It was never going to be Brazil 1970 but Celtic’s 2-0 win over Auchinleck Talbot fell considerably short of even low expectations. Johnny Kenny scored his first goal in over two months, as the confidence-sapping weeks took their toll on the player. He is a better finisher than the past 10 weeks have demonstrated. Hopefully he can start to recover.
All credit from the game goes to Auchinleck Talbot’s players, who threw themselves in front of everything Celtic could muster. Their performance reminded me of the 1-1 draw Arbroath took from Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup in 2012. The Angus side performed equally well in the reply, but went down 0-1. Nothing we watched in that tie could indicate how well 2012 would end for Celtic.
Delighted with the home tie in the next round and although Dundee have already beaten Celtic this season, they are ninth in the Premiership and should be a welcome visitor to Celtic Park.
Hearts’ home loss to Falkirk on penalties adds an interesting dynamic to our visit to Tynecastle next week. Regarding Hearts, we have been hearing ‘momentum is all’. That being the case, Sunday will be interesting.
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Bournesouprecipe @ 9:13,
Yes, very good points…
It certainly in some ways seem like a dream aequence, I wonder what the fellah that wrote this five short months ago would make of it all…
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
The 2024/25 season marked another period of progress for Celtic Football Club, both on and off the pitch. Our strategic
focus on success and performance on the pitch, whilst continuing to develop the Club off the pitch, delivered strong results
across the Club.
On the pitch we secured the Scottish Premiership for the 55th time and won the Premier Sports League Cup for the 22nd
time, taking our total trophy count to 120. Although disappointed by narrowly losing out to Aberdeen on penalty kicks in
the Scottish Cup Final, we were all delighted with the team’s success over the season, and I thank Brendan, Callum and all
of the management and staff.
This success was further reflected in a successful Champions League campaign, marked by
competitive performances where we achieved three wins and three draws and progressed to the play-off round where we
suffered a narrow exit to Bayern Munich over two legs.
Elena and the Women’s team started off our season with an outstanding series of performances in the qualifying rounds
that led to the team’s historic qualification for the first time to the UEFA Women’s Champions League, where we were
drawn against Chelsea, Real Madrid and FC Twente.
Domestically, the team did not hit the heights we had all hoped for
after securing the Championship in the previous season, however the intensity of the season and the Champions League
experience will form the basis for valuable development in our Women’s football operation. I thank Elena, Kelly and the
Women’s team management and staff for everything they have done to continue the progress of Women’s football at
Celtic.
Our objective each year is to compete in the Champions League. Unfortunately this season, we suffered a loss on penalties
in the tie against Kairat Almaty, which resulted in Europa League entry instead. As a Board, we take responsibility for the
failure to achieve that key objective and commit to improving going forward. We now look ahead to our Europa League
fixtures against FK Crvena Zvezda, SC Braga, SK Sturm Graz, FC Midtjylland, Feyenoord, AS Roma, Bologna FC 1909 and FC
Utrecht, where we will hope to perform strongly and progress in the competition.
Aligned to our core objective of competing in the Champions League is successful player trading. Last year, we invested
record sums between transfer fees and first team player wages. This year, regretfully we did not achieve all of our
objectives in the transfer window. We share and understand our supporters’ disappointment and frustration, and we will
continue to seek to review and improve our strategy and execution as the market continues to evolve. Alongside player recruitment, the creation of Champions League players through our academy system and pathway to first
team football is crucial to our strategy.
During the year ended 30 June 2025, we completed a significant enhancement of
our Lennoxtown facility, with a further phase to follow this year, and we recently completed the transformation of our
Barrowfield training ground. At Barrowfield, this included the construction of a full-size indoor playing surface, a
performance gym and all the facilities required for an elite footballing environment. This facility, dedicated to our Women’s
first team, under 18 professionals and boys’ and girls’ academies is unique to any club in Scotland and will provide
outstanding facilities for our teams and academies to grow and develop for years to come. In addition, at Celtic Park, we
have installed a new hybrid playing surface and refurbished several areas in the stadium. We are currently assessing a
number of further capital projects to enhance the experience for our supporters in the stadium as we look to continue to
develop Celtic Park.
The completion of our Barrowfield training ground underpins our commitment to the development of academy players and
is crucial to enabling these players to maximise their potential and the connection they have with the Club.
Nothing
demonstrates this more recently than Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney. Our captain Callum McGregor
achieved the milestone of 500 appearances for Celtic in February of this year, and my sincerest thanks and congratulations
go to Callum for everything he has achieved for Celtic over a period of almost 25 years.
I would also like to pass on my
thanks and gratitude to James Forrest. On the last day of the 2024/25 season, James scored in the final moments of the
game to mark a milestone in the history of Celtic by scoring in the last 16 consecutive seasons of his career at Celtic. The
goal marked James’ 109th for Celtic in his 527th appearance and in lifting the Scottish Premiership trophy that day he became
Celtic’s most decorated player with 26 major honours, taking over from the great Bobby Lennox.
We were also delighted
to welcome Kieran back to Celtic, following a successful spell in the English Premier League, as we continue to build for
success with our academy talent.
During the year we have also made progress with our digital strategy, as we look to enhance engagement and
communication with our supporters. The implementation of our digital strategy will lead to improved touch points with
our supporters, including the launch of a new Club App, digital ticketing options and the re-development of Celtic TV. We understand that our global supporter base wishes to engage with Celtic in this way and we aim to provide them with the
opportunity to benefit from a more seamless experience.
Hail Hail
Turkeybhoy on 20th January 2026 10:46 am
ONIL,
” Playing second Fiddle”Would struggle to get a ticket for the concert.
Yet not one bit of critical comment as a lead on here….unbelievable…
unfair ONIL
someone who writes this would surely be up from with his thoughts on the board/transfer situ
“I don’t get the flares thing. It’s not a part of my going-to-see-Celtic tradition. But if it was my thing, I’d have the courage of my convictions, I wouldn’t hide the fact.”
or even up front…
spikeysauldman on 20th January 2026 11:04 am
unfair ONIL
How is it unfair?
Show me a lead that directly criticises Desmond, Nicholson or the rest of the used car salesmen that run our club?
Signed anybody yet?
Thought not.
Offski..
Celtic could sign players when the team is away on EL duty but they wont because the skills aren’t within the Execs, 1.5m a year for a CEO and a Financial Exec on a turnover which wont be as high as last year as we missed 20m for being in the CL,I would estimate a 25m drop in income, a stadium ban for some, a support well any I’ve met that are fuming, it is a scandal due to nepotism cronyism incompetence and people promoted outwith their skill set, how can this club say it is accountable and do nothing about the causes of the team’s recruitment problems, the Execs and the Board have done nothing in 6mths to change things in fact they made things worse with hiring Nancy. I’m not even optimistic on loans happening, I do hope Desmond sells up but gives Celtic minded people the chance to buy his shares.
Desmond, like Trump detests any form of criticism and throws his toys out the pram when challenged. It’s clear the only people willing to challenge him are the life’s blood of the club. We must therefore hit him where it hurts.
I’m a huge US college football fan. Michigan Wolverines is my team due to a family connection. Michigan’s Big10 conference rivals Indiana Hoosiers overnight just won their programme’s first ever national title, beating the storied Miami Hurricanes in Miami. They went the season unbeaten at 16-0 having been a largely losing programme throughout their century-plus history. They went 3-9 as recently as 2 years ago when they brought in their transformative coach Curt Cignetti. This guy is seriously impressive. At his first media interview when asked what he would do to change Indiana’s fortunes said simply and memorably “I win. Google me”.
Interviewed after last night’s winning performance when asked to explain the meteoric trajectory of his team (Hollywood will make a movie) he said that it’s amazing what you can achieve with the right leadership, the right people recruited and motivation to succeed.
I compare and contrast Curt Cignetti with the limp losers running our club and I despair. Poor Martin, he doesn’t deserve this.
Share price on the up
Interest on the way down.
Bada
Ordinary shares are £2 no change
£2.08?
new article posted.