Celtic turning on the style

By Joe McHugh

The emotions of being a Celtic fan were highlighted brilliantly at Wembley yesterday as Tony Mowbray's side gave the sort of performance that we've been waiting months/years to see.

Without kicking off a Mowbray-Strachan debate yesterday's 5-0 hammering of Egyptian side Al Ahly was basically achieved by the same players that couldn't score against Hibs or Hearts to hand cash-strapped Rangers the SPL title.

The despair of last season as we staggered from game to game without any confidence or pattern and regularly without goals was blown away as a team containing Lee Naylor and Massimo Donati demonstrated that they are certainly capable of better than they have shown over the last two seasons.

Only Marc-Antoine Fortune and Landry N'Guemo had been added to last season's side while Shunsuke Nakamura, Paul Hartley and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink have moved on.

The actual players didn't seem so important yesterday, the most impressive feature was the movement, energy and confidence of players who had been running on empty last season and appeared demoralised at times.

Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney were the key players in the revamp.

Notionally given wide roles both players had licence to move inside, looking for the ball and creating chances as well as causing problems for defenders whilst opening up spaces for full-backs to explore.

Strachan's wide men were exactly that, wide players, fed the ball on the flank then expected to be creative with two markers in close pursuit.

That system did bring some success and had it's merits but there was always the feeling that we weren't getting the best out of Nakamura and McGeady while others also suffered in a team over reliant on two players.

With McGeady and Maloney happy to cut inside to link up with strikers Scott McDonald and Fortune there was openings for N'Guemo and Donati to exploit with full-backs Naylor and Andreas Hinkel both happy to exploit the space created.

Despite all the attacking options it was impossible to look beyond the contribution of Artur Boruc who although hardly in perfect shape demonstrated that natural instinct to pull off saves that ordinary 'keepers don't get near.

Holding back the optimism won't be easy, at least until the next match, but there was enough on show at Wembley to suggest that we might have a team making progress again and there's a good case for arguing that since the Champions League ties with AC Milan in 2007 the team hadn't been developing.

A win over Spurs to claim the Wembley Cup would be great, and hopefully an invite back for next season's event, but the only games that matter are those against Moscow Dynamo over the next ten days.

Ousting the Russians from the Champions League will be a major achievement and give the squad a much needed confidence boost for the season ahead.

The glasses are all half-full at the moment with hope and promise in the air, if these strange emotions continue then going to watch Celtic could suddenly become enjoyable again!

Stewart Kerr VIDEO INTERVIEW

By Joe McHugh

Maybe it's an age thing or even a generation thing but it's always great to catch up with former players, players who were part of scenery around Celtic for a while but who suddenly disappear off the radar.

STEWART KERR VIDEO INTERVIEW (taken after losing the first Masters game to Dundee United)

Stewart Kerr is one of those mid-nineties sorta players, along with Simon Donnelly, Malky Mackay, Phil O'Donnell and Jackie McNamara they were all reasonably local, could relate to the supporters and were approachable about the job that they loved.

The Masters football event is becoming a sort of Friends Reunited diary date with Kerr making his Celtic debut this season and playing no small part in winning the trophy.

Playing in the tournament can be quite an eye-opener after watching on telly, especially for a goalkeeper with the crossbar at seven feet high and players blasting in shots from ten yards or less that you are expected to stop by whatever means.

UNFULFILLED

Kerr has a short and unfulfilled career but from the interview I had with him he's far from downhearted about the way things turned out realising early on that a back injury was never going to allow him to fulfill his potential.

Perhaps making his debut for the red-carded Gordon Marshall should have acted as a warning for Kerr but after getting his chance unexpectedly in November 1996 he went on to hold on to the his place for the remainder of the season.

At the end of that season Tommy Burns was dismissed and a regular summer season of appointing Celtic managers took place with Wim Jansen, Jo Venglos and John Barnes appointed before Martin O'Neill brought some stability to the job.

KHARINE

One of Jansen's first signings was Jonathan Gould who quickly established himself as first choice with Kerr as a reliable deputy, well certainly more reliable than Dimitrei Kharine who was one of Barnes more forgettable, and expensive signings.

Kerr finally moved on from Celtic in August 2001 to Wigan Athletic for £700,000 reflecting the potential that he carried as a Scotland under-21 keeper and five years experience in the Celtic squad.

Sadly back injuries caught up with him forcing his retirement a year after joining Wigan with just eight appearances to his name.

These days Kerr is back in Scotland working as Aidrie's goalkeeping coach and keeping in touch with former Celtic team-mates, replacing Packie Bonner in the recent Tommy Burns Tribute Match.

Nine-in-a-row starts today

By Joe McHugh

Neil Lennon takes his first steps into management today when Celtic's reserve side faces Albion Rovers in the annual Jock Stein Friendship Cup.

2009 Reserve League Champions at Ibrox video

The greatest manager that the game has ever known, who turned a team into European Cup winners in just over two years, will be celebrated when the two Scottish teams that he played for meet up at Cliftonhill.

For Lennon it's the next inevitable step in the management business after being the most decorated Celtic player of his generation.

Gordon Strachan brought Lennon back to Celtic in March 2008, less than a year after his playing career ended, as Celtic dramatically clinched the title on the final day of the specially extended season against Dundee United.

Being a No. 2 or No.3 can be either a cushy number or thankless task depending on results but it's important for an aspiring manager to establish himself independently rather than being forever associated as part of the furniture trailing around two steps behind 'the boss'.

SPECULATION

There was some speculation, probably well founded, that Lennon may not fit in with the new management team of Tony Mowbray, Mark Venus and Peter Grant with Stockport County interested in seeing if Lennon was ready to start off as a manager in his own right.

Retaining Lennon provides Mowbray with an insight into the current Celtic dressing room and the lowdown on SPL opponents which could be priceless in the early months of the season.

Lennon, like any former Celt involved in management, would love one day to become manager of the club but knows that that incredible honour is given to few and is never decided on sentiment with various factors, circumstances and timing deciding who gets the call to lead Celtic.

After more than a season as first team coach Lennon steps out as a manager today at Albion Rovers with the difficult task of managing the reserves in a very uncertain climate.

Even before the crash of Setanta there were threats against the Reserve League with short sighted clubs squealing about the costs of fielding a team for 22 games a season!

INVESTMENT

With all the supposed investment in youth football going on throughout the game it shouldn't be too much of a burden for clubs to arrange three games a month to field first team fringe players and the best of their emerging talents.

Celtic have made the Reserve League their own over the last eight seasons whilst also being the dominant force in first team football. Those facts are not accidental.

Providing a platform for frustrated or injured first team players to return to top team action and another stepping stone forward for youth prospects is the main priority of the reserve side. And winning.

Predicting the make up of the reserve team is virtually impossible with 40 plus players likely to be used over the season.

UJPEST

The better players are likely to be sent out on loan with Ujpest Dozsa a likely destination while we'll soon find out if Tony Mowbray is as keen as Gordon Strachan to loan players out in the SPL where Cillian Sheridan, Paul McGowan, Scott Cuthbert and Paul Caddis spent the second part of last season.

Jason Marr and Danny Lafferty stepped comfortably into reserve team football last season where they formed the backbone of the title winning side alongside Paddy McCourt and Mark Millar.

Marr and Lafferty should continue with the reserves whilst it may be time for Millar and McCourt to move out on loan at the end of August if they aren't in and around the first team, Niall McGinn and Koki Mizuno could also be in that position.

Lennon's task is to keep these players motivated knowing that in all honesty playing for the reserves isn't what is required at this stage of their career.

Anything beyond two season's of reserve team football is of little use to players or coaches, the journey forward begins today at Albion Rovers as the new season gets underway.

McStay prepares for Ujpest debut

By Joe McHugh


Former Celtic reserve boss Willie McStay couldn't have asked for a tougher start to his new job as manager of Ujpest Dozsa than a Europa League qualifier against Steau Bucharest.

After less than a month in the job McStay, and his assistant Joe McBride, travel to the Romanian capital hoping to cause a shock that would certainly be noticed around Europe.

Hungarian football has plummeted over the last twenty years whilst pockets of Eastern Europe have flourished with local entrepreneurs pouring their new found wealth into football clubs and attracting players from around the world, particularly from South America.

DIFFICULTIES
Steaua have a great European pedigree and last season they played in the group stage of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Lyon but despite the difficulties of the tie McStay is looking forward to the challenge of leading his new side into action for the first time.

"Before the draw was made our president said that he wanted to avoid Steaua and Galatasaray but unfortunately we got paired with Steaua," he admitted.

"It'll be a very tough challenge for the club, for myself and the players, but we've prepared well. I've been to watch Steaua against CSKA Sofia and everyone is ready for the match.

"I've picked up as much information as possible about them, they have excellent players with good European experience.

"It's going to be a very hard game for us, totally different to games in the Hungarian league but these ties will quickly given me an idea of the squad and where we need to strengthen.

"There's not much money available for transfers but my job is to work with the players that we have and put my stamp on their game.

"That will be an attacking passing game but we're not going to get the chance to do that against Steaua. We'll have to try and keep it tight and hope to take any chances that we create."

CHALLENGE
After over a decade in charge of Celtic's youth development programme and almost three years managing the Celtic reserve side McStay is enjoying the new challenge of working at the cutting edge of the game in an entirely new environment.

Withoutquite developing a Schteve McLaren-esque accshent he speaks at a slower pace delivering his words carefully after a few weeks of dealing with a curious local press intrigued by the new man in charge.

Dealing with the media is an essential part of modern management although it can't be easy handling camera crews from Romanian television channels probing for an insight into his thoughts on how Ujpest will fare against Steaua.

"The language is fine," he admitted. "All of the players speak or understand English, I've got a good interpreter but my delivery has to be different.

"I have to speak slower and doing that you can lose some meaning. I went off into a two minute rant the other week and although I don't think that the players really understood me the message got across.

INTERPRETER
"We've now got an interpreter that understands football-speak. The language on the training pitch or in the dressing room is different to ordinary language. He knows the phrases and the meanings, small things like that can make a big difference.

"I have to get my views over and feel the reaction of players, that part is difficult but I'm learning their language and the players are getting used to the way that I operate.

"It's strange but challenging to come to a new country and have to pick things up fast in football terms.

"I'm learning about Ujpest, the other teams in the city and elsewhere in Hungry, finding out how they play, the type of players that we have and how best to use them.

"It's a huge learning curve but I'm really enjoying it. Everything is new and challenging and I can honestly say that 24 hours isn't enough hours in the day for me.

"It'll make me a better coach, I'm learning about a new football culture and having to adapt using the experience that I've picked up over the last 15 years.

MCBRIDE
"Having Joe McBride with me has been invaluable, we know how each other operates and it helps you settle in when there's someone that you've worked with before at the club.

"We've got a similar vision for how to play the game and so far everything has gone as well as we could have wished for."

Scottish managers have scattered themselves around the globe in recent years with Iain Porterfield, Bobby Williamson and Jimmy Bone finding themselves in unusual outposts.

Jobs in Europe have been a rarity with England normally the extent of any coach or managers ambitions.

Taking the leap into the relative unknown of Hungarian football is both a huge challenge but also a risk for McStay who probably had one of the safest jobs in Scottish football with 15 years service at Celtic.

Giving Steaua Bucharest a fright in his first competitive game would certainly launch his managerial career which without doubt will be closely followed by the movers and shakers at his former club.