TOM BOYD AUDIO INTERVIEW: Part 2

By kick-off time tonight every Battle of Britain cliche will have been used up.

The media whip up the hype in response to supporters and interest, tonight's Celtic-Arsenal clash is a unique knock-out tie in what is basically the first week of the football season.

The build up would be much less intense if Celtic had been drawn against Stuttgart or Lyon, the club may have had to try pushing ticket sales but that wasn't needed from the moment the Uefa draw paired Celtic and Arsenal together.

TOM BOYD AUDIO INTERVIEW PART 2

TOM BOYD AUDIO INTERVIEW PART 1

A decade or two ago the game would have been entirely different, George Graham's '1-0 to the Arsenal' side played a different brand of football even though Iain Wright and Paul Merson did add flair to a famous back four.

BEAUTIFUL

Celtic, under Gordon Strachan, hardly adopted the beautiful game, the trophies were won, the titles celebrated but the football was far from breathtaking with supporters attending through habit without any great hopes or expectations of excitement.

It's only three games into the Tony Mowbray reign but there's an air of excitement back amongst the Celtic support with Arsenal, to quote Martin O'Neill, providing the benchmark to judge how far Celtic have progressed and how far they have to go.

There will be passion and electricity in the air around Celtic Park but it will be a footballing match with little in the way of blood and snotters regardless of the Battle of Britain tag.

Tom Boyd has savoured just about everything that can come your way as a Celtic player and supporter, the despair and elation that are invariably mixed together before and after the huddle.

ANTICIPATION

Celtic Park has hosted all of the major names in European football over the last decade with Boyd anticipating tonight's game eagerly without being whooped along by the hype.

He said: "The game is built up a lot in the press but it's not a bigger match than playing Milan or Barcelona who've been to Celtic Park recently.

"Arsenal have very little English players, the manager has his own style of play, it's not an English style game or mentality. He prefers the foreign approach.

ENGLAND

"Fabio Capello has also got England playing a bit differently. As a nation England are renowned for their battling style but that's not the Arsenal way, they like to get the ball down and play, that's why I think that we'll have a great open style of football.

"I don't think that the game will fail to live up to expectations. The way that both managers play the game I'm expecting it to be an open free-flowing match.

"It won't be a Battle of Britain type of game, I'm looking forward to a lot of great players being on show. I just hope that Celtic come out of the game intact and with a chance for the second leg."

NAKAMURA

The focus of attention for Celtic so far this season has been on Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney, to such an extent that the departure of Shunsuke Nakamura has barely been mentioned.

Nakamura brought class, poise and style to Strachan's side. He wasn't blessed with blistering pace but made up for that in other ways with a string of memorable goals and performances littering his Celtic career.

Four good seasons is as much as you can expect from players these days with Naka moving on before he had the chance to work with Mowbray.

How he would have fitted into the new-look Celtic side will remain unanswered but Boyd has no doubt that the Japanese midfielder would have thrived under Mowbray.

WIDE

The former Celtic skipper added: "When you look at the wide men, Shaun and Aiden, there is a lot of pace but Naka would be able to play as well.

"If you look at Aiden being given licence to roam I think that would have suited Naka with the way that he can play and pick his passes.

"He was never allowed to play that way. Like Aiden he had to do a job for the team in a wide midfield position and also working back the way.

"I think that Nakamura would have excelled playing in the hole and being allowed to come in off the wing as often as Aiden is.

"Shaun coming back has covered for the loss of Nakamura, him and Aiden are key players for Tony and it would be interesting to see who would come in if either of them picked up a knock.

"That would be a dilemma for the manager, would he change his style and formation if he didn't have the pace in the wider areas that he's getting from these areas."

Boyd will watch the game as a Celtic supporter, partisan in his support for the side that he captained but fearful of making any type of prediction.

MINGIN

"I just want a Celtic victory, in terms of scores and predictions I'm absolutely mingin!" he laughed. "I do that in the Number 7 lounge and I've not had anything right for about five years.

"I'm useless when it comes to correct scores, all I want to get right is that Celtic are victorious and enter the Champions League."

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VIDEO

Peter Grant: Arsenal could keep the ball off you in a phone box!

First team coach Peter Grant is becoming a TalkSport regular on Alan Brazil's morning show.

Peter is apparently the first man through the doors at Lennoxtown with energy and enthusiasm to burn and loves to get gabbing about Celtic.

After a decade in exile down south he's clearly loving being back again with the big match atmosphere bubbling away as he prepares for tomorrow's match with Arsenal.

PETER GRANT TALKSPORT INTERVIEW

The Celtic management team know Arsenal better than the Gunners know Celtic with Grant in no doubt about the quality of their Champions League opponents.

He said: "Arsenal could keep the ball off you in a phone box, we have to concern ourselves with what we do when we have the ball.

ARSENAL

"We did that at West Bromwich Albion and that's the way that we approach every game. We'll go into this game having a right go at Arsenal as much as they'll be having a go at us. We've got good players and match winners as well.

"We're looking for Aiden and Shaun to influence every game, they should be seeing the ball all the time, in the past they've been stuck out in areas where they can't influence the game.

"The other players have to learn how to create space for them, slowly but surely they are starting to learn that.

"When those two get on the ball, when they get freedom they can do damage as they showed at Aberdeen. They've set the standards for themselves and we're delighted with them."

HAMMERING

After the joys of watching Celtic take Aberdeen apart in the first half at Pittodrie Arsenal responded in style with a 6-1 hammering of Everton.

The quality of Aberdeen and Everton is clearly open to question but there's no doubting that Celtic and Arsenal appear to be in top form as they prepare for tomorrow nights clash.

"We've not been sleeping since Saturday night," Grant laughed. "We already knew that Arsenal are a fantastic side but David (Moyes) would be the first to admit that it's very unlike Everton to conceded the goals that they did.

"Arsenal have top quality players, there's no doubt about that but we've got good players as well and we won't go into the game frightened.

RUSSIA

"Our players have got a bit of belief from going to Russia and winning. I think that our performance there was underestimated, we played very well over there and we want to continue that.

"It's fantastic games for both clubs, everybody keeps saying that Celtic must be disappointed with the draw but Arsenal won't be too pleased with it either."

Coming up later today Tom Boyd looks forward to the Arsenal matches

TOM BOYD AUDIO INTERVIEW: We'll get through against Arsenal

by Joe McHugh Former Celtic skipper Tom Boyd is looking forward to seeing the hoops put Arsenal out of the Champions League.

The build up towards Tuesday's clash was upped a notch or three, or six, by the weekend results with both side's turning on the style to win convincingly away from home.

Tom Boyd audio interview

The talking that matters will be carried out on the pitch with Boyd confident that Celtic can turn on the style to book a place in the group stages of the Champions League.

MOSCOW

He said: "I'm confident about the match, the way that the boys played against Aberdeen and in the second leg against Moscow Dynamo will have given everyone confidence.

"I know that Arsenal went on to beat Everton 6-1 but I think that Celtic at Celtic Park in the Champions League is very different.

"That win could be a good thing for Celtic. Arsenal got it easy with Everton being so poor, hopefully they will underestimate Celtic coming off a very good performance like that. I'm sure that they will come up here confident of doing something in the first match.

"We have a proud record in Europe at Celtic Park. Tony Mowbray has got the team playing in a different style, a far more open, inventive and creative style and the players will be looking forward to the challenge of facing Arsenal."

MCGEADY

Mowbray's side is starting to have a settled look about it with a heavy emphasis on speed from the wide areas through Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady.

Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras got the goals in Moscow to take Celtic into the final Champions League qualifier but new signing Marc-Antoine Fortune has still to find the net... after three competitive games!

Fortune's contribution to the team can't be doubted but equally strikers are there to score goals and it's not unreasonable to expect a Celtic striker to find the net 20 times a season given the domination and possession that they enjoy in most games.

Not every striker has suddenly found the net as soon as they pull on a Celtic jersey with Boyd recalling one famous Celt who took his time before getting amongst the goals.

HARTSON

The former Celtic defender added: "The legend that is John Hartson took a long time to get his first Celtic goal, I think that he finally scored with a hat-trick against Dundee United.

"John went on to score over a hundred goals for Celtic and I'm looking forward to Marco getting his first goal.

"It's not a concern at the moment although I'd love him to get a goal to lift the monkey from his back, the longer it goes on the more that the press will make of it.

"The way that he plays helps the team, he's a key figure within the way that Tony wants the team to play."

Tom Boyd audio interview part 2 to follow Tuesday afternoon

Mowbray demands more 'we can play miles better'

Smiles were back on the faces of the Celtic support after the 3-1 win over Aberdeen today but new manager Tony Mowbray is demanding more from his team.

A 3-0 half-time lead on the opening day of the season would have most bosses in a happy mood but perhaps highlighting his determination to be a winner Mowbray cast a critical eye over his team's finishing rather than praise the quality of their play.

A double from Aiden McGeady and a typical Scott McDonald strike secured the points for Celtic on the opening day but not the complete approval of their manager.

Mowbray said: "There was some good and some bad in our performance. I was frustrated at half-time that we didn't have a greater advantage, a truer reflection might have been one or two more goals.

"We had some great opportunities, got into great goalscoring areas but we didn't take our chances. I didn't have a blast at the strikers at half-time but I tried to gee them up a bit.

HAUNT

"At Cardiff in pre-season we failed to put our chances away, those days could come back to haunt you if you keep missing chances or getting into great areas and not scoring. I'm not 100% happy but obviously delighted to get a win away from home.

"We played miles better in both games against Moscow Dynamo. The shape of the team and the way that we moved the ball about was better in those games.

"There's lots for us to work on. I told the players that we'll have to be miles better on Tuesday against Arsenal, we'll be asked a lot more questions in that game."

Goalscorers McGeady and McDonald, who played against each other in midweek when Australia beat Ireland 3-0 in Limerick, were in agreement with their managers judgement of the game.

McGeady said: "The manager was disappointed that we never scored more goals in the first half, the boys felt the same.

CHANCES

"We did have a lot of chances, we put a few away but it could have been five or six. You want to win every game by as many goals as you can.

"A few of us were disappointed with the way that the second half went, if Aberdeen had got a goal it could have got quite nervy for us."

McDonald added: "It's good as a striker to get a goal but I would have liked a couple more, I could have scored one right at the start of the game.

"We probably should have got five or six in the first half. That's something that we'll have to get about our game very quickly and be lethal, especially on Tuesday night.

ARSENAL

"If we get one chance against Arsenal we have to take it. We believe that we can do the business against Arsenal, we've got them at home first and Celtic Park is a fortress for us."

It could have been much worse for Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee who has watched his side lose all three games since he took over at the club.

McGhee said: "I'm not going to get too upset with this, Celtic are a good team, they played well in the first half when their movement was too much for us. We lost the game to a good team."

Celtic finished the match with ten men but Mowbray has no worries over an injury to Shaun Maloney. The former Aston Villa midfielder looked to have picked up a bad knee injury but Mowbray revealed that it was just a spot of cramp.

AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH MALKY MACKAY