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Trivia
- First Friendly of the 2015-16 season. Celtic are currently holders of the league and league cup.
- Deila's second season.
- Celtic ranked 34th in world in Deloitte football rich list.
- Celtic playing this friendly at Love St as Celtic Park pitch is being relaid.
- Celtic have new tie in with Saudi Arabian club called Heja. Mixed response upfront.
- Beginning of the transfer window.
- Dedryk Boyata signs for Celtic, an early transfer window signing. Jonka from Man U follows.
- Transfers in: Dedryk Boyata (Man City), Saidy Jonka (Man U free)
- Transfers out: Joe Chalmers to Motherwell, Tonev (end loan), Guidetti (end loan), Wakaso (end loan), Zaluska (free), John Herron (free), Amido Balde (free)
Celtic have given new contracts to youth players Luke Donnelly and Conor McManus who played a major role in Celtic’s 5 – 2 win over Rangers in the SFA Youth Cup.
- Ex-Celt James Rowan passes away RIP.
- Scotland draw away to Ireland in the European Championships qualifiers. Scotland third in group behind Poland and Germany. So with Strachan and O'Neil in charge of the two sides, Strachan comes out better but it's meaningless. Both were successful Celtic managers.
- Terracing/standing: Celtic given go ahead for introduction of limited standing spaces for season 2016/17, using standing rails as used in Germany. First time permitted since 1994 in Scotland. An emotive subject for some in football following the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.
- FIFA raided by authorities with seven arrested for fraud and corruption charges. A major scandal, and top news across the globe. Phenomenal and the biggest crisis in FIFA since it’s birth. FIFA Head Sepp Blatter pulls the strings and won a re-election as head of FIFA despite groans from Western World FA's but resigns a few days later.
- Inverness CT won the Scottish Cup beating Falkirk 2-1. First time in their history so congratulations.Son of ex-Celt Peter Grant scores in the match.
- TheRangers will not be in the SP this season. TheRangers lost 6-1 in aggregate v Motherwell in the play-off for the promotion/relegation spot!
- TheRangers lost 3-1 at home to Motherwell in the first leg for the right to play in the Top Tier next season. Ex-Celts starred including Stephen McManus scoring a goal, and Stephen Pearson leading by example with a fine performance and setting up the third. Scott McDonald was also praised for his performance in the match regarded as a catalyst for their form.
TheRangers lost 3-0 away in the second leg, with the final goal from Sutton (brother of Evil Genius ex-Celt Chris Sutton). Happy days. 3 red cards. Players fighting on the pitch. Manager in altercation with a fan in the tunnel.
Review![[Untitled]](https://wikifoundryimages.s3.amazonaws.com/760abe1067a86b818b34232ab552ed16 "[Untitled]")
(naka 25)
We looked sharp in the 1st half, good tempo, worked hard off the ball to get possession back. GMS was excellent, Armstrong showed good vision and Rogic impressed.
Reminded me of his MOTM performance v Union Berlin this time 2 years ago. He's very good, technically, and likes to drive forward. Could do a job playing behind the striker but, realistically, is gonna struggle to get a game ahead of Johansen and Commons.
Wasn't impressed with many of the youths. Bit worried about Fasan if he's the backup. Very poor distribution. Duffy has potential, some nice touches and good movement. Could feature at some point this season.
Teams
CELTIC (4-2-3-1)
Fasan; Lustig (Fisher 40), Boyata (O’Connell 60), van Dijk (Findlay 60), Tierney (Waters 60); Henderson (Lindsay 60), Rogic (Thomson 60), Mackay-Steven (Boerrigter 60’), Donnelly (Duffy 60), Armstrong (Nesbitt 40, McManus 82), Scepovic (McMullan 60)
Not used: Hazard.
DEN BOSCH:
Meeskerk, Disveld, Maatsen, Winden, Beekmans, Smeekes, Vossebelt, Pozder, Zeldenrust, Verlaan, Malcolm
Stadium: Love St
Referee:
Attendance:
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
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Articles
Dominant Bhoys defeat Den Bosch in Paisley
By: Martin Dalziel on 01 Jul, 2015 21:37
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Pre-season friendly
St Mirren Park, Paisley
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
CELTIC…2
(Mackay-Steven 3, O.G. Pantophlet 25)
FC DEN BOSCH…0
CELTIC kicked-off their pre-season campaign with a convincing 2-0 victory over Dutch side FC Den Bosch at St Mirren Park tonight.
The Celts controlled the first of their three friendlies at the Buddies' ground in balmy conditions and swept into the lead inside the opening minutes through excellent play from Gary Mackay-Steven.
The former Dundee United winger was also responsible for the second when his direct run from the right forced a defensive slip from the visitors and doubled Celtic's lead on 25 minutes through Kadeem Pantophlet's own goal.
Ronny Deila took the opportunity of the friendly nature of the game to hand debuts to Dedryck Boyata, Luke Donnelly and Leo Fasan as the Bhoys took to the pitch for the first time in their New Balance kit.
Mikael Lustig and Tom Rogic also made their return to the side following spells on the sidelines and were joined by Liam Henderson following the conclusion of his loan spell at Rosenborg.
Youngster Donnelly started brightly, slipping a through ball in for Mackay-Steven before his fellow Development Squad team-mate Kieran Tierney sent the first cross in from the left inside two minutes.
Mackay-Steven then opened the scoring inside the third minute when he latched onto a scything through ball from Stuart Armstrong and showed good composure to nick the ball round the keeper and slot home comfortably from inside 12 yards.
Celtic were in control from then on with Mackay-Steven at the heart of everything good about the Bhoys’ play and it wasn’t long until he helped the Celts go 2-0 up.
His darting runs into the box from the right had been a trademark of his play in the first half and he was finally rewarded when a sprint into the box drew out Kees Heemskerk in goal, who could only palm the winger’s chipped shot into the path of Pantophlet, who bundled the ball into his own net on 25 minutes.
The former Dundee United attacker then found himself on the receiving end of some harsh tackles after Den Bosch defender Jordy Winden snapped at the playmaker with a late lunge and received a yellow card. Winden was then lucky to then not be sent off after he crunched in on Scepovic at the touchline but not even a foul was awarded.
A flurry of action in the box then saw Celtic go close again to getting a third but the keeper saved when one-on-one against Donnelly before Rogic flicked a shot off the left side netting.
The returning Lustig then saw a header crack off the bar from Armstrong’s corner on 31 minutes before Boyata’s shot on the turn was hooked clear.
Den Bosch were struggling to deal with Celtic’s pace and flair and they drew a massive sigh of relief as the whistle blew for half-time shortly after the Hoops boss had introduced Darnell Fisher and Aidan Nesbitt for Lustig and Armstrong.
The start of the second half saw the champions maintain their control of the game but focus more on their passing and movement, rather than a repeat of the all-out attack that had characterised the first half.
Chances were still in abundance, however, and Tom Rogic had the best of them, heading over on 47 minutes form Henderson’s corner.
The game then began to look like a stereotypical pre-season match after Den Bosch’s composure continued to waver before the Hoops boss rang the changes.
Jamie Lindsay, Eoghan O’Connell, Calum Waters, Stuart Findlay, Joe Thomson, Derk Boerrigter, Paul McMullan and Michael Duffy all entered the fray as Tierney, Rogic, van Dijk, Donnelly, Henderson, Mackay-Steven, Boyata and Scepovic took their leave.
It was a wholesale reshuffle for the Celts but that didn’t seem to disrupt their play too much as they continued to stroke the ball around with confidence and comfort.
The new look side saw the Bhoys finish the game with nine academy players on the pitch and the youngsters showed no hesitancy to display the skills which saw them clinch the SFA Youth Cup last season in emphatic fashion with a 5-2 thrashing of Rangers.
O’Connell was commanding in defence, thwarting any chances the visitors attempted to create and the Celtic forward players were quick to press their opponents high up the pitch.
McMullan and Duffy both gave glimpses of their pace and trickery on the wings and the duo linked up well to keep the Celts up the pitch.
The game finished with a shot from Boerrigter after a further period of possession from the champions and the dominant display saw the Bhoys get their pre-season campaign off to a winning start.
CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Fasan; Lustig (Fisher 40), Boyata (O’Connell 60), van Dijk (Findlay 60), Tierney (Waters 60); Henderson (Lindsay 60), Rogic (Thomson 60), Mackay-Steven (Boerrigter 60’), Donnelly (Duffy 60), Armstrong (Nesbitt 40, McManus 82), Scepovic (McMullan 60)
Not used: Hazard.
DEN BOSCH: Meeskerk, Disveld, Maatsen, Winden, Beekmans, Smeekes, Vossebelt, Pozder, Zeldenrust, Verlaan, Malcolm
Kenny Dalglish Match report.
Celtic 2 – 0 Den Bosch: Hoops win friendly
LINDSAY HERRON
DEDRYCK Boyata eased into life as a Celtic player on a balmy night in Paisley which was lit up by the skills of Gary Mackay-Steven.
And when he was asked to produce a bit of pace on one or two rare occasions the speed was undoubtedly there.
He partnered Virgil van Dijk in a 4-4-2 system within which Ronny Deila ended up using 21 outfield players over the course of the match.
However, whether this partnership will be a fixture remains to be seen given Van Dijk’s very public desire to move to the Barclays Premier League and it could be that fellow new signing Saidy Janko, who will complete his move from Manchester United today, will be utilised in a central position.
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The other major plus for Deila was the return of Mikael Lustig at right-back having missed so much football in each of the past two seasons, while Australian midfielder Tom Rogic was back with the top team after a miserable time with injuries largely incurred during his loan spell with Melbourne Victory last year.
Lustig got 40 minutes while Rogic was energetic and productive in the hour he was on the field at St Mirren Park.
Perhaps not unsurprisingly Mackay-Steven was the brightest spark while Stuart Armstrong also showed good touches.
It was, however, not such a great night for Stefan Scepovic who was partnered up front with academy attacker Luke Donnelly. Deila will try to coax something out of the Serb in pre-season but it was another misfiring run-out. There was even a rare sighting of Derk Boerrigter who came on for the last half hour playing on the left side, but the Dutchman is surely earmarked for the exit door if Celtic can offload him.
Unsurprisingly the Scotland contingent of Craig Gordon, Scott Brown, Charlie Mulgrew and Leigh Griffiths along with fellow internationals Emilio Izaguirre, Stefan Johansen and Nir Bitton were all rested. Deila also left out Adam Matthews, Efe Ambrose, James Forrest and Anthony Stokes – with Kris Commons still nursing a broken toe.
Mackay-Steven looked sharp and impressive on the right side and he gave Celtic the lead with barely three minutes gone.
Armstrong spotted Mackay-Steven’s run and threaded a fine pass. Mackay-Steven danced past keeper Kees Heemskerk and clipped the ball into the net.
He was involved in the second goal, too, in 25 minutes when his pace and trickery had the Dutch side in knots. Mackay-Steven worked his way into a shooting position and hit the goalkeeper with his effort. The ball rebounded into defender Kadeem Pantophlet who could not prevent the ball bouncing back off him and into the net.
The skills of the former Dundee United winger were all too much for defender Jordy van der Minden who crudely took him out to earn a yellow card from Kevin Clancy – and the jeers of the crowd for every subsequent touch of the ball.
Armstrong was also withdrawn after 40 minutes with Deila and his coaching staff clearly working to a game-time plan in the build-up to the Champions League qualifier with Icelandic side Stjarnan.
Deila brought on eight youngsters after 60 minutes so it was effectively an under-20s team that finished the match for Celtic. The only man to play the full 90 minutes was back-up keeper Leonardo Fasan.
Deila will ease more of his squad into Saturday’s match against Dukla Prague and then the friendly with Real Sociedad on 10 July – both of these matches also at St Mirren Park.
Celtic: Fasan; Lustig, Boyata, van Dijk, Tierney; Mackay-Steven, Rogic, Henderson, Armstrong; Donnelly, Scepovic. Subs: Fisher, O’Connell, Findlay, Waters, Lindsay, Thomson, McManus, Boerrigter, Nesbitt, Duffy, McMullan. Not used: Hazard.
Den Bosch: Heemskerk; Disveld, Maatsen, van der Minden, Beekmans; Smeekes, Vossebelt, Pozder, Zeldenrust, Verlaan, Esajas. Subs: Bollen, Hofstede, Belt Eman, Pantophlet, Boddaert, Fernandes, Thomassen, van der Sande, Ayrton, Baassou.
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/spfl/celtic-2-0-den-bosch-hoops-win-friendly-1-3818929a