Tom Boyd video interview

By Joe McHugh

At the recent Masters event at Braehead I had the good fortune to catch up with Tom Boyd who was in good form after scoring against Rangers.

In the video interview he enjoys a joke or two about his scoring record, what life is like as a former Celtic player and his hopes of a championship winning new season with the side managed by two of his former team-mates Tony Mowbray and Peter Grant.

Whatever the occasion as a player Tom always made himself available to speak and is a natural in front of the cameras, or in this case mobile phone.

FULL TOM BOYD INTERVIEW

Tom is always the perfect diplomat, in a decade of playing for Celtic he barely said a word out of place during turbulent times and as a former player he's resisted the temptation to make a quick buck by becoming a rent-a-quote in times of 'crisis'.

He's got the inside track on virtually everything exciting that happened in over a decade at Celtic having played through the Lou Macari era, the takeover of the club, working under Fergus McCann and Jock Brown through to the trophy winning transformation under Martin O'Neill and serenely into retirement.

His enthusiasm and continued support for the club is obvious through his attendance at matches where he is often seen with his son, supporting the team just as he did before becoming a professional at Motherwell and Chelsea prior to signing for Celtic.

As ever Tom is always good company, he's always got lots to say and retains the competitive spirit as he demonstrated throughout the recent Masters tournament where he played virtually every minute along with Mark McNally as the only natural defenders in the squad.

Goalscoring was never one of his strengths, he justifies that in his interview, but he did find the net against Rangers in the Masters even though the shine was taken from that as Rangers battled back to draw 2-2.

The new approach of Tony Mowbray has been warmly welcomed by the Celtic support anticipating a new era of excitement back around the club with the emphasis on attacking football without compromising the necessity of winning matches and trophies.

Tom played alongside Mowbray and Peter Grant and is looking forward to the new season as much as any supporter but knows that there is only one acceptable criteria at Celtic.

It was a pleasure to speak to Tommy inbetween games at the Masters, after the interview Celtic beat Hearts to reach the final where they defeated Dundee United 3-2.

A nice circuit is developing for the former players who last season played exhibition games in Dublin, Cork and Tenerife and who start the new season shortly with a trip to the spiritual home of Celtic in Sligo.

CLICK HERE for Masters trophy presentation

PIERRE VAN HOOJIDONK

Catching up with a footballer after 11pm on a Saturday night isn't the best of times but Pierre van Hooijdonk was good enough to talk to me for a few minutes.

PIERRE VAN HOOJIDONK VIDEO INTERVIEW

Pierre's Celtic career was certainly memorable enough playing during an era when the club came back to life again with the return to the rebuilt Celtic Park whilst ending the six years trophy drought with the 1995 Scottish Cup Final win over Airdrie.

The lows are equally as well documented with a promising team featuring 'The Three Amigos' failing to fulfill it's promise with Pierre, Jorge Cadete, Paolo di Canio and manager Tommy Burns all departing in quick succession before the championship was regained in 1998.

Unlike most of today's players Pierre never shirked a question off the park which caused him some grief at Celtic as well as Nottingham Forest whom he left Celtic for.

The measure of his talent however can be gauged by the fact that he won 46 caps scoring 14 times during a golden period for Dutch football.

Over a decade on from leaving Celtic Pierre is a regular visitor to the club and speaks especially warmly about his friendship with Tommy Burns.

When Pierre joined Celtic the club was training at Barrafield and playing in front of 23,000 supporters most weeks at Hampden.

The transformation in the club can often be overlooked as we chase further glory both in Europe and in terms of domestic dominance with a generation of supporters now accustomed to crowds around 60,000 at home matches regardless of the opposition and expecting Champions League campaigns.

That is the sort of achievements Celtic should be hitting regularly with the seeds for that success planted by the eye-catching team of the mid-nineties that dragged Celtic out of depression with Pierre a massive part of the clubs rebirth.

MASTERS PRESENTATION

Coming soon video interview with Tom Boyd and Stewart Kerr

Striking the partnership

With Marc-Antoine Fortune signed up the Tony Mowbray era is well under way with the first friendly of the season looming on Sunday away to Brisbane Roar.

The partnership that Fortune forges with Scott McDonald is vital to our Champions League prospects as we all know that the McDonald-Georgios Samaras partnership is a non-runner.

Amongst the many disappointments of last season the decline of Samaras was one of the most noticeable and painful.

From the heights he reached in September at Fir Park to the powder-puff performances of the last few months of the season it was hard to believe that we were watching the same player.

Amongst the comments coming from Tony Mowbray after signing Fortune was the claim that the strikers arrival at West Brom increased the goal return of the team although Fortune himself only scored 5 goals in 17 appearances.

Whilst assists and bringing others into play is important the main task for any Celtic striker will always be to score goals with 20 the benchmark for any Celtic forward.

If Fortune can deliver that I think that we can expect McDonald to hit between 25 and 30 injury permitting then we will have gone some way to making up for last season's shortcomings.

The Champions League qualifying campaign starts in less than three weeks, forging a partnership between Fortune and McDonald will be key to our hopes of reaching the group stages of that competition for the fourth season running.

Mark McNally VIDEO interview

by Joe McHugh

Mark McNally was the unexpected matchwinner at Saturday's Masters Event at Braehead with the goal that beat Dundee United 3-2 in the final.

VIDEO INTERVIEW with Mark after the Masters, a bit rushed and uncordinated but I'll get better, it's never easy in pre-season.

Mark had a strange Celtic career, playing under four different managers during his 113 first team appearances.

Originally from Newarthill he first appeared at Celtic during the Centenery season benefitting from the decision to play in the Reserve League West which was basically for the youth team with the main reserve side playing in the Premier Reserves.

A good number of players progressed into the game from that period with the reserves managed by Bobby Lennox with Benny Rooney taking the 'third team'.

Gerry Crainey and Stevie Fulton made an impact at Celtic before being transferred for useful fees while Gerry Britton, Davie Elliot, Stuart Balmer and Alex Mathie all had good careers in the game playing into their thirties.

When former youth team players start turning out in the Masters it's a bit of an eye opener, much like finding Owen Archdeacon's son Mark playing senior football.

Despite leaving Celtic in 1995 Mark McNally has been a regular at matches and functions and made a few appearances on Celtic TV as well, never hiding the fact that he was a keen supporter.

His Celtic playing career brought only one medal during that difficult period of the early 90s, ironically that came in his last ever Celtic match when he stood in for the suspended Tony Mowbray and injured Brian O'Neil in the 1-0 Scottish Cup Final win over Airdrie in 1995.

After Celtic he went on to play for Southend, Stoke City and Dundee United before running his career down at Ayr Utd, Clydebank, Partick Thistle and finally Stirling Albion where he went on to become assistant manager to Allan Moore.

During his time at Stirling he took the team to Celtic Park for a Scottish Cup tie in January 2008 before taking up a coaching post at the SFA.

MASTERS PRESENTATION VIDEO

Further videos to follow from Tom Boyd, Stewart Kerr and Pierre van Hoojidonk.

Blinkin magic, Regi is the master!

Celtic won the 2009 Scottish Masters title at Braehead with the unlikely double act of Regi Blinker and Mark McNally as the goal hero's!

The night started slowly with a 3-1 defeat from Dundee United but goals from Andy Walker and Tom Boyd, yip Tom Boyd, put Celtic two up on Rangers before being pegged back to draw 2-2.

Dundee United then hammered Rangers 6-2 to top the group leaving Celtic requiring a two goal win over Hearts to reach the final.

A double from Walker put Celtic in front but Alan Lawrence pulled a goal back before the interval.

After the break Pierre Van Hooijdonk put Celtic in front, and in the final, and with Hearts chasing the goal that would take them into the final Darren Jackson scored to give Celtic a 4-1 win and place in the final.

Celtic came out the traps flying in the final with a double from Blinker putting Celtic in control before Paddy Connolly pulled a goal back.

Craig Brewster equalised for United but Mark McNally popped up with a winner as Celtic took the title and booked themselves a place in the British Finals in Liverpool.

Stewart Kerr deserves a special mention in his first Masters competition with some great saves that won't have done his old back injury any favours.

During the event I had the good fortune to catch a few video interviews with Boyd, Kerr, McNally and van Hooijdonk which I'll be posting through the week.

The Mowbray era kicks off in style thanks to

Stewart Kerr, Tom Boyd, Brian McLaughlin, Chic Charnley, Mark McNally, Andy Walker, Darren Jackson, Pierre van Hooijdonk.