The winter break in Scotland gives us a chance to recharge the batteries but it doesn’t stop us from wondering and waiting each day to see what players are rumored to be coming to Paradise.

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Some players will sign, and some will leave Celtic for good or out on loan this window as Ange makes room for his latest three signings from Japan and hopefully, he can strengthen in one or two other positions and sign Carter Vickers and Jota on permanent deals as they have both been impressive since arriving putting in solid performances every time they have pulled on the Celtic Jersey.

The rumor mill will be in full flow with half-truths, some complete bull. Stories can be made up by players agents to get their man a move and then we have the usual a source close to the club or the player said which could be true, could be made up by the tabloids for clicks or it could just be a bloke down the pub.

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Celtic Midfielder Liam Shaw has been linked to a loan move to Motherwell and St. Johnstone, if whispers are to be believed it looks like Fir Park will be his destination. Shaw had a good game when he played against Real Betis in the Europa League, but Ange will be happy to get him out on loan till the end of the season.

At twenty years of age, Shaw has plenty of time on his hands to progress his Celtic career but realistically it won’t be this season with so much competition in the midfield at the club the time is now for him to get regular football and hopefully he can come back and make the impact that he made at Sheffield Wednesday.

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Irish Media Reports suggest that Sligo Rovers striker, Johnny Kenny who has been watched by Willie McStay and Irish based Celtic scouts’ numerous times and he has had many a report compiled on him and sent back to Glasgow.

18-year-old Kenny would be one for the future and I would imagine he would go straight in the Celtic B team if the reports were to be true. Hibs have also been tracking his progress.

With Brexit came new rules on Celtic signing Irish players who can not sign till they are 18 this has turned McStay and the Celtic scouting network towards the North of Ireland to unearth teenagers to sign for Celtic.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine which he started in 2001. He has been involved with fanzines since 1989 and has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast, Talk form the Terrace Podcast, Grand Auld History Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Murphy’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

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Gamba Osaka midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi, who at 25 still possesses the tools that saw him heavily involved in Japan’s qualifying campaign for Russia 2018.

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Dan Orlowitz of the Japan Times writes – Though Ideguchi is just half a year older than his two fellow Signings, he feels a generation removed. The Gamba Osaka product was named the J. League’s Best Young Player of 2016 and earned 11 appearances for Vahid Halilhodzic’s Samurai Blue in the following year.

His unforgettable goal in one of those games — a rocket from outside the penalty area after muscling off several Australian defenders during a World Cup qualifying win — is one that Postecoglou won’t soon forget, as he was standing in the Socceroos technical area at the time.

But the Fukuoka native flew too close to the sun with his 2018 move to Leeds United, which saw him loaned to second-division Spanish side Cultural Leonessa and miss out on the World Cup after struggling to earn playing time. A severe knee injury during his subsequent loan to Germany’s Greuther Furth further derailed Ideguchi’s European journey, and he has not returned to the brilliance of his early seasons since re-joining Gamba in the summer of 2019.

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While Ideguchi’s initial appearance on Celtic’s radar may have come as a surprise, he is in many ways a perfect fit for the team’s current needs in central midfield, and his aggressive defensive pressing and ability to force turnovers are well suited for Postecoglou’s style. His recent form may raise eyebrows, but Ideguchi’s potential ceiling — if he rediscovers his 2017-era form — should be enough to convince Celtic fans to let Postecoglou chip out the elephant he sees in Ideguchi’s marble block.

“My first attempt to play overseas didn’t go well and through that disappointment I felt my lack of ability,” Ideguchi said in his farewell message. “This time I want to work hard and perform well, so I can deliver good news to Gamba’s supporters.

“I wouldn’t be who I am without Gamba Osaka; this club is like a family to me. Thank you for taking care of me for the last 12 years. … I dream of coming back again one day.”

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Latest from Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon  “I can confirm that the restrictions on large gatherings, the requirement for distancing between groups in public indoor places and for table service in hospitality venues serving alcohol on the premises will remain in force for now and, I expect, until 17 January.”

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Hopefully Monday January 17 at 7:45pm there will be more than 500 fans at Celtic Park when football in Scotland’s top flight returns from an earlier than expected Winter Shutdown when Celtic take on Hibs. Hibs tweeted  earlier today that Celtic had given them a small allocation of tickets for the game.

The Irish Cabinet has agreed new travel rules which would see the requirement for vaccinated passengers to have a negative Covid-19 test dropped which will be one less hassle and expense for travelling Celtic fans after it was introduced in December.

However, unvaccinated travellers would still be required to show a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before arrival. The new rule is expected to come into effect in the coming days.

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Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine which he started in 2001. He has been involved with fanzines since 1989 and has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast, Talk form the Terrace Podcast, Grand Auld History Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Murphy’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

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The Celtic fans in their thousands at Rugby Park and in their millions beside television screens throughout the world were getting impatient. It had been a frustrating afternoon. “Not easy watching” was the phrase which sprung to mind, and often supporters would wonder why it was that they put themselves through the excruciating torture that loving Celtic often is. Why couldn’t we have taken up gardening, or played cricket or golf, or chess?

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Or even supported someone like Stirling Albion or Forfar or Partick Thistle where the agonies were a lot less acute? Not for the first time did we appreciate the truth of the dictum that one does not support Celtic as any kind of casual hobby. If we do decide to go down that path of life – and very seldom does anyone decide to support Celtic, for usually that green-and-white seductress has us ensnared from a very early stage – then it is a commitment for life. It is also an endog- enous, irreversible and, indeed, terminal condition. Such philosophical thoughts were whirling their eddying way round our psyche . . . but the bottom line was that we wanted, we needed, we craved a goal.

A win was required to win the Scottish Premier League that fateful day of 22 April 2007. The team had played well in the early part of the season, but after the New Year a few dramatic late victories had perhaps disguised some deficiencies in the team. After an unlucky defeat in Europe to AC Milan, the team had stumbled and were crawling towards the finishing line rather than striding purpose- fully towards it. David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister in 1918, had described the last few months of the Great War as “a bloodstained stagger to victory”. Celtic supporters in 2007 knew what he meant.

On this day at Kilmarnock it was all about anxiety and nerves. The team had gone ahead in the first half when Vennegoor of Hesselink scored from a Nakamura corner, but then Kilmarnock had equalised at the start of the second period. The second half had crawled agonisingly, with Celtic clearly on top but unable to convert their outfield supremacy into the one goal that would guarantee delirium. Seconds before the 90 minutes were up, Derek Riordan put an easy one over the bar, and the feeling grew that it was not to be. A few of the weaker brethren went home, and those watching on the TV began to think that they could vent their frustration outside on the grass by giving it a fierce going over with the rusty lawn mower.

But then a ray of hope appeared, almost like the rising sun does in Orient, as it were. A free- kick was awarded just outside the box, to the right of the centre. This was Nakamura territory. We were well within the three minutes of stoppage time, so it did not take a genius to work out that this was the last chance saloon. Naka had saved our bacon many times this season. Could he do it once more? The Setanta commentator drew our attention to the fact, as if we didn’t know it, that millions worldwide would now be watching. The thought passed through my mind that it would be about 11 o’clock on Sunday in the United States and Canada (and that people would be going to church), the middle of the night in Australia . . . very early on a Monday morning in Japan.

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Naka nodded to someone and after a wee bit of pushing and jostling between Celtic attackers and Killie defenders in what passed for a wall, he ran up to take it. It was absolutely perfect, curling in at the far post and hitting the line as it crossed, so that even if the goalkeeper had been able to get across to the ball, he would have had a job getting down to it.

Clichés like “the terracing erupted” or “the crowd unleashed a tidal wave of appreciation” were some- how inadequate to describe the reaction of the fans. But the joy released behind that goal and indeed in pubs and living rooms throughout the world bore ample testimony to the support’s appreciation of what had been achieved. It was simply so fitting, so appropriate, that the man who had saved Celtic so many times over the past two seasons with his brilliant free-kicks should do it again today, on the day that the 2007 League was won.

Born in 1948, David Potter first saw Celtic at Dens Park, Dundee in March 29. It was a 3-5 defeat, which equipped him admirably for the horrors of the early 1960’s. He had “followed” Celtic for a few years before that and recalls having been called upon to impersonate Jock Stein and receive the family silver teapot which had to do for the Scottish Cup as it was presented on April 24 1954, after he and his father had spent a nerve wracking afternoon listening to the radio!  Since then, he has “followed” every Celtic game with bated breath, and has written extensively about the club in magazines and books. His favorite team was that of 1969 (which he rates marginally better than 1967) and his favorite player was Henrik Larsson.His ambition for Celtic is for them to keep on winning silver in Scotland and to be something in Europe once again. His other interests are cricket and drama. He is 70, a retired teacher of Classical Languages, married with three children and five grandchildren. He now travels on the Joseph Rafferty bus from Kirkcaldy. He also loves Forfar Athletic.

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Irish based Celtic fans will be happy to hear that Irish Government Ministers are considering new measures which would mean that from tomorrow new rules for international travel would see vaccinated passengers required to show a Digital Covid Certificate only.

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The development would see the requirement for a Covid test for vaccinated people dropped which has been a pain in the arse for travelling Celtic fans and an added match day expense. Hopefully this will come into play for Hibs game at home on Monday 17 January and the Scottish Government lift restrictions on only 500 spectators allowed at football games.

Unvaccinated passengers would still show a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before arrival back into Ireland

The measure would require agreement at Cabinet.

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The original measure was introduced to stop the new Omicron variant coming into Ireland. But now that the new variant is the dominant strain of the virus, ministers are considering whether to drop the requirement for a Covid test for vaccinated travellers.

In Britain, it’s understood pre-departure coronavirus tests for arriving travellers are likely to be scrapped.

The testing rules for international travel will be discussed at a meeting of the cabinet’s Covid-19 operations (Covid-O) committee today.

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The UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps is understood to be pressing for a relaxation of restrictions to help the airline sector.

There have been calls to drop the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to take a PCR test after arriving in the UK – but such a move may be opposed by the department of health and social care.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine which he started in 2001. He has been involved with fanzines since 1989 and has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast, Talk form the Terrace Podcast, Grand Auld History Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Murphy’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

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Reo Hatate is on his way to Glasgow to complete the arrival of Celtic’s J League Trio after he signed for the Hoops with Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi to give the Celtic fans a New Year’s lift.

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With questions over who was signing players over the years at Celtic Park regularly on the lips of supporters going back to Gordon Strachan’s managerial reign at the club it is so positive to know that the new bhoys are what Ange wants to strengthen the team.

All 3 players are well known to the manager and they will help each other settle in to the different culture and language and the presence of Kyogo after his impressive start to the season, his cup final gaols and the Celtic fans reaction to him will be a comfort to them all.

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No doubt that the street sellers around Celtic Park will be stocking up on the Japanese flags and merchandise ahead of fans returning to Paradise.

With 4 Japanese players now at the club, Celtic will be big news in Japan and the club I would imagine will be looking into capitalizing on the Japanese market and who knows maybe Celtic will play there one day. Now that would be some Football Away Day Trip.

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Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine which he started in 2001. He has been involved with fanzines since 1989 and has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast, Talk form the Terrace Podcast, Grand Auld History Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Murphy’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

Happy New Year to all our readers as we enter our 21st year covering the famous Glasgow Celtic

Print – Digital – Audio – Visual

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There were no supporters buses heading for Perth this morning or no early morning flight for Irish based fans who had planned to travel to see Celtic on St. Stephens Day.

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Regular away day fans had to be content with watching Celtic from the comfort of their homes or down the pub. Although a few Celtic fans were pictured in the gap on the hill between two of the stands which was shared on twitter.

The usual glass half empty crew on twitter were moaning about the team selection before a ball was kicked. With injuries etc Ange’s hands are tied but he never moans about it he just gets on with the job in hand. Maybe some of those on twitter should take a leaf out of his book and realise if he could he would play his strongest 11.

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Ange was on point after the game and singled out his experienced players for praise before adding he did not enjoy the game without the stadium full of fans while Kris Boyd on Sky was his usual bias self banging on about why the next two games should be played with 500 fans only allowed in because the lower tiers of Scottish football are still playing thankfully James McFadden reminded him that they don’t have a winter break.

The players will now enjoy a break but big Ange says he does not need one and he will be preparing for the restart which will be music to all Celtic fans. Lets hope he gets his business done early in the transfer window and that the board back him with the tools he needs to continue the rebuild to challenge on all fronts with one piece of silverware on display at Celtic Park from his short time at the Club.

In Ange we trust.

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Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine which he started in 2001. He has been involved with fanzines since 1989 and has written for numerous publications and online about Celtic.  He is a former newspaper columnist with the Daily Ireland and the man behind celticfanzine.com. He is host of the Celtic Soul Podcast, Talk form the Terrace Podcast, Grand Auld History Podcast & Celtic AM pre-match events at Murphy’s in Glasgow on match days and follows Celtic Home & Away. He is a season ticket holder for Celtic FC and the Republic of Ireland. He is also P.R.O. of St. Margaret’s CSC, a member of the Celtic Trust and the Celtic Graves Association.

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