After
the euphoria of completing the League and Cup ‘Double’ last
time round, Gordon Strachan and his Celtic team are set to have
a difficult task in trying to retain the SPL crown that they so
easily won in May.
The major change at Parkhead is the departure of Roy Keane who decided
that his persistent hip injuries were enough to call time on his illustrious
and headline-making career after only 13 games with the Hoops.
His departure added to the resurgence of Hearts and a new Manager at
Rangers, Paul Le Guen, means that next season will see a number of
challenges facing Celtic and it will prove to be a tough challenge.
A tough challenge is something that Gordon Strachan is used to and
after a woeful pre-season, then the Bhoys will need to hit the ground
running.
During their pre-season campaign, Celtic only won one single game – at
home to Everton. A tour of the USA also ended in disaster as Celtic
lost to both DC United and Chivas of Guadalajara before drawing against
New England Revolution.
However, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan is refusing to panic despite
pre-season preparations ending with a 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester
United last month.
Afterwards, Strachan insisted it only went to show that “their
second team is far better than our second team.”
Preparations have been hampered by the fact that influential midfielder
Stilian Petrov is determined to leave Glasgow, with a number of Premiership
teams showing an interest.
“Stilian’s been magnificent in the last couple of games,
his training’s been fantastic so it doesn’t affect me whatsoever,” confirmed
Strachan.
Petrov has figured in some of the pre-season games, however, his future
at Parkhead looks in doubt and Alan Thompson also walked out of the
USA tour.
So will the squad upheaval and a poor pre-season campaign affect Celtic
this season?
Gordon Strachan doesn’t think so.
“It doesn’t really count until the start of the season
- and we'll see what happens and we’ll decide if it's affected
our confidence then. I will tell you in about five or six weeks’ time
if it’s a concern or not.
“Last year, we didn’t score many goals in pre-season and
didn’t play particularly well and we won the league by 21 points
so although it hasn’t been the most ideal preparation in the
world, we’ll come out fighting and ready to reclaim the title,” said
Strachan.
So, who has come and gone from Celtic during the close season and how
is the team going to develop next season.
One of their main signings is Jiri Jarosik from Chelsea. The Czech
Republic midfielder was part of the Birmingham City side that was relegated
from the Premier League last season, top scoring with eight goals.
Jarosik will add a different dimension to the middle of the park and
his set pieces will undoubtedly bring some goals from midfield. On
his day, he is a fantastic midfielder who is able to play the ball
about and possesses a thunderbolt of a left-foot. When he isn’t
on form, he can be a frustrating player.
Kenny Miller’s signature from Wolves was secured before the end
of the season and while there was some concern regarding signing an
ex-Rangers player, his goalscoring ability will no doubt help since
fans’ favourite John Hartson was sold to West Bromwich Albion
for £500,000 during the close season.
Forward Derek Riordan and defender Gary Caldwell both signed from Hibernian
and the fantastically named Evander Sno joined from Dutch giants Feyenoord.
It seems as if Gordon Strachan has tried to reduce the average age
of the squad by off-loading some of the older members of the squad – Hartson,
Dion Dublin and Roy Keane.
These players will need to be on top form for the coming season, especially
with Celtic in the Champions League group stages, in what looks like
will be an exciting 2006/07 season.
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