TalkCeltic - The Ultimate Celtic FC Forum

The champions of Romania were back in town after only a matter of weeks. The first meeting saw our lack of defensive cover and poor early transfer dealings exposed - and left us crashing out of the Champions League. It was a bitter pill to swallow after a good result in the first leg. Losing to a team we should have progressed past, was difficult to take and made a huge difference to the income generation of the club.

Much was spoken of before the game about revenge. I don't think personally that revenge was the correct phrase, but we definitely had to prove a point.

Unlike the first tie Neil Lennon had a virtually full squad to choose from including games under the belt for Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli Mbombo who weren't risked at Parkhead against the same opposition. McGregor was allowed to play in his optimum position and the balance of the team was restored.

The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric with a very...

The Rebel treble winners got the next leg of their defence under way against a Partick Thistle team buoyed by the appointment of Ian McColl as manager. Could the appointment bring a shock in the big Glasgow derby?

Naw! It couldn't. It would take a while to make this game safe after a plucky Jags performance, but right from the start there was only going to be one winner.

Lennon made 9 changes to the team that started the last SPFL Premiership match, granting a debut to young full back Jeremie Frimpong, signed late in the transfer window from Manchester City. The Dutch youth international would go on to give his manager some food for thought going forward, with an excellent display. What looked like a problem position now seems abundantly covered with quality players.

Celtic started brightly with lots of possession but the first real chance came from a cross by Hayes, met by Bayo with the head. The effort went over the bar, but was a...

International breaks are never fun, particularly if your a Scotland fan... So it was good to get back to proper football as Celtic faced local rivals Hamilton in what can be a tricky test on a very poor surface.

Celtic gave a debut to Mohammed Elyounoussi while Odsonne Edouard started up front after his midweek heroics for France U21's.

• 67Forster
• 33Elhamed
• 35Ajer
• 2Jullien
• 23Bolingoli-Mbombo
• 8Brown
• 42McGregor
• 49Forrest
• 17Christie
• 27Elyounoussi
• 22Edouard

July 1975 was a time to shake up the Celtic squad with the demise of the Lions and transition to the Quality Street kids but not all was seamless. As every great side in history has indicated, you don’t replace like for like and get the same results. It was the Sly old fox Sean Fallon who held the reigns of the Parkhead hot seat as Big Jock recovered from his near death car accident. McNeill, Jimmy Johnstone and Jim Brogan had also parted ways with the club. There certainly was some rejigging required.
Sean looked toward Denmark and to a strapping giant of a man in the shape of Icelandic footballer Johannes Edvaldsson. The big man was plying his trade with Holbaek after a brief spell with Metz in France and good enough to be picked for the Iceland national team. At 25 years old he came on a trial basis to see if he could settle to life in Glasgow and British football and was seen as a versatile player who could fill a few positions. On a sunny August afternoon Johannes would make...

We are a few weeks into the new campaign, which can only mean one thing - the first derby game of the season is just around the corner. Although the first league game of the season was the first week of August, both teams have been playing competitive football since the beginning of July. Celtic started their quest to qualify for the Champions League on 9th July against FK Sarajevo, while Rangers began their quest to qualify for the Europa League on the same evening against St. Joseph's. If you fancy a flutter, Celtic are currently 2/1 to win, while Rangers are 13/10. Dont forget to hedge your bets!

While Celtic fell short of qualifying for UEFA's prestigious club tournament, both teams managed to progress to the Europa League group stages on Thursday evening. Celtic sealing it with a resounding 4-1 second leg victory over AIK Stockholm, while Rangers spluttered over the line with an unconvincing 1-0...