Cocky Cockney’s Sent Packing

By: Matt | July 26th, 2009

Celtic sent out a squad filled with reserves out in the final game of the Wembley Cup, but it did not matter as they sent the 4th best team in London home, Spurs, with a 2-0 defeat. The victory means that Celtic were the winners of the Wembley Cup, finishing above Barcelona, Spurs, and Al-Ahly. 10 new starters made up the first team for Celtic, with only Glenn Loovens the only returning starter, but it mattered little. Chris Killen continued his scoring, putting in a header in the 9th minute. Killen benefitted from a pin-point cross from former Dundee United loanee Paul Caddis. Georgios Samaras doubled the total for Celtic in the 40th minute with a 60 yard run that he finished well. Lukasz Zaluska got his first start for Celtic and the Polish keeper performed well, keeping the clean sheet. However, in the 53rd minute he relied on Darren O’Dea to keep the ball from the back of the net from a Spurs attack. Zaluska, O’Dea and company kept the EPL side at bay for the rest of the match, resulting in a 2-0 victory and the Wembley Cup. Join me after the jump for some thoughts and eventually some highlights.

-First, I’d like to thank all the Spurs fans yesterday who came on here and talked about how bad Scottish football. I’d like to repeat a question I asked Mr. Malak in the comments, “If Scottish football is crap, what is Spurs?” Especially, since Celtic sent out basically a reserve side. Dear dear, seems like another good year for Spurs on the way. Sorry to take your only chance for silverware away.
-I don’t expect Chris Killen to start Wednesday against Dinamo Moscow, but he is certainly making the case to at least think about giving him the nod. Four goals in four games is pretty good, especially since a striker’s job is to score goals. If Killen does not start on Wednesday, I would expect him to be the first player off the bench for Celtic.
-I was calling for Marc Crosas to start in the midfield over Massimo Donati, but Crosas struggled today, with two big give aways in the first half that led to Tottneham scoring chances. Crosas seems out of whack, which makes me think he either is injured or is coming off an injury. If Scott Brown cannot get fit in time for Wednesday, it looks like Landry N’Guemo and Massimo Donati will be the starting midfield pair.
-After a poor season, Artur Boruc got off to a great start in his first three games of the preseason. Lukasz Zaluska matched his Polish teammate’s play today with some good saves against Spurs. Zaluska not only was solid in net, but I was impressed with his distribution of the ball which led to some counter-attacking chances for Celtic.
-Stephen McManus is not the most popular player among Celtic fans, but he might be finding himself third choice, and maybe even fourth choice, when it comes to center backs for Celtic. Gary Caldwell, Glenn Loovens, and Darren O’Dea combined for another clean sheet today and seem to be pretty solid in the back, who have not allowed a goal yet in preseason. There is speculation that new EPL boys Wolves are interested in McManus, so it might be time for him to move on.

Highlight courtesy of Eighteen88.com

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Will be back later this week for the lead up to the crucial Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Moscow, who Tony Mowbray saw in person on Saturday draw their city rivals Lokamotiv Moscow.