retired_amyslack

Scotland On Sunday
October 24th, 2004
Celtic Cruise Past Livingston

Celtic recorded a straightforward 3-1 win at home to Livingston yesterday. Two goals from the unstoppable Gary McCutcheon and a third from Stephen Pearson gave the home side a comfortable half time cushion. The ever-willing Jim Hutchison gave the visitors a late consolation but the points were never in doubt as Celtic eased towards the win.

retired_brinker317

Still superb Bob :thup:

retired_amyslack

Many thanks d_s

The Glasgow Herald
October 27th, 2004
Ten-Man Celts In Champions League Drama

Celtic somehow came through an incident-packed encounter with Olympiakos at Parkhead last night with the three points required to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Gary McCutcheon gave the home side the boost of an early goal, finding the net after 11 minutes. But the visitors struck back twice before half time with Damir Cakar and Kwame Ayew scoring the goals. When Celtic captain Paul Lambert was dismissed on 41 minutes for holding back Ayew things looked grim for the home side. But no one can doubt the fighting qualities of Tick Jones’s team and in the second half they set about the visitors with a vengeance. The Olympiakos goal remained intact thanks to a string of fine saves from Juraj Bucek and a couple of desperate goal line clearances whilst at the other end Ayew had a scoring effort disallowed because of an offside decision. With 15 minutes remaining Jackie McNamara squared the game with a powerful shot to keep Celtic’s hopes alive but as we moved into stoppage time it looked as though the win was just out of reach. Then substitute Alan Johnston was felled in the area by Stelios Venetidis who was red-carded for the foul. 22-year-old Stephen Pearson took responsibility for the spot kick and calmly sent it into the bottom corner for a vital 3-2 win. With Inter falling to a 1-0 defeat in Nantes the group is now wide open with Celtic on 9 points and Inter and Nantes both on 8 points. Celtic now visit Inter in a fortnight knowing that a point will send them through to the second phase – a point that they will have to find without their hugely influential captain who will be serving a one-match suspension.

retired_amyslack

Scotland On Sunday
October 31st, 2004
No Joy For Hibees At Easter Road

Despite enjoying their fair share of possession and scoring opportunities Hibs drew a blank against visiting Celtic yesterday afternoon. Stephen Pearson put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot after Takis Fissas was adjudged to have handled in the area. Gary McCutcheon gave the Celts a two-goal advantage shortly after the restart and wrapped up the 3-0 win with his second of the game three minutes from time.

retired_amyslack

The Glasgow Herald
November 5th, 2004
Gers In Euro Win

Rangers completed a fine victory over Portuguese giants Benfica in the UEFA Cup 2nd round last night. Their scoreless draw at Ibrox was enough for Alex McLeish’s side to progress on away goals after the 1-1 draw in Lisbon in the first leg. Dundee United were not so fortunate, failing to capitalise on their 0-0 result in Villarreal by going down 2-1 at Tannadice. Sunderland lost 1-0 in Parma but progressed 2-1 on aggregate and a 1-1 draw in Lisbon was good enough for Chelsea to go through 2-1 overall against Sporting.


Scotland On Sunday
November 7th, 2004
Rudderless Dons All At Sea

Having dismissed manager Steve Parkin last week after less than 10 months at the helm, the good ship Aberdeen is in serious danger of sinking into the First Division if they continue to put in performances as poor as this. They failed to register a single goal attempt on their visit to Celtic Park and suffered a 5-0 defeat. Stephen Pearson and Gary McCutcheon both grabbed braces and Mark Kerr helped himself to a single as Celtic condemned Aberdeen to their 8th league defeat of the season. The Dons are just a point above struggling Inverness Caledonian at the foot of the table and whoever is selected as their new manager will have his work cut out keeping them afloat in the top flight.

retired_amyslack

The Glasgow Herald
November 11th, 2004
Celtic Crash Out Of Champions League

Requiring just a draw to progress to the second phase, Celtic slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Inter at the San Siro stadium in Milan last night. They made most of the early running but fell behind to a goal from Luigi Di Biagio after 19 minutes. The Celtic midfield looked laboured and sluggish and the influence of captain Paul Lambert was clearly missed as replacement Michael Stewart struggled to make an impact. Gary McCutcheon was unlucky not to square the game before half time but his shot on the turn came back off the post. Inter got their second with 20 minutes remaining through Rafael van der Vaart and with Jaap Stam and Ivan Cordoba dominant at the back Celtic never looked like getting back on terms. A 2-1 win for Nantes at Olympiakos ensured that the French finished second ion the group behind Milan and consigned Celtic to the UEFA Cup safety net.

retired_amyslack

The Glasgow Herald
November 12th, 2004
Old Firm To Meet In UEFA Cup

The UEFA Cup draw has controversially paired Glasgow giants Rangers and Celtic together in the 3rd round. The first leg will be played at Celtic Park on November 25th with the return at Ibrox two weeks later. As the two teams prepared for the second Old Firm game of the season this coming weekend neither manager was pleased with the outcome, complaining that UEFA should take steps to avoid such encounters at such an early stage of the competition.