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TUESDAY 31st OCTOBER 2000
TRANSFER SPECULATION
VIDAR OUT – CAMARA IN?
Vidar Riseth is again making noises about leaving the club if he does not find himself starting more first team games, well Vidar you will probably get your wish of starting a game on Wednesday night at Tynecastle in the CIS Cup tie against Hearts. Let’s hope your not part of a losing team as we aim to defend the trophy.
Liverpool’s Titi Camara is again being linked with Celtic after being placed on the transfer list by his club. The Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier is not at all happy with want away striker Titi Camara, claiming that the so-called 'back injury' never existed. The Guinean forward, who is now free to leave Anfield (for £4m), asked for a transfer last Friday and is hankering after a move to Celtic. Houllier confirms that Camara has gone on the proverbial transfer list (even though there is no such thing). Houllier says:” If he does not want to wear the red shirt then fair enough. "He was injured at half-time in our pre-season friendly against Parma. I don’t' know what injury he had, but I've never known anyone get hurt without playing before. "I cannot accept that someone who has been available to this club for only ten days, during which time we played three games and won them without him, wants to leave because he is not in the team." Anyway, Camara wants to play for Celtic and may well get his wish.
MONDAY 30th OCTOBER 2000
UNDER 21’S RESULT
CELTIC 2 MOTHERWELL 1
MARTIN O’NEILL FOR ENGLAND JOB?
Celtic’s Chief Executive Allan Macdonald is quoted today as saying the he does not think that Martin O’Neill would leave Celtic to take up the vacant England post. Let’s hope he’s right.
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL FULL TIME RESULTS
DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBS 1 (McMANUS 81)
DUNFERMLINE 1 (MOSS 61) DUNDEE 0
HEARTS 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 (PARKER 49 pen, CONNELLY 62, 89)
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 3 (COCARD 5, HOLT 32, NUMAN og 67)
ST MIRREN 2 (WALKER 24, GILLES 53) ABERDEEN 0
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATES
DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBS 1 (McMANUS 81)
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000 SPL SCORE UPDATES
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 3 (COCARD 5, HOLT 32, NUMAN og 67)
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATES
HEARTS 0 ST JOHNSTONE 2 (PARKER 49 pen, CONNELLY 62)
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATES
DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBS 0
DUNFERMLINE 1 (MOSS 61) DUNDEE 0
HEARTS 0 ST JOHNSTONE 1 (PARKER 49 pen)
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 2 (COCARD 5, HOLT 32)
ST MIRREN 2 (WALKER 24, GILLES 53) ABERDEEN 0
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATES
DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBS 0
DUNFERMLINE 0 DUNDEE 0
HEARTS 0 ST JOHNSTONE 1 PARKER 49 pen
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 2 COCARD 5, HOLT 32
ST MIRREN 2 WALKER 24, GILLES 53 ABERDEEN 0
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL HALF-TIME SCORE UPDATE
DUNDEE UNITED 0 HIBS 0
DUNFERMLINE 0 DUNDEE 0
HEARTS 0 ST JOHNSTONE 0
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 2 COCARD 5, HOLT 32 ST MIRREN 1 WALKER 24 ABERDEEN 0
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATE
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 2 (COCARD 5, HOLT 32)
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATE
ST MIRREN 1(WALKER 24) ABERDEEN 0
SATURDAY 28th OCTOBER 2000
SPL SCORE UPDATE
RANGERS 0 KILMARNOCK 1 (COCARD 5)
Tuesday 24th October 2000
HENRIK LANDS ANOTHER ONE. Henrik Larsson has been named as SPL player of the month for September.
CELTIC FANS IN TV BONANZA
Celtic’s stay at home armchair fans are in for something of a bonus with the club’s next five games being shown live on TV.
The fixtures are as follows Bordeaux (a) Thursday 26th October 2000 (BBC ) Motherwell (a) Sunday 29th October 2000 (SKY) Hearts (a) Wednesday 01st November 2000 (STV) Kilmarnock (a) Sunday 05th November 2000 (BBC) Bordeaux (h) Thursday 09th November 2000 (BBC)
BERKOVIC ON THE MOVE?
Eyal Berkovic has been linked with a move to the blue half of Merseyside and ex Rangers boss Walter Smith. Not sure if there’s any truth in this one but the Israeli internationalist does not seem to part of Martin O’Neill’s plans at the moment.
MONDAY 23rd OCTOBER 2000
BORDEAUX HELD BY 10 MEN LYON
Celtic opponents in Thursday’s UEFA cup-tie Bordeaux were held to draw on Sunday at home. Lyon, reeling from its Champions league midweek defeat to Valencia, carved out a 1-1 draw away to Bordeaux despite being reduced to 10 men following the sending off of its keeper Gregory Coupet - the fourth stopper to be red carded in France this season.
CELTIC 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1
Celtic scored an unspectacular victory over bottom club Dundee United with the goals being scored by Henrik Larsson and Alan Thompson. The visitor’s goal came from our own Paul Lambert. A crowd of just under 60,000 watched as Celtic moved 12 points clear of old firm rivals Rangers.
RANGERS LOSE AGAIN
Rangers were beaten 2-1 by St Johnstone at Perth on Sunday afternoon; the defeat still leaves Rangers massive 12 points behind Celtic although they do still have a game in hand. After the game FURIOUS Rangers boss Dick Advocaat last night branded his players "hopeless" after they failed to close the 12-point gap on Celtic.
SUNDAY 22nd OCTOBER 2000
CELTIC 2 DUNDEE UNITED 1
ST JOHNSTONE 2 RANGERS 1
Two very significant results from this weekend's matches in the SPL, full report later tonight.
FRIDAY 20TH OCTOBER 2000
BERKOVIC ISSUES QUIT THREAT
Celtic midfielder Eyal Berkovic has revealed that he plans to quit the club in the near future if he continues to be ignored by boss Martin O'Neill.
The Israeli, who criticised O'Neill's style of football, hopes Blackburn manager Graeme Souness will come in for him after talk of a move earlier in the season.
And he claimed that a number of English Premiership sides were also interested in signing the former Southampton and West Ham man who, at #5.75million, was Scotland's most expensive player until Chris Sutton's arrival in the summer.
PETROV BOOKING STANDS
UEFA have insisted that the booking handed out to Stilian Petrov in Celtic’s match in Helsinki will not be overturned. The Bulgarian international was cautioned for diving as he rounded goalkeeper Jani Viander. UEFA have upheld Slovak referee Ladislav Gadosi's original decision.
WEDNESDAY 18TH OCTOBER 2000
SINGING IN THE RAIN
The Celtic fans were singing in the rain last night at Perth as the hoops moved a massive nine points ahead of Rangers in the chase for this seasons SPL.
Two goals from Joos Valgaren & Henrik Larsson helped maintain our unbeaten run against Scottish opposition this season.
The game was played in farcical conditions and at one stage looked if it was about to be abandoned, pools of water all over the pitch made it more like water polo than football. Credit to both teams then for trying to play something resembling football. The win takes us five points clear of Hibs in second place, our next game is against the leagues bottom side Dundee United on Saturday at Celtic Park. Another 60,000 plus crowd is expected and they’ll be hoping to witness another win that would see us move 12 points ahead of Rangers.
BURCHILL ON TARGET FOR THE BLUES
On loan bhoy Mark Burchill was on target twice last night as Birmingham City ran out 4-0 winners against Stockport County, news from down south suggests that Mark would like to make the move to Birmingham a permanent one.
TUESDAY 17th OCTOBER 2000
O'NEILL SPIES IN BORDEAUX
Celtic's UEFA opponents Bordeaux are an impressive side says coach Martin O'Neill after seeing them defeat Auxerre at the weekend. O'Neill took Sunday off to make the trip to see his European rivals in action where they defeated their opponents by 2-0 with a competent victory which had O'Neill impressed by them The Celtic coach then flew back to see his under 21's in action against St Mirren, but refused to speak about the speculation he was interested in one of Bordeaux's defenders, Herve Alicarte, a 26-year-old left-sided player who hasn't been getting a game lately.
MONDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2000
UNDER 21’s TRIUMPH AT LOVE STREET
Celtic’s under 21 side scored a convincing 3-1 win at St Mirren’s Love Street ground on Monday evening.
The team was being watched in action by the Celtic management team of Martin O’Neill, John Robertson & Steve Walford.
The bhoys were two goals up at half time. The team played well as a unit and a bonus for the hoops fans was the return to action for Tommy Johnson.
The Geordie played for almost an hour and had already bagged two goals before being taken off; other fine displays on the evening came from young Stephen Crainey, Jamie Smith & Stephane Bonnes
MONDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2000
BORDEAUX TICKETS UPDATE
We have been informed by Celtic FC that there will be no need for the match ticket ballot scheduled to take place at Celtic Park on Tuesday 17th October 2000 for fans traveling to the match in Bordeaux.
Supporters clubs who have applied for ten or more tickets are guaranteed to be given what they have applied for.
Celtic expects to receive the match ticket on Wednesday and they should be available for supporters to uplift from Friday onwards. We are still not 100% sure what the situation is with regard to supporters who have applied to travel in groups independently, we will try to get this information as soon as possible.
BOOKIES MAKE CELTS FAVOURITES FOR SPL
Celtic has been installed as the bookies favourites for this seasons Scottish Premier League. Tote bookmakers make Celtic 10/11 to lift the title with Rangers now on offer at evens, Hibs are 66/1 chances to lift the title and as for the rest well you can have 1000/1 and upwards for the rest who make up the league.
Betting for Tuesday’s night game at Perth sees St Johnstone on offer at 7/1 with Celtic odds on at 4/11 the draw is priced at 11/4.
DUNDEE KEEPER TO SIGN?
Martin O’Neill will tonight try to finalise the deal that sees Scotland’s number three goalie Robert Douglas move from Dens Park to Celtic Park. The clubs have agreed a fee thought to be around £1.5 million.
MONDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2000
NINE A ROW
Ex Celt Harald Brattback ‘s old club Rosenborg clinched their ninth title in a row on Sunday, their achievement matches that of both Celtic & Rangers. Rosenborg has an unassailable lead with one game left in Norway's summer season. The team has 53 points from 25 matches, ahead of Viking Stavanger and Brann, who are level on 44. Rosenborg thrashed Bryne 9-0 to become champions once again.
SUNDAY 15TH OCTOBER 2000
BORDEAUX DEFEAT AUXERRE
Celtic’s opponents in the UEFA cup Bordeaux defeated Auxerre 2-0 in the French first division on Sunday.
The 1999 champions opened the scoring with a fine shot from midfielder Sylvain Legwinski in the 23rd minute.
Bordeaux were under pressure for most of the second half but were quick on the counter attack, with 14 minutes left on the clock, Auxerre defender Kuami Agboh turned a cross from Laurent Battles into his own net. Bordeaux's third away win of the season leaves them on 16 points, five behind leaders Paris St. Germain.
NEW SIGNING IMMINENT?
Dundee’s Robert Douglas is about to become Martin O’Neill’s latest signing, the goalkeeper threw his gloves into the crowd after Dundee’s 2-0 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday.
After seeing his side stay on top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over St Mirren at Parkhead the Celtic boss said he expects the transfer to go through early next week.
O'Neill said: ''Whether it has been agreed or not, I have not had the chance to speak with him yet. At this minute the clubs are actually trying to agree terms, but I would be hoping that we can speak to him on Monday. Hopefully then he will want to sign for us and I think he does want to come here.
FRIDAY 13TH OCTOBER 2000
CIS CUP
Pleasant surprise this morning when my tickets for the up & coming match at Tynecastle dropped through my door, the tickets are only priced at £12 each, yes £12, for once we are not being fleeced by a home club. I wonder if other home clubs will latch on to this? I would not hold my breath on this, no doubt normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.
PAY PER VIEW
Well we all knew this was coming, The SPL have announced that they are to experiment with pay-per-view games on a Saturday after the New Year. The obvious games to show are games which are already definite sell-out's, such as the Edinburgh derbies or the Old Firm games. The SPL see this experiment as one which could increase their negotiating power the next time contract talks start with Sky TV.
THURSDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2000
MJALLBY FOR VILLA?
Aston Villa boss John Gregory seemingly had scouts in Bratislava last night for the Slovakia v Sweden match. According to the Birmingham Evening Mail the scouts were impressed by Mjallby's performance in the 0-0 draw.
THURSDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2000
CELTS ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY
SLOVAKIA 0 SWEDEN 0
Despite the presence of Lubo, Henrik & Johan the deadlock could not be broken in this game. The match was refereed by one Hugh Dallas (Scotland) . Sweden’s management duo Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback are facing mounting pressure to resign after Wednesday’s disappointing draw against Slovakia. Swedish FA chairman Lars-Ake Lagrell admitted: "There has been massive criticism of them and I honestly do not know how well they are handling this."
Israel 3 Bosnia 1
Eyal Berkovic opened the scoring in this one but was substituted after an hour of the game.
Denmark 1 Bulgaria 1
Stilian Petrov was in the Bulgarian team that frustrated the Danes, Bulgaria equalized seven minutes from time with their first shot on target.
WEDNESDAY 11TH OCTOBER 2000
LUBO v HENRIK
Tonight’s international ‘s fixtures have thrown up a game were two of the most gifted players Celtic fans have had the pleasure to watch in recent years are in opposition. The game is the World Cup qualifier between Slovakia and Sweden; the tie takes place tonight in Bratislava.
Henrik has been heaping praise on the Slovakian maestro prior to the game. “Lubo is the most complete two-footed player I have seen," said Larsson, "and he has the capacity to cause us problems. Lubo is an impressive player who has kept high class for many years. I wish I had the same ability as him in both feet. He can do everything."
We’ll have news of this game and all the other games involving Celtic players later tonight in our rants section.
TUESDAY 10TH OCTOBER 2000
RUMOURS INCORPORATED
Alan Stubbs is still being linked in some quarters with a one million-pound move to Derby County.
Eyal Berkovic who is currently preparing for Israel’s world cup qualifier against Bosnia is being linked with a move to Spanish club Rayo Vallecano.
Mark Viduka may be about to return to Celtic Park, fans can breath a sigh of relief however as it may be only part of the Leeds United team who have been approached to supply the opposition for Tom Boyd’s testimonial.
Veteran defender Boyd was signed by Liam Brady from Chelsea in a straight swap for Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino in February 1992.
Astonishingly, current incumbent Martin O'Neill is the eighth manager the former Motherwell defender has played under during that period, following Brady, Lou Macari, Tommy Burns, Wim Jansen, Jozef Venglos, John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish.
Manchester United, too, have been linked with playing in Boyd's testimonial, but O'Leary's Leeds are the No1 target for what is certain to be a bumper sell- out occasion for the popular 34-year-old Scottish international defender.
A date of Tuesday 10th April 2001 has seemingly already been pencilled in.
The European League or Atlantic League or whatever it’s to be called is again up for discussion the venue this time is Switzerland on Wednesday, both Old Firm clubs will be represented at the meeting.
MONDAY 09TH OCTOBER 2000
IT’S IN THE SUN IT MUST BE TRUE?
Today’s Sun supergoals pullout has started the campaign to help fill the new England coaches job.
So it should come as no surprise that they believe the man to fill Kevin Keegan’s shoes is our very own Martin O’Neill, wishful thinking on their part (we hope) .
So what, and who, now?
The FA's declaration they will recruit the best man, regardless of nationality, encourages my belief there is one outstanding candidate: Martin O'Neill.
It is no coincidence the team he left in the summer, Leicester City, are currently top of the Premiership under Peter Taylor.
It is no coincidence, either, that the team O'Neill inherited, Celtic, are heading the top division in Scotland, unbeaten so far this season.
O'Neill, in harness with his former Nottingham Forest team-mate John Robertson, has that indefinable quality that hallmarked Brian Clough's unorthodox and uncompromising brand of football management.
The Irishman is, well, just a bit potty at times - but that would be a help rather than a hindrance in the England job. Like Clough, he does not suffer fools gladly, has an eye for talent and a stunning ability to make the most of ordinary resources.
England might not be ordinary, exactly, but we are worse off now than for many years, though successive managers have failed to make the most of the players available.
O'Neill is tactically bright, too. It speaks for itself from his record at Leicester, where he moulded modest raw material into a side that not only maintained its status at top level but won a couple of Worthington Cups into the bargain.
People said he was mad to take the Celtic job, that Rangers' domination was total. Well, take another glance at the Scottish table.
And another thing . . . O'Neill is a brilliant communicator, handles the Press with skill and humour and would not be disturbed by the scrutiny that goes with the job.
Unlike Keegan, O'Neill does possess that bit extra, that elusive ingredient that enables a manager to create the winning formula. The problem would be persuading him to transfer that knack from Glasgow to London.
The FA are facing a crucial decision. This time they have to appoint a man capable of making progress because the England team has declined alarmingly. Martin O'Neill, unless I am woefully mistaken, is the answer to their prayers.
SATURDAY 07TH OCTOBER 2000
CELTIC TAKE ON TORQUAY YOUNGSTER Promising young Torquay defender Troy Douglin has secured a dream move to Scottish giants Celtic. Douglin will move to Parkhead on a three-month loan deal where he will get his chance to impress Hoops boss Martin O'Neill. Gulls chairman Mervyn Benney confirmed: "They like him but they want to see what he can become because at the moment he's only 18.
SATURDAY 07TH OCTOBER 2000
STUBBS ON THE MOVE?
Derby County are set to make a surprise bid for Celtic's central defender Alan Stubbs for a cut price £1 million. With the Rams struggling at the foot of the English Premiership, he needs to add to his defence and sees Stubbs as the player to do that, and we understand Stubbs might be keen to move if the deal is the right one. Celtic have still to make the player an offer and with his contract soon up for renewal, they may be tempted to accept a cut-price deal to get him off their books if Martin O'Neill doesn't see a long-term future for the Scouser.
FRIDAY 06th OCTOBER 2000
BORDEAUX TICKETS
As almost everyone knows once again we have been offered only a fraction of the tickets required for fans wishing to travel to France for the UEFA cup-tie in Bordeaux. We were represented at a meeting on Wednesday at Celtic Park where the main objective was trying to secure the tickets required. Another meeting is planned for next Wednesday and as soon as we have further information this will be posted here.
Thursday 05th October 2000
Apologies for this being the first update for a few days, I’ve been to Helsinki, Aberdeen and then Derry to watch the hoops in action. So this is really the first time that I have had a chance to sit down in front of a terminal to update our new site.
MORTEN WIEGHORST
All at the Affiliation wish the big man a speedy recovery from his illness; Morten was admitted to a Glasgow hospital after complaining of dizzy spells and flu-like symptoms. A short statement from a Celtic official said, “As a result of a recent viral infection, Morten Wieghorst has developed neurological complications.”
On Wednesday a hospital statement read that Morten was now in a stable condition, the big man has been out for over five months with a knee injury, he was well on his way to recovery and in fact travelled to Helsinki last week with the club.
