TalkCeltic - The Ultimate Celtic FC Forum

Celtic completely overwhelmed a depleted, youthful and inexperienced Hearts side to comfortably book their place in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup this afternoon in Edinburgh, courtesy of a Kris Commons hat trick, a double from captain Scott Brown and further goals from Joe Ledley and Mikael Lustig.

After crashing out of the Champions League in a rather miserable and unceremonious fashion on Tuesday night at the hands of AC Milan, and also finding themselves embroiled in controversy off the field due to a Green Brigade display glorifying Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands, it was very widely known heading into this crucial cup tie that amends had to be made and that nothing less than a...

It has been a busy few days for Celtic, and for all the wrong reasons. We will not go down the route of fans against criminalisation today; it is a topic deserving of discussion on its own. Nevertheless, tempers are raised on both sides and this has impacted significantly on aftermath discussions relating to Tuesday night’s humbling at the hands of Milan.



Many things went wrong on Tuesday; from zonal “marking” (using the word loosely,) to general lapses in concentration. The recurring theme throughout the entire European campaign, however, reared its ugly head once again – profligacy in front of goal.



Celtic had 20 attempts on goal against the Italians – double the amount of the guests – and failed to...

There are so many facets that could be explored to explain Celtic's downfall this season in the Champions League. Were we actually strong enough to compete in a group with fellow European giants, the likes of Barcelona, Milan and Ajax. While many will say all of these teams are shadows of the teams they used to be, even Barcelona, it is true also that Celtic are a shadow of the team they used to be as well.

A shadow of a team that a year ago surprised the footballing world by reaching the knockout stages of Europe's premier competition. What is it exactly that has changed in such a short period of time? There are a few factors which can explain this. A team simply cannot sell its 3 best players and only adequately replace one of them.

Another factor which caught my...

With their dreams of qualifying for the last 16 of the most prestigious club competition in world football for the second successive season hanging in the balance, Celtic play host to AC Milan tonight in Glasgow, knowing that a victory would take them above the Rossonerri and possibly into 2nd place in the UEFA Champions League group stage standings, depending on whether or not Barcelona can do the Bhoys a favour by defeating Ajax in Amsterdam in the other Group H game tonight.

Milan have hardly set the Serie A alight so far in their 2013/14 campaign, whilst Celtic go into this encounter still unbeaten in league competition this season, after a late and dramatic 3-1 victory over Aberdeen at the weekend, in front of almost 50,000 spectators. There will be around 10,000 more than that packing...

Frustration was the meal on offer at Celtic Park. Not for the first time this season, Celtic left it late to collect the spoils. Neil Lennon's men began the game in a bright fashion, keeping the ball well, and showing the kind of appetite for fluid movement that fans crave so much.

The pressure increased as the game went on. The Dons proved admirable opponents, with ex-Celt Nial McGinn leading the away team charge. Chances were few in the first half, so it was always going to be the more clinical side that would reap the most rewards. Kris Commons looked in the mood to be the deciding factor with a strike coming late in the first half. Irishman, McGinn, left it even later, however, with an...