European: Celtic news thread

Celtic closed the gap on Rangers to one point with a comprehensive 6-0 destruction of Dunfermline at Celtic Park.

Remarkably five of the goals came in the last half hour after John Hartson opened the scoring on nine minutes with a fortunate finish to convert an Alan Thompson free kick.

On the hour mark The Bhoys accelerated away as starlet Aiden McGeady doubled the advantage before Hartson grabbed his second on 69.

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Celtic striker John Hartson has urged Martin O'Neill to stay at the club.

O'Neill has again been linked with a move back to England with Manchester City thought to be keen to appoint him as Kevin Keegan's successor.

The Northern Irishman rejected the speculation on Friday and Hartson is hopeful the former Leicester manager will remain at Parkhead.

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it was good to see dunfermline being blasted apart, we need to start thrashing teams like that. after what happened a few years ago when rangers won the league on goal difference.

hartson i think has 24 goals this season, so hoping he gets about 30 something when the season finsihes, we need some1 scoring near 40 a season just like henrik did for us.

o'neill is being linked to man city, but the talk is that, that wont happen, he would only go to a team who are going to be playing in europe every season. i think man city is a drop down for him, its a better league but the team i dont think is.

the only thing is. has he missed his chance for the very big teams

A Craig Bellamy hat-trick earned Celtic a 3-2 victory at Dundee United but they were pushed all the way at Tannadice.

The hosts, who sacked manager Ian McCall in midweek, showed admirable spirit to twice come from behind, but were ultimately undone by Bellamy's third ten minutes from time.

The Newcastle loanee opened his account after just five minutes when he turned home a Jackie McNamara cross from close range.

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Celtic striker Chris Sutton faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of a hamstring injury - but Martin O'Neill believes there is no reason to push the panic button. Sutton aggravated his hamstring again during Saturday's Bank of Scotland Premier League game against Dundee United after replacing John Hartson on the hour-mark.

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i aint too worried, sutton can stand out in some games and win the free kicks that lead to goals. others he is rotten

but bellamy is on form and can play up front with hartson, and mcgeady is doing really well.

Celtic's want-away star Juninho has taken a swipe at Scottish football as he prepares to bid farewell.

The 32-year-old Brazilian, whose move to Parkhead from Middlesbrough has been a frustrating one, is expected to complete a move to his homeland this week when he agrees a pay-off to end the last year of his contract with the Hoops. And Palmeiras are favourites to land the World Cup winner who insists he never stood a chance in Scotland.

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Celtic were able to make a healthy profit from this season's Champions League - because Rangers were not in it and they only won one game. The club today released interim results for the six months up to December 31, 2004. These were heavily influenced by their participation in the Champions League, where they took on Barcelona, AC Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage.

An 8.15million operating profit was recorded while an overall profit before taxation of 2million compared favourably with a 2.86million loss in the same period in 2003. The club were also able to reduce their debt from 18.17million to 17.38million.

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Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has promised to do everything in his power to sign Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy permanently. The champions will have to splash out around 5million to secure the on-loan Magpies star but Martin O'Neill has been told the board will do their utmost to raise it.

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Only Martin O'Neill will ever know why Juninho was a flop at Celtic, the player's agent has claimed. The 32-year-old has returned to Brazil after just seven months at the club, in which he started just 14 games. He is expected to sign a two-year deal at Palmeiras after his Parkhead contract was cancelled and he was due to take a medical some time on Tuesday.

The player's British agent, Brian Hassall, described the short-lived Scottish spell for his client as "sad". But he insisted only Hoops boss O'Neill could say exactly why the World Cup winner was deemed unsuitable for first team action.

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yer, looks like juninho is finally away, and things are supposed to be sorted out so he can sign tomorrow.

he has flopped. and its really down to the system, he aint getting the ball played to feet as much as he would like. its more over his head.

and i doubt we will get money for bellamy, lawson has been making jokes about it, saying if i dont make money available my son will hate me for not helping splashing the cash for celtic.

Celtic midfielder Neil Lennon is in no rush to make a decision over his future.

The former Northern Ireland international is keeping his options open with his current contract due to expire at the end of the season.

Bolton are one of several clubs monitoring Lennon's situation with the player able to leave on a free transfer in the summer if he does not agree a new deal at Parkhead.

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Great win for Celtic today.

They beat Rangers 2-1 and gives them a 5 point cushion at the top with four games left.

The only bad thing if the game was when Stilian Petrov got hit in the head by something that a fan threw. It seems to be getting bad with that in the SPL, Celtic and Hearts were lucky to get away with fan throwing incidents already this season.

yip. and bellamy scoring, which is great

thats defintly one hand on the league, and i cant see us being daft now to drop points,.

our next to games are at home, so its got to be 6 points. we where behind a few months ago, rangers where looking better and we where losing silly games and drawing.

if you had seen the papers this morning, there was alot of talk about bellamy and newcaslte front and back page news. i will see if i can find a link about it.

A Craig Bellamy-inspired Celtic moved five points clear of Rangers with a 2-1 win in the Old Firm derby.

The speedy striker produced 45 minutes of top class football and capped his display with a stunning goal, with the other coming from Stilian Petrov, as Celtic stunned their hosts at Ibrox.

The Bhoys now hold a commanding advantage at the summit of The SPL and on this form the title is theirs to lose, but there could yet be a twist as Bellamy limped off moments after half time with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and Martin O'Neill's men do not appear the same force without the Welsh marksman.

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Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has laughed off talk that Stilian Petrov wants to leave Parkhead.

Reports had suggested that Petrov was seeking a move away from Glasgow partly because of the poor weather in Scotland.

O'Neill is in the dark about the speculation and joked: "He's not said anything to me but he's absolutely spot on about the rain."

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Celtic striker John Hartson has picked up another personal accolade after being named the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.

Hartson shared the SPFA Player of the Year award with Fernando Ricksen but pipped the Rangers midfielder to the writers' honour.

The Wales international has scored 28 goals for The Bhoys this term and fended off competition from Ricksen and Hearts ace Paul Hartley to land the writers' prize.

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AZ Alkmaar coach Co Adriaanse has claimed that he has been contacted by Celtic.

Despite a brilliant season with AZ, Adriaanse is leaving Alkmaarder Hout in the summer and Louis van Gaal has already been confirmed as his successor.

A host of clubs are known to be keen and he has been linked with a wide range of jobs from Porto and Cologne, to West Ham and Portsmouth.

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Originally posted by rynaldo82

Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has laughed off talk that Stilian Petrov wants to leave Parkhead.

Reports had suggested that Petrov was seeking a move away from Glasgow partly because of the poor weather in Scotland.

O'Neill is in the dark about the speculation and joked: "He's not said anything to me but he's absolutely spot on about the rain."

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Now that's a player I'd like to see at Man Utd.

hes turned into a good player, but i think with him, he has always shown potential, hes still a young guy, must be mid 20's like at 25/26 i think.

he has been guilty of diving a few times but hes really fit, like gilberto, gets up and down the pitch really well and can score goals.

i think he captains bulgaria too, i aint sure but he either cost 2 or 6 million. think it was Barnes/Dalgish era who brought him here. i would have to think lol

It was closer to 2m I think, he is the national captain.
Very good player, as for the diving we all do that!