Not guilty – Scottish football’s darkest day

As it’s the end of the transfer window most football managers in the UK will be huddling with their chairmen and chief executives or whispering into mobile phones as the last transfer deals of the day are put to bed. For Neil Lennon, however, today has a different significance.

May 11, the darkest day of world football of last season when the Celtic football manager was physically attacked by a fan while standing in the dugout at Hearts Football Club while carrying out his professional duty, has cast its dark shadow on this transfer window finale.

For today the Hearts fan that the whole world saw attack the Celtic manager live on Sky TV has been cleared of assaulting Neil Lennon after an Edinburgh Sheriff Court jury found the case against him not proven. The attacker was found guilty of breach of the peace by running onto the pitch at Tynecastle and shouting and swearing at Mr Lennon, but the actual assault, along with the aggravated by religious prejudice element, has been thrown out.

Once again the world is being asked not to believe their own eyes when dealing with attacks on Neil Lennon and the wider Celtic Football Club. The justice system is telling us that the incident was a mere breach of the peace and that we should all go about our business as if it never happened.

This denial of the truth, this attack on human intelligence, this attack on the basic human rights of Neil Lennon and this attack on all right thinking and fair minded people is a much darker day for Scotland, for Scottish football and for world football than the original offence itself. It is a mockery of natural justice and renders ridiculous any notion of a fair and just society for all. This is, in essence, a football story but it echoes the kind of justice that was used by now thankfully extinct or near extinct eras such as the apartheid system in South Africa and the Unionist totalitarian state in Northern Ireland.

This is a football story but it bring shame to the Scottish judicial system, to Scottish society as a whole and to the administrators of Scottish football and especially to Neil Doncaster who had quickly sought to exonerate Hearts Football Club even when the attack happened in their stadium and was incontrovertibly committed by their support.

Today is a much darker day for Scottish football even than last Thursday when both Hearts and Rangers crashed ignominiously out of Europe before the end of August. As Celtic Football Club said in a statement tonight: 

‘We find the accused's acquittal of the charge of assault difficult to comprehend bearing in mind our knowledge of the incident.’

‘One thing is clear - this was a disgraceful incident involving Neil Lennon, seen by the world - the sort of incident which should not have happened in any football stadium and one which embarrassed Scottish football.’

Both Hearts and Rangers are both tettering on the brink of financial disaster. Their football methods and the nefarious activities of their fans have brought Scottish football almost to its knees and in recent years has become the laughing stock of world football. Today that reputation has fallen even deeper into the darkness.

Celtic Football Club was born out of oppression and the dark aftermath of famine and political adversity. Neil Lennon, Celtic and the Celtic supporters will overcome days like these and grow stronger because of them. Celtic will still survive long after Hearts, Rangers and Scottish football itself have all long become extinct.

On days like these we become stronger.

@the_eriugena chief reporter on Celtic and the media for @SixtySevenLive

Team Samaras - Explained

Written by @Chibchenko

Last night, I spent a highly amusing few hours encouraging people to join Team Samaras. Obviously, this was started as a bit of a laugh, however inevitably I did get some comments from those who were astounded that anyone could actually appreciate him as a football player. I promised an explanation, and this is it.

Giorgios Samaras is a highly frustrating player, of that there is absolutely no doubt. The reason for this frustration, for me at least, is down to the fact that, under that mess of hair, there is a player of some ability struggling to get out. When he signed initially on loan, he scored that fantastic debut goal in the 5-1 pumpfest at Rugby Park, darting down the wing and casually finishing. I immediately thought to myself "here, we could have a player here." Sadly, as we all know, it hasn't quite worked out like that. His talent has flickered here and there, but all too often he, for want of a better phrase, makes an absolute arse of it.

And here, we get to the crux of my Samaras defence. If you were to take someone who knew nothing of football and played an audio of some of the abuse Samaras takes from his own fans, I'm sure at times you'd think he played for our biggest rivals. Errors that other players may get away with are just not acceptable when it comes to Samaras. And for me, the reason he is always so noticeable on the field is because, and I must apologise profusely for this cliché, he always gives his all. He is always looking to get on the ball and never hides on the football pitch, which is something he should be admired, not pilloried, for. The likes of Hooper and Stokes can go missing completely at times, which - some may say unfortunately - Samaras very rarely does.

Yes, Samaras makes aimless runs into players, refuses to release the ball, and is very often the definition of the "forward's challenge." However, let us not forget that with his frustration, at times comes genius. His delayed pass to Izaguirre to set up Hooper's second in the 3-0 game against Rangers at Parkhead last season. His entire performance in that game was outstanding, despite not troubling the scorers. And of course, who will ever forget the New Year game at Ibrox when we were all expecting a trouncing. The latter game showed Sammy at his best - up front on his own, with McCourt playing just behind him. Samaras is a forward who does not work well with other strikers. This has been evident on several occasions, most recently against Sion. And who do fans blame for this? Samaras, for the most part. The question I pose is this - does Samaras really deserve the blame for tactical decisions which don't allow him to perform in his preferred way?

That, my friends, is essentially it. I recognise Samaras is average as a football player, who often runs up blind alleys and borderline refuses to score goals. However, he's also a player that thrives on confidence. Is it any wonder he struggles when the fans are on his back for the slightest error? Jump on the bandwagon. Support Team Samaras.

Bangura Bangs Them In

T-1 Day. The last day of the transfer window looms.

What an interesting transfer window it has been. Celtic have to date brought in some real talent. First we had Kelvin Wilson who looks very much the defender we have needed for a good while and Adam Matthews was brought in and looks like a real player too and, given his age, could be a great player in the future. To bring in players such as K Wilson and Matthews on a free transfer shows a deft touch in the over inflated English market. Credit to Celtic for this.

Victor Wanyama came in a little after that for £900,000 and though his chances have been limited he looks another player for the future. Fraser Forster then made a reappearance on loan after more than three keepers were invited to Celtic to train. Today has seen Mo Bangura join for £2,200,000. Bangura was  touted as a good player by none other than king Henrik Larsson himself, so I'm willing to believe he could be a great player for Celtic.

So far Neil Lennon has been recruiting a very young, physical team. And with 30 players registered in the first team at the moment things look promising. No doubt there will be more twists and turns tomorrow. As always we shall see what happens.

We have also seen 20 players leave Celtic in this transfer window. Most noticeably Freddie Ljungberg, Andreas Hinkel, Niall McGinn, Efraín Juárez and Daryl Murphy. Out of those seven are season long loans. I would be surprised if the likes of Morten Rasmussen and Jos Hooiveld stay at the club beyond the 1 September.

There are also notable rumours that Georgios Samaras and Shaun Maloney may be leaving. Sammy has been linked with a move to either Saint-Étienne or Sunderland. It seems Wigan have definite interest in Maloney and we will see what develops on that during the course of tomorrow.

I have been very impressed with the tactics used so far by Celtic in the transfer window. Firstly with the goalkeepers being invited in and even playing in friendly matches while all along our target was Fraser Forster. This was also evident in the use of targeting Baba Diawara while going after Mo Bangura. As soon as the transfer of Bangura went through Celtic pulled out of the transfer citing ‘permit issues’ just after a meeting with the SFA.

I will be reporting live from 12 noon tomorrow on all the comings and goings on transfer deadline day. It looks to be fun packed and full of interesting rumours and other fabrications by the mainstream media. Today I even saw a BBC reporter claiming David Trezeguet had been a target for Celtic. All I can say to these license fee thieves is they are destroying their own reputation and fan run media is now leaving them far, far behind.

Hail Hail

Total Celtic

Win for Celtic but Scottish football’s still enslaved

It reads as a comfortable 2-0 scoreline over St Mirren, but for Celtic it was a strangely uncomfortable win.

Daniel Majstorovic started while Ledley and Commons were on the bench with Hooper and Stokes restored up front as the attacking force. Stokes and particularly Hooper looked very sharp right from the start. Hooper took his chances well and seems to be back to his best form, which was fortunate as otherwise this could have been another one of ‘those’ games we have occasionally seen from Celtic in the past twelve months.

For this match became the curious case of the St Mirren team that suddenly started to play as if they were 2-0 up and lot losing by two well taken Gary Hooper goals. Yet Celtic should have one by a lot more. The myopic Willie Collum chopped off an absolutely fine goal by Anthony Stokes, while Ki Seung-Yeung was particularly wasteful when through on goal in the second half when it would have been much easier for him to score.

Celtic are missing the width of Izaguirre and Mark Wilson which was an important element of the team’s great performances from last season. Cha has oodles of energy on the right side, but very little precision and while Charlie Mulgrew has many other assets he doesn’t have Izaguirre’s pace and attacking threat on the left wing. Mulgrew would be an effective and more assured centre back partner for Kelvin Wilson and he can pass quickly with assurance turning defence into attack.

Once again Majstorovic’s jittery approach to pretty much every situation seemed to infect the rest of the defence like a virus, and a remedy for this before the end of the transfer window is devoutly to be wished.

It’s a bit of a cliché but stars are made at Celtic rather than imported and Ki Seung-Yeung is proving to be one of those Celtic-made stars who has been reborn this season. However he seemed out of sorts against St Mirren that also accounted for their periods of sustained dominance.

Post match rumours of a move away by Ki were quickly shot down by Alan Thompson saying, ‘We don't want any of our better players leaving,’ while there is still time for a few much needed reinforcements if the team are to improve on the successes of last term.

Celtic did win of course and did begin to put some of the disappointment of the Europa League behind them. The ineptitude of Uefa and Fifa in not banning FC Sion for fielding ineligible players could still mean that Celtic are only provisionally out of Europe. No matter how embarrassing any reinstatement would be the fact is Sion cheated and should rightly face the consequences.

But what are the consequences for Scottish football after last week’s European failures by Rangers and Hearts as well as Celtic?

It seems apparent that the Scottish football media and the SFA in slavishly promoting the anti-football of Rangers and Hearts, the two establishment teams, have helped create a downward spiral for Scottish football.

The bias of the media and the incestuous affiliations of those who control both the SFA and the SPL are malignant growths on the game. These forces are always there enslaving the game at every turn and at every level of performance. They drag the game down to the lowest common denominator. Kick your opponent. Rush the ball. Cheat whenever you can. All applauded by drum beating hacks. That’s the establishment way. So that too has become Scottish football’s way.

This undying love for the negative approach is the reason Scottish football is enslaved in a dark depression, compounded by the further negativity of Sky, the BBC and other mainstream broadcasters. As long as these dark forces seek to make a living from the game and take against those teams playing more positive, less Scottish style football, then Scottish football will continue to decline.

A neutral media would be celebrating the attacking football that Celtic have been known to play under Neil Lennon in recent times. Instead, corruption has clouded their vision and their judgement. They can only see what they are told to see and hear what they are told to hear. Objectivity and truth have been poisoned along with the game itself.

Celtic are a team with Irish roots who play in Scotland and when at their best don’t play the Scottish way. The Celtic way is more European, more skilful and has had much more style and passion since long before the Jock Stein era.

A decline in Scottish football should not necessarily mean a decline for Celtic, even though it looks ever more unlikely that Celtic will escape the quicksand of the SPL any time soon. As with the Europa League itself, there may be little hope for Scotland but there is still hope for Celtic as long as the team and Neil Lennon are allowed to play the Celtic way and have the support from all levels to do so.

This is my first of many blogs for SixtySevenLive one of the brightest new sites in the Celtic media, created by like minded people who simply want to report the truth at a time when the truth is very rarely reported.

SSL is a collective and has an open policy that does not attempt to impose a particular viewpoint on the Celtic support. SSL tries to unite and heal rather than divide and rule. In this we applaud the great work of other sites, most notably the very professionally produced new additions to the CQN family.

This is a time for all right minded people to come together and speak plainly and clearly. It could still be a long and difficult season.

@the_eriugena chief reporter on Celtic and the media for @SixtySevenLive

You Learn More in Defeat Than In Victory!

Celtic 0-1 St Johnstone  21/08/11

"I heartily recommend this very sane report from Shipmate Sunblest live from the stormy seas" AnonymosCSC

It’s all over folks, rip up your season tickets, burn your tops, sack the board, sack Lennon, blame Samaras!!!!

We, yes we Glasgow Celtic Football Club Est 1888 lost a game of football today!!!!

Hmmm doesn’t seem as dramatic when you type it out, compared to when you experience the feeling when witnessing it either at the game or on Channel 67.

We need to take a step back and look at it calmly, yes we lost, yes we were wasteful in front of goal, yes we need to practise penalties more but performance wise we created almost the same amount of opportunities as we did when we put five past Dundee Utd our passing before we conceded was crisp, our movement off the ball was exemplary, for this old reporter it boils down to some days you score eight, some days you miss a penalty, hit the post twice and make the keeper pull of a string of great saves then suffer the humiliation of the Scottish press falling over themselves to question Neil Lennon, which in turn leads to the support questioning each other on who should go, who should stay, who should play, who shouldn’t and who is the more committed supporter, all because we lost 1-0 at home to St Johnstone.

So let’s quickly run through the team then see what we can learn from the defeat!

GK: Fraser Forster   Largely untroubled throughout the match, pulled off a great save prior to the winning strike, effective and seems to have improved his kicking.

Defence:  Young Matthews was in at RB and in the opening 45mins really was a standout with his willingness to get down the right hand side, faded a little in the second half as he experienced for the 1^st time the loneliest place on planet earth for any footballer, Celtic Park with the fans voicing their opinions at an disappointing performance.

Chico started at LB, proving again how versatile a player he is, he didn’t have one of his best games and either by injury or by performance was benched at half time. His replacement was Mark Wilson who unfortunately didn’t fare much better as St Johnstone adopted the tactic of pinning back both full backs with diagonal balls into the channel thus ensuring Mark couldn’t affect the play as I presume Lennon had intended.

Dan and Victor the unrepentant Kenyan b*****d, in fairness did little wrong. It seems only after the goal went in did the crowd voice their unhappiness at their display, primarily at Dan, this affected him and he began to make silly mistakes which seemed to only incense the support more.

Midfield:   Broony was back starting on the right and with Matthews tearing down on the overlap in the first half this allowed Broony room to cut inside and roam into space effectively, again in the second half he seemed to lose focus after the goal but still tried to drive the team forward at every opportunity.

Ledley and Ki were in the middle again and retained possession very well though it is more than fair to state that we miss Kayal as neither of them really marshalled the troops after we conceded which led to Ledley being subbed in the later stages.

Commons was back on the left and unfortunately failed to convert his penalty. After this it was clearly evident that his confidence took an almighty knock, however suggestions that he is not the same player are well wide of the mark as his almost technically perfect FK rebounded back off the St Johnstone post, a superb effort, I hope Kris overcomes this little blip in confidence as he is a pivotal cog in Lennon’s green and white machine.

Forwards:  Maloney and Stokes both at times today looked excellent their link up play especially! Unfortunately today for both front men they were very wasteful in front of goal.

Subs:  Young James Forrest made a good impact when coming on as he stretched the game by staying out wide and committing the fullback though was guilty of snatching at a glorious opportunity when the ball rebounded back into his path after McCourt’s dribble.

Paddy came on to a chorus of cheers, with the hopes and expectations of millions on his shoulders and bhoy did he give it a try, he almost tried too much some might say! For this reporter I believe it’s too much pressure to put on one man’s shoulders, granted he is a eye catching, truly gifted dribbler but to assume he will come on and walk the ball into the net is naive as in reality the efforts Paddy puts in, disrupts the fluidity of the teams tactics which was clear to see today. To make matters worse is that when he doesn’t score that goal of the season and saves the day, the man gets criticised. Paddy deserves credit for his efforts today but should also himself realise sometimes making the goal is better than scoring the goal!

So overall what can we learn from today?

For me three things are blindingly obvious!

1)    We are too complacent against so called lesser opponents! (Ross County, ICT,FC Sion, St Johnstone) Why? Is it arrogance, over confidence, ego?  Quick answer is NO to all three! We have a very motivated coaching team who would never ever allow that to creep in and a squad of players with a good work ethic about them. The reason we are complacent is because we lack patience, the patience to stick to the game plan when things aren’t going our way, the patience exhibited by all the great teams like Barcelona, Man Utd, the players are too quick to take it upon themselves to be the ‘hero’ but this will rectify itself in time as the team evolve together and learn that when in times of trouble don’t go gung-ho, just trust the man beside you!

2)    Secondary Phase Play!  Our reaction to any situation in the second phase of play today was poor and in truth it has been our Achilles heel as a unit since the Lennon era began, we are not anticipating what will happen next in the way a Neil Lennon, Paul Lambert, Johann Mjallby used to under O’Neil, this is crucial for any team who desire to dominate a domestic league competition and make inroads in Europe, if you don’t anticipate a follow up clearance or a follow up chance to score, it will inevitably lead to trouble.

3)    You can’t take £50 Million Pound worth of talent out a team and expect the same quality to come in! Not an excuse being formulated but rather facts! Gary Hooper is a predatory finisher who makes incisive runs that Stokes and others thrive off, he also is a proven top level goal scorer purchased for 2.5Million even though he outscored the most expensive English forward today whilst in the championship Andy Carroll at £35million. Value now £12-£15million......Emilio Izziguire  Scottish player of the year and in truth, the most exciting left back in Europe Est Value £15-£20 Million...... Beram Kayal, The most coveted player in the squad, interest from Man Utd, Liverpool, Valencia and rumblings of interest from AC Milan why? He bosses a game, rarely wastes possession and has an eye for a defence splitting pass! Est Value £15-£25Million!

The good news is they are all injured and likely to be at Celtic until next summer and hopefully beyond, the point being when you list what we have against what we don’t have it paints a very different picture.

I urge all Celtic fans to look at this result as what it is! A chance early on in the season to look at our shortcomings and fix any problems, better it come now than in the run in as experienced last season. So let’s put it into perspective and rally round like only Celtic Supporters can and get 110% behind Neil Lennon and the bhoys as we head out to Switzerland to face FC Sion in the biggest game of the season!

I’m Angus Sunblest reporting for Total Celtic onboard the good ship @sixtysevenlive

Until next time me mateys

Hail Hail 

I ate too much Toblerone last night! Celtic v FC Sion 0-0

"Below is Angus Sunblest’s latest match report. I would like to add that before the game we were discussing the five illegal players that FC Sion named in their squad. After the game we can report that they played four of them. This constitutes blatant cheating in sport, not just a minor bending of the rules. It is to be expected that Scion will be dealt with accordingly by the football authorities. 

When I learned that Croatian Marijo Strahonja would be refereeing the game I expected a fair and impartial official. Even today I still can’t believe that the Croatian made so many blatantly biased decisions that would have left even the SFA with embarrassed faces. The referee’s performance was simply incredulous. So with no Fifa decision until after the second leg last night may still prove irrelevant. However it was the first European night in Celtic Park of the season and everyone, including the manager, expected more." AnonymousCSC

Ar me be feeling a little glum me hearty’s this morning L. Perhaps I did over indulge in one too many bars of sweet, nutty Swiss chocolate pre match, our maybe it was that feeling you get every time things don’t turn out as you anticipated or planned. You know the feeling. It’s different for all of us, frustration, anger, contempt for some, sympathy, reflection and contemplation for others.  Overall the pain is the same. ‘WE DIDNT GUB THE CHEATING INELIGABLE FIELDING BASSAS’ 

No matter how any of us feel the @sixtysevenlive captain and first mate @AnonymousCSC and @AnonActionCelt want to get the message out that win lose or draw, be you angry, upset or hopeful, they are here for you and will never divide the support in times of perceived trouble. So tweet them for a remedy to your ails (lashings of rum is always advised), seek them out on twitter onboard the good ship @sixtysevenlive and let them bring a great big Timmy smile back on to your face.

Let’s begin the report

GK  I think the GK debate ended last night once and for all, unfair as it seems for Zaluska and we all have sympathy for him. Neil Lennon has an obligation as Celtic manager to field his perceived strongest team and rightly or wrongly he sees Fraser Forster as his No 1 and in fairness the defence did seem collectively calmer with the big man between the sticks. He was rarely called into action last night and handled his first competitive appearance of the season well.

Defence The Terminator Cha was in from the start and was immense. His recovery speed, willingness to get forward was great to see. ‘Charnie’ really did himself no harm in his quest to go back in time and eliminate John Connor; I mean stake his claim for a starting berth in the first team at the weekend.

Dan and Chico were back together in the heart of the defence, reunited like lost lovers due to Kelvin ‘Sexual Chocolate’ Wilson’s dead leg and enjoyed a fairly comfortable night’s work. Dan looked commanding throughout while Chico helped to try engineer build up play from the back.

The ambassador Mark Wilson was shifted to left back to accommodate Chico’s move inside to centre half and as always Mark gave it his all, though in truth his impact on the game was limited as he favours hugging the touchline and found this hard to achieve last night as he was switching inside a lot. All in all Mark and the whole defensive unit performed well and rarely looked worried by the attacking threat of the Toblerones.

Midfield  Kris ‘Puff’ Commons was placed out on the right hand side for last night’s match to accommodate for El Capitan taking up a central position. He seems to be coming in for some stick from a section of the support and as much as their opinion is valued and respected, surely they can see that ‘Puff’ is proving to be a very versatile and hardworking member of the squad. I can only surmise that his electric start to his Celtic career was expected to continue unabated with Kris shooting thunderbolts out his arse into the net every time he receives the ball regardless of what position or tactical job he has been assigned.

Super Joe Ledley gave yet another tireless performance throughout, his ball retention and calmness under pressure last night did not go unnoticed neither did his constant tracking back to help out in defence.

The Seoul bhoy playmaker Ki started in the centre of midfield but was then pushed further forward to play just off the striker, this isn’t his normal role, as for me Dave is much more of a deep lying playmaker but as it seems that he is currently the most creative player in Scotland it was to be expected that he would be tasked with playing just off the striker. Later in the game as Celtic brought on more natural wide men Ki was able to drop back into his more natural role and began to dictate the game which created a few more opportunities.

Broony was brought back into the centre of midfield to play the Kayal role (god how we miss him) and did his job admirably. Scott will always give his all, though you can see even he seems to no longer favour a central position as he understands he can give more to the team out wide. A solid performance by the man who does this \0/

Forwards Stokes started up front but was moved out to the left wing in a tactical change to combat the ball being freely played forward into dangerous areas early on by Sion’s right back. Again as with Commons this in this reporters mind shouldn’t be criticised it should be applauded as the bhoy is fulfilling a duty. He wants to score goals but until you win the tactical battle in any match you are unlikely to create the chances to score. As for the penalty claim I’ve seen them given and like last night I’ve seen them rejected.

The Greek Gazelle: love or hate Sammy he must have one helluva pair of broad shoulders to take the criticism heaped on him. The fall guy for some, the ace in the pack for others, I can only say he was willing to play the lone striker role due to the formation change and won his fair share of headers, ran the channels and took the knocks required to play that role. For me quite simply Giorgios of Samaras has all the attributes of a modern day front man but needs to simplify his finishing technique. In essence he thinks too much when a chance arises and ends up snatching at the opportunity.

Subs: McCourt, Maloney, Forrest all came on to try and change the game. They all applied themselves well, though in fairness the tactics employed by the opposition to kick any Celtic player within a 40 yard radius of the goal proved troublesome in their quests to turn the tide.

Overall Summary We were without an estimated  (lower end valuation) £30 million pounds worth of talent last night in the form of absentees Emilio, Beram and Hoops add to this Sexual Chocolate missing and the change of natural position for Commons, M Wilson, Brown, Stokes and Joe Ledley coupled with a change of tactics early on from an attacking interchangeable 4-4-2 to a containment based 4-2-3-1/ 4-5-1 to counteract Sion getting at us down the flanks. You can see why it may have came across as a bit of a disjointed performance. These aren’t excuses I’m offering these are facts though in all honesty I believed we played well against a team set up to play in effect with 6 at the back. This is European football, teams park the bus away from home in the hope of scoring a sucker punch away goal or to lose by just one and to their credit Sion defended albeit robustly (hacking) and, with the help of some dubious refereeing, admirably. I for one would be delighted to see Celtic adopt their tactics in the second leg as I firmly believe we are better than Sion in every department. People will argue about not getting a valuable goal but in reality if Sammy had scored with that header, had he managed to poke home his sliding effort to give us a slender lead, what we have done with it in Switzerland? We would have tried to sit in and defend what we have and mostly likely end up being beaten.

Now we go to Switzerland with the knowledge that we have to play, we have to score and that is what makes Celtic tick. That is the Celtic way!

Until next time me matey’s 

#keepthefaith

I’m Angus Sunblest reporting for Total Celtic onboard the good ship @sixtysevenlive

Neil Lennon Q&A @ Celtic Park 15/08/11

Neil Lennon, Celtic Fan. Celtic Player. Celtic Captain. Celtic Coach. Celtic Manager. I was privileged enough yesterday to be in the same room as him, Scot Brown & Tony Stokes. There was a brief 10 minutes Q&A session that raised many answers transfer wise.

A question was raised about the goalkeeper situation. NL confirmed that talks between Celtic and the Polish Keeper, Grzegorz Sandomierski had broken down due to the money involved. NL did not see value for money and had walked away from the situation.

Another question was raised about the current situation in the transfer market. NL said that 3 players were currently being tracked. A Goalkeeper, a Left back & a Striker were needed. He also said that he would be brining in some "older heads" as he feels the squad is a little young. Lenny also sited Thursday to be the day (18th August) that he wanted these 3 positions filled. Failing that by that weekend.

Another question was asked about Islam Feruz and if the rumours of him leaving for Chelsea were true. NL did say that Celtic were fighting with some unscrupulous agents trying to unsettle him and Celtic were fighting a losing battle. But he is still a Celtic player.

I have a video of the Q&A session, unfortunately the sound is very muffled in parts.

This is @TotalCeltic reporting from paradise. For now Hail! Hail!