Football CaledoniaScotland’s ONLY football magazine

HEARTS ARE ON

FIRE

December 2010

£2.50

Exclusive interview with Celtic wonderkid Callum Bagshaw

What did Pittodrie score in our Spy & Bovril?

WIN two tickets for the League Cup Semi Finals at Hampden

Contents

4......... Who asked for Faroes?

7......... Spy & Bovril - Pittodrie Stadium

8......... Celtic

10....... Rangers

12....... Aberdeen

14....... Hearts

16....... Hibernian

18....... Dundee United

20....... Motherwell & Kilmarnock

21....... St Johnstone & Inverness Caledoninan Thistle

22....... St Mirren & Hamilton

24....... FEATURE: CALLUM BAGSHAW

28....... Division 1

30....... Division 2

32....... Division 3

36....... Off The Ball

38....... Competition - LEAGUE CUP SEMI FINAL TICKETS UP FOR GRABS!

CelticThe Bhoys

Maloney has been in fine form this season

Key Player - Shaun Maloney Shaun Maloney has been showing signs of some of the form that he produced before he left Celtic for Aston Villa in 2007. The Scottish winger had been plagued with in-juries since his return to the Parkhead club, but is now looking like Celtic’s main attacking and creative threat. With four goals already this season, Maloney has been reintroduced to the Scotland National Team setup by manager Craig Levein and played a key role in the recent friendly win over the Faroe Islands at Pittodrie.

Celtic have been at the centre of much controversy this season and it looks like this will continue for some time.

The Celtic view is that referees in Scotland are incompetent at this level and that the SFA has an anti-Celtic agenda.

Or is it an anti-Catholic agenda?You would be forgiven for thinking both. It was made

public in the Whistlegate affair that Neil Lennon was lied to by Dougie McDonald and that lie was all part of a cover up instigated by, then, Head of Referees, Hugh Dallas.

Celtic chairman, John Reid, called for Dougie McDonald and Dallas’ heads and said that their positions in Scottish football was “untenable”.

Then the news broke out that Dallas had sent a distateful about the Pope during the time of his visit to Scotland.

The Catholic Church also launched an attack on the SFA to sack Dallas, who was at the centre of all the controversy.

Hoops boss, Neil Lennon, has also been at the forefront of controversy for screaming in fourth officials faces and publicly slating Scottish referees live on television.

But isn’t that part of a football manager’s job description these days?

On the pitch this past month, Celtic have been dodgy and inconsistent to say the least.

A record 9-0 win over Aberdeen was followed by a 2-0 loss to Hearts in Edinburgh.

The Bhoys bounced back - just - with a 93rd minute Gary Hooper goal away to St Mirren.

This narrow victory was branded “world class” by Neil Lennon as he baffled the football world.

Surely Barcelona’s 5-0 thumping of Real Madrid in ‘El Classico’ was what you should call “world class” Mr Lennon?!

Next up for Lenny’s Bhoys were two home matches against Dundee United and Inverness Caley Thistle, which they somehow managed to drop points in both.

It looked as though it was all over at Celtic Park against

United, until the away side got a free kick in the dying seconds off the game.

The ball was whipped in and headed home by Sean Dillon to give The Arabs a share of the spoils.

Against Caley, Celtic were cruising with a two goal lead.Ki Sung Yeung got the first, before the ‘Derry Pele’ -

Paddy McCourt - went and scored yet another wondergoal for the Hoops, beating three players before slotting the ball home.

Then, it all went disastrously wrong for Celtic.A terrible passback from Daniel Majstorovic set up Richie

Foran to tap the ball into the net to put Caley back in the game.

And in the closing minutes, Ross Tokely found himself unmarked in the Celtic penalty area to nod the ball into the goal and earn Caley Thistle a 2-2 draw.

Since then, the Hoops have had their last two games (away to Aberdeen and home to Kilmarnock) called off due to the bad weather. Their next game is a trip to New Douglas Park to face Billy Reid’s Hamilton.

With January looming, Neil Lennon will be looking for players to strengthen the squad for the title run-in. Surely a defender is needed to finally tighten things up at the back, because none of the combinations of central defenders seem to be working for the Hoops just now.

Could there also be a return for Robbie Keane?Harry Redknapp has already stated that Keane will be

leaving Tottenham in Januray, but whether the Celtic board will stump up to a fee expected to be in the region of £9m, is another issue.

Celtic’s midfield options are strong and filled with quality, so it is unlikely they will be searching the globe for a midfielder.

Whoever they sign, they will need to make a swift impact, because Walter Smith’s Rangers do not look like crumbling soon.

However, if the Gers sell Miller, McGregor, Bougherra and Naismith could just hand Celtic the title this season.

CelticThe Bhoys

Maloney has been in fine form this season

Key Player - Shaun Maloney Shaun Maloney has been showing signs of some of the form that he produced before he left Celtic for Aston Villa in 2007. The Scottish winger had been plagued with in-juries since his return to the Parkhead club, but is now looking like Celtic’s main attacking and creative threat. With four goals already this season, Maloney has been reintroduced to the Scotland National Team setup by manager Craig Levein and played a key role in the recent friendly win over the Faroe Islands at Pittodrie.

Celtic have been at the centre of much controversy this season and it looks like this will continue for some time.

The Celtic view is that referees in Scotland are incompetent at this level and that the SFA has an anti-Celtic agenda.

Or is it an anti-Catholic agenda?You would be forgiven for thinking both. It was made

public in the Whistlegate affair that Neil Lennon was lied to by Dougie McDonald and that lie was all part of a cover up instigated by, then, Head of Referees, Hugh Dallas.

Celtic chairman, John Reid, called for Dougie McDonald and Dallas’ heads and said that their positions in Scottish football was “untenable”.

Then the news broke out that Dallas had sent a distateful about the Pope during the time of his visit to Scotland.

The Catholic Church also launched an attack on the SFA to sack Dallas, who was at the centre of all the controversy.

Hoops boss, Neil Lennon, has also been at the forefront of controversy for screaming in fourth officials faces and publicly slating Scottish referees live on television.

But isn’t that part of a football manager’s job description these days?

On the pitch this past month, Celtic have been dodgy and inconsistent to say the least.

A record 9-0 win over Aberdeen was followed by a 2-0 loss to Hearts in Edinburgh.

The Bhoys bounced back - just - with a 93rd minute Gary Hooper goal away to St Mirren.

This narrow victory was branded “world class” by Neil Lennon as he baffled the football world.

Surely Barcelona’s 5-0 thumping of Real Madrid in ‘El Classico’ was what you should call “world class” Mr Lennon?!

Next up for Lenny’s Bhoys were two home matches against Dundee United and Inverness Caley Thistle, which they somehow managed to drop points in both.

It looked as though it was all over at Celtic Park against

United, until the away side got a free kick in the dying seconds off the game.

The ball was whipped in and headed home by Sean Dillon to give The Arabs a share of the spoils.

Against Caley, Celtic were cruising with a two goal lead.Ki Sung Yeung got the first, before the ‘Derry Pele’ -

Paddy McCourt - went and scored yet another wondergoal for the Hoops, beating three players before slotting the ball home.

Then, it all went disastrously wrong for Celtic.A terrible passback from Daniel Majstorovic set up Richie

Foran to tap the ball into the net to put Caley back in the game.

And in the closing minutes, Ross Tokely found himself unmarked in the Celtic penalty area to nod the ball into the goal and earn Caley Thistle a 2-2 draw.

Since then, the Hoops have had their last two games (away to Aberdeen and home to Kilmarnock) called off due to the bad weather. Their next game is a trip to New Douglas Park to face Billy Reid’s Hamilton.

With January looming, Neil Lennon will be looking for players to strengthen the squad for the title run-in. Surely a defender is needed to finally tighten things up at the back, because none of the combinations of central defenders seem to be working for the Hoops just now.

Could there also be a return for Robbie Keane?Harry Redknapp has already stated that Keane will be

leaving Tottenham in Januray, but whether the Celtic board will stump up to a fee expected to be in the region of £9m, is another issue.

Celtic’s midfield options are strong and filled with quality, so it is unlikely they will be searching the globe for a midfielder.

Whoever they sign, they will need to make a swift impact, because Walter Smith’s Rangers do not look like crumbling soon.

However, if the Gers sell Miller, McGregor, Bougherra and Naismith could just hand Celtic the title this season.

Spy & Bovril

PittodrieStadium

Atmosphere - Pittodire has lost its atmosphere for a number of reasons. The famous Red Ultras have disbanded and they used to bring colour as well as sound to the stadium. Also, things are not going well for Aberdeen on and off the pitch and the fans that do turn up are not always satisfied. 4/10

Food & Drink - A Pittodrie Pie is well worth the money at £1.70 and the Bovril tastes as good as ever. Good options such as, AFC Rock and reasonably priced chocolates are also on offer. 8/10

Ticket Price - To go and see this current Aberdeen side is not worth the £23. Majorly overpriced for this standard of football. 2/10

Entertainment - If the football isn’t doing it for you, there is always Angus the Bull who runs about the pitch before the game and at half time. The Northern Lights cheerleaders are well worth the watch too! 6/10

Pubs - The Broadhill Bar is a nice wee place to have a drink before the game, but it is quite small. At £2.60 for a pint of lager, it is reasonably priced and it can be a good atmosphere inside before a game. 7/10

27/50