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Fullname: Pawel Lukasz Brozek
aka: Pawel Brozek
Born: 21 April 1983
Birthplace: Kielce, Poland
Signed: 31 January 2012 (loan £300k from Trabzonspor)
Left: 14 May 2012 (back to old club)
Position: Striker, Forward
Debut: Hearts 0-4 Celtic, League, 8 Feb 2012
Squad No.: 17
Internationals: Poland
International Caps: 38
International Goals: 9
Biog
Pawel Brozek was brought to Celtic on loan to try to prove himself for a full contract. A good record in Poland he had a difficult time in Turkey and an exit to anywhere was wanted. With Celtic’s limited options in attack, Brozek seemed like a good gamble to take (for est £300k).
Signed in January 2008, rumours began early that he had a reputation for being lazy and frustrating. Can’t guarantee that is necessarily hard fact rather than a minority opinion but everyone still deserves a chance.
However, with Celtic’s front line banging in goals, and being the one area with few injuries, then opportunities were limited for Brozek. Even the previously much maligned Georgios Samaras was a rejuvenated character.
Brozek was given three opportunities, two off the bench but only one start. He never convinced at all in any of those games. Nothing memorable to say sadly.
Actually, if there is one thing to say, then it was in his only start when we played Motherwell away on 22 Apr 2012. After 59 mins of having done very little on the pitch (missed one good chance as well), he was substituted off for Celtic U-19 youngster Tony Watt. The youngster was given an opportunity as he was suspended from the Monday night U-19 cup final. Tony Watt went on to steal the headlines with a cracking double in a 3-0 win, and Brozek was pushed further down the ranks. He wasn’t alone down there, joining Bangura as another underachieving first team striker.
It looked all over for him now. Unexpectedly, even the youth players were beginning to overshadow him. It wasn’t a good omen. He was expected to achieve far more than he was or at least show glimpses of what he could do, but nada. He complained he needed more chances but in fairness to Celtic he was given a number of reserve games and knew from the offset that as a loanee that he needed to hit the ground running but couldn’t do so. Possibly didn’t get the rub of the green in his matches.
In any case, he still managed to get into the squad for his national side (Poland) for the European Championships, so some still had faith in him. Trouble is that this wasn’t being mirrored at club level, where all were losing interest in him.
He managed to take a step back and resuscitate his career back at Wisla Krakow, where he began to hit a rich vein of goal-scoring form. Respect to him for that, and he hung up his playing boots at the end of season 2019/20. We wish him the best.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (sub) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2012 (loan) | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (2) |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League
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Articles
Pawel Brozek completes Celtic move
STV
The Polish striker has joined Neil Lennon’s side on loan until the end of the season.
30 January 2012 17:27 GMT
Celtic have completed the signing of Pawel Brozek on loan from Turkish side Trabzonspor.
The Parkhead club agreed the short-term deal on Sunday and the striker has now completed a medical and finalised the paperwork. Celtic have the option to buy the player to make the move permanent at the end of his deal.
Brozek had previously been linked with Rangers and Ally McCoist had confirmed an interest in the player.
However, Celtic have been tracking the player for some time and have made the forward their fourth signing of the January transfer window following the capture of Mikael Lustig, Rabiu Ibrahim and Jaroslaw Fojut, the latter on a pre-contract basis.
“I’m very happy because Celtic were very determined to sign me and it didn’t take a long time,” Brozek told Celtic’s official website.
“I spoke with Lukasz Zaluska and Maciej Zurawski and they said only positive things about the club. So when I heard there was an offer from Celtic I wanted to go straight away.
“They said the fans are fantastic here, the top organisation of the club, and the great name the club has in the world.
“It’s all happened very quickly. It was a really nice surprise because it’s a big club and a big name in Europe.”
Neil Lennon has said that the signing can give his side a boost as they pursue three trophies this season.
“He scored a lot of goals in Poland and he will give the squad a jag,” the Celtic manager said.
“I can’t keep relying on Gary Hooper and Stokesy for the goals. If one of them gets injured or suspended, we could be a goalscorer short, and Pawel is a goalscorer.
“His record in Poland is excellent. He’s gone to Trabzonspor and for one reason or another it’s not worked out in terms of the amount of games he’s played.
“It might because they played a different formation but what we do know is that he’s a goalscorer – right-foot, left-foot, and he can head the ball as well.”
Lennon added that the player had a personal motivation to ensure the loan spell is successful, as he targets a place in his nation’s squad for Euro 2012.
“The other good thing about it is that he’s got the European Championships in front of him and he needs to play to stake a claim. It’s in his home country so he will come here very motivated to play and to be successful.
“He’s a bit like Hooper, he’s sharp with good feet, he knows where the goal is and is a bit like Maciej Zurawski when he first came.”
Brozek has 32 caps for Poland, scoring eight times for his country. His club career has seen him play at Wisla Krakow, LKS Lodz, GKS Katowice and Trabzonspor, netting 119 times in 304 career appearances.
Celtic loan flop Pawel Brozek blasts Neil Lennon for broken promises after quitting Parkhead
Daily Record
May 11 2012 By Craig Swan
PAWEL BROZEK has walked away from Celtic, bitter at alleged broken promises made by Neil Lennon.
The Polish international has been released from his loan deal at Parkhead and has packed his bags and left after a frustrating spell with the champions.
Brozek has spent four months kicking his heels on the sidelines having seen a highly exciting move to Glasgow turn sour.
With Hoops boss Lennon scouring Europe for a striker during the January transfer window, the Pole ended up the preferred choice as he sought a move away from Trabzonspor.
Denied playing time in Turkey, Brozek wanted away to keep alive his hopes of making Euro 2012 and believed a switch to Celtic as his ideal opportunity.
However, Lennon stayed true to his tried-and-tested stars during the league run-in.
With the title on the line, Brozek was barely sighted. He was handed his debut against Hearts in February as a late sub when the game was already won with Celtic leading 4-0.
It was the same story a fortnight later when the 29-year-old was given only the last 13 minutes of the home game against Dunfermline when the team were 2-0 up.
Perhaps Brozek’s Celtic stint was summed up when he finally got a start against Motherwell after the title was wrapped up.
Having struggled at Fir Park, the Pole sat forlornly on the bench after being hauled off and watched his replacement, teenage novice Tony Watt, hit two quickfire goals.
That humbling experience darkened the Pole’s mood and he has now turned on Lennon to claim the manager was not true to his word.
Brozek said: “Things did not work out for me as planned. I changed club as I wanted to play as much as possible.
“I do not want to complain about any of the other players or say that the coach did not like me and that is why he did not choose to put me on the pitch.
“But the facts are there that Neil Lennon promised me something and then another thing happened afterwards.
“I did not get many opportunities from him and I was left dry of games.”
Ironically, despite his awful time in Glasgow and subsequent fears over starring at the Euros, he does have a crack at this summer’s tournament. Brozek was named in a provisional 26-man squad for the finals in his homeland by Poland boss Frantisek Smuda.
The national coach believes the hitman can still produce for the nation, despite his lack of playing time in Turkey and Scotland over the past year.
Smuda has taken the squad to Turkey and Brozek was given permission by Celtic to miss the final game of the season, against Hearts on Sunday, to join his countrymen on the jaunt.
Brozek said: “I saw it on the TV that I was included.
“I had a lot of concerns because I did not play regularly at Celtic but I was being told by people that I would be included.
“It is not for me to say that I am included fully because the coach has not taken the squad down to the final 23 players yet.
“Only when I find myself in that final group will I be sure of being at the Euros.”
Polish boss Smuda is convinced the attacker has the quality to recapture his best form. He said: “Brozek has been for years one of our most talented strikers.
“He has scored goals against Argentina, Mexico and hungary and, with three weeks to prepare, he will be able to enter the finals of Euro 2012 and show his class.”