With the first piece of silverware locked safely away in the Celtic Park trophy room, after a rousing victory over our city neighbours in the league cup final on Sunday.

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The chants and songs that spurred the Bhoys onto victory are still echoing around the national stadium at Hampden as well as Celtic bars across the world.

The unified celebrations which swept from the players and management team on the field of play, to the fans lucky enough to be in the stands when referee Nick Walsh finally blew his full time whistle, was a clear indication of the harmonious strength around our club under the guidance of our gallant Aussie leader Ange Postecoglou.

Two well worked goals scored by our talismanic Japanese sensation Kyogo Furuhashi ensured the trophy remained in green and white ribbons for another year.

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Both goals were perfect examples of our players ability to lift the tempo, find space and exploit weaknesses across our rivals back line.

The way Celtic lined up seemed to suggest that we were happy to overload on our left, to make the most of the frailty of the defensive decision making in the rangers right.

The plot worked, Hall of fame captain Tavernier was caught well out of position when Aaron Mooy slipped a pass to Greg Taylor for the rejuvenated left back to fire the ball across the 6 yard box and present Kyogo with a tap-in to open the scoring.

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The goal as expected sparked wild celebrations amongst the hoops players and fans – the fans kept the party going, staying in full voice well into the half-time break.

We had the woodwork to thank for maintaining our lead early in the second half when Kent’s shot came off the base of the post, Malik Tillman couldn’t back up his media conference bluster as he missed the target from the rebound…………

When we doubled our lead, we once again exploited their deficiency at right back.

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Starfelt cut out a poor pass from Tavernier, ensuring a quick turnover in possession, letting our energetic midfielders feast on the spaces in the final third.

Again Mooy released a telling pass, this time to Hatate for him to square to Kyogo for another tap-in. Two goals up, very much in control on the pitch and of the airwaves in the stadium.

Even the loss of a sloppy goal to half our lead didn’t introduce the panic it might normally do. Our game management was excellent, and our opponents did not show anything more to suggest they could muster an equaliser.

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After the trophy was presented and the players paraded it in front of the Celtic fans, the Aaron Mooy chant welcomed the Australian internationalist to the corner flag.

Fans and players joined in the chant for the unassuming midfielder.

I thought back to Mooys unveiling at the fan media conference at Celtic Park in July last year and remembered how modest he was.

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Explaining that he would need to work hard to push for a starting place in an already strong midfield, he also mentioned how important it was for him to work under Ange again and repay his faith in him.  Mooy has proved to be the perfect model in doing his talking on the pitch and training field.

A very strong unit is emerging under the coaching of Postecoglou and his backroom staff, and it appears that everyone has already bought into his methods. Hopefully the celebrations on Sunday will be the first of many before the season ends, but for now it’s back to focusing on delivering another 3 points towards our target of the league title.

Martin Donaldson is a Glasgow East End Bhoy,  He made my first trip to Celtic Park in 1983 for a 0-0 draw with Brechin City & thankfully that never put him off going back.   He now sits perched high in section 409 of the North Stand with his 2 kids making memories along the Celtic Way.

He loves picking out those matches from yester-year to find out much more about the legendary names & faces that have graced the Celtic Jersey over the years.  He is a keen fundraiser for The Celtic Foundation & The British Heart Foundation as they both strive to  make a difference and to change peoples lives all over the world.

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Following the 5-1 win over St Mirren in Scottish Cup last week, Celtic return to Celtic Park for league action, with Aberdeen the visitors.

Aberdeen have not been in the best of form culminating in the removal of Jim Goodwin as manager, in the hot seat albeit temporarily is another former Celt, Barry Robson.

The Dons find themselves 7th in the league with a record of 10 wins, 2 draws and 13 defeats. They got back to winning ways last week, beating another struggling side, Motherwell, 3-1.

This was on the back of five defeats in all competitions, which seen them eliminated by Rangers from League Cup, 2-1, eliminated from Scottish Cup by West of Scotland side Darvel, 1-0 and heavy defeats to Hearts (5-0) and Hibs (6-0), these were followed by a home defeat to St Mirren, 3-1.

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Last time we played Aberdeen at Celtic Park was Flag Day at the start of the campaign, when goals from Stephen Welsh and Jota saw Celtic win 2-0. Our game at Pittodrie in December was another Celtic win, as we came back south with a 1-0 victory.

Celtic have plenty of options all over the park, however Kyogo looks like he will be missing giving recent recruit Hyeongyu Oh the chance to shine from the start, the Korean forward’s confidence should be sky high after his first goal last week in the 5-1 win over St Mirren.

Following Aberdeen’s win last week, have they had a new manager bounce? They may have however I can’t see Celtic slipping up in the pursuit of another league title. With the unusual occurrence of both Celtic and Rangers (who travel to Livingston) playing at the same time on a Saturday, we can’t offer them any signs of light, and I don’t expect us to. Another couple of goals for Oh will do nicely.

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Mick Kane hails from Glasgow. He has been hooked on Celtic since he went to his first game when he was 7. Celtic beat Hamilton 8-3 at Celtic Park on the 3rd of January 1987. His favourite player at the time, Brian McClair scored four goals.

He started going regular as a 16 year old when Celtic played at Hampden for the season, being a Southsider it meant a short train journey to get to Hampden. From then he has had a season ticket travelled around Europe for games as Celtic became the dominant force in Scottish football again. A nice change from growing up during Rangers run to 9 in a row.

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ONLY 6 WEEKS TO GO

More than 90 Minutes

Thai Trip Part 2

Unfinished Business

It’s getting closer and we can’t wait to get back. This time in 6 weeks we kick off the festival in Bangkok. O’ Shea’s will be our base for 3 days as guests of Bangkok CSC before we move on to Pattaya for a week of fun in the Sun.

Tickets for Bangkok & Pattaya are available now click link to order.

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The League Cup Final v the rangers will as usual have tickets on every Celtic fans mind. Those who attend games regularly should get sorted while other fans will be sweating on getting that golden ticket.

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Celtic have announced that Season Ticket holders will have an opportunity to buy corporate packages on a first come first served basis.

These packages will be out of reach for many fans with packages costing £145 + Vat (Silver), £225 + Vat (Gold) & £265 + Vat (Platinum).

For Ange and the players thoughts of a return to Hampden for the final will be at the back of their minds as they take to the field tonight at Celtic Park against a St. Mirren team who are the only team to beat us domestically this season. Revenge is sweet and lets hope those disco lights are flashing tonight.

Once tonight’s game is done and dusted the managers thoughts will then turn to the start of the Scottish Cup Campaign v Morton but for now he will select a team that he thinks will get the 3 points.

That unexpected defeat to St. Mirren came back in September and Celtic have been unbeaten domestically since and go into the game with a 9 point lead over our city rivals who travel to Kilmarnock tonight.

Ange has strength in dept in this Celtic squad and changes are expected from the starting 11 that beat Kilmarnock at Hampden. James Forest did yesterdays presser so he could be a starter tonight.

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Saturday night in Glasgow was Baltic, it was the coldest I have been at a game in long time. The conditions were tough on the players in the cold, wind and rain and Ange spoke about it at yesterday.

“It’s fair to say the game itself and obviously the conditions took a fair bit out of the bhoys, so I haven’t made the final decisions yet, but there will be some changes tomorrow, both because it took a fair bit out of the lads at the weekend and also we need to freshen up the team I feel, so I’ll make a few changes.

“I guess the pleasing thing for me is that the guys who have been out recently – Haksabanovic, Ralston, Welsh, McCarthy – are all training and are all available, so obviously from my perspective, we’ve got some options there now.

“Alistair Johnston, he’s good now after missing the weekend game , so it’s fair to say we’ll make some changes tomorrow, not only on the back of the weekend game but also I just feel it’s a good moment to freshen up the team a bit.”

Watch full press conference below.

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It’s back to Hampden for Celtic today as we take on Kilmarnock in the League Cup Semi Final on Saturday

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A week after we beat Killie at Celtic Park in the league we again play the Ayrshire side for a place in the final as we look to retain the trophy. Will we see Kilmarnock try and play a bit more expansive? I doubt it, expect them to sit in again and try and soak up the pressure.

The vast majority of Hampden will be a sea of green and white, expecting to see Celtic book a final slot. We should never be complacent but you would expect Celtic to have to much for Kilmarnock.

Kilmarnock started their League Cup journey way back on July 9th last year when they beat Fraserburgh away in the opening group game, this was followed up with penalties defeat to Partick Thistle then wins over Montrose and Stenhousemuir as they went through the groups stage. In the second round they beat Hearts 1-0 at Tynecastle and then beat Dundee United 2-1 in the Quarter Final at Rugby Park.

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Derek McInnes could have Kyle Lafferty back after the strikers 10 game ban for sectarian comments.

As we write this there are still no moves for Juranovic and Giakoumakis who it seems have set their minds on leaving Celtic. Juranovic going is not too much of a concern due to Ralston and Johnstone being worthy replacements. The situation with Giakoumakis is more of a concern as it only leaves Kyogo up front, although Abada and Maeda could fill in. It’s also strange the sort of teams that seem to be interested in the duo, Monza and Urawa Red Diamonds are not exactly bigger teams than Celtic and  I would imagine Celtic could compete financially with both teams, maybe Ange feels we can do better and is not unhappy if they leave. Johnstone has already shown he should do well at right back.

We still have a couple of weeks left of the transfer window so no doubt be more activity ahead.

Mick Kane

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Celtic go into Saturday’s home game against Kilmarnock with a 9 point lead over our city rivals after they failed to win a must win game at home at Ibrox on Monday even with World beater Michael Beale in the dugout.

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Celtic fans will return in their tens of thousands to welcome the bhoys at Paradise and we will be expecting a good performance against Kilmarnock who sit 9^th in the SPFL table on 20 points. 35 points behind Celtic and only 4 points ahead of bottom club Ross County.

Kilmarnock’s form has been mixed since the return of football in Scotland after the World Cup. After losing at Tynecastle to Hearts 1-3 they fought back at Motherwell from 2-0 down with 10 men to grab a 2-2 draw.

At home they beat Aberdeen 2-1 and shared the points with St. Mirren after going down to 10 men early in the game.

All eyes will be on Ange’s press conference later today for an update on Greg Taylor to see if he will be fit to face his former team after he limped off at Ibrox on Monday.

No doubt the media will be also be interested in transfer talk about Jozip Juranovic. New bhoy Alister Johnston will be confident of starting his first game at Celtic Park after his debut performance on Monday.

Ange has plenty of options on the wings. Maeda is showing his best form in the hoops after returning from World Cup duty with Japan. Jota and Abada should be hungry for a start after bench warming at Ibrox while Aaron Mooy will also be knocking on the door to return to the starting 11.

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The Australian scored 2 goals at Easter Road in the 4-0 win over Hibs and the MOTM had his name sung out loud by the Celtic fans in the cold night air as we left the stadium.

Back in August, Celtic visited Rugby Park and banged 5 goals in with no reply from the home side and Ange and the players should be confident ahead of the home fixture which will also act as dress rehearsal for the League Cup semi final at Hampden when both teams will once again go head to head.

For now however there will be no talk of Hampden as Ange puts a plan in place to go 12 points clear of our city rivals the rangers who travel to Tannadice on Sunday for a 4pm kick off v Dundee United.

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That game will be shown on Sky while Celtic fans not attending the game can watch on Celtic TV.

For those travelling from the Emerald Isle buses will be on the road from the early hours to catch ferries from Belfast and Larne while Irish based Celtic fans will also be on the red eyes to Glasgow and Edinburgh. For me it’s a mid morning flight to the capital and bus to Paradise.

9 Points Clear – Happy New Year

Andrew Milne is  Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & host of the Celtic Soul Podcast.

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