july 2005

Friday 1st French striker Jeremie Aliadiere completes a one-year loan move to Celtic from Arsenal. 'My ambition is to score a lot of goals and play in the Champions League. I knew straight away this would be the best opportunity for me,' he said. 'It is a big club with big ambitions. To play in front of 60,000 people is really exciting and that was a factor.' Gordon Strachan said of his latest acquisition: 'I'm not disappointed I have got him for just a year. It makes me happy because it is a bonus. It just was not possible to have him for longer. A lot of people in England would have liked him for a year so I can't be too greedy. We felt we needed to bring a certain type of player into the team, one with pace.'

Meanwhile Bobo Balde has apparently decided to stay at Celtic, according to Strachan: 'He will be staying. It is good to have good players round you - that's the secret of success. Forget this nonsense about tactics - good players make good teams so the more I have around me, the more chance me and the club will have of success.'

Saturday 2nd With all this news of players coming and going, Gordon Strachan remains hopeful of signing Craig Bellamy who is due to return to St. James' Park on Monday. 'Craig wants to come here compared to his other offers,' said Strachan. 'It depends what you want to do in life. Do you want to play for a club with a fantastic history and the chance to play in the Champions League? If you thrive on that then this is the place.'

Sunday 3rd Today's exclusive by Rob Beasley in the Screws is that 'Celtic look set to lose out on buying Craig Bellamy - as Everton plan to snap up the Welsh striker this week... There were other suitors but Bellamy has finally decided on Everton. Not to be outdone on the exclusive front, Swoop Guidi in Masonsport informs us in a back page splash - under the headline 'We're On The Bell' - that 'Celtic look set to land Craig Bellamy today after stepping up their bid to sign the Newcastle striker on a permanent deal... Mailsport can reveal that Graeme Souness wants to offload Bellamy to the Parkhead club rather than Premiership rivals like Everton, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Blackburn or Manchester City.'

In another Screws exclusive, Kenny MacDonald reports that 'Celtic boss Gordon Strachan has revealed he wants FIVE more players - but might end up with just one.'

Monday 4th Plans for a new training facility and sports academy appeared to be a step closer to becoming reality today after the board agreed to buy the land where it will be situated. Conditional missives have been agreed for 50 acres at the former Lennox Castle Hospital site in north Glasgow. Peter Lawwell said: '(It's) a milestone in fulfilling plans to develop a world-class sports academy and training facility. The site has huge potential and, while there are still various conditions to be satisfied including planning permission and detailed site investigations, we are confident that our vision for the future can be realised. We've all recognised for some time that the club needs modern training facilities to match its playing achievements at all levels and we are now well on the road to developing an academy everyone associated with Celtic can be proud of.'

Tuesday 5th Ulrik Laursen has left Celtic to join Odense in Denmark for a fee of £50,000. He had two years remaining on his contract at Celtic Park but has been deemed surplus to requirements by Gordon Strachan. Maybe he flew over Leicester on the way home?

Thursday 7th Celtic finally bring the transfer saga of striker Maciej Zurawski to a conclusion by finalising his £2m move from Wisla Krakow. Zurawski said of his move: 'I am very happy to sign for a club of Celtic's stature. It has a great history and wonderful fans.'

At the same time, Algeria international Djamel Belmadi arrived at Celtic Park to begin a trial period.

Friday 8th Craig Bellamy decides that he doesn't want to thrive on the Champions League after all and signs for Blackburn Rovers for a wage reported to be in the region of 50k a week. 'We said we would do our best to keep him at Celtic and we tried our very best, but our best wasn't good enough,' said Gordon Strachan.

Sunday 10th Most of the Sundays - even the Herald - are reporting that Celtic are close to concluding the signing of Antti Niemi from Southampton and are also in talks with Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, currently playing for Reggina. Monday 11th Celtic have taken the former Portsmouth and West Ham defender Sebastien Schemmel on a week's trial, having parted company with last week's trialist Djamel Belmadi. Schemmel has travelled with the rest of the squad to their training camp at Bisham Abbey.

Tuesday 12th Gordon Strachan has withdrawn plans to sign Antti Niemi from his former club Southampton. Strachan made the decision after Saints chairman Rupert Lowe turned down a £1.25m offer for the player. He said: 'The Niemi deal is finished now. I admire him greatly. I spoke to Rupert and made an offer but he refused it and I said I won't be back.' All of which seems to have been giving Southampton manager Harry Redknapp the right royal 'ump as he accuses Gordon Strachan of unsettling his players. 'What is Gordon trying to do? Wreck my team?' Redknapp told the Scottish Sun. 'I'm sick of it. It's time for Celtic to come up with money for my players or keep out of my affairs. It's basically a put up or shut up situation. I wouldn't go direct to his chairman if I wanted one of his players. Celtic have been talking to my chairman because Gordon has a fantastic relationship with him, apparently... How many more players and when does this end? The situation has gone too far and I am sick of it. I'm getting the needle,' said 'Arry, pausing only to scoff a plate of jellied eels on the way to the Queen Vic.

Wednesday 13th Celtic announce the launch of a new green Nike strip, to be unveiled against Fulham this coming Saturday. According to the patter, 'Nike have constructed the kit with mesh panels under the arms, on the collar and back of the neck... to aid temperature regulation and prevent heat build up.' Alternatively you can just stand nearer the pub door and order another pint of Guinness (extra cold).

Friday 15th Gordon Strachan has confirmed that Magnus Hedman is about to bring his traumatic career between the sticks at Celtic Park to an end. 'I'm expecting him to move on. Everybody has agreed it is time to move on so he has been busy trying to do a deal with other clubs.'

Saturday 16th Our first look at the post-MON Celts is against Fulham at Craven Cottage in a game which ends 0:0. Plenty of passing but not a great deal happening at the sharp end. Zurawski squanders the chance to score on his debut by missing a penalty in the closing stages.

Sunday 17th Swoop reports in Masonsport (no 'exclusive' today, strangely) that, 'Celtic are in talks to sign Chinese international defender Du Wei'. On the goalkeeping position at Celtic Gordon Strachan is quoted as saying, 'Being Celtic 'keeper is not easy. It's a bit like being No. 1 with Brazil.' Er, without eleven Brazilians in front of you, that is.

Monday 18th Polish Goalkeeper Artur Boruc joins Celtic on a year-long loan deal from Legia Warsaw. A fee has been agreed between the clubs and Celtic have the option of paying more to extend the 25 year-old's stay. 'I want to be number one with Celtic and with Poland and win myself a longer contract here,' he told reporters. 'If I play over here then Jerzy Dudek will have a little problem over in Liverpool... This is a big club and a great club and maybe we are going to be in the Champions League. I remember seeing one Celtic game on television - in Seville against Porto - and the one thing I remember was that there were so many supporters.'

Tuesday 19th Brighton's young star Adam Virgo signs a deal which will keep him at Celtic until 2009. 'I did support Celtic as a youngster', he told hacks. 'My brother and I started watching them in about 1988 and I have always followed them. I admired Brighton manager Mark McGhee when he was a centre-forward there and my other favourite players down the years were Frank McAvennie, Peter Grant, Jorge Cadete, Paolo di Canio and Henrik Larsson.' Initially he is earmarked for the right back slot but he can also play in central defence. Hurry up and get fit!

In the evening Celtic draw 0:0 in a bad tempered friendly against Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium.

Thursday 21st Magnus Hedman has finally left the building. A statement said: 'Celtic Football Club confirms that Magnus Hedman's contract with the club was brought to an end with effect from June 30th 2005, by agreement between the player and the club. The club is grateful for Magnus' contribution to the team's success in recent years and wishes him well in his future playing career.'

Passing him through the revolving door on the way in is Paul Telfer who completes his transfer from Southampton at the last minute before Thursday's Champions League deadline. The 33 year-old has signed a two-year contract in becoming Strachan's SIXTH (see Kenny McDonald, July 3rd) summer signing. Said Gordon Strachan: 'It's too late now to get anybody in for the first European games but I hope that we can do a bit more before the season starts. We have tried to bring in young players but they cost money and like Adam (Virgo) he (Telfer) brings many options. They can play in many positions and that's what we need. This is a small squad and we need more quality, but those players can play in various positions.'

In the first pre-season home game the Hoops draw 2:2 against, er, the Hoops.

Friday 22nd Reports from various Japanese news agencies suggest that midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has agreed to join Celtic for a fee in the region of £3m.

Celtic and Rangers announce the renewal of their shirt sponsorship agreement with Carling in a five-year deal worth a total of £18m. 'This is the biggest (such) deal in Scottish football history,' said chief executive Peter Lawwell.

Saturday 23rd Peter Lawwell has been busy responding to accusations that the board have not been spending enough money on the team recently: 'We're the only team that's spent money on transfers. Last year we used it on wages with Juninho and Henri Camara. This time it's in transfers but we're also picking up the salaries. Since Seville there has been a genuine frustration about the place - shared by the fans, management, team and board. We haven't taken off for whatever reason and I understand the anger. But we have a responsibility to invest the fans' money wisely. That's why the transfer dealings have taken a little longer. The easiest thing to do is relent to media pressure but you have to resist and get deals done properly. We're in good financial condition and the sponsorship deals with Nike and Carling have been fantastic.'

Only Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle and Liverpool spent more on wages last year and Lawwell maintains the club can't afford to sustain that level of expenditure. 'We have lost 10 players to get the figures down but if you go through the list not many were active first-team players last term. We've brought in six new guys and hopefully the quality is there. We are looking to get another one or two and young boys will continue to come through the ranks. It's all about rebuilding with a tight budget.'

Gordon Strachan, meanwhile, has been watching Champions League qualifying round opponents Artmedia Bratislava and reports that, 'They are a good side and look strong and well-organised. They might cause us one or two problems at set-plays. Everything would be rosy for us if all the players were fit. We're having problems in some positions because of a lack of numbers. If we get our targets in the next few weeks I will be happy with the squad. We have good experienced players leading the way. They're mentally strong and in decent nick.'

Strachan's opposite number in Slovakia, Vladimir Weiss, has also been previewing the forthcoming tie: 'This is just a bonus for us and nothing more. The most important thing for us was our first round match against Kairat Almaty and to be welcoming Celtic to Slovakia is just a huge honour. They are better than us in every department and it's obvious they will start as clear favourites.'

Sunday 24th A slow day for the red tops but Andrew Graham still manages a self-righteous exclusive on the back page of the News of the Screws under the headline RACE HELL: 'Terry Butcher fears for Celtic's black stars when they are confronted with the most racist soccer fans in Europe.' Apparently big Tel was in Bratislava for an England international three years ago when Cole and Heskey were the target of racist abuse. Could never happen here of course, could it?

Tuesday 26th Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura becomes the seventh player to join Celtic during the month of July as he signs a three year deal for a fee of £2.5 million. 'The players will appreciate him and we need some right good players,' said Gordon Strachan, showing off his mastery of the understatement. Through his interpreter Nakamura said: ' I am happy to be a Celtic player and look forward to playing for the fans now.'

Peter Lawwell also had an eye on possible financial benefits from the deal: 'The opportunities he will bring in terms of commercial spin-offs, especially in Japan and the Far East, are of great interest. One of the most complicated aspects of the negotiations was the player's image rights, which Celtic have secured. This could lead to an increase in merchandising sales in the Far East, as well as a significant boost for our other services and products.'

Wednesday 27th The welcome mat laid out by Artmedia proves to be simply covering a very deep pit which Celtic duly fall into. The 5:0 defeat is our worst result ever in European competition. To add injury to insult, Chris Sutton is forced out of the game with a fractured cheekbone after a freak collision with Neil Lennon. Gordon Strachan described events as 'The worst night of my footballing life. I'm still in shock. I didn't see that happening after half an hour. None of those players will ever forget that performance.' Neither will we. 'Their good players were sharper than ours, but I can't say anything to make the fans feel better right now. We've just got to suffer together. Whether we need a complete overhaul, we'll see over the next couple of weeks, but we have to analyse that game to see where we went wrong. Embarrassment is the strongest emotion right now and it's difficult to look anyone in the eye.'

Thursday 28th Never ones to miss a chance at revelling in Celtic's discomfort, the Rangers fanzines are having a field day at the expense of the Hoops, most notably the Daily Record with no fewer than 14 articles devoted to last night's result. Interviewees invited to chip in their tuppence worth about the sad state of affairs inside the Walfrid include such Celtic luminaries as Tony Cascarino and Lou Macari.

Friday 29th Celtic finally unveil Shunsuke Nakamura to the press - and our Japanese Bhoy must be wondering what he's let himself in for after clapping eyes on Chick Young, James Traynor et al. His arrival brings the summer spending spree to £7 million.

Saturday 30th A traumatic week for the Hoops comes to an end with a nice, quiet league opener at Fir Park. Nerves are frayed to the limit thanks to a 4:4 draw. Having thrown away a 3:1 lead it's left to sub Craig Beattie to score the equaliser in the last minute. 'I don't think anyone thought we would lose that many goals', said WGS after the game. 'To concede as easily as that is hard to take. It's obvious where we need to sort things out, but it must happen quickly. I can ask the fans to be patient, but I'll just have to put up with any reaction from them. What we don't want to do is panic. That would be the worst thing to do. Our defending is not at its best and needs to be sorted one way or another.'

Look on the bright side - at least we got a point more than we did the last time we went there.

Peter Lawwell was quick to respond to suggestions that the manager just might be under a wee bit of pressure: 'The board is right behind Gordon. He needs time and will be given time to get it right. It is ludicrous for anyone to suggest he is under pressure.'

AUGUST Tuesday 2nd CelticÕs bid to become the first side ever to win a European tie after losing the first leg 5:0 ends in failure. A 4:0 victory against Artmedia isnÕt enough to prevent our season in Europe being over before itÕs even started. Gordon Strachan was gutted but still had praise for his players: ÒPride, sadness, injustice - they are all rolled in

Diary compiled by SAMUEL PEPYS-SHOW and HACKWATCHER

 

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