Transfer Deadline Day Preview: Cool heads in the chaos

Today, Tuesday 30th August, has been a whirlwind of rumours, bids, done deals and more rumours in the world of football. Celtic haven't been immune to this, the day beginning with the prospect of four changes to the squad before day's end. As it turned out there was only one, Mohammed Bangura joined the club from AIK in Sweden for a reported fee of £2.2m on a four-year deal. It's the type of distraction most managers hate even if they manage to pick up a bargain or get rid of players clogging up overburdened squads. In fact, there have been calls recently from managers in the Scottish Leagues to the top of the English Leagues to ensure the transfer window shuts before competitive action begins and it's likely the subject will come up at a meeting of top coaches in Nyon later this week. For the fan its a fairly exciting and fairly frustrating time that can bring knots to stomachs or good moods to the fore.

Overnight it was reported in The Scottish Sun that Georgios Samaras and Shaun Maloney were moving on, to be replaced by two strikers, one of them was Bangura. The other was Maritimo striker Baba Diawara who appeared to be on the verge of joining until early afternoon when word came through from Portugal that he wouldn't be signing for Celtic in this window due to 'visa issues'. At face value it seemed to be just too late to sign the Senegalese player but STV later reported that Celtic hadn't even applied for a working visa for Diawara which suggests that only one striker was ever going to come in. Celtic apparently had two deals running simultaneously, if the Bangura fell through, Diawara would have signed. It's a pretty smooth way to operate in what can be a frantic and unpredictable couple of days. Neither Samaras or Maloney have left the club but Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has spoken in the media confirming talks will continue over a Maloney move tomorrow. Samaras looks likely to join a new club as well with Sunderland and St.Etienne sniffing about the Greek today, though nothing more than rumour has been reported at the moment.

This is the current situation as of 18:39 but new rumours and developments are happening on an almost hourly basis and going into tomorrow anything can happen. It's my belief that Celtic are still actively trying to sign a player or two, hopefully defenders. As I'm typing this Liam Ridgewell has handed in a transfer request to Birmingham which has been rejected, Celtic have been linked with the versatile defender for a number of weeks. No more news has emerged about taking Paul Dixon, a left back, from Dundee United who have said tonight there's been no approach from Celtic. There has also been messageboard rumour of Dynamo Kiev left back Badr El Kaddouri joining. Alongside this there's always the prospect of a shock 'big name' arriving at Celtic Park, most likely on loan. As tiresome as this particular rumour can be, as long as Craig Bellamy hasn't found a club for the season, speculation will be rife among the Celtic community about where he will end up. All the names aside, we need defenders now as a priority even if another attacking option would be a nice luxury.

And who could leave the club, Samaras and Maloney aside? Will Morten Rasmussen and Jos Hooiveld be reunited with Tony Mowbray at Middlesborough or find their back to mainland Europe? Is Paddy McCourt surplus to requirements or looking for regular starts? Will we manage to hang on to our better players such as Kayal, Hooper and Ki? As it stands we have a squad of 27 players, youngsters excluded. I expect us to have the same number at close of business tomorrow but there is still time for a turnaround of faces. Celtic appear to have been waiting until the last week of the window to do the majority of business, taking advantage of time running out to squeeze maximum value out of deals both out and in. Neil Lennon said Bangura was being tracked by the club for almost a year so you could conclude that panic doesn't seem to be setting in at Parkhead, deals will only be concluded for players we have done homework on. I for one am looking forward to a busy, ridiculous day of anything goes hearsay and action. Who could forget Robbie Keane getting on a plane to Glasgow in January 2010? It was one of the most dramatic transfers we've seen at the club and completely out of the blue. I say again, anything can happen.

You can follow my twitter account @fritzagrandold in the closing hours for live updates, retweets and rumours from all over the internet. I can't claim to have any insider info whatsoever but will helpfully collate anything going.

Match report: St.Mirren 0 - 2 Celtic - Redemption begins.

The last week and a half has been hard going as a Celtic fan. For many of us it was back to square one after such impressive form from the team since January. Celtic Football Club have a lot to do to convince the support that they are worthy of praise, adoration and indeed, the high wages. Today's match against St.Mirren was the beginning of that journey for Neil Lennon and his players and while not terribly convincing in terms of attractive, dominating football many will feel relief at picking up another three points.

The game began in a satisfying way for Celtic, in the sixth minute Stokes and Hooper combined with a clever one-two and Hooper slotted home to make it 1-0. Only a few minutes later Hooper capitalised on a St.Mirren defensive error to slip in one on one with keeper Craig Samson, placing the ball into the corner of the net. These goals were after a horrendous decision from referee Willie Collum, who ruled an Anthony Stokes goal invalid for a seemingly invisible foul on the St.Mirren defender he nicked the ball off, one for the Stokes first goal scorer betters to lose sleep over. So far, so good for Celtic however it wasn't to be plain sailing as the match grew older. Paul McGowan passed a flat footed Kelvin Wilson and forced a fantastic save from Fraser Forster shortly after. For a period St.Mirren controlled possession and looked to find joy in the final third of the pitch, fortunately though they failed to create another clear cut chance before half-time.

In the second half Nigel Hasselbaink continued to use his pace to give the Celtic defence problems but St.Mirren never really looked like scoring despite forcing a number of corners. Forster though was again brought into action when a low shot deflected off of Kayal and the Englishman impressed again with a reaction save. Kelvin Wilson almost had a horror moment when he misjudged a header back to Forster and the ball narrowly slipped wide of the post, he wasn't having a great game. At the other end Celtic managed to get in behind the defence on a few occasions with Ki, Forrest and Stokes all going close to finishing the game off, Craig Samson though was having an even better game than Forster. It was Forrest in fact who looked the most threatening Celtic player in the latter stages of the game as the game petered out to a welcome three points and clean sheet.

Substitutions were again lacking from Neil Lennon until very late into the game. In the second half the Celtic players, notably Scott Brown and Ki looked very tired and St.Mirren were consistently breaking past the midfield into the final third. It seemed at this point, around 60-70 minutes that substitutions were most definitely needed to see the game out more convincingly but a sub wasn't forthcoming until the 85th minute when Ledley replaced Ki. No damage was done but it again is a sign that Lennon is reluctant to change anything on the pitch in a pro-active way.

Three points and a clean sheet is a welcome result of any game Celtic play but even more so after such a dreadful week. How important it is to have Gary Hooper back, fit and looking sharp in a game where we were otherwise wasteful in front of goal. Celtic played 90 minutes with ten men away in Europe on Thursday night and most of those players played again this lunchtime. It was a good result under these circumstances and hopefully the impressive individual & team performances will follow later. There is now an international break with our next game not until 10th September against in form Motherwell at Celtic Park. By that time I hope we are energised further by one or two signings before the end of the transfer window. There is still insecurity that Celtic are not the finished product capable of taking the title off of Rangers.

Match report: FC Sion 3 - 1 Celtic - Brutal realities crush us again.

Match preview: FC Sion vs Celtic FC (Agg: 0-0)

Celtic travel to Switzerland with fan morale in the balance. It's often said football is a fickle world but most clubs would surely be baffled by the schizophrenic nature of the Celtic support. Coming off the high of beating one of the better teams in Scotland 5-1 there was a bitter end to that week, first drawing 0-0 with FC Sion and only a few days later getting beat by a team who had previously not scored a goal this season, St.Johnstone. Suddenly our team became dissected to the nth degree on fan messageboards, supporter's buses, social networking sites and radio phone-ins, they were largely slated. As an example, the reaction to news that Scott Brown was signing a new contract suddenly seemed a heavy blow when only a week earlier most seemed primed for a good season from the captain. Add to this a feeling of bemusement at the lack of activity in the transfer market and it leads to a caustic atmosphere in a week which is pure pressure for the team as it is.

Whichever way fan morale sits right now, Thursday's game is a must win (or in fact a must score draw). This is not because of how the fans would react but simply how beneficial European football would be to Celtic Football Club this year. Financially it'd be a welcome boost to finances which at a base level encourage mediocrity within the team and which strangle any ambition the board may or may not have. On the pitch it would be a good test for players showing glimpses of a higher quality that we've not seen at Celtic Park for years. For Neil Lennon, it provides another platform to improve as a coach, manager, tactician. On top of all this, if it doesn't go our way then the board, the manager and the team will be under fire (and rightly so) going forward until they deliver a big result again, the first oppurtunity most likely the Rangers game at Ibrox .

It's easy to feel defeated already, Celtic's away record Europe is pitiful. Sion fans on their messageboards even commented that the next day in Glasgow, the Celtic fans they came across the previous day so jovial and buoyant were quiet and reserved on Friday, perhaps already seeing the future, thumped in Europe again. However, I saw enough on Thursday night that proved to me FC Sion are there for the taking. Of course it's hard to judge a team on one viewing when they are playing away in Europe, they gave us plenty of space to play football and only broke forward when our midfield and full backs pushed forward. They might be a completely different proposition tomorrow, for starters they won't give us as much respect. This is both a positive and a negative. On the upside, it should open up space for Celtic to penetrate the defence that was so organised and difficult to break down last Thursday. The downside? Well it's simply that our defence is absolutely atrocious on the back foot & under pressure. We fell apart last year in Utrecht in difficult circumstances and Daniel Majstorovic rolled back that clock on Sunday against St.Johnstone when the stands were bursting with frustration. At one point he seemed to be receiving the ball and with no Saints players within 5 or 10 yards would launch it out for a throw in. It will be a difficult opening period Stade Tourbillon in front of fans eager and baying for the blood of a giant club on their doorstep that don't look great shakes playing wise. If we make it to half-time without conceding then I would put money on us making it through.



The news this morning that Biram Kayal, Kelvin Wilson and Gary Hooper travelled with the squad to Switzerland is a massive boost. It shouldn't be forgotten that one of the biggest reasons for poor results this week was was that we were missing our key players in key positions and everyone would feel a sense of relief and hope if even one or two of this trio make it in time for the match. Regardless, FC Sion are there to be beat. I believe we CAN beat them and I think if nothing else, Neil Lennon provides the team with a belief they can win every game. Hopefully away from the boiling pot of emotion that is Celtic Park the team can focus, pull together and give us a result a club of our size would be proud of away in Europe.