Kasper Høgh became the second new face to join Celtic this summer when it was unveiled as a Celtic player after joining from Bodø/Glimt. The  Danish internationalist looked very excited when he spoke during a short interview on the CelticPlayer.

He was not long signed and he was modelling all 3 of Celtic’s new jerseys for this season for Celtic’s marketing department.

He comes with a big price tag and arrives at the club fit and ready with the Norwegian league well into it’s season.

After Daizen Maeda was sold for the £10 million to Ipswich. The deal was completed for Høgh for in the region of £11 million. A clever piece of business one in one out but Martin O’Neill still needs further investment to build his team.

At Bodø/Glimt he was one of the most effective penalty-box strikers to emerge from Scandinavian football in recent years. While he is not a forward who dominates matches through his involvement in build-up play, he is exceptionally opportunistic in front of goal.

His greatest strength is his instinct inside the penalty area, although he also possesses a strong ability to play with his back to goal and bring teammates into the game.

He has put in some outstanding performances in European competitions. Høgh proved that he can deliver against top-level opposition, not only in the UEFA Champions League but especially in the UEFA Europa League, where he finished as the competition’s top scorer.

Those performances were a major factor in attracting interest from clubs across Europe and ultimately convincing Celtic to make such a significant financial investment.

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

 

 

After Celtic beat the rangers in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Ibrox on March 8 after a penalty shoot out, a small amount of Celtic Fans went onto the pitch to celebrate a famous win. Celtic came from 2 goals down before winning the penalty shoot out.

The sight of Celtic fans celebrating in Ibrox was just too much for a section of the rangers support who also came on to the pitch wearing balaclavas to attack the celebrating Celtic fans, players and staff. They had to run from one end of the pitch to the other to start the trouble.

After the game sections of the Scottish media tried their hardest to tar both sets of fans with the same brush which anyone who watched the scenes unfurl knew it was one set of fans celebrating and one set of fans looking for trouble. But the media in Scotland reported it to suit their agenda.

On Tuesday the SFA published a report on the game. Celtic’s interim Chairman Brian Wilson responded through the clubs official website.

“This is a thorough piece of work which provides all parties involved with food for thought and action.

“We welcome the repeated emphasis on the primacy of safety above all other considerations, a message consistent with Celtic’s approach in all it does.

“Celtic made its strong objections to important elements of matchday planning very clear, well in advance of the match.

“While we remain in dispute regarding certain points within this review, our club does not shrink from criticisms contained in the report or the lessons to be drawn. Nobody should, since the potential implications of disregarding them are obviously serious, both for safety and for football.

“We continue to believe that the non-violent incursion by a small number of Celtic supporters following the conclusion of the Scottish Cup quarter-final was not, in itself, a major or threatening incident.

“However, the actions by a section of the home support, some of them masked and carrying weapons, and subsequent attacks on our supporters and staff, were deeply concerning and we remain puzzled as to why the actions recommended by the Safety Advisory Group of Glasgow City Council were overturned at a senior level within Police Scotland.

“This has left a vacuum in the role previously understood by consent to be occupied by the Safety Advisory Group. Accordingly, we welcome the recommendation that the status of Safety Advisory Groups should be formalised and strengthened.

“While this was, of course, an away fixture for Celtic, we will seek to learn lessons of value to our own operations and co-operate fully with the authorities in doing so.”

Click Link to read full report

 https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/en/news/scottish-fa-publish-mens-scottish-cup-quarter-final-independent-review

 

https://youtu.be/oZttcE2ypJ0?si=iK6rVSF6TYyRwi3t

 

 

I listened to Champions League winner and former Celtic captain Paul Lambert when he spoke to the Scottish Football Podcast (BBC Scotland) over the weekend. Like so many Celtic fans he believes the current Celtic squad isn’t good enough and that the club need to invest in the recruitment infrastructure.

Celtic have only brought in one new face so far this summer with Camilio Duran arriving and scoring 2 goals from 2 games in pre-season. Maybe this will remind the Celtic board how important it is to get players signed early so they are up to speed for both domestic and European campaigns come August.

Alex Oxlade Chamberlain has re-signed after a short term deal last season. Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson is struggling to sign players because he can not deal with Agents.

In this day and age every footballer has an agent so I think he should re-think his career as Celtic need someone in the building capable of dealing with agents and get deals over the line.

The micro management of Dermot Desmond of everything that happens at the club will not be helping him either and Martin O’Neill’s charm with the media can only last so long if he is not backed in this transfer window. The Celtic manager spoke after the Middlesborough game and hinted that some deals for players may get over the line this week.

Lambert also had a pop at Daizen Maeda for only turning up for the last six games of the season. Maeda is looking to head south to England and pastures new since that remarkable end to the season.

Maeda was signed by Ange Postecoglou and since the Australian’s  time at the club Celtic have struggled to sign first team ready players through a failed recruitment system which has been without a head of recruitment since Paul Tisdale was sacked after the Wilfried Nancy fiasco back in January.

Postecoglou has joined another former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers in Saudi Arabia and the transfer window opens on Wednesday 22 June over there. With the state of play the way it is at Celtic, Callum McGregor may be tempted to join one of his former managers and make the switch which would see him earn a big payday and weaken further the Celtic first team playing pool.

Lambert went onto say ““If you don’t spend, you stand still,”  “That’s always the key. You have to improve.

“I have seen Celtic; they are nowhere near good enough at this moment in time. Nowhere near it. I think everybody recognises it and knows it.

“The manager knows it, and whatever players come in and help them. That’s why I said they need ready-made players.

“The infrastructure has to be so important for them to do that. But they need ready-made players who know how to win football matches, because you won’t get away with it. Not this time.”

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

https://youtu.be/OIgBdnGOWz4?si=JdSFN5ScrLu1A9Ye

 

Following on from the Irish Association of Celtic Supporters Clubs releasing the minutes of their meeting with Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson, Interim Chairman Brian Wilson and Manger Martin O’Neill. The Celtic Supporters Association have released a statement on the State of Play at Celtic.

The Celtic Supporters Association has watched with increasing alarm the current state of affairs at Celtic Football Club, particularly in relation to transfer business and the recent comments attributed to the CEO, Chairman and Manager at a recent meeting with our friends in the Association of Irish Celtic Supporters Clubs.

That this statement is being issued just two months after the heroic efforts of Martin O’Neill, his coaching staff and players in securing a League and Cup Double against the odds is barely believable. It is not something the Association does lightly or without considerable thought.

The current playing squad is clearly well short of what Celtic supporters, players and the management team demand if we are to compete on all fronts domestically and challenge at the highest level of European football, as should be the ambition at the beginning of every season.

Close to 60 days have now passed since we secured the league title against Hearts, yet the club has added only one player to the squad who was not here last season. This weekend, supporters also learned that those responsible for our transfer business have allowed two key components of that famous title winning side to leave, despite public comments from both the players themselves and the manager indicating a clear desire for them to remain at Celtic.

It is evident to supporters that responsibility for these failings lies with those tasked with concluding deals and strengthening the playing squad namely the executive team and the club’s major shareholder, Dermot Desmond.

Recent comments from CEO Michael Nicholson, in which he appeared to cite agents’ fees, the financial power of the English Premier League and Championship, and even living in Glasgow as reasons why Celtic struggles to complete transfer business in an orderly and timely fashion, only serve to reinforce supporters’ concerns. Rather than inspiring confidence, those remarks highlight an executive team that appears unable to overcome the challenges of the modern transfer market. That these were his most notable public comments since backing Wilfried Nancy in early January speaks for itself.

We also remain in the extraordinary position of having Brian Wilson acting as interim Chairman following the departure of Peter Lawwell, with no clarity over the long term leadership of the Board. Equally concerning is the continued absence of any move to appoint a Head of Football Operations following the dismissal of Paul Tisdale.

The continued silence surrounding almost every aspect of the football club remains a source of deep frustration for supporters. Too often, important developments affecting the club and playing squad emerge through players, agents or sections of the Scottish media, while official club communications instead focus on encouraging supporters to spend more money on merchandise, training wear, season tickets, pre season friendlies and Celtic TV subscriptions.

It is increasingly apparent that no meaningful lessons have been learned from the shambolic handling of last season. A campaign which saw the major shareholder publicly criticise the previous manager through club channels, four separate changes to the management team, the premature closure of the club’s AGM and yet another failure to conduct transfer business effectively ultimately resulted in our Champions League exit and left Celtic just ten minutes away from surrendering the league title to Heart of Midlothian.

https://youtu.be/iPkOEnOE8UU?si=ItoqRJ3B6GlWCSzn

The club continues to operate under a model that is clearly no longer fit for purpose in the football environment of 2026. The major shareholder’s grip over decision making is suffocating the club and leaves day to day operations in a continual state of uncertainty, with an executive team that, by its own admission, is unable to provide the manager with the best possible tools to succeed.

At a time when every supporter should be looking forward to a new season with hope and optimism, many instead face it with growing concern. Key players continue to attract interest, transfer business remains painfully slow and the squad is still well short of the quantity and quality required to achieve sustained success.

The Celtic Supporters Association has no desire to see a repeat of the supporter unrest witnessed last season. We want a united support behind the team and the manager as another campaign begins.

However, we cannot ignore what is becoming an all too familiar pattern of inaction, poor leadership and a failure to communicate openly with the people who invest more in this football club than anyone else its supporters.

Joe Gallagher interim General Secretary