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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 13:48:47 GMT
The Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. Celtic are the champions of Scotland, having completed a hat-trick of titles on 22 May 2008, the final day of the 2007/08 season. Since the club's formation in 1888, Celtic have won the Scottish championship on 42 occasions and the Scottish Cup 34 times (a record), and won the European Cup in 1967. Celtic's home stadium is Celtic Park (commonly referred to as Parkhead), the largest football stadium in Scotland, with a capacity of 60,832. Together with their Glasgow rivals, Rangers, they form the Old Firm, one of the most famous and fierce rivalries in sport. The club's traditional playing colours are green and white hooped shirts with white shorts and white socks. In 1967, Celtic became the first British team to win the European Cup and are one of only two clubs ever to win the competition with a team composed entirely of players from the club's home country (along with Steaua Bucharest of Romania in 1986).All of the players, subsequently known as the Lisbon Lions, were born within a 30-mile radius of Celtic Park. Celtic won every competition that they entered that season: the Scottish League Championship, the Scottish Cup, the Scottish League Cup, the European Cup and the Glasgow Cup, to become the first, and so far only, team to win the Quadruple (As part of their Quintuple). Celtic also reached the 1970 European Cup Final, but were beaten by Feyenoord. In 2003 Celtic reached the UEFA Cup final, where they lost 3–2 to FC Porto. Approximately 80,000 Celtic supporters travelled to Seville for this game, the largest foreign travelling support in history at the time. Celtic fans also received awards from UEFA and FIFA for their behaviour throughout the tournament.Celtic have an estimated fan base of nine million, including one million in North America.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 13:50:06 GMT
In a shock move Celtic have announced the immediate termination of gaffer Tony Mowbray's contract. A string of bad results were the final straw for the Celtic boardroom, who have announced his dismissal in the early hours of the morning. A number of frontrunners for the job have been announced, among the names touted are Gordon Strachan, Slaven Bilic and Owen Coyle. However the surprise bookies favourite is club legend Paul McStay, who recently expressed a desire to go into management almost a decade after retiring from the game. Keep in tune at Sky Sports News, as we bring you up to date news from Celtic Park.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 14:13:40 GMT
An official statement on the Celtic FC website has put an end to days of endless speculation in the media by confirming club legend Paul McStay as the new manager. McStay, 42, hasn't been involved in the sport in any capacity since 1997 but seems to be relishing the chance to get his boots dirty once again. McStay, had this to say upon his official appointment as new club boss. "Of course, I'm delighted to be here, anyone who knows me knows I have a huge place in my heart for Celtic, they were the only football club I played competetively with, I dedicated my entire playing career to them, so why not my managerial one too?" "I knows it's a huge leap of faith by the Celtic board, as I don't have any managerial experience, but I hope to repay the faith placed in me with success on the pitch," Ambitions "Of course, my first ambition is to win back the title from the other side of Glasgow, but my main wish for Celtic is to take them back to a time where they didn't need foreign talent to compete with the European big guns, I intend to develop talent from around the UK, as opposed to signing talent from elsewhere." "Although there are some truly top class players at the club, they will, unfortunately, be put onto the transfer list as we look to make Celtic the club it should be. A Scottish club and a British one . All non-British players will be placed on the transfer list with immediate effect." It seems Mr. McStay has his own ideas over how a football club should be run, and we should expect to see some huge changes at Celtic Park over the coming weeks, no doubt Paul McStay's reign as Celtic boss will be a controversial one, but we at Sky Sports News shall be watching with interest, and keeping you informed.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 14:38:26 GMT
McStay's Men March To Win
Paul McStay's reign as Celtic manager had a winning start as minnows Lothian Thistle crashed to a 4-1 defeat.
True to his word, the starting 11 was all British, if one is willing to ignore Republic of Ireland international Aiden McGeady's inclusion.
Upon asked about this, McStay commented "McGeady was born in Scotland, and grew up in Scotland, the only reason he is eligible to play for Ireland is through his grandparents, I'm sorry, but as far as I'm concerned Aiden is Scottish"
Rookie goalkeeper James Gilpin was preferred to #1 and fans favourite Artur Boruc, considered by many Celtic's best goalkeeper since they won the European Cup in 1967, when Ronnie Simpson was the man between the sticks.
McStay was also said to be less then pleased with how the game was played, "I know this isn't what many people would consider our strongest team, but I expect any player wearing a Celtic strip to play much better than they did out there, don't be decieved by the 3 goal margin, we could have played much better."
Indeed, it seems McStay is already delving into the transfer market, with Sunderland locked in negotiations over a deal to bring Artur Boruc and cash to the Stadium of Light in exchance for Scottish #1 Craig Gordon.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 15:27:09 GMT
Fan's Voice Displeasure as Boruc Makes Way
Celtic fans were united in their displeasure as long term goalkeeper and cult figure at Parkhead Artur Boruc made way as part of the McStay revolution. Boruc moved to Sunderland alongside a figure though to be among 4 million, in order for Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon to take up residence at Celtic Park.
Should his stay be anything like his predecessor, Celtic fans will be sure to be changing their tune quickly enough.
English youth Mark Paton also joined the Hoops for a nominal fee from Blackpool.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 15:34:43 GMT
Sunderland complete Celtic double swoop
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has completed a double swoop among UK-residents-only Celtic. Marc Crosas, the highly rated Spanish Under 21s starlet has made way, for a large sum, though to be as high as £12 million plus future incentives. This represents a shrewd piece of business from Bruce, as Crosas can only go onto bigger and better things, being just 19, as well as landing the wonderkid at a knock down price, due to Celtic being keen to offload non-UK nationals.
Meanwhile, McStay has convinced Wayne Drummond, the highly rated Northern Ireland under-19s and Glentoran shot-stopper, to sign on a pre contract with Celtic, he will join his new team mates next season, in the summer of 2008.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 15:50:39 GMT
I'm not going to do write-ups for the rest of the friendlies, I'll do any new transfers but match reports take me ages to write up, so it's all going to be transfer news until the league starts. Just to let you know (if anyone's actually reading )
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 24, 2009 18:31:19 GMT
(Just realised that I'm playing on Update 1.5, which was the first summer update, so some players were a bit easier to get)
New faces join McStay revolution
3 new faces were added to the first team squad at Celtic Park this week. English under-18's goalkeeper Preston Edwards joined on a free transfer to deputise for Craig Gordon,Ambitious youn full back Joe Mattock joined for a fee rumoured to be around £1.9 million and Leeds icon and wonderkid Fabian Delph signed for a meagre £775 000.
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Post by aseru on Dec 25, 2009 22:00:20 GMT
Nice, nice. Good job with the story so far. I'll be following this, good luck with you career!
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 28, 2009 19:44:47 GMT
Celts draw Tblisi in Second-Round clash
Celtic have drawn Dinamo Tblisi in the Champions league, second round qualifier. Georgian lightweights Dinamo will host Scottish giants Celtic at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium for the first leg, which signals Celts boss Paul McStay's first competetive match in charge of the club.
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 28, 2009 19:59:10 GMT
Majestic Maloney on Form
Shaun Maloney stole the show in Tblisi as he bagged a second half hattrick. With the Bhoys 2-0 up at half-time, their authority was already stamped on the game before the little winger scored 3 goals in 8 minutes, after also providing the assist for the initial goal, which saw Celtic run rampant to a 6-1 victory. Competetive debutant Joe Mattock was also in amongst the action, as he converted a pass from Maloney.
Australian international Scott McDonald was also in amongst the goals, finding the back of the net twice. Gaffer McStay was full of praise for the striker, " Scott scored two great goals, I was very pleased with him."
Upon being asked about his inclusion in what is supsed to be an all-UK team McStay commented, "Scott's parents are both Scottish, and he was eligible to play for Scotland, if he's eligible for our national team, he's eligible for Celtic."
Line-ups
Tblisi: Makiridze, Modebadze, Bajelidzi, Nadirashvili, Chikhradze (Dareselia 56), Nadirashvili, Kizanishvhili (Archvadze 45), Zelic (C), Merebashvili (Janashia 56), Jeladze
Unused Subs: Chketiani, Mujiri, Kobakhidze, Labadze
Celtic: Gordon, Onohua (Wilson 89), McManus (C), Cuthbert, Mattock, Brown (Flood 89), Delph (Robson 77), Ferry, McGeady, Maloney(MOTM), McDonald
Unused subs: Edwards, Caldwell, Grant, Hutchison
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Post by rinso on Dec 29, 2009 19:04:40 GMT
Good start mate, I'll be following along with interest. Will no doubt be tough to stick to the "All British"
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Post by +Mirage on Dec 29, 2009 19:51:47 GMT
Good start mate, I'll be following along with interest. Will no doubt be tough to stick to the "All British" I've been bending the rules by allowing second nationality's Aiden McGeady was born and grew up in Scotland but was eligible through his grandparents for the Republic of Ireland and opted for them. Scott McDonald was born in Australia but moved to Scotland to pursue a professional career in football and both parents are Scottish, so he has a Scottish nationality. I'm trying to make it work. I've played on a bit, I just need to write up some of the news reports, I'll have the transfer news I;d missed out from before that news (as you can see I signed Nedum Onuoha, as he started against Tblisi) and then the match writeups that follow.
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Post by +Mirage on Jan 1, 2010 17:45:27 GMT
Celtic Rescue Onuoha From City Hell
Celtic paid £6 million to save English full-back Nedum Onuoha from his boyhood heroes Manchester City. Onuoha was signed on the deadline day for Celtic to declare their Champions League squad, and inherited the number 16 shirt, previously worn by players such as Roy Keane.
After a whirlwind week, and a dream debut, in which Celtic won 6-1, Onuoha commented,
"I'm just so pleased I've made it to Celtic, they're a great club with such a rich history and a great fanbase from around the world.
"Of course one of the lures of coming here was playing in a prestigious tournament such as the Champions League, but to make my first team debut there? It's just incredible, I'm so proud to be part of it all.
"I owe a lot to Mr. McStay though, as we know Manchester City have spent a lot of money now that they have new owner's and I'd been frozen out there."
Indeed, Onuoha never made a single start or substitute appearance throughout City's preseason, instead being forced to train with, and play for, the reserves. His Celtic career, however, has got off to the best possible start, and he'll be hoping to carry this form throughout the season.
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Post by +Mirage on Jan 1, 2010 17:59:22 GMT
Tblisi Hangover Evident in Poor Display
Celtic came crashing down from the high of their 6-1 win away in Tblisi, a win which broke their 'away curse', to be defeated by a battling Falkirk side.
In a game which Celtic had been the equal of their opponents for most of the match, a lack of cutting edge and a heroic display from Falkirk goalie Robert Olejnik denied the Bhoys any points.
An early goal from veteran striker Dwight Yorke, who previously played for Aston Villa, Manchester United and Blackburn, completely stunned Celtic, who had been in control of the match up to that point. Falkirk then proved difficult to break down, and at a key moment, in which a defence splitting pass was played by Scott Brown, Shaun Maloney, who had been moved up front to replace McDonald, was unable to convert it.
Best Celtic Player: Scott Brown
Best Falkirk Player: Robert Olejnik
Line-Ups
Falkirk: Olejnik (MOTM), McNamara ( Bullen 90), Scobbie, Barr (C), McLean, Arfield, McCann, Lynch(Arnau 78), O'Brien (Dailly 88), Finnifan, Yorke
Celtic: Gordon, Wilson ( Onuoha 72), McManus (C), Cuthbert, Mattock, Brown, Ferry, Robson, Maloney, McGeady, McDonald (Delph 72)
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