Celtic Football Club - Search for the Second 'Star'

[pistolped7]

Celtic Football Club regret to announce that today, Tony Mowbray has left his post at Celtic Park after a disagreement with Peter Lawell and various other members of the board over a transfer budget. His backroom staff, namely Mark Venus and Peter Grant, have joined Tony in leaving Parkhead. The club wish Tony, Mark and Peter the best of luck in all his future endeavours.

The board will release details over a new head coach at the end of today.

Battle for the Celtic job

Neil Lennon - 2/1 (Odds-on)
Tony Pulis - 4/1
Paul Lambert - 8/1
Sven-Goran Erikkson - 12/1
Chris Sutton - 15/1
Danny McGrain - 20/1

Breaking News!!

Celtic have confirmed that former Scotland international midfielder and Celtic fringe player Peter Smith has taken over at the helm of the Parkhead club. He signed a contract with his favourite team early this morning. He made it clear he wanted to build a team capable of competing regularly in Europe, and one good enough to compete for a European title within three years.

I believe that European competition is what this club and these fans deserve, and I hope to bring in the right players to achueve this. I will be organising pre-season friendlies against top European sides, similar to those we'd be up against in the Champions League and the Europa League.

He wasted no time in getting rid of the dead wood at the club, selling Scott McDonald, Lee Naylor, Stephen McManus and Andreas Hinkel on permenant deals and shipping out Giorgios Samaras and Mark Wilson on loan deals.

The big signings included a number of strikers, a few defenders and two very good youngsters, who the club have high hopes for. The major signings included Rob Hulse, David N'Gog (loan deal), Gary Hooper, Robert Lewandowski, Sergiy Kryvstov and Juliano Belletti.

Smith also arranged for numerous deals to be completed in January. He sgned Brazilian star Adriano from Flamengo, adding to a growing number of strikers at Parkhead. He also expressed a desire for Ki-Seung Yeung's move to go ahead, despite the fact it was Tony Mowbray who organised it in his short time in his post. A number of players will leave Parkhead in January, including former club captain Gary Caldwell, who moves to French giants Marseille for £2M.

Here is the full list of pre-season transfers in and out of 'Paradise' for 2009/2010.

*NOTE THAT I HAVE ALREADY PLAYED THROUGH HALF A SEASON BEFORE BEGINNING THIS STORY, PICS OF FIXTURES AND LEAGUE TABLES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN NEXT POST*​

 

[Gaffer]

so who was the first star?

 

[Carine]

so who was the first star?

Lisbon Lions, 1967?

Nice start mate -- good luck

 

[pistolped7]

About halfway through the season, Celtic find themselves a good distance ahead of nearest rivals Falkirk, who are the season's surprise package, at the top of SPL. They went on a massive 9-match unbeaten runin the league, until a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Eddie May's side. However, Celtic set a league record for the SPL's highest ever win, with an 8-1 thumping of Aberdeen. 5 goals from centre-back Sergiy Kryvtsov set the Bhoys on their way to an emphatic win over Mark McGhee's Dons.

Here is a small profile of Celtic's top goalscorer this year, Sergiy Kryvtsov, who has a perfect 1 goal per game ratio in all competitions.

Celtic's success is perhaps down to their formation, dubbed by fans as 'Goals Galore' (v9 )

Another theory is the depth of the squad, meaning Smith has a wide range of players to choose from if his players are under-performing. It's not all that surprising, then, that Smith often shuffles around his front line, although he recently has stuck with an attack of Gary Hooper and Rob Hulse, who are now banging in the goals.

Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League at the Play-Off stage by French powerhouses Lyon, 6-2 on aggregate (the only major blip on Celtic's season so far), but made it to the last 32 of the Europa League with a only one loss, away against Benfica, one draw, at home against Benfica, and four wins. Hoops fans will undoubtedly be pleased that they have carried their fantastic goalscoring form from domestic competition into Europe. They now face Fulham in the last 32, and then if they progress, face the winners of Lazio vs Arsenal.

Here are Celtic's full list of results for this year.

We will have more in February, where we'll see how Celtic's new January signings have gotten on.

 

[KA5A8IAN]

Celtic Football Club regret to announce that today, Tony Mowbray has left his post at Celtic Park

Aye right Good luck with your story.

 

[Dunc]

Could you post your goals from corner stats from the league?

Just find it funny a DC scoring that many.

 

[pistolped7]

Could you post your goals from corner stats from the league?

Just find it funny a DC scoring that many.

I will, cos that's where every single one of them have came from! All five against Aberdeen were headers, as were all his goals all season. I'll post them tomorrow, cos the game isn't actually on my home computer.

---------- Post added at 10:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 PM ----------

Lisbon Lions, 1967?

Nice start mate -- good luck

Yep, it is 67.

Cheers.

---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 PM ----------

Aye right Good luck with your story.

Thanks!

 

[The Shots]

Corner Glitch.

 

[Chaz Sexington]

I'd suggest not using the corner glitch, as I did it with Celtic in my story with Kryvtsov. Once Kryvtsov's the SPL's top scorer it gets a bit boring.

 

[pistolped7]

Update soon for up until January 25th, will do quite big Co-op Cup Semi-Final update after that.

---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 PM ----------

December 2009 - January 2010

Celtic made more new signings in the January window, with the already arranged signings of Adriano and Ki-Seung Yeung meaning that Celtic no longer had to wait for these proven International class players. They were soon joined at Parkhead by Japanese international midfielder Keisuke Honda, who is now on loan to Ooostende aftre failing to get a work permit. Honda's arrival may spell the end of Barry Robson's career, as the Celtic boss Peter Smith has already said that he has been somewhat unimpressed by Robson's fitness, saying he fatigues much quicker than other players, hence his reluctance to start the Scotland international. The January window has also seen Gary Caldwell, Willo Flood and Niall McGinn leave the club on pre-arranged deals. A number of reserve players have also left on loan deals, as they get some much-needed first-team experience.​

2009 ended with matches against Hamilton Accies and Kilmarnock, which led up to the first Old Firm match of the new year. Celtic first hosted Billy Reid's relegation strugglers.

Celtic vs. Hamilton Academical

The match began well with Rob Hulse scoring after 21 minutes, shortly followed by his strike partner Gary Hooper, on 27 mins. Hulse then doubled his tally 9 minutes later to give Celtic a 3-0 lead. After the interval, Sergiy Kryvtsov scored twice on 59 and 73 minutes, giving Celtic a well deserved 5-0 win.
Celtic 5 Hamilton 0

I feel we deserved this win, we pressed and pressed, and that shows in the scoreline. Rob Hulse did especially well today, bagging two. I'm also very pleased that Gary Hooper ended his scoring drought as well. I'm hoping we can continue this form into the Killie match.

Kilmarnock vs. Celtic

It was a dissapointing day for Celtic as they were beaten 2-1 by Europa League hopefuls Kilmarnock. Jim Jefferies men did well and scored early thanks to Graeme Owens before Simon Ford doubled their lead. Kevin Kyle had a great chance after a mistake from Milan Misun and would have made it 3-0, if not for a stunning save from Artur Boruc. Killie continued to threaten until half-time, when Celtic began to come out of their shell. Hooper made way for David N'Gog, who got a goal late on, but by then it was too late on, and Killie got a great win over the Hoops.
Kilmarnock 2[COLOR="[COLOR="Lime"]Celtic 0[/COLOR]

I'm not happy with this performance, we were dominated by a side who we should be beating. I just don't know what happened, but changes will be made for the Old Firm match.

Celtic vs. Rangers - Old Firm Match
After the last match ended 1-1, both sides were raring to go, especially Celtic who start with their new star signing, Adriano. Other new Bhoy Ki-Seung Yeung starts on the bench.

A thrilling win for Celtic as they trounce their arch rivals to extend their lead above them. Rangers threatened early on, with Boyd and Whittaker going close, but it was Celtic who broke through first. Debut bhoy Adriano instantly became a hero as he scored on 33 minutes, latching onto N'Gog's perfect through ball. Their lead was doubled on 46 mins by Ukrainian defender Sergiy Kryvtsov. Celtic continued to threaten but the team's efforts threatened to derail after Kirk Broadfoot scored on 79 mins. It didn't seem to affect the Hoops though, and they soon made it 3 after Rob Hulse scored his second Old Firm goal of the year on 81 mins. It was 4 after Adriano scored his second, but the linesman ruled it out for offside. It was 4 soon enough though, as Aiden McGeady rounded off a perfect day for Celtic on 92 mins. Another Old Firm DVD, anyone?
Celtic 4Rangers 1

Stunning, absolutely stunning. I'm thrilled with the lads, and well done to Adriano for his debut goal.

Scottish Cup 4th Rnd - Celtic 7 - 1 Cowdenbeath

Celtic vs. Falkirk

After their shock loss to Falkirk last time, Celtic were in no real danger of being beaten this time, with a double form Adriano sealing their victory. It was a boring game with nothing much happening at either end, but with two moments of magic from Adriano gave Celtic a win.
Celtic 2Falkirk 0

Celtic vs. St Johnstone

Another solid win for Celtic, this time over Derek McInnes' side. Two goals from everyone's favourite Ukrainian and a David N'Gog goal set up a good 3-0 victory.

I'm pleased with the performance today, these kind of performances are only a good thing, especially when you have a striker (N'Gog) who can score goals as good as that.

Celtic's next match is the Co-operative Cup semi final at Hampden, and it's a Glasgow derby. No, not Rangers, but Partick Thistle, who Celtic recently announced a 'feeder club' link with.

After January, here's a look at the SPL table.

Here's a look at the Celtic squad after the 'Winter Window'.

And at Dunc's request: