Saturday 26th February 2005

13.00

Hoops close ranks to defend blunder keeper.

Paul Lambert and Martin O'Neill have jumped to the defence of under-fire goalkeeper Robert Douglas but the Celtic manager cannot guarantee he will be at the club next season.

The Scotland number one, who dropped a clanger in last weekend's Old Firm defeat to gift Rangers the advantage in the title race, has still not been offered a contract even though his deal runs out this summer.

O'Neill said: "I don't think that (contract uncertainty) has got anything to do with it (his Old Firm mistake).

"Rab will have a number of options in the summer. He is out of contract and if rumours are to be believed there will be a number of teams interested in taking him.

"I am sure ideally that if offered a contract here he would give it some consideration but there are lots of things to be discussed between now and the end of the season. It is still February.

"I will sit down and give it some consideration. He and his agent will be the first people to know but any player who comes to the end of his contract and has a number of offers will have to consider everything."

O'Neill defended Douglas after his mistake adding: "Rab's got over these things before. It is not the end of the world, we can come back from this, and that is what we intend to do."
 

 

Tuesday 23rd February 2005

11.00

MISSILE THROWERS AN EMBARRASSMENT - CELTIC CHIEF

Celtic executive director Peter Lawwell has admitted fans who threw missiles at a Rangers player in Sunday´s Old Firm derby had embarrassed the club.

The bombarding of Rangers captain Fernando Ricksen, who needed a stitch above an eye after being hit by a cigarette lighter, was broadcast on live television. And it is also set to be the focus of the BBC´s Panorama programme on Sunday.

Celtic have vowed to catch the culprits but Lawwell acknowledged the club´s reputation had already been damaged. "There hadn´t been a hint of trouble in the air and then one or two idiots among our fans went and ruined it by pelting Ricksen," he told the Herald.

 

Friday 18th February 2005

13.00

Yorkston gets slap on the the wrist.

Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston has escaped serious punishment by the Scottish FA for his snide comments about Celtic defender Bobo Balde.

Yorkston's put down came in response to Martin O'Neill's scathing criticism of his side's East End Park plastic pitch. He claimed the fuss was unwarranted and that Balde had injured far more players than the synthetic surface.

The SFA general purposes committee decided to issue Yorkston a warning for his remarks, but not to impose a fine or any other sanction.

An SFA spokesman said: "The general purposes committee have decided Mr. Yorkston was guilty of breaching the article 125.

"This one is bringing the game into disrepute and so he has been warned about his behaviour in the future."

Yorkston's quickly apologised to Celtic for his comments after O'Neill described them as "disgraceful", claiming they were merely tongue-cheek and not intended to be taken literally.

 

Tuesday 15th February 2005

22.30

Scottish Cup 1/4 final tie Clyde v Celtic.

Celtic will face Clyde in the next round of the Scottish Cup after the Bully Wee earned a 2-1 victory over Ross County in tonight's replay at Broadwood.

Clyde were 1-0 down but fought back to take the tie into extra time and they got the winner just three minutes into the extra period.

The tie will be played at Broadwood Stadium on Sunday 27th February 2005 with a 3pm kick off.

Ticket arrangements for the game will be announced by the club over the next couple of days.

 

Monday 14th February 2005

10.15

Inverness Caley postponement.

For those of you who may be left with tickets as the game will now probably take place on a midweek
evening.

Official take on this from Celtic Park is that new rules state that anyone who purchased tickets for a
postponed match is entitled to a refund.

Contact Celtic ticket services for further details.

 

Tuesday 08th February 2005

22.00

Young Celt on target as Scotland U21's lose again

Shaun Maloney marked only his third match after a cruciate ligament injury by scoring for Scotland Under-21s at the Belfast Oval.

But the young Celtic striker was unable to prevent the team slumping to a 2-1 friendly defeat by Northern Ireland Under-21s.

 

Monday 07th February 2005

13.00

HOOPS BOSS BRANDS PARS CHAIRMAN ´IGNORANT´

Martin O´Neill has angrily labelled outspoken Dunfermline chairman John
Yorkston "ignorant" and demanded an apology and action from the Scottish
Football Association over his latest accusation.

Yorkston claimed Bobo Balde had injured more players than the controversial
East End Park playing surface. He tried to play down the comments as a joke
following his side´s 3-0 Tennent´s Scottish Cup fourth-round defeat, but
Celtic boss O´Neill was having none of it.

"His comments are disgraceful," said O´Neill.

 

Friday 04th February 2005

12.30

Celtic lift double award for January 2005.

AN undefeated run in January has seen Martin O’Neill and Chris Sutton awarded with the Manager and Player of the Month awards.

The manager and striker were presented with their awards at Celtic Park this morning in recognition of a run of games that has included SPL wins over Livingston, Aberdeen, Motherwell and Kilmarnock and the Scottish Cup win over Rangers at Celtic Park.

Sutton (pictured left with John Hartson) has played a key role in those fixtures and has in fact netted in his past five games for Celtic and today O’Neill paid tribute to the former England international: “Chris has been doing great for a long, long time now and the most important thing for him is to try and stay fit and if he and a number of others do so then we have a chance.”

“It’s very nice indeed, very pleasing” said O’Neill as he reflected on his own award.
“Chris has also won player of the month so essentially and I am not being self effacing, it is the efforts of the team on the park that have earned this.

“But it’s the nature of events and I am delighted to have won it, although it is January and you’d rather be picking something up at the end of the season.”

 

Tuesday 01st February 2005

19.30

BOBO GOING NOWHERE.

Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce that Bobo Balde has signed a new four and a half year contract with the Club.

Bobo Balde said today: "I have had many things to consider over the last few weeks and I appreciate the pre-contract offers given to me by a number of Clubs. My heart has been with Celtic for sometime and that was a big factor in my decision. I want to help Celtic try to retain the Championship and again experience big European matches as we have done in the recent past."  

Manager Martin O'Neill added: "I am absolutely delighted that Bobo has decided to stay at the football club. He has been an integral part of the team since he arrived from Toulouse three and a half years ago and he has become a firm favourite with the fans. I think I echo everyone's sentiments when I say how pleased I am that he is staying with the Club."

And Celtic's Chief Executive Peter Lawwell, commented: "The Celtic Board is pleased to be able to support Martin in retaining another quality player at the Club. Bobo has been a tremendous servant to Celtic Football Club and it was no surprise that there was significant interest in him during the recent transfer window. Clearly we are all delighted that he has decided to stay with Celtic."

Bobo Balde joined Celtic in 2001 from French side Toulouse and has been an important part of the club's success in the past three and a half years. He has made 169 appearances for the club, scoring 13 goals.