackson Irvine      - £65,000 to Ross County

Free:
Lukas Zaluska      - Free to SV Dramstadt 98
Amido Baldè         - Free to FC Metz
Joe Chalmers       - Free to Motherwell
Holmbert Fridjonsson - Free to  KR Reykjavic
John Herron           - Free to Blackpool

Loan Expired:
Jason Denayer
John Guidetti
Aleksander Tonev
Mubarak Wakaso

Loaned Out:
Liam Henderson     - Hibernian (as part of Scott Allan Deal)
Stefan Scepovic     - Getafe £300,000 fee (£1.5m deal agreed for next Summer)
Eoghan O'Connel   - Oldham Athletic
Ryan Christie         - Inverness C.T 
Darnell Fisher        - St Johnstone
Paul McMillan         - St Mirren
Stuart Findlay        - Kilmarnonk
Calum Waters        - Dumbarton
Michael Duffy         - Alloa Athletic
Anthony Stokes     - Hibernian
Nadir Ciftci             - Eskisehirspor

Total Transfer Fee Received: £15.48m

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2015-16 Pre-Season Friendly Results:
Celtic 2-0 Den Bosch (Mackay-Steven, OG)
Celtic 3-5 Dukla Prague (Mackay-Steven, Griffiths, Van Dijk)
Celtic 1-0 Real Sociadad (Mackay-Steven)
SD Eibar 1-4 Celtic (Ambrose, Griffiths 3)
Celtic 2-0 Rennes (Griffiths, MaMackay-Steven)


2015-16 Results:


July
UCL: Celtic 2-0 FC Stjarnan (Boyata, Johansen) - Assist: Johansen; Armstrong - Att: 48,185
UCL: FC Stjanan 1-4 Celtic (Bitton, Mulgrew, Griffiths, Johansen) - Assist: Johansen, Brown, Mackay-Steven, Mulgrew - Att: 1,000
UCL: Celtic 1-0 FK Qarabag (Boyata) - Assist: Commons - Att:  43,011

August
SPFL:  Celtic 2-0 Ross County (Griffiths, Johansen) - Assist: Mackay-Steven - Att: 45,197
UCL:   Qarabag 0-0 Celtic - Att:  31,200
SPFL:  Partick Thistle 0-2 Celtic (Rogic, Commons) - Assist: Griffiths, Bitton - Att:  7,008
SPFL:  Kilmarnock 2-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Bitton) - Assist: Commons, Rogic - Att:  6,090
SPFL:  Celtic 4-2 Inverness C.T (Lustig, Griffiths, Amrstrong 2) - Assist: Johansen, Bitton  - Att: 42,727
UCL:   Celtic 3-2 Malmö (Griffiths 2, Bitton) - Assist: Johansen 2 - Att:  58,000
SPFL:  Dundee Utd 1-3 Celtic (Griffiths, OG, McGregor)  - Assist: Izaguirre, Commons, Mackay-Steven - Att:  10,605
UCL:   Malmö 2-0 Celtic Att: 24,000
SPFL:  Celtic 3-1 St Johnstone (Griffiths, Rogic, Mulgrew) - Assist:  Mackay-Steven, Van Dijk - Att:  42,507


September
SPFL:  Aberdeen 2-1 Celtic (Griffiths) - Att: 20,385
UEL: Ajax 2-2 Celtic (Bitton, Lustig) - Assist: Commons 2 - Att: 40,000
SPFL: Celtic 6-0 Dundee (Rogic, Griffiths, Izaguirre 2, Brown, Ciftçi) - Assist: Izaguirre, Rogic, Commons, Janko, Ciftçi - Att: 48,558
League Cup: Celtic 2-0 Raith Rovers (Commons, Johansen) - Assist: McGregor  - Att: 13,591
SPFL: Celtic 0-0 Hearts  - Att:  46,297


October
UEL: Celtic 2-2 Fenerbahçe (Griffiths; Commons) - Assist: Commons; Forrest - Att: 41,330
SPFL: Hamilton 1-2 Celtic (Boyata; Griffiths) - Assist: Grffiths; Janko - Att:  4,910
SPFL: Motherwell 0-1 Celtic (Çiftçi) - Assist:   - Att: 8,888
UEL: Moldè 3-1 Celtic (Commons) - Att: 
SPFL: Celtic 5-0 Dundee Utd (Griffiths, Boyata, Commons 2, Brown) - Assist: Brown; Armstrong; Tierney - Att:  42,718
League Cup: Hearts 1-2 Celtic (Griffiths, Rogic) - Assist: Griffiths - Att: 11,598
SPFL: Celtic 3-1 Aberdeen (Griffiths 2, Forrest) - Assist: Tierney, Commons Rogic - Att:  48,161

November
UEL: Celtic 1-2 Molde (Commons)
SPFL: County 1-4 Celtic (Rogic, Griffiths 2, Bitton) - Assist: Lustig, Bitton, Forrest, Armstrong - Att:  6,042
SPFL: Celtic 0-0 Kilmarmock - Att  42,770
UEL:  Celtic 1-2 Ajax (McGregor) - Att:  44,118
SPFL: Inverness C.T 1-3 Celtic (McGregor, Griffiths, OG) - Assist: Tierney - Att: 5,976

December
UEL: Fenerbahçe 1-1 Celtic (Commons) - Assist: Lustig - Att:
SPFL: St Johnstone 0-3 Celtic (Ciftçi 2, Boyata) - Assist: McGregor 2, Lustig - Att: 6,417
SPFL: Celtic 1-2 Motherwell (Bitton) - Att:  42,603
SPFL: Hearts 2-2 Celtic (Bitton, Rogic) - Assist: McGregor 2  - Att:  16,844

January
SPFL: Celtic 1-0 Partick Thistle  (Griffiths) - Assist: Commons  - Att:  46,067
FASC: Stranraer 0-3 Celtic  (Griffiths 2; Cole) - Att: 4,051
SPFL: Dundee Utd 1-4 Celtic  (Griffiths 2, Simunovic; Commons) - Att:  10,848
SPFL: Celtic 8-1 Hamilton  (Lustig, Bitton, Rogic, Griffiths 3, Forrest, McGregor - Att:  45,659
SPFL: Celtic 3-1 St Johnstone  (Mackay-Steven 2, Armstrong) - Att:  43,948
SLC: Ross County 3-1 Celtic  (Mackay-Steven) - Att:  22,130


February
SPFL: Aberdeen 0-0 Celtic  (Griffiths)  - Att:  19,003


Man Of The Match

● HOME ○ Away

Game 1  - UCL Qualifier 2nd round 1st Leg: vs FC STJARNAN  - Scott Brown
Game 2  - UCL Qualifier 2nd round 2nd Leg: vs FC Stjanan  - Charlie Mulgrew
Game 3  - UCL Qualifier 3rd round 1st Leg: vs FK QARABAG - Dedryk Boyata
Game 4  -  SPFL Premiership: vs ROSS COUNTY -  Virgil Van Dijk
Game 5  - UCL Qualifier 3rd round 2nd Leg: - Nir Bitton
Game 6  - SPFL Premiership: vs Partick Thistle - Virgil Van Dijk
Game 7  - SPFL Premiership: vs  Kilmarnock - James Forrest
Game 8  - SPFL Premietship: vs INVERNESS C.T - Stuart Armstrong
Game 9  - UCL Play-Off Round 1st Leg: vs MALMÖ FF - Leigh Griffiths
Game 10  - SPFL Premiership: vs Dundee Utd  - Eoghan O'Connell

Game 11 - UCL Play-Off Round 2nd Leg:  vs Malmö FF - Craig Gordon
Game 12 - SPFL Premiership: vs ST JOHNSTONE - Emilio Izaguirre
Game 13 - SPFL Premiership: vs Aberdeen - Leigh Griffith
Game 14 - UEFA Europa League: vs Ajax - Nit Bitton
Game 15 - SPFL Premiership: vs DUNDEE - Tom Rogic
Game 16 - Scottish League Cup: vs RAITH ROVERS - Kris Commons
Game 17 - SPFL Premiership vs HEARTS - Efe Ambrose
Game 18 - UEFA Europa League: vs FENERBAHÇE - Kris Commons
Game 19 - SPFL Premiership: vs Hamilton Accies - Leigh Griffiths
Game 20 - SPFL Premiership: vs Motherwell - Scott Brown
Game 21 - UEFA Europa League: vs Moldè - Kris Commons
Game 22 - SPFL Premiership: vs DUNDEE UTD - Kris Commons
Game 23 - Scottish League Cup: vs Hearts - Leigh Griffiths
Game 24 - SPFL Premiership: vs ABERDEEN - Leigh Griffiths
Game 25 - UEFA Europa League: vs MOLDE - Kieran Tierney
Game 26 - SPFL Premiership: vs Ross County - Tom Rogic

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Appearances:




ot;]

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:
1. Craig Gordon	35	12	2	3	52
26. Logan Bailly	3	-	2	-	5
38. Leo Fason	-	-	-	-	-
DEFENDERS:
2. Tyler Blackett	3	(3)	(1)	1	4 (4)
3. Emilio Izaguirre	14 (3)/2	6 (1)	-	1	21 (4)/2
4. Efe Ambrose	15 (6)	2 (4)	2	2	21 (10)
5. Jozo Simunovic	11	4	1	2	18
20. Dedryck Boyata	25(1)/4	12/2	2	2	41(1)/6!!!
21. Charlie Mulgrew	8 (5)/1	3 (1)/1	3	-	14 (6)/2
22. Saidy Janko	6 (4)	1 (1)	-	1	8 (5)
23. Mikeal Lustig	29 (1)/4	11/1	3	2	45 (1)/5
28. Erik Sviatchenko	14	-	2/1	(1)	16 (1)/1
63. Kieron Tierney	23/1	4	4	2	33/1
MIDFIELDERS:
6. Nir Bitton	28(2)/6	11/3	2(1)	2	34 (3)/9
8. Scott Brown	22/2	9	3	1(1)	35(1)/2
11. Derk Boerrigter	-		-	-	-
14. Stuart Armstrong	19 (6)/4	10 (2)	(1)	2	31 (9)/4
15. Kris Commons	16 (5)/4	4 (4)/4	2	2/1	24 (9) /9
16. Gary Mackay-Steven	15 (10)/2	4 (3)	3	2/1	24 (13)/3
17. Ryan Christie	2 (3)/1	-	(1)	-	2(4)/1
18. Tom Rogic	24 (6)/8	2 (3)	(2)/1	(2)/1	26 (13)/10
19. Scott Allan	2 (11)	1 (1)	(2)	-	3 (14)
25. Stefan Johansen	22 (1)/1	11/2	3	3/1	39 (1)/4
27. Patrick Roberts	9 (2)/6	-	1 (1)	-	10 (3)/6
42. Callum McGregor	15 (12)/4	2/1	2 (1)/1	2	21 (3)/6
49. James Forrest	10 (9)/2	6 (4)	1	1 (2)	18 (15)/2
FORWARDS:
7. Nadir Ciftçi	6 (6)/4	5 (4)	-	1 (1)	10 (10)/4
9. Leigh Griffiths	32 (2)/31	7 (4)/4	4/4	2/1	45 (6)/40
12. Calton Cole	(4)		1/1	-	1 (4)/1
13. Colin Kazim-Richards	4 (7)/1	-	1 (1)/1	-	5 (8)/2

First game of the Season, these early rounds of Champions League Qualifiers are brutal, games you know you should win comfortably but the stakes are so high that it becomes inevitable to be nervy as well

FC Stjarnan are a decent side, we dispatched of Reykavic last Season and considering they're from the same League Stjarnan actually looked a far superior Football team to last years Icelandic Champs, regardless though it was a comfortable 2-0, realistically though it could and should have been about 5/6-1 - we looked dodgy in defence at times but considering ut was Lustig's first competitive match in months and there was no Denayer or Van Dijk I didn't expect the defence to be water tight

The Tempo was quite good, better than I expected although the passing and touch was hopeless from bear enough everyone other than Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong

Gary Mackay-Steven was probably a big loss too, he's been flying in Pre-Season and scored on 3 games on the bounce, he was listed to start last night but got injured in the Warm Up, hopefully its nothing serious as I believe this will be big Season for him

Team vs FC Stjarnan

Subs:
Griffiths > Forrest 58mins
Stokes > Ciftçi 74mins
Ambrose > Boyata 82mins

Second Leg of the 2nd qualifying round for the Champions League tonight, heading over to Iceland, we should've comfortably put this to bed last week, unfortunately we still have some work to do and while I'm confident we have to be weary as the new look defence last week didn't look to comfortable when pressured, still we could and should have scored 4 or 5 goals last week with the amount of chances we created, one can only assume given another weeks training that the players will be even sharper this time around.

Predicted Line-Up

So the second leg came and went and Celtic won what was the most comfortable game you'll likely to see in Europe, the pitch was awful, one of the worst I've came across, it was a very basic 1G pitch, that had a huge effect on the Stjanan goal, it was their first attack early in the game and you could tell Van Dijk wasn't confident enough to turn or twist quickly in the challenge, as the game went on he and the rest looked more comfortable but it understandable, Celtic however controlled the entire 90 minutes, there wasn't one passage of play where you could say Stjanan had a proper spell, they had two or three 20-30 seconds spell of possession, that was it, given they actually beat Europa League finalists Dnipro at this venue last year maybe Celtic aren't given the credit their performance deserved but they did look a very basic side.

Starting Line-Up 





Ambrose > Lustig  52mins
Griffiths > Armstrong  62mins
Rogic > Ciftçi  82mins

What a dodgy game Qarabag proved to be last night, given their recent European record I expected it to be a tough game but for all the great teams that Celtic have faced in European competiton in the last few years no-one has looked more comfortable passing the ball out of defence than Qarabag, that being said, the only time one of their players took a swipe for the ball they newrly scored an OG which led to the corner that saw Celtic snatch a goal that hopefully proves to be vital.

Not going to lie, this team looked far more comfortable on the ball than Celtic however they didn't threaten so much in attack, infact they didn't have one shot on target all night, I do expect them to be more forceful in Azerbaijan next Wednesday but in doing that I'd like to think it might give Celtic a bit of space to exploit them, if they had one weakness I'd say they're not comfortable with the ball in the air

Team vs Qarabag

Absolutely love the first day of a New Season, excitement and energy across the board, Celtic are unfurling the Championship flag against Ross County at Celtic Park

Team News: Bitton is benched after his ankle knock, they'll be looking to make sure he's fit for Qarabag in the Champions League, Lustig and Izaguirre are left out altogether in preperation for that game too, Mulgrew returns to training but he'll also be kept for Qarabag

Team to play Ross County

Celtic kicked off the new Ladbrokes SPFL Premiership Season with a bang, started the game at a really high tempo and looked to kill off Ross County early doors, County conceded a Penalty in the 3rd minute which Griffiths converted and Celtic piled on the pressure, County survived and after a poor pass by Boyata (one of many) Jackson Irvine went through on goal, Craig Gordon came rushing out and while I'm not convinved their was contact, the ref gave it and for me if he sees a foul then it has to be a red card, it looked very much like a goalscoring opportunity, Celtic gained control again and Gary Mackay-Steven slipped in Stefan Johansen for Celtic's second, Craig Gordon was the star of the second half as he made 3 very good saves.

Huge game for Celtic in the Azerbaijan city of Baku tonight, Celtic lead Qarabag 1-0 from the first leg but if truth be told they passed us off the pitch at Celtic Park, they didn't really threaten the Celtic goal but were as good a passing side as I've seen at Celtic Park in recent European History and I include Barcelona in that, they did look weak with cross balls though,  not the strongest in the air which is were Celtic's goal last week came from (a Kris Commons corner)

Said it before and I'll say it again, out of all the teams Celtic have beaten in Champions League qualifiers over the last 4 Seasons, Qarabag would be the best side they'd eliminate, I'm not confident at all, I think we could get a result, it's not beyond us and we are favourites with the Bookies but 40° heat against an excellent passing side doesn't bode too well, we'll need to up our performance considerably from last week.

Prediction:

Hopes 2-1 Celtic

Heart: 1-1 Celtic

Head: 2-1 Qarabag

Team to Play Qarabag

It's a mere thirty degrees, according to the BBC!

I think Celtic will struggle, but still have enough to make it through. Won't be pretty though.

1-1.

Tricky game for Celtic to negotiate past, in hindsight they looked comfortable and dealt with Qarabag pretty well, they Home side didn't play as well as they did at Celtic Park last week, their pitch was horrendous though which I think hampered them more than us, they couldn't knock the ball about as quickly at the back and it allowed Celtic to really press them high up the pitch,  bigger hurdles are still ahead of us going into the Play-Off round, the most pleasing aspect for me apart from the Professional way we handled that tie was how fit we looked, 30° heat thousand 3000 miles away and for me Celtic looked the stronger side, considering Qarabag are used to that environment I felt that was very impressive.

Gordon - 7

Lustig - 7
Izaguirre - 7
Boyata - 7
Vam Dijk - 8

Brown - 7
Bitton - 8

Mackay-Steven - 6
Johansen - 6
Armstrong - 6

Çiftçi - 6

Subs:

Griffiths - 4
Commons - 4
Forrest - 4

Griffiths > Çiftçi
Commons > Mackay-Steven
Forrest > Armstrong

We'll batter teams this season but no 90 minutes will be more.comfortabl than that, Thistle offered absolutely nothing from the first minute of the game, a shadow of the good passing side they were last Season.

Team that played Partick Thistle

Game night, Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, looking forward to this game, Killie is also only 45mins down the road so its a good local-ish away trip, Live on TV too, Kilmarnock have had a terrible start to the Season while Celtic have started their SPFL Premiership campaign reasonably comfortably, don't think we'll see Stuart Armstrong tonight given he tweaked his Hamstring at Firhill on Sunday, Brown and Forrest could return to the squad but theres no great need to rush them, particularly Scott Brown, I'd expect Mikael Lustig to be rested given the amount of game time he's had recently and the fact he isn't the most reliable to stay fit.

Predicted Team to Play Kilmarnock

Bit off with that prediction.

From an outsider, its good to teams like Hearts & Aberdeen putting the pressure on Celtic.

Think those two teams will push Celtic all the way.

It is what it is, Celtic had seven shots on target in the first 12 minutes, it was quite ridiculous,  had a kid at right back and Efe Ambrose at right Centre back, we looked dodgy all game, Kilmarnock came right into the game in the last 10 minutes of the 1st half and were good for their goal

we tend to struggle without Scott Brown, again it sounds daft when you think about the amount of goals we could have scored tonight but thats 7 out of the last 10 games he's missed were we haven't won.

I'm all for Hearts and Aberdeen pushing us, its what the League needs, ICT and Motherwell have done really well in recent years but they cant gst a crowd for love nor money,  at least Aberdeen and Hearts can get 15,000+ crowds and their 20k stadiums feel like they're buzzing.

I quite like both of those clubs, we've got a very good/hateful/spiteful rivalry with both, more so Hearts but when either of them are doing well it adds a great deal to the spectacle of the occassion

Unbelievable game at Celtic Park tonight, exciting, atmospheric,  tension and frustrationare just some of the emotions I eexperienced, I know everyone says it about their club but the noise levels at Celtic Park, particularly on a Big European night is second to none, the game itself was brilliant, I'd imagine the neutrals would have loved it, we started like a house on fire, Griffiths and Bitton had us 2 up after 10 minutes, ifnwe scored a third the tie would have been dead, Berget, he was truly one of the worst footballers I've seen in a Celtic jersey, you could see him fade in it, when I realised he played with Malmö I just knew he'd haunt us, thats what happens isn't it, Ex players do you and he did, twice, either side of Leigh Griffiths' second goal.

Onto next week in Sweden now, I suppose many will think its advantage Malmö, it probably is but I do geninely feel we have players that can hurt them, I'm hopeful we'll score in Sweden and keep my fingers crossed that it'd be enough.

I've got literally no idea how Celtic will line up today at Tannadice, with so many players picking up niggling knocks and with the focus on Malmö on Tuesday Night I wouldn't be surprised or annoyed if Ronny Deila chose a shadow side for today's game, the flip side of that is Deila may be looking at using two different fullbacks in Sweden, if thats the case then it maybe better to play all four today and look tp build an understanding with them, I'm sure Scott Allan will make his debut and I've also got a sneaky suspicion Logan Bailey will make his competitive debut in goals as well.

Team To play Dundee Utd

Celtic despite having a weakened team out for this one were never in any sort of danger, they controlled the game from start to finish, when Utd did actually look like they could be a threat Celtic scored their second goal and while Utd got one back instantly no-one ever felt like they'd have enough to equalise. 

I said pre-game that I had litterally no clue of the team other than Allan would definitely start,  well I got lucky with 7 of the 11 but only Commons and Bailey played were envisaged and the 'cert' Scott Allan started on the bench.

Team that played Utd

Disastrous performance from Celtic and once again Celtic manager Ronny Deila has failed spectacularly in his tactics while going into the 2nd leg of a Champions League Play-Off tie, that's two Seasons running now.

He is a religious 4-2-3-1 man, he sticks with it regardless evwry single week, last night he went with 4-3-3 and dropped Stefan Johansen far deeper than he normally is, anyone who has watched Johansen regularly will know he doesn't have the discipline nor the th3 game intelligence to play so deep, his biggest asset is his work rate and deploying that in the #10 role where we press opponents high up the park is where we get most joy from him, he was a man short and his distribution was horrendous.

Another major call from the Manager was the inclusion of Charlie Mulgrew at left back, another massive boob, Emilio Izaguirre is often criticised, usually by too many people who don't appreciate exactly what he offers, I'll be the first to admit he's not the greatest defender and his final ball can be a bit hit or miss but his main asset and one that gives the team an impetus is his engine, he gives Celtic the width on the left and whether we use him or not, it then allows Stuart Armstrong more freedom to come inside, without that support last night Armstrong was isolated and marked out the game.

Despite how terrible we were last night it cannot be ignored how diabolical the officiating was either, with a minute to go in the first half at 1-0 the referee chalked a goal off for Celtic for handball, how the referee decided that it was a Celtic hand is beyond me, the Malmo CB punched the ball off the line, it fell to Bitton who knocked it in and the tie becomes 1-1 on the night (4-3 to Celtic on agg) but the Referee blew his whistle for the hand, fair enough no goal but it then has to be a Penalty with Malmö down to 10 men, decisions like that cost you big, whether you play poorly or not you need a fair call from the Referee and how not one of those three officials within a 30 yard proximity to that call couldn't see who did it when it looked so obvious is beyond reason.

I must stress thats not a deflection tactic,  the better team on the night went through,  Ronny Deila's tactics were rotten, Malmö were terrified of Celtic's pace and power last week, they wouldn't have believed their luck with how we lined up so negatively from the off last night.

Player Ratings


Craig Gordon - 7

Saidy Janko - 5
Dedryck Boyata - 5
Virgil Van Dijk - 4
Charlie Mulgrew - 3

Scott Brown - 3
Stefan Johansen - 2
Nir Bitton - 5

James Forrest - 6
Stuart Armstrong - 3

Leigh Griffiths - 4

Subs:

Kris Commons - 4
Nadir Çiftçi - 2
Gary Mackay-Steven - 2

Tastey Europa.League draw

  Group A  


● Ajax
● Celtic
● Fenerbaçhe
● Molde

Expecting Celtic to put their strongest team possible out today minus Virgil Van Dijk, they'll be wanting to start righting some wrongs for their horrible display on Tuesday in Sweden, Leigh Griffiths has scored first goal in 3 of the 5 League games this Season already and all have came in the first 5 minutes, I'm expecting a similar blistering start.

Celtic team to play St Johnstone

A few Deadline day deals

Celtic have had a £4.5m bid accepted for Jozo Simunovic

Celtic have had a £500,000 bid accepted for Ryan Christie

Celtic have loaned out Stefan Scepovic to Getafe with a view to selling him for £1.5m next Summer

Jozo Simunovic is a great player and personally I think we had a good deal for £5.5m. Lets not talk about Scepovic lol.

Carlton Cole is up at Celtic for a week long trial, I've been highly critical of Cole in the past but I can actually see the benefit he could possibly bring us if and when he signs, it'll depend on his attitude though, if he comes up here motivated to be relevant again then it could be a very good move, if he comes up here with a huffy moody "I've spent my career in the Premiership" attitude he'll be lucky to get out of Glasgow in one piece.

Carlton Cole is many things, including a hero of mine, but he is not someone to indulge arrogance or come for a pay packet.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:Carlton Cole is many things, including a hero of mine, but he is not someone to indulge arrogance or come for a pay packet.

I know nothing of him, we almost signed him in 2005 (I think) from Chelsea and he didn't want to move to Scotland so thats where that opinion came from, give me the low down on him, good and bad, as a neutral I always felt he was a better version of Shola Ameobi but I think he's probably better than that.

At Celtic a striker will be judged on goals though as on the whole they'll be on the front foot for most of the games, 222 starts, 161 subbed on and 85 goals, considering he spent most of his career at a Club he wouldnt be expected to score a barrel load with I'm not seeing that as the negative many believe it to be

Its one of those things. He was always a bit inconsistent, but he was ours and we loved him. He runs non stop, puts himself about and theres a couple performances in the champ as a lone striker which are as good as you'll get. When we had 10 men against Millwall he worked those 2 centre backs and won us the game because it was like we still had 11. Hes not an aerial threat really, hes better on the deck and if he doesnt have to think he'll score you goals. Its when he thinks that things go wrong with his feet.

Last few years hes been filling a gap and doing a job, but he always does it. Prolific? No, but he'll be an asset. If hes turned down the MLS to go to Glasgow I think that shows hes got his mind on winning games and trophies.

Hes one of those that gives me faith in footballers as genuine people though.

http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/celtic/1329131-carlton-cole-turns-down-mls-move-in-favour-of-deal-with-celtic/

Pretty honest about what hes doing there and his situation.

Hes got a bit of the Ameobi's too him, but hes a classier footballer when in his groove. He learned to change his game too, he never got near his potential as a youth player but he turned himself into a nightmare to play against physically. Gotta hope he kept himself fit though, last time he was a free agent he enjoyed it too much (he said he'd never had a free summer before so couldnt resist) and had to work hard to get back in shape once we signed him again. Not sure how many years hes got left in his legs though, but I don't think you'll ever think hes lazy or taking the club for granted, even if it doesnt work. Sometimes thats all you can ask.

Cheers for that, bit of an eye opener I must admit, he's some size of unit, he walked past me on Sunday before I knew who he was and I just kept looking up and up and up, we're a bit light on strikers at the moment after Sunderland knocked back our bid for Steven Fletcher on deadline day which isn't a bad thing IMO...in Leigh Griffiths we've got a guy who'll hit 30 a Season but we don't have that technical target man who can take the ball into his body, bring others into play and really know how to work the defence, if Cole can do that then he'll hopefully do a job, I'd hope if that was the reason we signed him his influence would rub off on the striker we've currently got that is supposed to do that type of job (Nadir Ciftçi)

If we win our next two games the title is ours. Well that's what I am hoping lol.

Armstrong, Henderson, Allan, Mcgregor, Christie? do any them go and become club legends or are they unlikely to survive the regime change?

Henderson and Christie deserve all the time in the World, hopefully they get it