Celtic FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2014/15 Mod Warning post #6011

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Wow thats nice sum of money so. Gone up bit over last few season. No wonder its gone so important.

UEFA estimate the distribution of the UCL & Super Cup to be €1.34bn to clubs this season. Last season they shelled out just about €1bn to the clubs involved, thats a huge jump

We're nothing without the monkeys

http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory?item=3158


Neil Lennon: I'm the proudest man in Europe By: Mark Henderson in Moscow on 02 Oct, 2012 21:42

NEIL Lennon watched his side beat Spartak Moscow 3-2 in the Luzhniki Stadium to record Celtic’s first ever away victory in the UEFA Champions League group stages.

It was an impressive performance and a thoroughly deserved victory, so it was no surprise when the Celtic manager declared: “I’m the proudest man in Europe tonight.”

Goals from Gary Hooper, a Sergei Pesyakov own goal and a last-minute Georgios Samaras header gave Celtic a memorable European triumph, and on the back of the point gained in the opening fixture against Benfica, proved again that Celtic deserve their place in this elite tournament.

And the Celtic boss was fulsome in his praise of the men who triumphed in Moscow.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the players,” he said. “They were magnificent. They played magnificent football at a very difficult venue against an excellent side.

“We showed great character and fortitude to comeback after going a goal down just after half-time and I thought we thoroughly deserved the win.”

Hooper’s opening goal came from an impressive counter-attack, with the striker firing home from a superb Mikael Lustig delivery. And the Englishman’s performance was outstanding from start to finish.

“I thought Gary Hooper was world-class tonight,” said Neil Lennon. “People keep asking me about him playing for England and he showed tonight just how good he is. Playing up front himself tonight, he was magnificent and the catalyst for a lot of good things that we did tonight.

“But there were so many superb performances –Izaguirre was magnificent, Ambrose, Wilson, Brown, Samaras came on to a great game. Commons got stronger as the game went on. I thought Lustig was brilliant as well and James Forrest came on and gave us pace.

“I think people under-estimate Celtic. We don’t get the respect we deserve but I think tonight’s result might change a few attitudes now.”

And not for the first time, Georgios Samaras proved to be the goal hero in the Russian capital. His goal against Dinamo Moscow back in 2009 had won that match for the Hoops, and the Greek internationalist was on target again tonight, heading home from a superb Izaguirre cross

Samaras only returned to action last Saturday after an elbow injury had ruled him out of action for a few weeks, and he proved once again just how important he is to the team.

“Sammi’s a big player for us and he is a fantastic athlete,” the manager said. “He gets stronger as the game goes on, when the game opens up and the pitch gets a bit more stretched. He hurts the opposition. It was a wonderful ball into the box from Izaguirre and it’s a fantastic header.

“It’s just a huge step for the club psychologically, and for the players. It’s our first away win in the Champions League so we’ve broken the record now, and we’re unbeaten in about seven games in Europe, which is fantastic but there’s a lot of football still to be played in the group – two homes we hope to make the most of and obviously Barcelona and Benfica away.

“It’s still an open group for second place, as far as I’m concerned. We’ll see what the second game brings along and we’ll have a look at the group after that.

“The players were buoyant in the dressing room, but I sat them down and told them just to take a minute and take it all in. We had a great Celtic team in the early part of the Millennium but we couldn’t win away from home but these guys have done it and it is a great achievement.

“There’s still a lot of football to go but we’re progressing. We’re playing some superb football as go along and I’m enjoying it immensely but it’s all about the players and every one of them is a credit to the club tonight."

RoryMac wrote: »

Nice to see Forster get some recognition for his good form over the last year or so with a call up to the England squad

Forster is proving to be 1 of the best keepers in Europe,Can't remember last time he made a mistake.Bar Chelsea & City he would prob make every other Prem Lge side

Fantastic result for Celtic and Scottish football earlier in week. It was only a matter of time before Celtic won a big CL game away from home and it's onwards and upwards now. I think some quality European performances away from home last season against good opposition gave the team the belief they needed to step up. A home win over Spartak and a point in Benfica and Celtic may not be too far away from last 16!

Delighted for Forster, long overdue considering the ridiculous English GK selections for the Euros. Great for Celtic because he was quite ambitious about playing for England.

Cant see him overtaking Hart anytime soon but he's involved in their setup now so its up to him to stay there.

Not so long ago we were told that no english player could be selected whilst playing in scotland from a few quarters.

One player called up and another knocking louder each week despite his lacklustre start to this season

A Dub in Glasgo wrote: »

I must say, poor form from Sky, a little 5 minutes with Collins after the game and then boom, straight to the Chelsea game 45 minutes before kick off. no interviews with the managers or players

i watched it on al jazeera and they had kenny dalglish, graham souness and trevor francis. they talked after the match for about 20 minutes and souness said celtic really deserved it. then he said that moscow were the worst team in the champions league this year and kenny wasn't impressed.

the only bad bit was gary lineker talking ****e about scotish football, he hadn't a clue whereas dalglish and souness had a fair bit of knowledge of the celtic players.

Celtic team to face Hearts: Forster; Lustig, Ambrose, Wilson, Izaguirre; Forrest, Wanyama, Mulgrew, Samaras; Commons; Hooper

Subs: Zaluska, McCourt, Miku, Kayal, Lassad, Ledley,

Looks like a 4-4-1-1 today. Really need to keep the momentum going with a good result and performance to match. Some sections of the press have been loosing the run of themselves over the Spartak result and Celtic seem to throwing out contracts like confetti in the aftermath!

The player I'll have the most interest in today is Ambrose, havent seen much of him yet.

EDIT

Celtic are wearing the all white strip today (125th Anniversary Kit)

Charlie Mulgrew now taken off as a precautionary. Looks dazed but its hard to tell if thats from the collision or not!

EDIT

Samaras with a cool finish, keeper was poor but a lovely pass from Commons

Stayed 1-0 although Celtic should really have scored another one during the game. Hearts with a chance in the last minute though