Has McGinn's time arrived?

Is Niall McGinn at the stage in his Celtic career where he has to become a regular starter?

Other than Landry N'Guemo and Aiden McGeady, the former Derry City winger looks to be the only Celtic player currently on top of his game and playing with confidence.

The more match time he gets the more effective he becomes. Despite missing a few chances today he kept on making himself available and worked the ball well from his left side onto his favoured right before scoring with conviction.

With N'Guemo about to leave for the African Nations Cup there will have to be some changes to the midfield with McGinn as a starter becoming a serious option.

The main obstacle to McGinn becoming a regular would appear to be McGeady, or more accurately, McGeady's role in the team. Starting with both players on the wings would give the side more of a 4-2-4 formation that 4-4-2 but with N'Guemo missing for most of January perhaps it might be an option to give Aiden a more central role, or his Co-Operative Cup Final role as he successfully defined it.

After his goal against Hamilton McGinn said: "There was a bit of nervousness and so it was important to get our second goal.


"Hopefully that will make the manager think about his team over the next couple of weeks. I feel I am getting fitter, becoming a better player and my confidence is on a high.

"So far my season has been unbelievable and hopefully soon I will be in the starting eleven, week-in, week-out."

The debate between the glass half-full and half-empty camps after today's display will be lively but it depends on your starting point as to the view that you take.

Not surprisingly the defence remains a major concern. After some promising early season signs Artur Boruc is back looking unpredicatable and was badly caught out at the disallowed Hamilton goal while no central defensive partnership has looked convincing.

The Georgios Samaras debate could go on forever. There's no doubt that he has great skill and has moments of inspiration but in his current role he's as much a wide player that pushes forward as he is a striker. Against Hamilton Accies at home Celtic need as many strikers as possible with Scott McDonald looking isolated and frustrated in equal measures.

Marco Fortune was much more like the striker we've been hoping for. He's more direct than Samaras, playing on the shoulders of defenders and after hitting the woodwork again today he looks capable of going on a serious scoring run.

Everything about the season hinges on January 3, providing that Kilmarnock are safely negotiated on Wednesday.

Two wins from our next SPL fixtures before the break for the Scottish Cup would give time for any January signings to be settled in for the less testing home match with Falkirk on January 16.

The Rangers game is the priority with McGinn hopeful that his performance today has edged him closer to his first big match start.
He added: "My only low point was not being involved in the Rangers game at Ibrox.

"If I get a start against Rangers on January 3 I will be more than ready. It's another challenge I relish and even if I'm on the bench I can come on and make an impact."

He added: "But it was important to get the three points today to close the gap on Rangers, so hopefully Hibs can do us a favour by pulling off a win or by getting a draw, which will also be a good result.

"We also need to win on Wednesday night against Kilmarnock to make sure we go in the Rangers game on a high."

Boogy panto time- Oh yes he is? Oh no he's not...

Is he, or isn't he, and who really cares?

'Rangers boost as Madjid Bougherra gets OK for Old Firm clash' screams the Daily Record today before going on to admit that the story hasn't been confirmed by the Algerian FA and comes from local 'sources'.

Over on the Rangers website yesterday, the club were giving their supporters the truth on the matter: 'The defender will leave for Angloa after the game,' referring to tomorrow's match with Hibs.
Bougherra or not the January 3 game is a must win for Celtic, anything less is going to make January a very long and testing month.

It's only one game at a time etc etc but come kick-off time on January 3 Celtic must be going into the match on the back of two solid wins against Hamilton and Kilmarnock regardless of what happens to Rangers against Hibs and Dundee United.

Celtic's season to date has been testing and troubling, hints of promise mixed with plenty of scary moments not helped by several refereeing decisions which seem to have consistently gone against us.

Off the top of my head have any marginal decisions gone Celtic's way this season?

After Santa what can we expect from January?

Christmas lasts for a full month for football agents with the action getting underway next week.

How many players have already been linked with a move to Celtic?

Looking at the recent record of the club I think it's fair to say that the players and agents that make the most noise are the least likely to be signing for the club.

Of the five players that Tony Mowbray has brought to the club only the deal to bring Marco Fortune has been played out in public.

All of the other deals have been carried out quietly with minimum publicity until they have been virtually signed and delivered.

The loan deal for Landry N'Guemo came to light from the Nancy website with a very matter of fact announcement, Danny Fox's arrival was highlighted as he underwent a medical the day before his debut against Al Ahly at the Wembley Cup.

With speculation flying around all over the place on the final day of the August transfer window Zheng Zhi was brought on board with the deal to bring Ki Sung Yueng to the club becoming public with the negotiations well under way ahead of the request for a work permit.

Most clubs prefer to keep their transfer business low key, most agents like to slip out information about their players to increase their profile and stimulate demand.

Unless Dermot Desmond intends dipping into his personal fortune I think it's pretty safe to write off any transfers from the Premiership; the Championship seems to be the limit of Celtic's transfer interest in England.

This month alone there has probably been in excess of 20 players brought in to Lennoxtown to be assessed, very few of those players are likely to be first team material which is clearly the area of most concern for supporters and the clubs management.

January is mostly a month of letdowns, none more so than last season, when the addition of Willo Flood did nothing for Celtic's ambitions and gave hope to a Rangers side desperate to offload players.

The previous January, the arrivals of Barry Robson, Georgios Samaras and Andreas Hinkel gave Celtic a badly needed boost and even if the season didn't run to script it did have a particularly happy ending as three-in-a-row was celebrated at Tannadice despite the season being extended to accommodate others.

Chelsea and Manchester United have both indicated that they won't be involved in the January transfer scene, even Harry Redknapp has distanced himself from involving Spurs but you'll get generous odds from any booky on 'arry being able to resist a bit of trading throughout next month.

If there's no money circulating around the top end of the game there's unlikely to be much circulating elsewhere with the obvious exception of Manchester City.

Even clubs involved in the relegation battle are likely to continue without reinforcements with Portsmouth banned from signing players and others like West Ham trying their best to stay afloat.

Offloading players is probably the most likely activity at most clubs, it's fair to say that there may be upto a dozen players that Mowbray wouldn't mind losing.

With Gary Caldwell, Lee Naylor, Barry Robson, Mark Brown and Chris Killen becoming free agents at the end of the season it wouldn't be a surprise to see any of them departing next month with others such as Koki Mizuno and Mark Wilson also likely to be moving on.

The transfer window will be more infuriating and frustrating than pleasing but we've become used to that, with Santa out of the way for another year perhaps the Herald may get around to revealing details of their secret Florida based billionaire...

Santa arrives in Watford as Malky's lot avoid administration

Christmas came early to Malky Mackay as a cheque for almost £5m from Lord Ashcroft saved Watford from going into administration.

Internal politics are part and parcel of football with Liverpool the classic example where even the joint owners of the club are at war with each other as the club plunges down the Premiership.

The sums involved at Watford are much smaller but after nine months in charge Jimmy Russo demanded the return of a £4.88m loan after stepping down from the board ahead of the club's recent AGM.

The threat of administration was very real with a ten point penalty likely to drop Watford in at the deep end of a relegation scrap.

With the dark cloud of administration removed Mackay needs his players to rediscover their form after a worrying run of one win in five games.

The festive period is non-stop in England with Watford facing Nottingham Forest and Bristol City on the 26th and 28th of this month before starting the new year away to Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Casting a Scrooge-like professional eye at the fixtures coming up Mackay has issued a business as usual message to his players over the festive period.

He said: "The players have a game Boxing Day so they will be in training Christmas morning.

"Then we are in all the way through as we have a game Boxing Day and then another game again two days later.

“We are travelling down there to Bristol so we have to make sure we are in all the time now.

“Christmas is a busy time for footballers and it is not a time of the year for taking time off. Martyn Pert (head of conditioning) gauges the rest they need and the recovery they need but, in the main, they just work all the way through."

The first six months in management have taught the former Celtic centre-half all that he'll ever need to know in terms of crisis management- the areas of the game that aren't covered in coaching courses or licenses.

Watford have been unable to pay a transfer fee for any players this year whilst trying to shift out the highest earners sometimes to rivals within their own division.

Throw in the resignation of the chairman that appointed him, the return of legendary manager Graham Taylor onto the board and the threat of administration and it all adds up to far from boring introduction to management.

Mackay however will be judged by results on the park, and sounding quite like Tony Mowbray, believes that Watford aren't far away from achieving the results that their play deserves.

He added: "We have got to make sure we get back to winning ways. I would be concerned if we weren’t actually playing well in games and creating chances.

"We are doing that and looking still as if we are in games and will win more than we lose. I think for the players to be where they are at the moment with so much going on is great credit to the boys.

"But we need to get back to winning ways and making sure we do not get beat, especially away from home.

"We have got to make sure we turn the defeats away from home into something better than that."

Watford Observor article

The day Craig Levein went tonto

As he was unveiled as the new Scotland manager at Hampden tonight it's hard to forget the most dramatic time of Craig Levein's management career.

May 10, 2008, just over 18 months ago, was the day that the then Dundee United managed exploded in rage with a number of his new colleagues in the firing line.

An abysmal display by former referee Mike McCurry was the source of Levein's anger as Dundee United's UEFA Cup hopes took a savage blow, whilst Rangers prepared for the UEFA Cup final and an unprecedented quadruple.

After watching his side denied a clear penalty and have a perfectly good own goal disallowed for reasons known only to the officials Levein couldn't contain his anger as he was interviewed afterwards.

About Mc Curry at the penalty incident the new Scotland manager said said: "We had a blatant penalty and he bottled it.

"If it's not a level playing field and, if we don't get the decisions, blatant, important decisions then what is the point of turning up?"

"I thought Mike McCurry had the balls to stand up and give these decisions. Not only is it a penalty kick, but it's a sending off for Davie Weir. But he didn't want to do it because this game meant so much to Rangers."

Levein continued: "Anybody who is of a fair mind watching that today would see that we had no chance of winning that.

"We get a perfectly good goal chalked off and a blatant penalty, with not even a decision to make, and it should've been a sending off."

The SFA were quick to defend McCurry against Levein's allegations but he was never allowed to referee another Rangers match before retiring early because he was being overlooked for high profile matches.

Levein picked up a £5,000 fine for his outburst but would have had to pay much more than that for the publicity that his comments generated.

Tomorrow he'll be rubbing shoulders with many of the committee men that his comments upset.

The controversy rumbled on throughout the summer with SFA President George Peat claiming that Levein's comments were criminal, United were far from happy with this since Peat would be part of the committee that judged the 'offence'.

BBC match report including Levein interview.

Levein fined £5,000 but not apologising

Dundee United statement on George Peat

SPL handouts and cash breakdown

The SPL have today handed out almost £1m to it's member clubs with an £80,000 cheque arriving before Santa calls, or the tax man, Vat man or bank man.

Every penny counts in these difficult times but there are probably 30 or more players in the Premiership picking up that sort of sum on a weekly basis.

Accompanying the announcement there was an interesting breakdown of costs involved with the SPL and how they divide up their income.

The SPL pays out £1.7m a year to the SFL which was agreed when they broke away and includes parachute payments.

No amount is given for parachute payments but it's unlikely to be anywhere near the £1m guaranteed to clubs for playing in the SPL.

Once the costs and deductions are made 48% of the remaining 'profit' is spread evenly across all clubs with the remaining 52% given out based on league positions.

There are no direct payments for televised games with all of the money going in the pot for distribution.

With Celtic and Rangers appearing in 90% of the live televised matches, of which 90% are away from home there is no bonus or benefit paid to either club with the cash pooled.

This could be seen as unfair but an extra £500,000 to either club is hardly going to make much difference whilst £50,000 could cover the salary of a first team player at most clubs or go a long way to maintaining a youth programme.

SPL statement

HARTSON plans Celtic return- and the Barrowlands

John Hartson is looking forward to an emotional return to Celtic Park in the new year.

The fans favourite scored in the tribute match to Tommy Burns in May of this year just weeks before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Emergency brain surgery saved the life of the Welsh striker with a return visit to Celtic high on his wish list for the new year.

Speaking to the Celtic View he said: "I would have come up for the derby on January 3 but I had already accepted an invitation to cover the West Ham v Arsenal game between two of my former clubs.

"I'll be up over new year but will fly down for that match. Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus have been on the phone, so has Lenny so I'll be back soon. It's just a case of getting my health right and sorting it out.

"I love coming back up to Celtic. I haven't been up since my illness but I have a great relationship with Peter Lawwell and he is always inviting me up with my parents and family.

Hartson added: "I have had incredible support from everyone, the likes of Gordon Strachan, Martin O'Neill, Tony Mowbray, Bertie Auld, Billy McNeill and everyone at Celtic.

"Neil Lennon, Shaun Maloney, most of the players have got in touch to see how I am and wish me all the best. It's great when you have that kind of support behind you."

It's not just Celtic Park that the striker is looking to visit- some favoured watering holes along the Gallowgate are also in his recovery plans!

He added: "When I come up to Glasgow I will go to the Barrowlands, I will go to the Celtic bars and I will talk to the supporters and have a pint with them.

"Word then gets around and people realise that you are a nice guy and for all that's happened to me in football I am just a guy who was brought up on a council estate in Swansea."

Another away day, another defensive disaster

What on earth was that all about?

Where do you start with the defeat at Hearts and the season in general?

Can we get through an away match without needing to score three goals to win?

For the fourth consecutive away match in the SPL Celtic opened the scoring before going on to lose two goals.

Whatever the personnel involved, whatever the formation and tactics it seems that basic defending is a lost art.

Running through the eight goals lost over the last eight days would terrify any self respecting defender.

Every goal lost will be viewed as preventable- that's the nature of the game- but the goals conceded to Motherwell, Rapid Vienna and at Hearts were hardly the results of world class finishing.

Going through the goals would be far too painful but at Lennoxtown this week that's what Tony Mowbray will have to do even if his patience is wearing thin.

The Celtic manager has tried out all three pairings in central defence over the last three games without any partnership looking imposing or deserving of an extended run in the team while both full-backs have also been found lacking.

After the Hearts defeat Mowbray said: "It's something that we have tried hard to eradicate but we conceded in an all too familiar fashion.

"You change things on the training ground and we get back to work. It's a daily thing about working with all parts of the team. There were plenty of positives but the big negative is that there are no points.

"We were disappointed in the way that we lost the second goal. However, we had a lot of opportunities but didn't take them."

There were chances but sadly most of them fell to the unpredictable Georgios Samaras. Last week's goal at Motherwell was the work of an inspired striker but for the majority of the time Samaras can be infuriating.

In the SPL I guess you have to accept the good with the bad, if Samaras wasn't infuriating he'd have been a hit with Manchester City or been snapped up by another Premiership side rather than be sold to Celtic for a quarter of the fee paid for him.

Even allowing for the defensive howlers Celtic should have been home and dry with a bit more conviction in front of goal.

Had Samaras headed an early chance into the path of Scott McDonald or tucked away a virtual open goal from a chance created by the Australian the defensive mistakes could have been glossed over as they were last week at Motherwell.

January looks like being a momentous month but before then six points from Hamilton Accies and Kilmarnock, anything less can't be considered.

Big Mick gets the result as Wolves hit mid-table

Mick McCarthy had the last laugh on the amateur assassins that had been ready to pounce if Wolves had lost to Burnley.

A 2-0 win over Owen Coyle's side sent Wolves soaring up the table into 12th place just days after being slaughtered for his selection policy against Manchester United.

Making ten changes for the trip to Old Trafford had provided an instant talking point as the Wolves boss virtually handed over the points when he posted his team-lines.

McCarthy's logic was that he needed his main players fresh for the Burnley fixture which as today's result has proved was indeed a genuine six-pointer with Wolves ahead of Burnley on goal difference.

Since announcing his team to face Manchester United the former Celtic centre half has been constantly questioned on the decision and even joked that he'd received text messages from Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry thanking him for deflecting attention. A contract from Gillette however is unlikely for big Mick.

Straight-talking is McCarthy's middle named as he confirmed after today's win.

He said: " Did the win justify my midweek team selection? I'm not looking for it at all, justification or vindication.

"It is all about results. People's opinions of my decisions, I'm not bothered with. One or two people's opinions of me, and my character, I might have trouble with but I'm not going to appease people just because we won. I'm not really bothered.

"I have to be able to manage the club, manage the players, maximise my resources, pick teams and be trusted with it by everyone concerned.

"The day I'm not trusted is the day I get out of the door, isn't it? So I have to be allowed to do that. We've had nine points out of 12 since the Birmingham game and people who were here when we played Birmingham would never have thought that.
"I am delighted but I kind of expected it because of the decisions I made. The nice part was the players believed in me and trusted me and let me get on with it.

"They were 100% behind the decisions I made and they played well today and won the game."

Anything less than a Burnley win and it would have been open season on McCarthy, especially after the way that Fulham turned over Manchester United.

In season 2005/2006 McCarthy was in charge of Sunderland who were relegated with a miserable 15 points breaking various Premiership records along the way.

The attention of the Premiership circus will move on from Wolves this week, leaving big Mick to get on with his job of establishing Wolves, and himself, in the top flight.