Lithuanian Oil Tycoon Money Just Doesn’t Go as Far as it Use To

By: Matt | December 12th, 2008

After an attractive, yet meaningless “Bon Voyage” to European football for Celtic, and for Scottish Football (Kaunas, Motherwell running into a decent Nancy side, and Queen of South having as much chance as us at Old Trafford), Celtic’s attention will now be fully focused on domestic affairs. If Rangers European travels, besides to make sure that the screens are working, is that match fixtures can screw the domestic pooch, no more apparent than when Rangers clear quad was halfed and the league was won by Celtic. If I had to chose between Europe and the ~~Diddy~~ CIS Cup, of course I think every Celtic supporter would take Europe, but that option is not available. Now the goal is to win every available trophy. Winning a treble while keeping the Blue trophy room bare would be a good year, no? Celtic are rid of the distractions of European football in perhaps the toughest stretch of the schedule. Hearts travel to Celtic Park to take on the Bhoys, after Celtic suffered a 2-0 defeat to Hearts cross town rivals Hibs. Hearts have been playing some good football lately, but the story surrounding the Purple Capital team is the fact that twice they have not been payed this season. It seems even Mad Vlad Romanov has not been immune this recent economic recession. Strangely enough, it seems that Hearts are 2-0 in the weeks where they have not been given their paychecks.

Hearts are hoping to leave Glasgow with more than results on the pitch. Word is that they are interested in bench warming striker Chris Killen. Killen has not featured much since being bought from Hibs, but at least Gordon Strachan has had the excuse of injury to not play him this season. Killen injured his knee with the New Zealand during the Olympics.

Celtic will be adding to their squad as well, signing Derry City midfielder Niall McGinn. The Northern Ireland international has been playing well for Derry City and will be joining former teammate Paddy McCourt as warming the bench, “being one for the future”, and being constantly brought up as to why he does not get a game despite Celtic’s scoring troubles. Celtic have apparently beat out Swansea for the young midfielders services, paying a fee around €275,000.

Injuries continue to alter the squad available for Gordon Strachan, with Lee Naylor, Barry Robson, Marc Crosas, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Massimo Donati sidelined. Strachan recently said that Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has begun jogging and might be back for late December’s clash at Ibrox with Rangers. Shaun Maloney also picked up an injury on Tuesday’s Champions League match against Villareal, but is not expected to miss any matches because of it.

On Wednesday, Celtic and Gordon Strachan saw a squad that was creative, offensive minded, and played with flair. It was a different squad than the match the previous weekend with Hibs, one which featured Shunsuke Nakamura and a healthy Aiden McGeady. Both of these players were creating beautifully on the pitch and seemed to be the catalysts for forward movement. There should be no reason they should not be included in Saturday’s squad and if Celtic can match the intensity and flair they put out Wednesday then Celtic will easily defeat the streaky Hearts. My prediction is Celtic 2-Hearts 0.