Since the last article plenty has happened at Celtic Park for the Celtic fans to get their teeth into,so lets get started.
Things did not look good after a particularly poor first half in Perth v St.Johnstone but a better performance in the second half albeit against ten men gave the Hoops all three points and a 4-1 with with some stunning play and great goals from Fortune and McCourt in particular,so all is looking brighter you would think? Not on your nelly,this is Celtic are all!
A home game against Hibs was never going to be easy but when Fortune scores after only 5 minutes then you are entitled to feel that you should be able to go on and win the game from there.....what was to follow can only be described as the mystery that is the SPL this season where the predictable has come the unpredictable and Hibs went on to grab a 2-1 win!
Tony Mowbray knew that he had to do something especially with another away fixture on the cards this time Hamilton and with things not going too well in the second half,he played his ace card by bringing on new signing Morten Rasmusen and this was the stuff that dreams are made of as the new signing grabbed the winning goal in a 1-0 win for the Hoops but it could have been a far more comfortable win if Fortune had not had his penalty saved by Cerny!
All roads lead now to the interest in the end of the transfer window and just who would stay and who would go as Celtic Park doors would be swinging more than once throughout the day!
Rumours had been rife all day of who was coming and going from Celtic this month but no one could have expected what dramatic events were to follow.....
Stephen McManus and Scott McDonald followed Willo Flood,Barry Robson,Chris Killen and Aberdeen's Lee Miller down to join the new Celtic in the Championship as Gordon Strachan's team had a very familar look to it,Danny Fox left for Burnley, Mark Brown left for Hibs and Graham Carey went on loan to St.Mirren also which meant that Celtic would have to do some wheeling and dealing and fast!
They wasted no time in getting replacements in,the first two arrived on loan till the end of the season-Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara who has played 40 times for Senegal and has scored nine goals.
Next up-Edson Braafheid,left back from Byern Munich who has 5 Dutch caps and looking to do well at Celtic before going to the World Cup.
Then a signing was next to arrive,young 18 year old Paul Slane was signed on a 4 year deal from Motherwell,where he spent six years developing as a player.
At this point I was going to say I wish all three guys all the very best at Celtic Football Club no matter how long or short your career is and of course welcome to Glasgow.
So these guys and Ki Sung Yong,Thomas Rogne,Morten Rasmussen and Jos Hooiveld are to be part of a new look Celtic in the coming months and I would have been quite happy with that and then came another wee signing......the loan signing of life long Celtic fan Robbie Keane the Spurs captain and the shook the football world in Scotland,so much so that around 5000 Celtic fans waited outside Celtic Park at mid-night to see their new hero arrive,a fantastic welcome with both parties on a high it would take something really special to wipe the smiles off the fans faces now.....a wee visit to Kilmarnock would be just the thing to keep this party going right?
Wrong! Did someone forget to tell Jimmy Calderwood it was Robbie Keane's debut so Celtic must win.This was Celtic's game in hand,the chance to get it back to 7 points.....but no thanks to a 1-0 defeat at Rugby Park the Rangers lead was still 10 points.
All the hype,all the excitement,the bubble had burst!
The chance to close the gap had gone,now more pressure would be heaped on Tony Mowbray and his mis-firing squadHe is being battered in the press by the statements that now even John Barnes has a better record,the pressure is telling on Mogga and it is worrying!
This new Celtic still have to gel together and fast or Rangers could be home and dry by the end of the month and all this for a club under pressure from the bank and who have not bought a player in two years!
Walter Smith knows things are not good at his club but somehow they are getting results when it matters and Celtic need to start doing the same and soon!
The hype of Robbie Keane signing has been a good and bad thing.
Great for Celtic that he is here,massive coup for the board and they should be applauded for bringing him here and I welcome him and all the other guys who will pull on the green and white Hoops from now till the end of the season and despite my jokes from all my Rangers pals,(Ravi,George,Andy-Scott etc) the Celtic End of Season Dance was not on Tuesday !
As Paul Carrack says "It Ain't Over,Till Its Over" but with a hard match in the Active Nation Cup against Dunfermline on Sunday,it really could be!
Enjoy your football,thanks to ESPN for the free football weekend that we all enjoyed and once again Get Well Soon Murdo,we are all praying for you
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