"Their can be no true despair without hope"
Happy New Year Bhoys and Ghirls and if anyone is nursing a hangover today at least they are safe in the knowledge that all is right in the world again. Celtic met their newest rivals at Ibrox yesterday and what followed was a tremendous game of football that eventually saw the good guys come out on top with a 2-1 victory. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the scoreline was the manner in which it was achieved with Rangers actually going ahead, leading to their fans hopes rising faster than a mason ref up the Scottish football ranks. Just as all good stories do, it inevitably ended with the heroes coming back from the brink and successfully winning the day.
In just 3 days time Celtic will travel to Ibrox Park for a Hogmany clash that promises to be an all-action derby against the spirit of their once feared rivals Glasgow Rangers. Of course with the club having the same (worse in some cases) fans it's only natural that we want to inflict as much damage on them as we possibly can to lay down a marker for 2017. Well for now it's time to put that game to the back of our minds because the mighty Celtic have some business to take care of first, a fact that seems to be overlooked by our friends in the media and some Celtic fans in general.
When January 1st 2017 lands upon us it will mark the opening of the transfer window and by default, only Brendan Rodgers second since he took charge of Glasgow Celtic. Naturally all eyes are on who the manager will be bringing in to the club rather than out, yet part and parcel of BR's job will be to clear out some of the players that he just doesn't think have a future in the EastEnd of Glasgow. Bearing this in mind let's take a look at five players that will almost certainly be moving on in January or in the summer.
What a game! What a team! What a manager! What a day!! Celtic travelled to Motherwell with high hopes of maintaining their unbeaten league record and found themselves 2-0 down to Mark McGhee's spirited side before the ref could blow the half time whistle. Neutrals smirked, Sevconians suddenly only had one free hand and the twisted hacks who populate the SMSM were demanding the graphic of a broken Celtic crest for their next article. Even some Celtic fans resigned themselves to the unbeaten run coming to an end. After all you can't win them all can you?
Craig Gordon seems to be the goalkeeping equivalent of marmite where the Celtic supporters are concerned doesn't he? Ask two fans their opinion on our number one and you're liable to get different answers ranging from "he's a liability" to "he's a great goalkeeper" There was a moment towards the end of the Betfred League Cup Final game on Sunday that totally epitomized the improvement in Gordon's game over the past few months. Aberdeen sent a ball towards the Celtic goal and as the last man he came rushing out to deal with it. Fans held their breath as he took possession with his feet and promptly dealt with it in a way that didn't cost us a goal or put us a man down. Evidence of improvement is nice to see but what about the long term? Is Craig Gordon the answer?
