Shunsuke Nakamura expecting to quit Espanyol to return to Japan

Shunsuke Nakamura is poised to move back to Japan from Espanyol.

Coach Mauricio Pocchetino has informed the former Celtic midfielder that he doesn't feature in the clubs long term plans and is willing to release him to Japan.

"Nakamura is a big player, but his problem has been adapting to Spain," said the Espanyol coach.

"Then he can also not communicate with his team-mates and because of this it has been hard for him to offer good performances."

Nakamura barely spoke any English whilst playing for Celtic but with a club that dominated matches his football certainly did the talking.

Espanyol seem less willing to let Naka do his own thing with the parting of the ways expected shortly.

Sadly it seems that the wear and tear of four seasons in the SPL complimented by regular long-haul international trips have left the midfielder drained.

The 31-year-old had been expected to return to Japan after ending his Celtic contract in May but a long standing wish to sample Spanish football proved too much to resist.

Middlesbrough had put in a bid to take Nakamura on loan during the January transfer window but that was turned down by the Barcelona club.

Nakamura is expected to return home to the J-League when the new season begins next month.

Paddy McCourt moves up a level

The mystery of Paddy McCourt was opened up to a wider audience last night as the former Derry City man scored his first top-team goal for Celtic.

Fittingly it was his signature goal, drifting clear of chasing defenders then finishing the run with a simple flick of his foot to loft the ball out of reach of the despairing goalkeeper.

BBC highlights from Falkirk

That type of goal was a regular feature in Celtic TV's goal of the month as McCourt lit up reserve fixtures with his special gift.

A search around YouTube will bring to life a number of memorable solo efforts.

Fleeting first team appearances have helped add to the 'legend' of McCourt as he hugs the ball finding time in the game whilst others around him run faster and faster.

IDENTICAL

Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray have made almost identical comments about McCourt, the ability is not in question but there have been plenty of comments questioning his fitness, discipline and ability to become a 'team-man'.

After his goal at Falkirk Tony Mowbray said: "We know what Pat can do, at Wembley against Spurs he did something very similar but missed the target. Tonight he scored and he's more than capable of doing things like that, we see it every day in training.

"If football was only about your dribbling ability Pat would play every week, only probably McGeady can dribble like McCourt.

"There's more to the game than just dribbling and doing wonderful things. Pat has got plenty of things that he needs to add to his game to be a regular in the side."

NAKAMURA

It's probably too far fetched to compare McCourt with the departed Shunsuke Nakamura but the departed Japanese star hardly had the complete game.

The qualities that Mowbray would like to add to McCourt's game are similar to those demanded of Nakamura who enjoyed great success without having a turn of pace or being particularly industrious.

What Nakamura did have was time. Time on the ball, time to pass, time to hold onto the ball and vision to see passes beyond the capabilities of most.

There's no doubt that Nakamura was a luxury player. At Celtic, for four years, a team was fitted around him to give him scope to exercise his talents and influence games knowing full well that tracking back and work rate would never be part of Naka's game.

With transfer funds getting tighter and tighter Mowbray has to get the maximum from his squad, if McCourt can have anything like the influence on Celtic that Nakamura had then everyone will be happy.

PREMIERSHIP

McCourt isn't a stranger to Mowbray, with West Brom promoted to the Premiership he attempted to take McCourt from Derry to the Hawthorns.

If the then West Brom boss felt that McCourt could play in the Premiership then he can surely accommodate him in a Celtic side likely to dominate most of their domestic matches.

Mowbray added: "I tried to buy him for West Brom, Celtic jumped in at the last minute and prised him away from us.

"He has to work on the other side of the game when we don't have possession. He has to work hard on his fitness levels, concentration, discipline but when he has the ball you wait for him to do something brilliant."

AGATHE

Tracking back has never really been McCourt's thing but an element of that has been added to his game. Didier Agathe adapted his game similarly to such an extent that he was re-invented as a right back rather than a right winger.

Without the burst of pace that is normally expected of wingers McCourt has been tried in a more central role on a few occasions by Mowbray as he attempts to match the teams requirements to the special skills of the 25-year-old.

At Celtic no allowances are given, the demands are constant with no margin for error. A fixture list that includes Rapid Vienna and Rangers over the next ten days won't cut any slack.

McCourt is now at the stage where it's now or never for his Celtic career, if he continues to make an impact over the next fortnight some exciting times lie ahead, in front of audiences much larger than the diehards that followed last seasons reserve team adventures.

STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS STATS

Without getting as stat obsessed as the BBC's Paul Mitchell, the Celtic team that beat Falkirk last night contained five former Dundee United players.

I've got better things to do with my time than trawl through Rothman Yearbooks or anything else but I'd be amazed if Celtic have ever fielded a team containing so many players brought from the same club.

Celtic team at Falkirk: Zaluska; Caddis, Caldwell, McManus, Wilson; Flood, Crosas, Robson, McCourt; McDonald, Killen.

Rapid red herring

Falkirk 0-4 Celtic match report

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