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Personal
Fullname: Scott McDonald
aka: Skippy, ‘Stephen Hawkings’
Born: 21 Aug 1983
Birthplace: Melbourne (Australia)
Height: 5.08
Signed: 5 June 2007
Left: 1 Feb 2010
Fee: £700k
Squad No.: 7
Position: Forward, Centre-forward
Debut: Spartak Moscow 1-1 Celtic, European Cup, 15 Aug 2007
Internationals: Australia
International Caps: 26
International Goals: 0
Summary
Biog
Born to a Scottish family in Australia, Scott McDonald was a boyhood long distance Celtic fan who began his career in his native land with Gippsland Falcons.
After impressing at youth level he sealed a dream move to English Premiership side Southampton in 2000 after the Saints manager Gordon Strachan snapped up the promising teenager as an apprentice.
McDonald was limited to only two games for Southampton during his two years there and as a result moved to Huddersfield on loan for a season. Another loan spell at Bournemouth then followed and with no sign of a breakthrough at the Saints the Aussie packed his bags and in 2003 completed a switch to Milton Keynes Dons. It was to prove another miserable move for the Melbourne-born forward.
Next season, 2004/05 season, McDonald made what would be a life changing switch to a Motherwell side managed by Terry Butcher. Scott McDonald was given a regular start with the Steelmen and he rewarded his manager with plenty of goals. McDonald would really hit the headlines in the now infamous season-ending match against Celtic at Fir Park, where his double in the last five minutes ended Celtic’s title hopes and gifted the title to Rangers. McDonald was now a huge fans favourite at Motherwell and his reputation was boosted further with continued impressive displays.
Celtic Career
A move to a bigger stage seemed inevitable and in January 2007 a bid of around £350k from Rangers was knocked back by Motherwell from Rangers. The Ibrox club were expected to make another move for the forward in the summer but in March Celtic and Motherwell agreed a fee in the region of £700k, and he was on his way to fulfilling a long-lived dream.
McDonald – once more managed by Strachan – made his anticipated debut in the Luzhniki Stadium, where he set up Paul Hartley to secure a vital draw away to Spartak Moscow in the 3rd Qualification Round of the Champions League. He then scored his first competitive goal in the return leg, where he opened the scoring in the 1-1 draw at Celtic Park against Moscow, where Celtic progressed in penalties. His first SPL goal came against St Mirren where he scored in the 5-1 rout away to the Saints.
Expected by many fans to be a squad player McDonald established himself as a first team starter. An irritant of a forward, the man christened ‘Skippy‘ proved to be areal thorn in the side of opposition defences and his knack of bagging key goals made sure that his role in “Black Sunday” was forgiven if not forgotten.
In a dream debut season he would score back-to-back hat-tricks at Celtic Park, including one against his former club Motherwell, and on a wonderful Champions League night at Parkhead he nabbed a last minute winner against the current Champions; AC Milan.
McDonald finished the season as top scorer in the SPL, scoring an impressive 25 goals. Along with this, Scott was nominated for the SPFA Player of the Year Award, but was beaten to it by teammate Aiden McGeady. Scott also finished runner up in the Kerrydale Street Player of the Year, again finishing a close second to eventual winner Aiden McGeady.
McDonald’s international career had also taken off and he was now a regular in the Socceroos squad. McDonald had represented his country at different levels, with appearances at U-17, U-20 and U-23 level. Now a regular at full international level Scott was named named Australian FourFourTwo magazine’s Overseas Player of the Year in March 2008.
After a great season, we all expect more of the same. How we were to be let down in many ways. In June 2008, McDonald signed a new 5 year contract [BBC], and in return he came back for pre-season way overweight like some Oompaloompa from Willy Wonka’s factory. When many were told at first of his weight, they countered that he was stocky, but then they actually saw the new Skippy in the flesh! Anyhow, he slowly lost the weight in time but Celtic had a disappointing start to the season and his form was partly the cause of this.
The early poor form was made up with some stellar goals against Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League and a cracker v Rangers at Ibrox in a 1-0 win in January. His return over the whole season was quite poor compared to the last.
Georgiou Samaras was brought in for competition for Skippy, but he was a poor makeshift for Skippy and that was shown over the long haul. Skippy simply was way ahead of him in ability, but he’d become a frustrating character on the pitch. He seemed to mope and moan when passes didn’t go his way and there were insinuations that he didn’t get on with his co-striker (Samaras). It didn’t help matters, although it was not the reason for the loss of the league title in 2008-09 but only contributed to it. The reason for that league title defeat goes a lot deeper but the manager should have not let Skippy off the leash, and the club suffered for it.
Many have put it down that the new bumper contract of five years was the reason why his form and guard dropped, making him cocksure that he’d already made it! In truth, few disagreed with the bumper contract when it was awarded, so the fault is likely more down to Skippy’s attitude (post-contract) than the management in awarding it.
Under the new manager (Tony Mowbray), Skippy had a good run of games and was a certain first starter. His haul was superior to his colleagues, scoring some great goals by nipping in for the odd one or two, but there was a bit of clash with the new manager (or as he later put it they were not on the same “wavelength”). Mowbray had a poor first six months in the new job as manager and after going way behind in the league had made it clear that he wanted a clear-out if things didn’t improve. Skippy was one of the most expensive assets and so was a target to sell in order to raise funds. The two didn’t get on either, and Scott McDonald was of the view that Mowbray wanted to punt him in any case.
In February 2010, former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan decided to take Skippy for Middlesborough for an undisclosed fee (estimated at £3.5m). He was gone, and many bemoaned his loss despite their frustration with him during some of his time at the club. He admitted later in interviews that he had left prematurely, but the situation with the manager was such that it left little room for manoeuvre.
A quality player who let his form and ability go a bit. He had the ability to steal goals from nothing although did bemoan others too often on the pitch when he really should have looked to his own form (he was a bit too crabbitt at times). A bit of a hunskelper too, scoring some important goals against the Huns which likely are going to be the highlight of his time at Celtic. We hoped him all the best at his new club. He deserved to do well, just hoped he could stay away from the barbee’s and KFC.
Post-Celtic
He never reached the heights at Middlesborough as he did at Celtic (not surprisingly) but had a fair scoring record. However, he was let go at just 29 when his contract was terminated through mutual consent.
A move next to Millwall wasn’t really working out, and his career appeared to be on the wind down.
He ended up making more of a name as a football pundit in the studio on Scottish football than for his work on the pitch, until a respite came in the form of a return to play for Motherwell.
It wasn’t the end, and he was to played a key part in what was to be one of the most important games in Scotland domestically for many years, ironcially with the Rangers tribute act side (TheRangers).
In May 2015, Motherwell were playing TheRangers in the SP playoffs, the winner to obtain the last place in the top tier for the next season. TheRangers zombie side were desperate after years in the outback, and a very humiliating season having just past. They were the bookies favourite, yet that didn’t go to plan. Motherwell won 6-1 in aggregate, although Scott McDonald didn’t score but was heralded for his performances and a catalyst for their late form in the season. He worked tirelessly in the two matches.
Many Celtic fans hoped he’d score as some kind of retribution for the loss of the league on the last day v Motherwell years back, but the results were nevertheless satisfying.
Alongside two other Ex-Celts, the trio put TheRangers to the sword and humiliated them. For that he became not just a hero in Lanarkshire but across Scotland. The schadenfreude flowed freely, and at this late stage in his career it was a wonderful moment that he fully deserved to be part of, and was worthy of all the plaudits that came his way.
He retired from play in 2018, moving into punditry and media work, but then returned to play for Partick Thistle in 2019 and then in the growing Australian A-League for Western Utd. He just didn’t seem to want to give up playing, and moved onto Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers.
He hung up his boots (again) and moved onto Gold Coast Knights as their manager (although still ended up having to play once as an emergency cover/substitute).
[….]
Playing Career
| Club | From | To | Fee | League | Scottish/FA Cup | League cup | Other | ||||
| Middlesbro | 01/02/2010 | est £3.5m | No appearance data available | ||||||||
| Celtic | 30/07/2007 | 01/02/2010 | £ 700000 | 84 (4) | 51 | 7 (0) | 4 | 7 (1) | 4 | 19 (6) | 5 |
| Motherwell | 06/01/2004 | 30/07/2007 | Free | 96 (12) | 42 | 5 (2) | 2 | 10 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| MK Dons | 19/08/2003 | 19/09/2003 | Monthly | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Bournemouth | 27/03/2003 | 19/08/2003 | Loan | 3 (4) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 |
| Huddersfield | 03/07/2002 | 29/10/2002 | Loan | 7 (6) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Southampton | 01/08/2001 | 31/05/2003 | Trainee | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| 2009/10 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | Scottish CIS Insurance Cup | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 16 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 35 | 18 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| Celtic | UEFA Europa League | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009/10 Season Totals | 23 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 42 | 22 | 16 | 19 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2008/09 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 33 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 71 | 34 | 38 | 52 | 5 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish CIS Insurance Cup | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2008/09 Season Totals | 43 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 71 | 34 | 38 | 52 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2007/08 Statistics | |||||||||||
| TEAM | Competition | GS | SB | G | A | SH | SG | FC | FS | YC | RC |
| Celtic | UEFA Champions League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Celtic | Scottish Premier League | 35 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 90 | 56 | 41 | 75 | 5 | 0 |
| 2007/08 Season Totals | 39 | 1 | 26 | 6 | 90 | 56 | 41 | 75 | 5 | 0 | |
GS: Games Started, SB: Used as Substitute, G: Goals, A: Assists, SH: Shots, SG: Shots on goal, YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards,
FC: Fouls Committed, FS: Fouls Suffered, SV: Saves, OF: Offsides, W: Wins, D: Draws, L: Losses
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
Interviews
Quotes
“The fans here are fanatical about the game. It’s their life: they eat, drink and sleep football. It’s pretty hard to walk down the street and not be noticed. Sometimes you’d prefer just to escape all that but you appreciate you’re fortunate to be living this opportunity. It’s a nice feeling when somebody comes and asks for your autograph.”
Scott McDonald (Apr 08)
“Scott McDonald the most intelligent man in the world, Stephen Hawkings him [the Phyics legend]. He knows everything, everytime you tell him something, he knows it done it, seen it been it, that’s why we call him Stephen Hawkings. That man can do anything!”
WGS jokingly (all in humour) on his Aussie striker Scott McDonald (Radio Clyde One interview, Dec 08)
“I caught Tony out a couple of times. I overheard him once having a conversation with Marc-Antoine Fortune I wasn’t meant to hear and, for me, that was unfortunate. From that day forward, I knew I could forget about having any kind of relationship with him.”
Scott McDonald
“To play for Celtic again would be unbelievable. It was a tough decision but it was time to move on when you’re not really on the same wavelength as the manager”
Scott McDonald interview with the Times (Apr 10)
| KDS Honours |
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| MOTM Winners 2007-08 |
||
| 15-Aug-07 | Moscow 1-1 Celtic | Champions League Qual |
| 26-Sep-07 | Dundee 1-2 Celtic | CIS League Cup |
| 29-Sep-07 | Celtic 3-0 Dundee Utd | SPL |
| Sep-07 | Sep-07 Player of the Month | |
| 07-Oct-07 | Gretna 1-2 Celtic | SPL |
| 27-Oct-07 | Celtic 3-0 Motherwell | SPL |
| Oct-07 | Oct-07 Player of the Month | |
| 03-Nov-07 | Kilmarnock 1-2 Celtic | SPL |
| 27-Apr-08 | Celtic 3-2 Rangers | SPL |
| MOTM Winners 2008-09 | ||
| 27-Dec-08 | Rangers 0-1 Celtic | SPL |
| Dec-08 | Dec-08 Joint Player of the Month | |
| 04-Mar 09 | Kilmarnock 1-2 Celtic | SPL |
| Mar-09 | Mar-09 Player of the Month | |
| 02-May-09 | Aberdeen 1-3 Celtic | SPL |
| MOTM Winners 2009-10 | ||
| 08-Nov-09 |
Falkirk 3-3 Celtic |
SPL |
Scott McDonald reveals two Tony Mowbray chats that led to Celtic exit
CRAIG FOWLER
Published: 17:15 Wednesday 06 September 2017
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/scott-mcdonald-reveals-two-tony-mowbray-chats-that-led-to-celtic-exit-1-4552742Scott McDonald has revealed the two conversations led by manager Tony Mowbray that eventually led to the striker’s exit at Celtic Park.
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The Australian told the Glasgow Is Green Podcast that he was already doubting his place in the side under the former Hoops captain when he overhead a private chat between Mowbray and fellow striker Marc-Antoine Fortuné, which let him know in no uncertain terms that the boss preferred other attackers at the club.
McDonald would complete a £3.5million move to Middlesbrough a short-time later, where he once again teamed up with Gordon Strachan, the man who originally brought him to Celtic in the summer of 2007.
Mowbray, meanwhile, would leave Celtic before finishing his first full season. He was sacked by the board following a 4-0 defeat at the hands of St Mirren, with the club already well behind Rangers in the title race.
McDonald said of his dealings with Mowbray: “Everything was fine until he brought me into his office and asked me a couple of questions, just about me. I was thinking why are you are asking me? Why haven’t you done your homework? Why are you making me, uncomfortably, talk about my strengths and weaknesses?
“In the end, the conversation went like, ‘well, I don’t think you do this and I don’t think you do that’, and I just walked out the door. It was quite negative and I was just left wondering, ‘what on earth was that about?’ I don’t mind being told my negatives because you need to improve as a player, but there are ways and means of going about it. I just felt from then that I wasn’t going to be an integral part of his team.
“Every time he played me I scored, so he had a problem. He wanted to change it, but he couldn’t. And every time he did it wouldn’t work and I would come on and change it. He had a massive dilemma.
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“There was a conversation that happened at a team talk. He was the first manager I had that would do video analysis. We would focus on the other side’s set-pieces before heading to the ground for the game, So we all finished that and were ready to leave, and I went to the toilet as everyone got on the team bus. Now, there was a fire exit leading down, and I was at the top of the stairs and Tony was down at the bottom of the stairs talking to Marc-Antoine Fortuné.
“There’s two ends to every stick, and looking back now I can see what he was doing, but at the time there was only one thing on my mind. He [Tony] was basically saying, ‘once he stops what he’s doing, you’re in the team. I fancy you more as a player, but we need to wait because I can’t just bin him.’
“He didn’t know I was there, but I let it be known I was there at the end. I didn’t say anything but I just walked down, and it was quite an awkward moment for everyone. From that moment on I just knew we weren’t going to get on. He’s the manager, so he’s not undermining me. But, at the same time, you’re not his player. So that stuck with me throughout that whole period.”
When McDonald found out about interest from Middlesbrough, who were also looking to sign Barry Robson and Gary Caldwell, his prior relationship with Strachan was a big factor in his decision to quit Scottish football for the English second tier.
Though it was an easy decision at the time, McDonald now regrets the move, wishing he’d stuck around at Celtic Park.
He added: “I had a manager who believed in me, which wasn’t what it felt like in the final six months at Celtic. I had a manager who’d brought me all the success I’d had until that point, who brought the best out of me, and I had someone who I believed in to be successful at Middlesbrough and to get the club promoted. So for all of those reasons, and the financial aspect, it was a no-brainer.
“Looking back I probably moved too early. I would have liked a little bit longer at Celtic.”