GRIFFITHS IN FORM

Leigh Griffiths has been in great form for Celtic since moving to the club from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Neil Lennon has revealed that he is extremely happy with the form shown by the 23-year-old, who was signed as the replacement for Gary Hooper. Hooper was sold to Norwich city in the summer. Griffiths had signed for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. He was on loan at Hibernian last season and impressed heavily by scoring 28 goals last season. However, there was scepticism prior to his arrival at Celtic Park, but Lennon has stated that he is delighted with the performances from the 23-year-old.

Griffiths scored his first Celtic hat-trick in the 5-0 victory against Inverness Caley, while he also created one of the goals as well. Celtic are on course to winning the title this season, as they lead the table by a massive 19 points already. However, the season has been considered as a disappointment by many after they were knocked out of the Scottish cup. The European campaign has also not been great as well. Last season, they made it to the last 16 stage of the Champions League, but this time it has not been as successful.

Lennon says that Griffiths has provided an example of his quality and he is confident that the young striker will show more of the same next season.

“I am delighted for him and he could have had a lot more over the course of the game. His first goal pleased me the most. We have been crying out for a penalty-box striker and that was a great ball and a great finish. He doesn’t get disappointed (when he misses), he’s hungry for more chances and he took his second and third goals brilliantly. His work-rate has always been good and his goal record is great,” said Lennon.

SABELLA STILL LOOKING

The goalkeeping area has been problematic position for Argentina in recent years. As a result, the national team coach Alejandro Sabella has been looking at various options in order to call up for the upcoming friendly against Romania.

This will be the final friendly match for Argentina before they enter into the World Cup 2014. They go into the tournament as one of the favourites to win the competition due to the deadly partnership of Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi.

However, Sabella will have reasons to be concerned about the backline – especially the goalkeeper, in spite of a Sky bet bookmaker review that states that Argentina will be nailed on favourites. Continue reading “SABELLA STILL LOOKING”

CELTIC KNOCKED OUT

Celtic suffered an exit into Scottish club at the hands of Aberdeen after suffering a 2-1 loss at home. Neil Lennon took the blame after the match by saying that there was nothing from the Celtic side to assure him that they would win the match.

Celtic have been coasting for most of the season due to the lack of a proper threat following their relegation of Rangers. They are close to sealing the Scottish league title, while the Champions League remained as one of the chief objectives of the campaign in the first half. Continue reading “CELTIC KNOCKED OUT”

KEEP THE STARS

The 25 years old Nigerian defender of Celtic, Efe Ambrose wants Neil Lennon to avoid having to sell their star players as Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and Kelvin Wilson were all sold in the last summer and according to Ambrose, Celtic will not be able to compete against the best in Europe in the Champions League if they keep on offloading their best players.

Last season Celtic managed to snatch a spot into the last 16 teams of the Champions League but this time around they finished at the bottom of their group. Joe Ledley and Georgio Samaras still have not signed new deals and contracts with the club and Ambrose is hoping that they will not be sold like the others.

Ambrose said: “The way the manager talks of keeping the team together is going to benefit the club.

“Last year, some players left and you need continuity in the club to make it better. Long term, it makes you much stronger than selling one player every year and bringing one in. It’s not going to help. I believe if we keep our players for now, we will be better and stronger. It’s football. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don’t’’.

“We were disappointed this season as it was a Group of Death but, at the same time, we have so many more things to achieve. In the Champions League, you need a team which has been together for two or three years to achieve those good things.”

Samaras was given a week off for him to take time and think about his future and the head boss of Celtic, Neil Lennon insists that if he decides to leave the club it would be huge boots to fill.

‘He was a big player for big games, that’s the best thing you could say about Sami. He has certainly made a huge contribution for me in my time in charge here. Lennon said.

CELTIC STUTTER

Celtic failed to take advantage of the good start they have made their Champions League group after suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ajax. Celtic are in the same group containing the likes of Barcelona, AC Milan, and Ajax. This makes them favourites to finish bottom of the group, but they have defied expectations by making a good start. The 1-0 defeat, though, ends any hope of the team qualifying to the last 16 stage, which they did in the unlikeliest of fashion last season. Lasse Schone scored the only goal of the game in this defeat for Celtic.

After the match, Lennon said that he is still confident of qualifying for the knockout stages of the competition, but the Scottish need to achieve a famous win over AC Milan in order to do so. Italian club AC Milan are far from their glory days. They are also in a poor run of form since the start of the season, which has raised questions about the future of manager Massimiliano Allegri. Celtic’s next match in the Champions League will be used Milan after the international break. There is a chance that Allegri could be sacked this time, which will make Celtic as the favourites.

Lennon reckons that it will take only a win over Milan to change the dynamic of group.

“It’s an opportunity lost, but all is not lost. The whole thing could flip again if we beat Milan and Barcelona take something off Ajax. We have to beat Milan now,” said Lennon. “It’s imperative we do that to have any chance of qualification. I think some players will have regrets about the game tonight because they were nowhere near their best. At this level, you can’t have that,” said Lennon after the defeat against Ajax away from home.