When the new Celtic manager gets back from his holiday and formally goes on the payroll, one of the first tasks he will turn his mind to is the goalkeeper position. Kasper Schmeichel has retired, leaving Viljami Sinisalo (24) and Ross Doohan (28) as the only keepers in the squad. The latter has not made an appearance for Celtic since his move from Aberdeen a year ago. Viljami’s arrival coincided with Kasper’s in 2024. His two years as understudy probably resulted in more appearances than he expected, due to Kasper’s injury. He will hope to retain the starting position.
I don’t expect we will return to signing senior keepers who had a stellar career and are now looking for a couple of season’s gametime. We have to be more strategic than that. Artur Boruc was 25 when Celtic signed him in 2005, he had two years as Legia’s first choice evidence to present to scouts and was a great find for the club. That’s the route to take now.
Artur was not immediately first choice when he arrived at Celtic. David Marshall was in goal for the infamous 5-0 defeat in Bratislava, but Artur made his debut in the return leg six days later, keeping a clean sheet in a 4-0 win. The keeper and club never looked back. That’s the model we should follow.
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Wednesday eve!
Who’s filled their Panini album?
Aipple
I still need about 100 !
Almost entire Czech and Congo teams missing !
League table weeks out of date
A whole season just gone with this once fine site refusing to acknowledge or have “you and I” discuss the hot topics of the day leaving it solely to the commenters whilst lead after lead follows a personal vendetta or goes with something bland.
Celtic Lazy News
Btw are the club just not bothering to tell us about a new manager? Leave it to the tabloids to communicate for them?
Broadsword calling Danny boy
Broadsword calling Danny boy
H3
I got an alert from the new app, thought it was the new manager announcement!
No they will tell us when tickets are available for the Milan friendly. Communications at asking for money is world class from the club 👍👏
BURNLEY78 re: stickers
Such wonderful memories of simpler times.
Paul 67,
IMO the goal keeper is the least concerning position for me.
V Sinsalo waited patiently when our incumbent goalkeeper was floundering for all to see.
It seemed he was only used when KS’s position became untenable.
He has since coped remarkably well. Of course he has much to learn, including decision making but all the raw tools are there and just need honed.
HH.
PRESTONPANS
Middlesborough and Milan both on the ST 👍
I think Sinasalo is the new number one , the other keeper will be back up to Doohan – been wrong before.
BSR
I don’t do friendlies however where did you get that info from? The app certainly does announce that, unless it’s hidden somewhere within 🙃
You could argue that Barkas fitted “the model”. Should the model not be GOOD keepers (and players in general)?
GLASSTWOTHIRDSFULL on 9TH JUNE 2026 12:33 PM
He did fit our recruitment model which has space for players like him at 27, 120 league games and 12 international caps. Age and experience, transfer fee and wage to match
What he wasnt was a development project.
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 9TH JUNE 2026 12:23 PM
PRESTONPANS
Middlesborough and Milan both on the ST 👍
…………………………
Middlesborough? Middlesborough????? I just learn that we are playing Milan and immediately learn from your post that we are playing Middlesborough too! When is that game taking place?
So the Celts have arranged games with Shelbourne, AC Milan and Middlesborough. Someone must be working at Parkhead after all.
Anthony Joseph reposted
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BREAKING: FIFA president Gianni Infantino subject of criminal complaint from his former UEFA boss Michel Platini
https://x.com/SkySportsNews/status/2064284989164777892?s=20
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BREAKING: FIFA president Gianni Infantino subject of criminal complaint from his former UEFA boss Michel Platini 🚨
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Iranian Football Federation announces the 8% ticket quota allocated to Iran has been revoked by the U.S., leaving the federation currently unable to distribute tickets to supporters.
A case study in political interference, discrimination and FIFA looking the other way.
Image
What has happened at the #2026WorldCup over the last 48 hours:
• Swiss footballer Embolo’s visa was put under review and he was only able to join his team days later.
• Iraqi national team player Aymen Hussein was held for questioning for nearly 7 hours upon entering the United States.
• The Iranian national team spent days dealing with visa procedures at the U.S. Consulate in Türkiye. The U.S. only allowed them entry on match days. Fifteen members of the delegation were denied visas.
• Omar Abdulkadir Artan, named CAF’s Best African Referee of 2025, was denied a visa. Despite travelling to the U.S. with a diplomatic passport, he was refused entry and sent back. FIFA announced that he will not be able to officiate at the tournament.
• The South African national team arrived in the United States much later than planned because part of the delegation was not granted visas.
• Members of the Senegal national team staff were forced to remove their shoes and subjected to lengthy searches, sparking accusations of racism.
• The Uzbekistan national team was searched with bomb-sniffing dogs and the footage went viral in international media.
• Some Scottish supporters, despite being eligible to enter the U.S. visa-free under the ESTA programme, had their travel authorisations revoked just days before departure.
• Many supporters who had already bought tickets and booked accommodation had their visa applications rejected, resulting in financial losses.
“Keeper position is top priority”
Replace “top” with “high” and I’d be inclined to agree, Paul.
Striker and midfielder (2 good ‘uns) would be my priorities.
Agree, Viljami needs serious competition.
He’s benefitted from being better than an old goalkeeper with one good arm
He’s a good shot stopper, roars loudly at his defence, and gets in the head of the opposition at penalty shoot outs
… but he needs to improve at set pieces and crosses (He flapped badly at Hearts goal on title day)
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2026/june/05/efc-clubs-gather-at-celtic-park-/?page=2
Financial Times@FT
Fifa’s resale portal currently lists 176,000 tickets for the opening ‘group’ phase of the competition, when each team plays three others. https://ft.trib.al/WEPRp4d
https://x.com/FT/status/2064293959468249324?s=20
What a complete shit show World Cup
Sìnasalo is a Finnish international at a great age and has the talent and personality for the job. Doohan is a jobbing SPFL keeper who’ll do fine as back up. Promote an academy player for the 3rd spot. He’ll never play anyway (see Doohan). It would be typically absurd for Celtic to blow our parsimonious transfer budget on a non-playing keeper.
Defence looks good so long as we hold on to AJ and CCV returns to fitness. Would be lovely to have Saracchi and Araujo around as cover but more realistically it will be Ralston, Donovan and a cheap cover for KT.
Up front I have high hopes for Osmand and hopefully we’ll have Iheanacho. One more required in there – of quality – to replace Daizen.
Wingers are meh. Jamesy will remain the best of them but his game time likely to deplete further. Jota’s return would be transformative but I’m increasingly pessimistic for the poor lad.
Midfield is where the main focus should be. Arne will go to the EPL, Reo, Bernardo and the Ox will leave. I suspect Nygren will be sold too. I don’t think we’ll lose CalMac to Saudi but he will be another year older, so a midfield built around an ageing captain and Luke McCowan would be a worry. I’d like to see Elijah Just come in as his quick feet would be a real asset. I think we’ll also look to bring in Chaiwa from Hibs, who fits our profile very well. MO’N will be looking to add some strength and legs to replace Engels too I think. So a big turnover coming in midfield.
Sinisalo is a young keeper learning the trade. He’s got some attributes and a lot of development in front of him.
As with strikers and their goals scored versus the expected goals (xG) measure, goalkeeper performance can be assessed on the number of goals they concede versus the xG value of the shots they faced. By definition, an average keeper concedes the same number of goals as the expected goals value across a sample of matches.
For Sinisalo last season, the sum of the shots he faced averaged 0.79 expected goals in each match, but he conceded at a rate of 0.87 goals per match, suggesting he might have done better – his performance was below average.
By comparison, Schmeichel in 24/25 conceded 0.54 goals per match from 0.64 expected goals. Even last season with one arm in a sling he conceded 0.71 goals from 0.77 expected goals, still outperforming the average.
Joe Hart across his time with Celtic conceded 0.55 goals per match from 0.51 expected, below par. In the Champions League he conceded 2.17 goals per match from 1.7 expected.
Vasilis Barkas, the Venus de Milo of keepers, conceded 0.48 goals per match for Celtic from 0.43 expected, below par, granted, but still better than Sinisalo.
Of course, keepers need to do more than save goals. Taking crosses, distribution, football skills, organising and more are all important but it’s saving goals that he’s in the team for in the first instance.
Irrespective of his age and experience, we need a keeper that makes big saves and few mistakes. Turns out uninjured Kasper was the best we’ve had for a long time.
NB All stats courtesy of The Huddle Breakdown.
Also NB It’s interesting to see the significant increase in chances conceded in the stats above. From Lenny in 2020 at 0.43 expected goals lost per match, through Ange and BR to MON last season with 0.79, that’s a huge change in how we set up; almost twice as many scoring chances conceded. There’s a story.
TBB 👏👏👏
Ooofffttt CSC
Prestonpans/TOSB
Both on the ST was satire 👍
PlagierismCSC 😂
To be fair, The Huddle Breakdown guys appreciate a bit of free marketing.
bournesouprecipe on 9th June 2026 12:26 pm
I think Sinasalo is the new number one , the other keeper will be back up to Doohan – been wrong before.
*I believe that UEFA demands we strip 3 goalie’s for their games
What everyone else has said. We also need a striker especially as we lost our No. 1 striker, Kyogo 18 months ago. Hopefully our record on long term injuries to key players improves for the coming season. To have so many first team players missing most and in some cases all of last season was a major issue as the backups were clearly not at the races, not their fault. With a fully fit Schmeichel, CCV, Johnston, Jota, Osmond, Engles and Iheanacho we would have won the league by 20 points.
TBB
is that postXG (the XG after the shot was taken) or XG?
I’m assuming its pxg, in which case 9 goals difference against average between Sinisalo and Kaspar over a 50 game season is pretty big.
Its not entirely fair to compare one keeper with the other. It was the very start of one career at a very difficult and important time for the team and the very end of another so you’d expect experience to be a factor – keepers improve a hell of a lot as they get older and more confident. And you’d hope Sinisalo would improve next season once he’s established as the no 1 and a year older with all the confidence that the end of last season should have given him.
The real benefits of development players being trusted with meaningful game time!
TT , @ 1.52
Sinasalo successor to KS
Doohan – home country based contingency for UEFA
Third keeper needed, potentially from youth set up where we’ve a couple of good bhoys
Every late Goal
https://youtu.be/MAO4MfEUPm4?si=yr3ttsGHmgR9UiTk
Enjoy CSC
Of course if you have a really good defensive set-up your goalie wouldn’t have to make so many saves. No?
olskoolcsc
We do need players of course, and it will be a movable feast as others leave. But the stats from TBB on high expected goals against, even when we are defending a lead, suggest what we can all see, that our system needs improvement. We got away with losing cheap goals last season by somehow digging out a winner. But I don’t expect a repeat of that.
If we are not playing a possession game then I don’t see how we can afford a front three, especially when at least two of them don’t defend well. If Martin is going for faster attacking play, which inevitably means more loss of possession, then we either need a midfield four or wingers who can genuinely do the Maeda defensive shift. If we are losing Maeda and still persist with the same system then our expected goals against (and inevitably dropped points) will go up.
So, yes, get personnel right, but also be more creative about the system. That was the big surprise last season – that Shaun et al hardly changed BR’s model despite telling the players to be more direct.
Also pretty alarmed by P67’s suggestion that we will turn to transfers when MON gets back from holiday. Seriously?
Also pretty alarmed by P67’s suggestion that we will turn to transfers when MON gets back from holiday. Seriously?
—————
WHEN DOES PRE-SEASON START ?
C40ME
Yip, it’s all post-shot xG.
The Battered Bunnet on 9th June 2026 1:39 pm
Re goalkeepers : Stastictics or data manipulation can be managed to suit any conversation.
HH.
Keepers, we don’t even have a manager with the position supposedly filled by someone on holiday , someone show me we are a serious football club.
Greenpinata – I don’t have a dog in the fight, other than wanting Celtic to have the best possible players in each position. I’m neither related to nor have an economic, emotional or romantic interest in any of the keepers mentioned.
I simply present the available data and allow you to make your own mind up as to the relevance and reliability of the information. Any inferences you draw from it are entirely your own.
MON
Maloney Brown Fotheringham Strachan
Hayes McManus McGeady
Woods Wallace Dunbar
The Battered Bunnet on 9th June 2026 2:59 pm
I appreciate that. It is why I used the non-confrontational term of conversation rather than debate etc.
Cheers and HH.
I had planned to watch the Hearts game today. I know I had taped it, as I watched the last 20 minutes again, when I got home from the game. I must have deleted the recording unintentionally. Does anyone know where I can get a copy?
Every day is a school day.
I’ve learned about Post shot xG today.
Very interesting.
Thank you