Pierre sinks Milan as the Celtic Legends win the Emirates 7's

"Pierre, there's only one Pierre," was the cry in Dubai tonight as Celtic beat AC Milan 3-2 to win the inaugural Emirates 7's.

Inbetween concentrating on his telly duties with Showtime Arabia Derek Whyte (second from left in pic) got the text from his jubilant team-mates that the auld hoops had lifted the trophy.

It was a throwback to the mid-nineties Andy Walker and van Hooijdonk put Celtic two up before Milan fought back to level the scores and take the game into the 'golden goal' period.

Replaying the timing of his 1995 Scottish Cup winning goal against Airdrie big Pierre struck the golden goal to lift the trophy for the Celtic fans and leave Paolo di Canio and Paolo Maldini with runners-up medals for their efforts.

As his team-mates go off to celebrate Whyte will be concentrating on the Hull City-Arsenal match and his Premiership round-up before joining in with the celebrations.

Gerry Britton books final date with AC Milan

A golden goal from Gerry Britton booked Celtic's place in the final of the Emirates 7's against AC Milan.

The semi-final against Liverpool had ended goal-less but 20 seconds into the five minute period for a 'golden goal' Britton found the net to put Celtic into the final.

The tournament started with a Celtic-AC Milan match and will finish up with another clash between the two teams.

Speaking during his Showtime Arabia programme Derek Whyte told me: "It's very frustrating to be in the studio while the games are going on but it's great to have made the final.

"Celtic and AC Milan have been the two best side's in the competition and it should make for a great final.

"We've had great backing from the local Dubai Hoops supporters club who have been wearing the colours and who have been out in force.

"They've played a huge part in the event and been great.

"After the win against the Chelsea I took my son Conni over to the supporters and held him up in his Celtic babygrow.

"He was sound asleep, he's only six days old, but it was a great moment and one that my wife Donna and I will remember forever.

"Winning the tournament would be great but the main thing is that the event has been a success.

"The players have all applied themselves well and done the club proud. The final will be a great spectacle but I'll need to concentrate on the Premiership matches before re-joining the boys later tonight for a meal."

Goal hero Tom Boyd takes legends into semi finals

They don't come around too often but a goal from Tom Boyd is always a special occasion.

'Matchwinner' and 'goal hero' have rarely been terms associated with the former club captain but both of them applied this morning as the Celtic Legends beat the 1990 UAE side 1-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Emirates 7's.

Celtic face Liverpool in the semi-finals without Derek Whyte who has to go back to his day job covering Premiership football for the Showtime Arabia Network.

"I've got a great job covering all the Premiership football but I'd love to be playing today," Whyte admitted.

"After losing to Milan we've came on leaps and bounds and found the right formation.

"Andy Walker has been in great form and it's good to have a striker that can tuck away half chances.

"The tournament has been a big success. At our level it's been competitive and there are over 100 teams from around the world competing at different levels.

"Everything has been put together in the space of three months, everyone is happy and I'm sure that it will grow and grow in the years ahead."

In the other semi-final Rangers play favourites AC Milan featuring former Celt Paolo di Canio...
Meanwhile in the professional part of the competition Celtic's u-17 side lost 1-0 to Olympiakos and Feyenoord this morning.
Coach Stevie Frail said: "We played well but lost to Olympiakos and if we had won that game we wold have been in the semi-finals.
"The boys are disappointed but they are the youngest team in the tournament.
"They've been mixing with the Celtic legends and that's been priceless for them.
"The older players still take a lot of pride in their performances and it shows our players the importance of playing for this club.
"We've enjoyed the tournament and watching the other teams, seeing Paolo di Canio has been an education for everyone."

Legends march on after hammering Chelsea and Man Utd

The Celtic Legends are getting into gear for tomorrow's knock-out section of the Emirates 7's after handing out a 3-0 hammering to Chelsea.

Andy Walker, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Darren Jackson were on the scoresheet against the Londoners as Celtic marched into the knock out stages where they face local heros the UAE 1990 World Cup side.

After losing their breakfast time opener to AC Milan the auld hoops have found their form with Derek Whyte looking forward to further success.

"We've got Tom Boyd and Brian O'Neill together at the back and that's working a treat," Whyte explained.

"We were caught out a bit by Milan but that's not to take anything away from the way that they played.

"It's a great tournament and the boys are enjoying themselves. We're going to see Paolo Nutini in concert tonight and he led us onto the park which was great.

"We're having a great time together and looking forward to seeing how far we can go tomorrow."

The Celtic Legends will need to be on their best behaviour against the UAE side after Rangers had Derek Ferguson and Gordon Durie sent off against the UAE for swearing at the local referee.

Meanwhile in the professional part of the tournament the Celtic youth side has lost to Leeds United and AC Milan.

Filip Twardzik scored in the 3-1 defeat from AC Milan with Stevie Frail's side facing Olympiakos tomorrow.

Frail said: "We've been giving away a few years to the teams that we've been up against but we should have still played better.

"It's been a bit disappointing but a good experience. There is no age limit on the players and one of the Leeds players, Andy Robinson, has played over 200 first team matches."
Despite today's results all the teams go forward to tomorrow's knock out stage regardless of their results.
The winners from one group play the fourth side from the other group, with the second placed team playing the third etc.
That format ensures that all teams remain in the competition with today's matches effectively a warm-up for Saturday's knock out games.

Regi Bhoy helps Legends to a 3-0 win over Man Utd

Regi Blinker was on the mark today as the Celtic Legends hammered Man Utd 3-0 in the Emirates 7's in Dubai.

Andy Walker and Darren Jackson were also on target today against the United Legends who included former Celts Lou Macari and Lee Martin.

Celtic now face Chelsea in the final match of the Legends group stage to see if they will go through to tomorrow's semi finals.

The Celtic youth side ran into strong opposition in the form of Leeds United who won convincingly by 4-1 with Callum McGregor scoring for Stevie Frail's side.

Celtic face AC Milan in their final group match later today before returning for tomorrow's play-offs.

Earlier in the day Frail's side had drawn 1-1 with Brondby while the Legends lost out 3-0 to a Paolo di Canio inspired AC Milan side.

Emirates 7's schedule

Patrik Twardzik earns Celtic a draw with Brondby

Patrik Twardzik scored for Celtic in their 1-1 draw with Bronby in the Emirates 7's this morning.

Details are sketchy about the match which kicked-off at 10.20am local time.

Celtic will be back in action at 15.06pm against Leeds United before facing AC Milan at 17.43pm.

Unfortunately the Celtic Legends went down 3-0 to a Paolo di Canio inspired AC Milan in the opening match of the tournament.

Di Canio scored twice as Milan raced into a 3-0 lead but local bhoy Derek Whyte wasn't put off by the result.

"Playing against someone like di Canio in 93 degree heat at breakfast time isn't the best start to the day," he admitted.

"We pulled things together a bit better in the second half and we're looking forward to the other matches.

"Sean Sweeney made his Celtic debut and did well, the boys are enjoying the other matches and we'll be looking to bounce back against the English sides."

I'll be trying to keep upto date with the results throughout the day with the Celtic Legends side facing Manchester United and Chelsea.
Emirates 7's schedule.

Spinning the Rangers 'takeover'

While Celtic's current position causes concern on a number of fronts I'm glad that we are spared the spin of the latest Rangers 'takeover'.

Today's deflection story claims that giving Walter Smith a new contract is a priority for Andrew Ellis and even goes on to claim that the secret Rangers fan is planning new contracts for fringe players Nacho Novo and Kirk Broadfoot before coming to the punchline.

Due diligence on the bid will begin next week!

That nugget of information puts everything else into context.

Basically a property developer that has attempted to get into football at QPR and lasted a couple of months at Northampton Town has indicated an interest in Rangers.

Who wouldn't?

The prospect of owning a club with a 50% chance of success domestically and annual access to European football would appeal to most shrewd individuals.

Before any contracts are put on the table, remember Kris Boyd, Novo and Broadfoot have so far resisted the contracts publically offered to them in January, the Ellis consortium require to complete the complex issue of due diligence.

What that will uncover is anyone's guess. Will the Rangers accounts uncover a £50m IOU from the 2002 share issue to Murray Sports?

Rangers recently revealed that £9m of debt owed to football clubs had been repaid in the first half of the 2009/2010 financial year, debt which may or may not have been included in the headline debt figure of £31m.

Finding out that retail and catering have both been out-sourced on long term contracts denies any new business plan some obvious revenue streams.

Remembering the long debate and battle to take-over Celtic in the early nineties there wasn't much discussion going on about player contracts or the management of the club.

Uncovering the level of debt, stabilising the club and putting in place a business plan of investment to take the club forward were the main issues, issues that the then directors had failed miserably on.

Finding out the identity of those behind the Ellis consortium and the level of Ellis's own investment is probably of much greater meaning than the eye catching 'New deal for Walter' headline.

Trailing by 13 points in a two horse race is very concerning but can largely be addressed on the football pitch and dressing room.

No prizes are handed out for balance sheets but from a distance it looks like Rangers have much bigger matters to address before securing Boyd, Novo and Broadfoot onto new contracts.

Twardzik twins lead the Celtic squad to Dubai

Filip and Patrik Twardzik are included in the Celtic squad that flew out today to take part in the Emirates 7's in Dubai.

Some of the world's best young players will be taking part in the Emirates 7's over the next few days with Celtic taking a cosmopolitan squad out to the event with a strong contingent from the club's recent scouting activities in the North West of England.

Matty Hughes and Johny Marsden are included in the squad as well as former Stockport County players Curtis Jones and Michael Ordish who have been on the fringes of the u-19 side in recent weeks.

Also included with the squad that flew out with Stevie Frail today is goalkeeper Connor Fairley, Jordon Lowdon, Greig Spence and u17's Callum McGregor and Ryan Hutchison.

Celtic face Brondby, Leeds United and AC Milan on Friday with the legends facing Paolo Maldini and his AC Milan friends in their opening group match.

Former Scotland u-21 captain Sean Sweeney (who used to add CFC to his autograph, because he played for Clydebank) makes an appearance as a Celtic legend while Rangers have swooped for former Dundee United madman Davie Bowman and Zoran Mirkovich who is a pal of Gordan Petric.

Emirates 7's website

Spence nets double as youths bounce back

A first half double from Greig Spence helped Celtic's u-19 return to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Falkirk after the disappointment of Saturday's defeat from Rangers.

Spence had suffered the agony of seeing an injury timer shot against Rangers slip over the bar todeny the hoops a draw but showed great character to score from two one-on-ones with the Falkirk keeper.

"I'm pleased for Greig that he scored two goals, one on his left side which we've been working on," coach Stevie Frail said.

"We looked again at the chance against Rangers and we both said that it was a one that he should have put away.

"Maybe coming on as a substitute didn't help him on Saturday but he started today and showed his ability with two well taken strikers goals".

The former Alloa striker was restored to the starting XI alongwith Michael Ordish in place of James Forrest and Patrik Twardzik.

The new look formation saw Ordish and Sean Fitzharris playing on either flank with Spence through the centre in front of a three man midfield comprising of James Keetings, Grant Gallagher and Filip Twardzik

Celtic got off to a bad start when the Falkirk No.7 was given space in the penalty box to collect a cross from the left and drill a low shot beyond Daniele Giordano in the 13th minute.

There were some harsh words exchanged between the players after that goal but seven minutes later Spence equalised after being sent through on goal by Twardzik with the striker showing composure to sent his shot inside the keeper's left hand post from 18 yards out.

After the Falkirk goal Fitzharris swapped from left wing to right with Ordish moving over onto the left.

Keatings was looking impressive in central midfield with the balance between the midfield trio posing Falkirk problems.

Six minutes from the interval Richie Towell put in a typical whiolehearted tackle 40 yards from goal to win the ball, with one pass the ball was sent through to Spence who showed confidence from his earlier goal to net from the edge of the penalty box.

Early in the second half substitute Patrik Twardzik secured the points when he headed home from close range after being set up by his brother Filip.

TEAM: Giordano; Towell, Gallagher, Hughes, Lowden; F Twardzik, G Gallagher, Keatings; Ordish (P Twardzik 56), Spence (Jones 70), Fitzharris

Hoops head to Dubai to meet Maldini and Di Canio

Former Celt Derek Whyte is looking forward to welcoming two generations of hoops to Dubai this week.

Whyte has carved out a successful career in broadcasting in Dubai with Showtime Arabia but likes nothing better than to pull on the hoops and meet up with former team-mates.

The Emirates Soccer 7's begin this week and with Whyte involved it's no surprise that the Celtic legends will take part as well as a youth side led by Stevie Frail.

It doesn't take much time to accept an invite out to Dubai with the organisers delighted to bring out Paolo Maldini and Paolo di Canio in the AC Milan Legends side with Emirates sponsoring Milan next season.

Whyte said: "This is a great event socially for the older lads and a great experience for the younger players.

"They'll get the chance to train in great facilities and play against the best young players from different countries.

"Seven aside football is a bit different but it concentrates on the skill side of the game.

"This is a massive event in Dubai and something that a lot of planning goes into. It's great to see Celtic involved and there are plenty of supporters out here looking forward to it."

Whyte played in the Tommy Burns tribute match last May where various generations of former players got together to honour the memor of the former Celtic manager.

The prospect of a get together in Dubai will always be popular with Whyte looking forward to hosting some of his former team-mates.

He added: "These events are great for lads like myself, we've got big Pierre and Regi Blinker coming over from Holland and I'm looking forward to seeing Gerry Britton and the other lads.

"The football is taken seriously and pulling on a Celtic jersey again means a lot to all of us.

"There's a good balance to the competitive and social side in the legends event but you can't take it easy if you are playing against Di Canio at any age".
Emirates 7's event

Frail lifts youths for Falkirk clash

Stevie Frail has spent the last two days lifting his dejected players after Saturday's 2-1 defeat from Rangers.

Celtic's u-19 side are back in action tomorrow against Falkirk with a 1pm kick off at Barrafield attempting to return to winning ways in the race for the title.

Frail's side still have to face Rangers at Murray Park but after Saturday's defeat the youth boss has had to use a mix of constructive criticism and motivation on his players.

He said: "The players heads were down after the match, their trying to take in what we are saying and all that they can hear from the next dressing room is their music blaring and a laugh and joke. Fine.

"We'll pick the players up and use experiences that we've had before. In Vilareal during the summer Liverpool won the cup against us, they were bouncing and our guys were distraught.

"We learned from that and took positives and we'll do the same again.

"There's a lot of the season still to go but we'll concentrate on Falkirk first of all. It's important to pick ourselves up and take three points from that before looking ahead.

"We have a game at Murray Park to come and that's one that we believe we are well equipped to go and win."

Saturday's defeat was a familiar story of losing to Rangers despite having the bulk of possession.

Chances however were at a premium against a well organised Rangers defence who knew how to defend in depth and secure their 18 yard box.

Substitute Bahrudin Atajic bravely scored the Celtic goal but picked up an ankle injury as he landed that saw him limp out of the match having only been on the pitch for 15 minutes.

Atajic was signed from Malmo in the summer with his strikers instinct impressing Frail.

The Celtic coach added: "Bahrudin is a clever player, you can see that in the areas that he takes up and he was very brave for his goal.

"It was probably one of the few real crosses that we put in, he got across the goalkeeper well, and put in a good header.

"He's only 16, he showed as soon as he came to the club that he is a good player, now we need to try and get him a bit fitter and upto the demands of Scottish football."

Looking back at the performance against Rangers Frail added: "We know that we have to degend better, it's not always going to be silky soccer, you need to grind out results at times.

"I felt that we were the better footballing side but it's about winning games as well. Rangers had a plan, they worked hard, got two goals that we're disappointed with that, we'll need to work on them.

"In terms of possession we controlled the game but we need to make sure that we are switched on at the back.

"Although we had possession we didn't force their 'keeper into making many saves, we were disapointed with our deliveries from set-pieces.

"Overall it's disappointing but we have a big game on Tuesday against Falkirk, we're still at the top of the league and only lose that if Rangers win their game in hand."


SPL u-19 table