Samaras once again started and it has to be said that he played well, since the Europa League games he has found a real good run of form. Stokes and Hooper also started along with Brown. Kayal was not in the squad after getting injured in the Old Firm last Wednesday. Celtic were looking to make it ten wins in a row and Dunfermline having already found out that Hibernian had lost to Hearts in the Edinburgh Derby were hoping to get themselves off the foot of the table.

The game started off slowly and both teams were sloppy until the ten minute mark when Celtic started to attack. Samaras played a good ball across the face of goal and it had beaten the goalkeeper but there was no Celtic players in the six yard box who could latch onto the cross. Celtic continued to attack and looked more and more threatening as the minutes went by, it was Anthony Stokes who scored Celtic’s first goal after eighteen minutes. It ended a seven games goal drought for the Irishman.

Celtic pushed on after that and just two minutes later Wanyama forced a save from Dunfermline goalkeeper Smith. But that was Celtic’s last chance for almost twenty minutes as the strong weather conditions turned the game into a battle in midfield. The game then exploded back into life in the thirty sixth minute after Stokes put his second shot of the game wide. This chance was followed by Dunfermline’s first shot of the game but it drifted wide.

It was forty minutes in  and from a Celtic free kick that Wanyama got his second goal of the season, Charlie Mulgrew crossed it in and Wanyama side footed the ball into the net. This confirmed the three points for Celtic and the hoops fans who had filled two and a half stands were singing “Just can’t get enough” nice and loud.

It was the sixty ninth minute when Celtic got their third and Charlie Mulgrew chipped the keeper with a free kick from nearer to the halfway line than the box and that really meant it was party time for the Celtic fans, they had won ten games in a row and had maintained their two point lead over Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table. The cherry was put on top of the cake in the seventy ninth minute when Emilio Izzaguire came on and the Celtic fans applauded his every run and touch. It was a great performance by Celtic, their next league game is against St. Johnstone on January 14th but first they play Peterhead in the Cup on the 8th January.

Celtic team celebrate the opener against Dunfermline.

After returning to Arsenal after the loan deal at Falkirk Stokes caught the attention of a few Premier League teams, but it was Sunderland who decided that they wanted him and their £2 million offer was accepted by Arsenal in January 2007, and that was it, Stokes was officially a Sunderland player. At first Stokes was given the number 26 shirt but was later given the number 9 shirt. He made his debut for Sunderland against Ipswich and set up Sunderland’s goal in a 1-0 win over Ipswich. Stokes scored his first goal for Sunderland against Plymouth Argyle on the 10th of February. His first Premier League goal was in a win against Derby County, a last minute goal which took Sunderland out of the Relegation zone. After a while, Stokes was loaned out to Sheffield United. This loan spell was not as successful as his first with Falkirk as he made twelve appearances but failed to score a goal. After Returning to Sunderland he was sent out on another loan to Crystal Palace. Once again he failed to score on this loan after making thirteen appearances. Sunderland then decided that they would sell Stokes to Scottish side Hibernian for a fee of about 500,000 in August 2009. Stokes would be re-united with his former Falkirk manager John Hughes at Hibernian. He scored his first goals for Hibernian against St. Johnstone on 19th September. He then helped Hibernian to a twelve match unbeaten run by scoring five goals in three games. Stokes broke another Scottish football record when he scored the fastest goal in Scottish Football after just 12.4 seconds against Rangers. Stokes was rewarded for his good form with the Scottish player of the month award for December 2009. The Irishman scored the goal of the season in 2009. It was then that Celtic manager Neil Lennon declared his interest in Stokes and after Hibs turned down a first offer they accepted the second offer a few days later.

On 31st August 2010 Anthony signed a four year contract with Glasgow Giants Celtic. Stokes made his debut against Hearts and scored his first goal for Celtic in his second appearance on 19th September. Since joining Celtic Stokes has become a fans favourite. He shared Celtic’s top scorer award with strike partner Gary Hooper at the end of last season having both scored 19 goals. Stokes continues to score and in recent months has really given Giovanni Trapattoni something to think about regarding the coming European Championships in Poland and Ukraine this Summer.

Left: Stokes wins player of the month during his time at Hibernian.

Left: Anthony Stokes when he was an Arsenal player.

The only dissapointing result from the last two months was the 1-1 draw away to Udinese which knocked Celtic out of the Europa League but despite getting knocked out I believe we did very well to get the points that we did and we were also very unlucky as the teams in our group were actually of a Champions League standard.

Left: Hooper misses a sitter in the Europa League clash with Udinese.

Celtic have also confirmed the signing of Swedish defender Mikael Lustig. Celtic’s assistant manager Johan Mjallby said that they “had found another Super Swede” in the new defender. Lustig has passed the medical and will sign officially on the first of January. Celtic will be looking to get their tenth win in a row when they face Dunfermline away from home on Tuesday. Come on the Hoops!

Seán Melia

Left: Ledley celebrated after getting the opener and winner in one against Rangers.

With the ship seemingly steadied and the squad reenergised (even Majstorovic is begging to resembles a centre half) the key to building on our vital win against Hearts and maintaining our winning run will be the ‘steel’ in the centre of the park. It seems the dam which was once our defence has been patched (but for how long) giving the team, and the manager some much needed breathing space.

With the ‘old firm’ brewing in the back of everyone minds, and the league campaign firmly back on track, I feel that we can look reassuringly to the centre of midfield to now do the job it’s suppose to. Give us energy, get in people’s faces and fight for every inch of ground on the hallowed turf of Celtic park.

Players such as Kayal, Brown and Wanyama will surely be able to safe guard the defence while offering themselves in attack, a strong, forceful central power in the team will also allow those out wide, such as Samaras and Forrest extra scope to drive forward, or in the case of Samaras meander, supplying the forwards with goal scoring opportunities.

There is a genuine solid feel to the style of Kayal and Victor, they are different to Brown, who is more vocal and petulant, sometimes spilling over into unnecessary bookings etc. They are 100% tacklers; Kayal will keep the ball ticking over all day in midfield, with everyone around him drawing from his intensity and range of passing. Wanyama has the ability to sit and play the break up role while pick passes himself. They are more silent in their performance but with the added bite and strength that is required to fill the role.

A central pairing of Brown and Kayal, in midfield with Wanyama lying deeper at centre back sounds the best option in order to inject a hard, battling mentality to the core of the team. Something that resembles the character of Lennon himself and traits we all expect to see in any player who wears the green.

If Celtic can keep all three fit and on form, these central enforcers will be imperative in the race for the title and could make all the difference in the many crunch games the SPL throws up.

Our recent league victory over Motherwell and impressive Europa display against Rennes has hopefully brought an end to a less than convincing couple of months which has seen us slip further behind in the title race. Lennon and the squad looked to have weathered the storm and appeared refreshed and confident, with players such as victor Wanyama and James Forest coming to the forefront.

However during the period of uncertainty there were sections of the Celtic ‘support’ calling for Lennon to resign, he was tactually inept and rotten in the transfer market and needed to go some said.

We within the Celtic family are used to frequent insults and criticism being tossed Neil’s way, however when the grumblings directed at Lennon are cast from within in our own ‘support’ this is cause for concern.

The hell our own manager has been through in his life just for being associated to the club is reason enough to give him the time to turn it around. Not to mention the death threats he has received during his time as manager and volley of abuse spat at him just for question why the club was lied to by the SFA and other refereeing horror shows displayed by Willie Collum etc.

As for the ‘footballing’ side of the argument our squad has been plagued by injury all season long, Kayal, Izaguirre and Gary Hooper to name a few this has limited the management to a reduced squad which has had the tiresome task of fighting a battle on four sides. The traditional European away calamites have continued with Cha-Di-Ri’s inexplicable back pass to Fraser foster resulting in an own goal adding to the list stained with incidents such as Magnus Hedman’s superman etc. Don’t get me wrong mistakes have been made by the manager such as the questionable signings and the lack of continuity in team selection, and selections themselves.

However Lennon has shown enough in his time with Celtic to deserve the rest of the season to win trophies. He is the manager of our club lets support him.

Any change in management would be detrimental to Celtics push for silverware and would bring about another transitional period which we can’t afford due to our poor league standing.

We owe it to Lennon to support him and the team throughout the rest of campaign, he wont get it right every time, but what manager does? The transfer market is approaching, a pivotal moment in the season, if the right players in the right positions are brought (centre back) and the squad continues is rise to form there is no reason why we can’t believe that a treble is possible, especially with three old firm games in the future.

Keep the faith!

Whilst Brown, his agent and Celtic struggle to come to a conclusion, worries will be creeping into the minds of both Celtic fans and Neil Lennon. At the same time, Beram Kayal, who has been subject to interest from south of the border, has recently put pen to paper on a new 4 year deal that will almost double his wages. By removing doubt about his future, the 23-year-old Israeli, who signed last summer from Maccabi Haifa, has inadvertently placed further pressure and focus on Brown whose future remains very uncertain and unresolved.

Out of the two you would have perhaps expected Brown to be the first to sign an extension given that there is less than a year left on his current deal. The fact that this has not materialised raises real questions in regards to the future of the hard-working midfielder. Speaking before Celtic’s midweek Communities League Cup quarter-final, Lennon admitted his fears in regards to the ongoing saga,

‘We’ve gone no further. I’ve not had the chance to speak to Scott because he’s been in London. He’s just come off the crutches, but I don’t see him around that much as he’s doing his rehab work…I would have liked to have had it resolved but the agents know the club’s position on it and until they adopt a different approach, it’s a stalemate at the minute.’

January is looming large, and vultures from the Premiership are ready to pounce if the paper work remains unresolved. Lennon is becoming more and more concerned about the situation and would like it concluded sooner rather than later.

By handing Scott Brown the armband when Stephen McManus departed in 2010, it is clear to see the value that the Celtic boss places on the shoulders of his skipper. The former Hibs man is seen as a driving force on and off the pitch who provides inspiration and a certain understanding of the expectation that is required at Celtic. Neil Lennon views him as an integral part of the set-up at Parkhead, a man who they certainly do not want to lose for free, if at all.

Last season Gordon Strachan’s managerial incompetence (or possibly his hair) set a four-in-a-row dream alight, and then sent the fire-fighters in the direction of Ibrox with a gift wrapped title to a bunch of under-talented, pieced together, anti-football journeymen that now had the right to call themselves Champions. The cry of the faithful was unanimous and before you could say “velocity” Strachan had packed his bags and was heading in the same direction as Celtic’s title hopes.

Three weeks later and the words of chairman, John Reid, were resolute, “The fight back starts here today and there is nobody better to lead that fight back than Celtic’s own, and Celtic’s new manager, Tony Mowbray”.

Mowbray began his reign on the Parkhead steps talking of “football purity” and “players worthy of the club”. This quickly transcended into desperate Steve Staunton-esque rants about “five year plans” and, after a January transfer merry-go-round, ended in a humiliating 4-0 defeat to St. Mirren that had you wondering if nuclear testing was taking place in the Celtic changing rooms. Reid’s fight back had been about as ferocious as a kitten with a ball of string.

Crashing out of Europe before Christmas and a League campaign that provides fans with a sequel to the early nineties, Celtic now hold a platform to plant seeds for next season. The fight back starts here, maybe? And charged with bringing calm from the chaos is die-hard Celtic legend, Neil Lennon. Well at least in the interim anyway.

Two wins from two represents an excellent start for the Lurgan man, who’s made no secret of his desire to land the job full-time. And to secure the job on a permanent basis Lennon has issued himself with three difficult, yet realistic objectives:

• To beat Rangers for the first time this season in the final Old Firm game which takes place at Celtic Park after the split.
• To reduce the points gap between the clubs to as low a figure as possible.
• To win the Scottish Cup, and avoid Celtic’s first trophyless season since 2002-03.

So is the former midfielder’s management brand likely to bring a new Ferrari driven cruise to the Parkhead pitch or is the second hand Nissan Micra set to stay in the yard? Next up is the Scottish Cup semi-final against Ross County, followed by a home encounter against Motherwell.

Not exactly fixtures that would have former manager Martin O’Neill quaking in his boots, yet it’s the Derry man’s management guidelines that Lennon is most likely to reference on his 10-week interview process.

Immersed in the history and understanding of the club, as well as a long standing pupil of O’Neill’s success driven years, it’s possible that Lennon holds the ingredients to make a Pep Guardiola style impression on the managerial scene – with a little less style and elegance of course.

Despite his background, though, the Lurgan man’s ability to turn the current crop of Celtic misfits into a solid, fluid and cohesive unit will be the deciding factor on landing the hot seat full-time.

Perhaps not quite the shepherd leading the stray lambs back to the flock, but certainly restoring confidence and forging some semblance of team spirit into a group where ridicule has been fired openly will shape Lennon’s future.

Sifting through his above targets may seem formidable on paper, but the truth is by the time Rangers come to Parkhead their season will be winding down, while Dundee United represent the only creditable challenge left in the cup.

It’s worth pointing out that at no time could Mowbray instil a form of backbone or sense of purpose into the same group of players. However, by enforcing a “dogs of war” playing style and with the vastly overqualified, Robbie Keane, in Celtic’s corner for the duration of Lennon’s interim period, the former captain has every chance of turning wannabe into reality.

The lack of top quality coaches are conspicuous by their absence on the bookies shortlist and unless Celtic want an overrated Mark Hughes using their club as a stepping stone back to the Premiership, Lennon surely offers the best option. The stars appear to be aligning themselves in his direction. Watch this space!

We have all been aware of our most two pressing problems this season have been defence and attack, so it is nice to see that Tony has been aware of it also. Defenders Jos Hooiveld and Thomas Rogne were then brought in, Jos looking to go right into the first team with Thomas marked as one for the future. The Danish penalty box striker Morten Rasmussen was next to appear and as we have seen he does what it says on the tin, score.

One could argue that we would have been happy with just that but Tony kept dropping hints that he wasn’t finished as yet. The press as usual were linking us with anyone who had ever kicked a football so it was quite difficult to see who would be coming next, if anyone.

Today has been quite hectic with a defender and three attackers. Dutch left back Edson Braafheid joining from Bayern Munich, striker Diomansy Kamara joining from Portsmouth, Paul Slane joining from Motherwell and the Pièce de résistance Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur.

That’s a total of Eight players, which is beyond any of our wildest dreams for this window. Way to go Celtic.

Ki Sung Yueng is a South Korean international who was voted Asian Young Footballer of the Year 2009.

Jos Hooiveld, Finnish defender of the Year: 2007, 2008 and Swedish Player of the Year: 2009.

Thomas Rogne quoted as being “the best young talent to come out of Norway in the past ten years” I don’t know if this is an omen but he has been given the number 25 shirt, previously worn by club legends Shunsuke Nakamura and Lubomir Moravcik.

Morten Rasmussen, Danish International.

Edson Braafheid, Dutch International.

Diomansy Kamara, Senegal International.

Paul Slane, future prospect.

Robbie Keane, Republic of Ireland International.

Not a bad bit of shopping if I don’t say so myself.

Hail, Hail.

Serenity

McCourt has struggled with injury and selection since his arrival from Derry 15 months ago, but he made his mark at the new St. Mirren Park with his second goalscoring performance in the space of four days.

                                              McCourt & McDonald celebrate Celtic’s first goal                

Celtic controlled the game straight from the start, with Chris Killen and McCourt both firing over from distance in the opening 13 minutes.

To be honest, though, there appeared to be a certain flatness about the match until McCourt opened the scoring midway through the half.

The Northern Ireland international, who had shown glimpses of his skill beforehand, picked the ball up after Hoops midfielder Scott Brown had robbed Stephen McGinn in the middle of the park.

He skipped past five St Mirren challenges on his way into the box before rifling an unstoppable angled-shot past Paul Gallacher from 18 yards.

                                              Shaun Maloney scored his third goal of the seaon

Celtic almost extended their lead in the 35th minute when Andreas Hinkel’s left-footed drive from distance forced Gallacher to make a decent save down at his left-hand post.

St. Mirren tried to up the tempo after this, as Billy Mehmet’s shot from the edge of the area took a deflection and flew out for a corner to the relief of Artur Boruc.

The Buddies started the second half in a more positive mode but still Boruc remained a spectator and the game soon returned to the slackness which was all to evident for most of the first period.

                                                               St. Mirren: No cutting edge

In the 66th minute Boruc had to react quickly for almost the first time in the game, clutching safely as Mehmet’s cross-cum-shot made its way through a ruck of players.

Niall McGinn replaced the fatigued McCourt and 15 minutes from the end St. Mirren breached the Celtic defence for the first time when Mehmet played in Dorman at the edge of the box.

The Buddies’ substitute hit the byline before cutting the ball back to Craig Dargo, whose goalbound shot from 10 yards was blocked by Glen Loovens with the Parkhead men scurrying to clear their lines.

                                                              Tony Mowbray: Not best pleased

Celtic kept up the pressure though and eventually killed of the hosts challenge when Brown’s looping cross from the right found its way to the back post, and Maloney delightfully curled his shot back across goal and past Gallacher to clinch victory.

It had been a subdued performance from Celtic though, and afterwards Tony Mowbray concluded, “There was some poor decision making and poor performances from some players, if we’re honest. They’ve been told they’ve got to do a lot better than that if we’re going to find consistency throughout the season.”

Celtic have now established an early four point lead at the top table, and with the first Old Firm match of the season only a couple of days away there is already added pressure on Rangers to peg back their rivals.

Shaun Maloney and Marc-Antoine Fortune both bagged a brace as Celtic brushed St Johnstone aside and surged to the top in of the SPL at Parkhead on Saturday.

Fortune scored for the first time his big money move from Nancy in the 21st minute, but after Shaun Maloney made it 2-0, Saints striker Collin Samuel pulled a goal back after an error by Gary Caldwell.

Further goals from Maloney, Fortune and Scott McDonald after the break secured the points before Jody Morris scored a consolation for the visitors.

While Celtic boss Tony Mowbray will be glad to see Fortune get off the mark, and good displays from widemen Maloney and Aiden McGeady, it was nevertheless another game that Caldwell will want to forget.

Celtic made a slack start to the game and in the 14th minute they had midfielder Scott Brown to thank for a wonderful saving tackle at the edge of the Celtic box after Chris Millar had sent Filipe Morais racing through.

However, in the 21st minute the home fans got what they wanted when Fortune opened his account for the Hoops.

Maloney tore down the left and when his precise cut-back came into the Saints box, Fortune calmly sidefooted the ball into the corner from around 14 yards.

Celtic were on top and Saints goalkeeper Main had to concede a corner when blocking McDonald’s angled drive with the visiting side eventually emerging unscathed.

But the respite was only temporary and in the 28th minute Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel linked up with McGeady down the right.

When Hinkel’s cross came over, Maloney was allowed to rise unchallenged to bullet a header past Main from 10 yards.

That goal seemed to sap the Perth men of most of their belief but in the 37th minute they were handed a lifeline when Samuel pounced on Caldwell’s mistake to reduce the deficit.

Caldwell tried to head Main’s long clearance across to Loovens but failed to connect properly and the ball fell to the Saints striker who quickly rifled a wonderful low drive from 25 yards past Boruc.

McGeady almost repaired the damage less than a minute into the second half when he worked a one-two with Fortune down the right but his angled drive was parried by Main for a corner which the visitors survived.

Celtic went up through the gears and soon had the points secure.

In the 53rd minute Maloney grabbed his second goal with a powerful drive from the edge of the penalty area and a minute later McGeady slipped in Fortune and the former Nancy striker buried his shot from 14 yards past Main.

That was the match over but moments later Fortune missed a great chance to grab a hat-trick when he somehow stabbed Hinkel’s long cross to the back post wide of the target from around four yards.

In the 67th minute, following a good cross from Saints substitute Martin Hardie, Boruc made a decent save from Samuel’s header but there was no way back for the Perth men.

In the 74th minute McDonald made it 5-1 when he headed in Danny Fox’s cross from close range after the former Coventry left-back had taken Maloney’s pass from a corner.

However, two minutes later, after some indecision in the Celtic defence, St Johnstone midfielder Morris somehow managed to burrow his way into the box and trundle a shot in off the post.

It’s been an excellent domestic start for the Hoops, but things will probably be a little trickier against Hibs next weekend