Draw Happy Celts, Polish Duo to Say “Do Widzenia”?

By: JT | December 11th, 2007

For supporters of Celtic, the next two days are going to be exceptional. We can sit back, with qualification for the knockout rounds of the Champions League already secured, relax, and view the potential competition.

Tomorrow sees our ancient rival take on a revitalized Gallic club looking to send them crashing out of the Champions League, thus creating an even larger financial gap between Celtic and their mortal enemies. Not that Celtic have really done too much with that fact, excepting the Scott Brown saga, seeing as Celtic lead the league by two tiny points while the Huns have a game in hand. But richer is always better, right?

Despite the chance for supporters to kick up their heels, grab a pint, and watch top notch football without requiring shots of Pepto as a chaser, there are pressing matters at Celtic Park.

Two draws on the trot in the league have tightened up the title race as mentioned above. An away 1-1 at Hearts was followed by a drab 1-1 against St. Mirren at home last weekend (highlights below). You can easily blame it on Champions League exertions, but in reality, Celtic played poorly at the San Siro as well. Celtic’s defense hasn’t earned a clean sheet since October some time.

Now that passage to the knockout round is set, the tempo in the league has to pick up. That starts today against Falkirk at Celtic Park. A crushing victory is required to gain some confidence heading into the holiday period where the Bhoys face off against the three top contenders for their crown, Rangers, Hibernian, and Dundee United. A fired up Celtic take the spoils today, 4-1.

***** UPDATE: I was close, Celtic won 4-0 today getting that clean sheet that has been eluding them for so long. Aiden McGeady was the hat-trick hero, and Scott McDonald opened the scoring from the penalty spot. Promising youngster Ryan Conroy was handed his first-team debut at left back. Celtic lead the SPL by five points, with Rangers now having two games in hand. More tomorrow. *****

The British media are all over a report translated from an interview world class keeper Artur Boruc gave to a Polish media outlet. He claims that he wants to leave Celtic Park this summer, but that the club’s ₤10m valuation is too high. Arsenal are expected to be the club that does that deal, though I’m thinking they may be a bit tired of eccentric keepers at the moment.

Boruc won’t be a Celt forever, and its his right to move on when his contract expires, which happens in the summer of 2009. If Celtic know he is determined to leave, they should sell him this summer, and if Craig Gordon goes for ₤9m, Boruc is worth ₤12m at least. So he’s actually being undervalued in my opinion. We’ll see how this plays out, with all the “misquoting” that goes on when foreign players talk to the media in their native languages.

For their part, the club have denied placing any value on Boruc because they have no intention of selling the player, and in fact they’re looking to extend his stay in Glasgow.

Keeping with the Polish theme, striker Maciej Zurawski is rumored to be heading across the pond to join Becks & Co. with the LA Galaxy. Laurie and her commenters at the Galaxy Offside are having some fun with the link, and with the pronunciation of the striker’s name, and its easy to understand why.

For me, he’s still got some quality years left in the SPL, and certainly in MLS. He has been a good player for Celtic, but he just doesn’t fit the style of play that WGS wants the team to play. He looks painfully slow when he is on the pitch these days, and I don’t know if thats just old legs, a slow recovery from injuries, or lack of first team football. If he can regain the step he appears to have lost he can play for Celtic or score a hatful of goals stateside. Until that time though, he’ll reside on the Bhoys’ bench.

Thank heavens for Deek Riordan…