Youth's held to a draw by Hearts

Celtic's u-19 youth side were held to a 2-2 draw against Hearts today at Barrafield.

It was the third draw in a row for the young hoops with Greig Spence and an own goal counting for Stevie Frail's side.

Details of the match are patchy with nothing as yet on the website of either club or on the SPL website.

The point was enough for to take Celtic into joint second place with Motherwell with last season's double winners Hibs in top spot thanks to their 4-1 win over St Johnstone.

Missing from the Celtic side was James Forrest who was promoted onto the bench with the first team for the first time.

The nonsense of that rule was highlighted with Barry Robson, Koki Mizuno and Willo Flood sitting in the stand at St Mirren while Forrest missed out on 90 minutes of action with the 19's in order for the SPL to be seen as promoting youth football!

Latest table from the SPL website.

Of the loan Celts Darren O'Dea had to settle for a point as Reading drew 1-1 with Watford while Simon Ferry had a similar fate with Swindon drawing 1-1 with Wycombe, Ferry was substituted after 65 minutes while Ben Hutchison spent the game on the bench.

Cillian Sheridan will be hoping for his first Plymouth goal tomorrow when they entertain Nottingham Forest at Home Park with Mark Miller in action for Ujpest Dozsa away to Paks.

Millar's Ujpest ambitions

Similar to Celtic, Ujpest Dozsa face a winnable away match ahead of their derby date with Ferencvaros next weekend.

Willie McStay's side travel to face Paks on Sunday looking to earn the three points that will allow them to leapfrog Ferencvaros into top spot after Ferencvaros drew 2-2 at home with Feherver on Friday.

Unlike the SPL the Hungarian league looks genuinely competitive with Ferencvaros, Ujpest and MTK Budapest making their early running with Debrecen, due to their Champions League qualifiers, lying in fifth place with two games in hand.

There are five Budapest sides in the top division but the main derby match is when Ujpest and Ferencvaros clash with next Saturday's match at the Szusza Ferenc Stadionban eagerly awaited.

Ujpest are on a run of three straight wins with captain Peter Kabat the inspiration behind the run with six goals in his last three appearances.

MILLAR
Making his mark, pardon the pun, is midfielder Mark Millar who has quickly adapted to life in Budapest and taken to regular first team football.

Without doubt Millar was the star of last season's Celtic reserve side with his energetic displays from midfield although a first team opportunity never seemed realistic.

Millar didn't hesitate over the chance to join McStay at Budapest and is enjoying the challenge of playing and settling into a completely new environment.

He said: "I don't live too far from the stadium and share a place with Foxi (Kethevoama). He takes me to training, but I spend the most time with Tony Stokes.

"It's been easier to settle as a result, and it helps that there is an English player in the squad. We often go to a Scottish pub where we can watch games in the Scottish and English leagues. "

FERENCVAROS
Every game is an adventure for Miller after three seasons in the Celtic reserve side with the big derby match against Ferencvaros looming on the horizon.

He added: "I don't know a lot about Paks but a couple of the players have told me about them.

"I've not seen them play but we mustn't under estimate them, every match is important, as a player I always want to win.

"Last week against Nyiregyhaza we created a lot of chances, if we can repeat that against Paks it should be good enough to win the points. I picked up a slight knock in that match, but hope to be back in contention for Sunday.

"The match with Ferencvaros will be a huge match for us, it's the equivalent of Celtic-Rangers in Scotland.

"I've played in a lot of games against Rangers at youth and reserve level, so I know what to expect. The 90 minutes will be very important and we need to produce our best."

Elsewhere in the world of Celtic the u-19's face Hearts at Borrowfield with a 1pm kick-off! Why they decided on that time is beyond me, with the first team match live on ESPN at 12.30 only a few relatives and friends will be watching the 19's.

READING
Pick of the matches elsewhere looks like the Reading-Watford match at the Madejski Stadium.

Things haven't gone to plan for Reading this season despite the favourable reports on Darren O'Dea's performances with the club without a home league win since January.

Reading boss Brendan Rodgers took over as Watford boss in November last year but quit at the end of the season to take over from Steve Coppell at Reading.

With just 30 miles separating the two clubs it promises to be a lively match with either O'Dea or Malky Mackay coming out on top.

The Rapid Red Herring

by Joe McHugh The build up to next week's game with Rapid Vienna is in danger of becoming ridiculous after the outbreak of fake outrage over Red Strip Syndrome.

Of all the things that the cheats from Austria got upto 25 years ago I'm certain that the colour of their strip was amongst the least offensive.

For the record Rapid wore blue on their night of shame at Celtic Park, around that time every second European side to face Celtic seemed to come up with a blue strip with Real Madrid and Juventus also wearing blue.

Sadly Frank McGarvey, seen scoring against Rangers at Ibrox above, seems to be getting drawn in to a phony controversy about the Rapid match. The colour of their strip or an apology for their behaviour in 1984 are totally irrelevant.

Putting a few goals past the cheating Austrians will be far more satisfying than any PR stunts.

SINISTER
Much more nasty and sinister than the colour of their shirt were the efforts of everyone at Rapid to cheat their way through the tie, so successful were they that they almost cheated their way to the trophy before Everton intervened and prevented them taking the silverware.

On Thursday night all that matters is that Rapid are beaten on the park, nothing else.

Tommy Burns and the class of 84 would no doubt approve of any Celtic win but revenge doesn't arrive 25 years later. The events of 84 are history, not forgotten or forgiven but mainly irrelevant to Thursday's match.

Despite being inconsistent in the league the Celtic side of 1984/85 was capable of almost anything on their day.

McGarvey and McClair were regular scorers, Alan McInally was emerging and a striker from Watford was about to join the club, behind them a midfield with the ability, strength and experience of MacLeod, McStay, Grant and Burns was an obvious asset.

DEMOLISHED
The Cup Winners Cup was probably that teams level. They had demolished Sporting Lisbon the previous season, beaten a useful Gent side before Rapid came along and robbed them of two years European experience.

Although it was far from a golden era of success for the club the win over Sporting and the dramatic triumphs in the 85 Scottish Cup and 86 title success will be remembered longer and fonder than most.

REACTIONS
Younger readers will find the Rapid case fascinating, taking place in a distant time before the internet and with four television channels without rolling sports news and instant reactions demanded.

How Uefa managed to uphold Rapid's appeal, giving them the replay they sought while increasing their fine for their behaviour in Glasgow is murky stuff. Even a one-off play-off would have been fairer than asking Davie Hay's side to overturn a 3-1 deficit for the second time.

From hazy memory the appeal panel consisted of three Uefa delegates, the Bulgarian equivalent of George Peat (Airdrie and Stenhousemuir) and two other such nobodies, overturning the original verdict which most Celtic fans deemed fair and reasonable with Celtic fined for the supporters behaviour while Rapid took the majority of the blame.

Over the next week all sorts of reminders and flashbacks to the events of 84 are bound to appear.

There is a curiosity amongst younger supporters as to what the hell went on and how on earth Rapid managed to cheat their way through the tie.

PROTESTING
The then Celtic board seemed typically ineffective, there was no talk of protesting or withdrawing, the replayed tie could have been taken to Aberdeen but Old Trafford offered more cash even though the gate money was split between the clubs, Uefa and Manchester United.

There were some voices calling for Celtic to withdraw in protest but they went largely unheard in the stampede to Old Trafford and 40,000 plus Celtic fans headed down the M74 in December.

Tony Mowbray has enough problems and decisions to make regarding his Celtic side without revisiting the mid-eighties.

ESSENTIAL
After the defeat to Hapoel Tel Aviv two wins over Rapid and Hamburg are essential to put Celtic in the hunt for Europa League qualification.

No doubt the cheats from Vienna and the hard of thinking will concoct up some more nonsense over the next week in an attempt to stoke up emotions before the match.

Celtic fans would do well to body swerve the sideshows and channel their support into backing the team and giving Rapid another gubbing just like they received on their last visit to Celtic Park.

Celtic 3-0 Rapid will do me nicely.

Paddy McCourt moves up a level

Falkirk 0-4 Celtic match report

Paddy McCourt moves up a level

The mystery of Paddy McCourt was opened up to a wider audience last night as the former Derry City man scored his first top-team goal for Celtic.

Fittingly it was his signature goal, drifting clear of chasing defenders then finishing the run with a simple flick of his foot to loft the ball out of reach of the despairing goalkeeper.

BBC highlights from Falkirk

That type of goal was a regular feature in Celtic TV's goal of the month as McCourt lit up reserve fixtures with his special gift.

A search around YouTube will bring to life a number of memorable solo efforts.

Fleeting first team appearances have helped add to the 'legend' of McCourt as he hugs the ball finding time in the game whilst others around him run faster and faster.

IDENTICAL

Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray have made almost identical comments about McCourt, the ability is not in question but there have been plenty of comments questioning his fitness, discipline and ability to become a 'team-man'.

After his goal at Falkirk Tony Mowbray said: "We know what Pat can do, at Wembley against Spurs he did something very similar but missed the target. Tonight he scored and he's more than capable of doing things like that, we see it every day in training.

"If football was only about your dribbling ability Pat would play every week, only probably McGeady can dribble like McCourt.

"There's more to the game than just dribbling and doing wonderful things. Pat has got plenty of things that he needs to add to his game to be a regular in the side."

NAKAMURA

It's probably too far fetched to compare McCourt with the departed Shunsuke Nakamura but the departed Japanese star hardly had the complete game.

The qualities that Mowbray would like to add to McCourt's game are similar to those demanded of Nakamura who enjoyed great success without having a turn of pace or being particularly industrious.

What Nakamura did have was time. Time on the ball, time to pass, time to hold onto the ball and vision to see passes beyond the capabilities of most.

There's no doubt that Nakamura was a luxury player. At Celtic, for four years, a team was fitted around him to give him scope to exercise his talents and influence games knowing full well that tracking back and work rate would never be part of Naka's game.

With transfer funds getting tighter and tighter Mowbray has to get the maximum from his squad, if McCourt can have anything like the influence on Celtic that Nakamura had then everyone will be happy.

PREMIERSHIP

McCourt isn't a stranger to Mowbray, with West Brom promoted to the Premiership he attempted to take McCourt from Derry to the Hawthorns.

If the then West Brom boss felt that McCourt could play in the Premiership then he can surely accommodate him in a Celtic side likely to dominate most of their domestic matches.

Mowbray added: "I tried to buy him for West Brom, Celtic jumped in at the last minute and prised him away from us.

"He has to work on the other side of the game when we don't have possession. He has to work hard on his fitness levels, concentration, discipline but when he has the ball you wait for him to do something brilliant."

AGATHE

Tracking back has never really been McCourt's thing but an element of that has been added to his game. Didier Agathe adapted his game similarly to such an extent that he was re-invented as a right back rather than a right winger.

Without the burst of pace that is normally expected of wingers McCourt has been tried in a more central role on a few occasions by Mowbray as he attempts to match the teams requirements to the special skills of the 25-year-old.

At Celtic no allowances are given, the demands are constant with no margin for error. A fixture list that includes Rapid Vienna and Rangers over the next ten days won't cut any slack.

McCourt is now at the stage where it's now or never for his Celtic career, if he continues to make an impact over the next fortnight some exciting times lie ahead, in front of audiences much larger than the diehards that followed last seasons reserve team adventures.

STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS

Without getting as stat obsessed as the BBC's Paul Mitchell, the Celtic team that beat Falkirk last night contained five former Dundee United players.

I've got better things to do with my time than trawl through Rothman Yearbooks or anything else but I'd be amazed if Celtic have ever fielded a team containing so many players brought from the same club.

Celtic team at Falkirk: Zaluska; Caddis, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson; Flood, Crosas, Robson, McCourt; McDonald, Killen.

Rapid red herring

Falkirk 0-4 Celtic match report

O'Carroll takes the scenic route to Airdrie

by Joe McHugh Former Celt Diarmuid O'Carroll has taken the scenic route from Celtic along the M8 to Aidrie via Morecambe, Budapest and Cork.

O'Carroll was part of a great Celtic youth team that won the double of league and SFA Cup in 2006 having joined Celtic from Home Farm alongside Darren O'Dea.

It's a long time since a striker broke through the ranks at Celtic and O'Carroll found his glass ceiling at reserve team level and after a spell on loan at Ross County decided to head south to join League Two outfit Morecambe.

Five goals in sixteen league starts was a decent return by most standards but with his first team opportunities limited he decided to move on from Sammy McIlroy's side during the summer with Celtic connections never far away.

"I had contact with a few clubs before I got a call from Willie McStay to go out and take a look at Ujpest Dozsa," O'Carroll said.

INTERESTING

"It seemed an interesting option, something a bit different but the clubs finances seemed quite tight and I don't think that the directors there were convinced by me.

"I was only out there for three days and didn't do enough to show them that I was worth a contract.

"The game against Celtic for Cork City was a complete co-incidence. My father knows the chairman of Cork and he had phoned me previously to see how I was placed.

"I was back home in Killarney for a few days when he got in touch with me and asked if I fancied playing against Celtic and I enjoyed the game.

"There wasn't any real prospect of me joining Cork but when you're looking for a club it's good to get some match practice in."

GLASGOW

Home sickness can be a big factor for any young player making their way in the game but after five years at Celtic the striker from County Kerry has adopted Glasgow as his second home.

England may be the promised land for footballers at all levels but after spending most of last season on the bench at Morecombe Dermo was anxious to get playing regularly again and decided that heading back to Scotland was his best option.

"The collapse of the Setanta deal has had a big effect on clubs," he added. "It's very difficult for players to find clubs with money being so tight.

"I got an invite along to Airdrie from a friend at the club and scored twice last week in a friendly against Falkirk and got offered a contract.

REGULARLY

"Managers and coaches in Scotland know me from my time at Celtic so I felt that I'd have a better chance of finding a club and playing regularly.

"I enjoyed my time at Morecambe but every footballer wants to be playing and that wasn't happening for me at Morecambe.

"My scoring ratio was all right there but there's no point sitting on the bench when you have a chance of playing somewhere else.

"Moving back to Glasgow was an easy decision to make and now I want to make an impact on the game by doing well for Aidrie."

Killarney Athletic honour Dermo

Great heart-breakers of our time.

In the world of journalism, or more accurately sub-editing, any late goal against Hearts is inevitably a heart-breaker with Glenn Loovens the latest in a regular stream of Celts to pop up with a late winner against the Jambos.

The inquest into another lost opportunity to go clear of Rangers would have been long and painful if Loovens hadn't scored, the build-up to the October 4 clash at Ibrox would have started already.

Beating Hearts created a little bit of breathing space after a difficult week which re-opened a number of issues with the team wilting away to Hapoel Tel Aviv against a backdrop of poorly timed comments from Gary Caldwell.

A last minute or injury time winner is one of the sweetest feelings in football, the elation of the goal is matched by the knowledge that there's virtually no likelihood of conceding with victory secured.

HINDSIGHT

Under the first three years of Gordon Strachan's management Celtic made a habit of scoring late goals, often supporters or pundits would say that they could feel a goal coming but that's always in hindsight, at the time a goal seems unlikely as the clock races by with points slipping aside.

Most Celtic supporters would associate Mark McGhee as a chief heart-breaker and it's true that he did have the happy knack of finding the net against the boys in maroon.

The semi-final of the Scottish Cup in the Centenary season was McGhee's greatest moment against the Jambos.

CENTENARY

A dodgy goal from a combined Brian Whittaker/Dave McPherson effort looked like killing the centenary double dead in it's tracks with Frank McAvennie missing a hatful of chances as Billy McNeill's side chased an equaliser and a reply.

McGhee came off the bench to equalise in the 86th minute as Henry Smith dropped a corner invitingly at his feet before setting up Andy Walker for a last minute winner and the rest is history.

Looking back at that game McGhee is generally credited with both goals, he certainly changed the match and had the Hearts defence in a state of panic but it was Walker that scored the winner.

Possibly the most significant heart-breaker was an equaliser at Tynecastle on the opening day of the 1985/86 season. Former Celt John Colquhoun had given Hearts the lead, in truth Celtic were barely in the match, but in the final minute the Maestro drilled in an equaliser which gained extra significant when Albert Kidd made a telling substitute appearance at the end of the season...

Five Great Heartbreakers

No 1. Brian McClair. 20 March 1985 Celtic 3-2 Hearts

With the league title almost certainly destined for Aberdeen there wasn't much at stake in this game except for the brewing rivalry between the two clubs with Hearts fielding a number of ex-Rangers players recruited by the management team of Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine.

I'll need to dig out the details soon but Hearts did go two goals up and as expected used every time-wasting tactic possible. Brian McClair was thrown on as a substitute as Celtic forced the game and in the days before boards were held up to indicate injury time the former Motherwell striker grabbed the winner in the third minute of injury time after Murdo MacLeod and Mo Johnstone had pulled Celtic back into the match.

No 2. Mark McGhee. 12 August 1987 Celtic 1-0 Hearts

The first big test of the Centenary season saw Hearts visit Celtic Park after the boost of an opening day 4-0 win away to Morton featuring an Andy Walker hat-trick.

It was a tense game with few chances for either side but in the dying minutes McGhee used his bulk to brush off two Hearts defenders to win a high ball before sending the ball past Smith and setting off on his celebrations.

Wallace Mercer was far from happy with the goal, he moaned long and loud about the decision which basically ended the career of Kevin O'Donnell as a referee. His route to the top ended there and then as he was eased out of the picture over a marginal decision.

No. 3 Andy Walker. 9 April 1988 Celtic 2-1 Hearts

With the league title a few points away attention had turned to the Scottish Cup as the double loomed in the centenary season.

The dream looked to be dead as Hearts led going into the last five minutes but the appearance of substitute McGhee had shaken Hearts up with Smith dropping a corner for the striker to equalise with Andy Walker firing home the winner to book Celtic's final date with destiny in the 1988 Scottish Cup Final.

No. 4 Craig Gordon. 4 November 2006 Celtic 2-1 Hearts

The Scotland keeper came up with an incredible own goal, one of the strangest ever seen at Celtic Park.

On the back of a 3-0 defeat from Benfica in the Champions League the last thing that Celtic needed was to go behind against Hearts but that's what happened when Andrius Velicka found the net in the 72nd minute.

Jiri Jarosik equalised with four minutes left to play before Gordon started fumbling around in the final minute before slipping the ball into his own net to give Celtic the win.

Glenn Loovens. 20 September 2009 Celtic 2-1 Hearts

Trailing from the fifth minute when a save-able shot from Suso Santana squirmed past Artur Boruc Celtic equalised early in the second half through a Chris Killen header.

Referee Dougie McDonald body swerved a clear penalty for a foul on Niall McGinn in the 85th minute before finding four minutes of injury time.

Danny Fox's inswinging corner was weakly punched by the Hearts keeper, Aiden McGeady sent a looping header into the six yard box with Loovens rising highest to nod the ball into the net.

Four wins for the Famous Five

by Joe McHugh Only an injury time equaliser from former Rangers reserve Danny N'Guessan denied the Famous Five of former Celtic centre halfs in management a clean sweep of weekend victories.

Tony Mowbray, John Hughes, Mick McCarthy and Davie Moyes all steered their teams to victory with Watford's Malky Mackay missing out as his side drew 3-3 with Leicester.

Yogi got the ball rolling on Saturday as Hibs beat St Johnstone 3-0 at Easter Road, it was squeaky bum time at Celtic before Glenn Loovens delivered the goods whilst down south Wolves and Everton clocked up wins against Fulham and Blackburn Rovers.

Centre halfs have always been seen as management material, most of the qualities that a manager is expected to show are also required of centre halfs with Jock Stein and Billy McNeill the two obvious examples in Celtic's history.

LEADERS

All five of the former Celtic centre halfs in management fit into that mould, leaders, organisers, battlers who always gave 100% and let their opponents know that they had been involved in a game.

The route into management for the famous five has all been quite similar starting off at smaller clubs and working their way up the ladder although in Mackay's case Watford is the first step in his ladder.

Learning their trade at Hibs, Falkirk, Millwall and Preston has allowed Mowbray, Hughes, McCarthy and cut their teeth in the game, earn a reputation and make their mistakes away from the public spotlight... unlike our former boss John Barnes.

TRANSLATE

Only McCarthy played in a successful Celtic side and his role in the centenary season was limited with others such as Lex Baillie, Roy Aitken and Derek Whyte all featuring regularly in central defence but a successful playing career doesn't often translate into the management business.

The famous five are mainly still in the early parts of their management careers, only Moyes has been in his current job for more than three years, all five still have ambitions to fulfill with Mowbray the boss under most scrutiny.

Managing Celtic is without doubt one of the most challenging jobs in football, the stability that marked the first 90 years of the club's history has changed entirely and it's reasonable to assume that it's unlikely that any manager will last more than four years at the top of Kerrydale Street.

SCRUTINISED

The demands are non-stop, the pressure intense but that brings the thrills of the job, living on the edge knowing that their every decision is scrutinised to extremes with every selection, substitution, transfer and media conference capable of drawing criticism with opinions formed instantly.

Away from the five listed above there are other Celts in management at various levels, at some stage in the future it's likely that one of the names above will be linked with the club.

Moyes was aware of interest from Celtic during the summer but shied away from the job believing that silverware is a possibility at Goodison Park but it's difficult to see him getting one of the top four jobs in the Premiership with foreign appointments preferred.

McCarthy is a strange case, his managerial career will forever be linked with the departure of Roy Keane from Ireland's World Cup squad in 2002. When the Celtic job was available in the summer his naming was absent from those linked as a successor to Gordon Strachan.

PREMIERSHIP

As a manager he has mastered the art of taking clubs to promotion to the Premiership, doing it in style for Sunderland and Wolves but at the Stadium of Light Sunderland were relegation certainties from as soon as the season kicked-off.

Wolves have made a promising start to the season, keeping them up with a squad that he has built himself will be a great achievement for his managerial cv.

Yogi is Yogi, a great student of the game and believer in playing the ball on the deck and with skill and flair. Yogi the player was braver than most and dafter than the daftest but worked his way through the ranks to move from Berwick Rangers to Celtic and Hibs, his favourite clubs before making it into management, initially alongside Owen Coyle as joint manager of Falkirk.

In management Yogi has emerged as a scholar of the game, studying the coaching methods of the leading bosses down south and eager to give his players every advantage possible off the park with the appliance of science.

The progress of the Famous Five will be interesting to monitor over the coming seasons, hopefully Mowbrays Celtic will provide the benchmark for the others to emulate.

Loovens delivers justice

Quotes from the loan Celts

Ujpest win again

Evening Herald report on Celtic-Hearts

Loovens delivers justice VIDEO EVIDENCE

Deep, deep into injury time Glenn Loovens delivered a telling header to send Celtic clear at the top of the SPL.

When I saw a link to THIS CLIP I was expecting a blurred, shaky clip of the goal but by You Tube standards it's almost High Definition plasma style.

BBC highlights (for UK based viewers only, licence payers!)

It was a strange performance from Celtic today, something's not quite right and it's hard to identify the cause, the free flowing football from the opening two SPL games and the win away to Dinamo Moscow is a distant memory as the team struggle to shake off the hangover of last season.

The injury to Marc-Antoine Fortune and the transfer of Massimo Donati seem to have had a major impact on the team with no area of the side functioning properly.

POSSESSION

Hearts opening goal after just five minutes was very preventable and brought back worrying memories of last weeks draw with Dundee United. Scott Brown lost possession of the ball in the middle of the park and in next to no time Suso Santana was finding the net with a shot that Artur Boruc really should have dealt with.

Pleasingly Celtic threw virtually everything into attack even though it was hardly the most co-ordinated of play. Landry N'Guemo was in better form than of late but again there was too much of a reliance on Aiden McGeady with Shaun Maloney worryingly out of touch.

There were plenty of chances being created but no takers with some comic cut defending almost allowing Hearts to go two up in the 41st minute when Gary Caldwell cleared an Andrew Driver shot off the line with sparks flying between Caldwell and Boruc.

Celtic kept up the pressure after the break with Chris Killen scoring his first goal at Celtic Park with an impressive header in the 55th minute after Maloney had sent in the sort of cross that physical centre forwards live for.

The tension and unrest around the stadium eased after that as the team chased the goal that would take them to the top of the table.

SWAPPED

Niall McGinn replaced Maloney in the 68th minute and after starting on the left wing swapped flanks with McGeady over to the right wing.

Five minutes from the end McGinn was sent sprawling in the penalty box from a Lee Wallace challenge but after looking to his assistant for help referee Dougie McDonald waved aside the penalty claims to award Celtic a free kick.

Three weeks ago at Hibs the same referee gave McGeady his second yellow card of the day for alleged simulation, surely if it wasn't a penalty then he should have yellow carded McGinn?

INSPIRATION

Four minutes added time signalled a roar from the crowd but there was no real inspiration on the park until Wallace inexplicatly allowed the ball to go out of play for a corner believing that a goal kick would be awarded.

Danny Fox's inswinging corner from the right was punched weakly by keeper Janos Balogh, Aiden McGeady sent a header back into the six yard box with Loovens first to react to bundle the ball into the net.

The garden is far from rosy at Celtic but today's win should give the team a much needed confidence boost and shows that the fighting spirit is alive and well in the face of adversity.

Major surgery requires to be carried out in the team, that task will be a little easier from the top of the table as Mowbray gets to understand the mechanics of the squad and puts his stamp on things.

Round up and quotes from the loan Celts

Ujpest win again

Round up and quotes from the loan Celts

There wasn't much to cheer about on Saturday for the loan Celts with only Mark Millar at Ujpest celebrating a win.

Elsewhere it was a draw for Simon Ferry and Ben Hutchison as Swindon drew at Walsall while Darren O'Dea and Cillian Sheridan lost out as Reading and Plymouth lost away from home to Peterborough and Newcastle.

Closer to home forgotten 'keeper Mark Brown had a pleasing clean sheet as Kilmarnock drew 0-0 at home to Rangers.

Of all the players out on-loan O'Dea is the player most likely to feature in Tony Mowbray's future plans but the new Irish internationalist has had a difficult start to life at Reading.

A last minute goal from would-be Scotland internationalist George Boyd gave Peterborough their first win of the season leaving O'Dea without a win in his first three Championship games.

RODGERS

Royals manager Brendan Rodgers hasn't made the start to the season that he'd have hoped for and faces his old club Watford at home next Saturday with Reading still looking for their first home win of the season.

Speaking after the defeat at Peterboro Rodgers said: "There is no way we should have come out of the game with anything less than three points.

"We were excellent in the first half when we scored two goals and could easily have led by three or four.

"We knew Peterborough would have to change their system to stop us playing in the second half, but we failed to match them up and were somewhat tactically naive. The game sums up our season and will hopefully act as a wake-up call."

SPECULATING

Sheridan set up Karl Duguid to open the scoring for Plymouth at Newcastle but the home team replied with three goals to leave Paul Sturrock speculating about his future.

The Plymouth boss said: "I have had two draws and six defeats and I am human. At the end of the day, there's only so far a board can wait for me to turn it around.

"But they have been very committed to the cause. They see there is light at the end of the tunnel, but we have got to turn it soon.

"Pressure? I have had 35 years in the game and at the end of the day, I am like anybody else. But I want the right thing for Plymouth Argyle and we are attempting to do the right thing. I am very, very confident that these players will turn it around."

ANGRY

Down a division at Swindon Danny Wilson was an angry man as his side drew 1-1 at Walsal with Ferry substituted at half time and Hutchison spending the afternoon on the bench.

The Swindon boss said: "We were just all over the place. There was a lack of trust in each other, they got down the side of us too easily, got balls in the box too easily, we didn’t stay with runners.

“They started the game very well and caused us problems, but we are better than that. The second half thought was chalk and cheese. They didn’t pose the problems they had in the first, but we had to do something ourselves to make sure that happened."

In the managerial game Malky Mackay and Roy Keane were both involved in 3-3 draws as Watford drew at home to Leicester with Ipswich denied their first win of the season at Doncaster Rovers.

Update from Ujpest Dozsa