BobBev

Author’s Note
As I really haven’t managed to get into CM0304 yet I am running CM0102 with Scotland, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Portugal and Spain selected.


The Glasgow Herald
June 18, 2001
Celts Announce New Signing Policy
Celtic today announced a new policy of only signing Scottish players. This surprising move was unveiled in the following statement from Chairman Brian Quinn. "Glasgow Celtic Football Club are pleased to be implementing a new policy whereby all new players brought into the club will have Scottish nationality. The influx of foreign players into Scottish football has restricted opportunities for Scottish players to get first team experience and is a factor in the decline of our national team. I am proud that Glasgow Celtic will be the first club to try to reverse this trend. Our manager Martin O’Neill had been informed of the new policy and has been instructed to implement it immediately."

Mr. O’Neill was not available for comment but the reaction from the official Supporter’s Club was mixed. Thomas McCann, the chairman of the Supporter’s Club said "We welcome Mr. Quinn’s intention of giving more opportunities to Scottish players but we are concerned that a blanket ban on foreign players is not the most effective way of achieving his objective. Whilst our rivals continue without such a policy, we are likely to be severely handicapped in our efforts to build a team that can compete with the best in Europe".

Mr. Quinn did not make it clear if the non-Scots in the current Celtic squad would be sold before the end of their contracts and it remains to be seen how they will react to this news.

BobBev

The Glasgow Herald
June 25th, 2001
O’Neill Quits Celts
In shock move late yesterday afternoon, Martin O’Neill resigned from his position of manager of Glasgow Celtic. It has been an open secret at Parkhead that the recent policy introduced by the Celtic Board of only signing Scottish players has been vehemently opposed by Mr. O’Neill. He made a brief statement to the press yesterday after his resignation was announced. "I am very sad to be leaving such a wonderful club as Glasgow Celtic, but with the recent transfer policy imposed by the Board I feel that I can no longer perform my job to the best of my ability. The arbitrary restriction based on nationality undermines my attempts to bring success to the club to such an extent that my position as manager is no longer tenable. I wish the players and the supporters every success in the future."

The Celtic Board have not yet responded to Mr. O’Neill’s resignation, but club captain Paul Lambert had this to say. "I am personally disappointed that Martin has felt the need to leave the club, as he is very highly respected by all of the players. As far as the new transfer policy is concerned, I am looking forward to seeing an increase in the number of Scottish players at Celtic, but I do understand Martin’s concerns about the potential impact on our competitiveness as a team."

BobBev

The Glasgow Herald
July 7th, 2001
Celtic Appoint Caretaker Boss
Celtic Chairman Brian Quinn today announced that reserve team coach Sandy "Tick" Jones will be acting as caretaker manager until a permanent replacement can be appointed. Mr. Jones has been associated with Celtic for over 15 years, first as a player and then as part of the coaching team. Mr. Jones was reported to be an enthusiastic supporter of the controversial transfer policy recently introduced that led to the departure of Martin O’Neill.

BobBev

The Glasgow Herald
July 15th, 2001
King Kenny Comes Home
Yesterday Celtic revealed some significant additions to their coaching staff when they announced two new appointments. The news that Parkhead idol Kenny Dalglish is returning to Celtic Park as part of the coaching staff has generated feverish excitement amongst the Celtic faithful. This overshadowed what could be the more significant appointment of veteran coach Don Howe to the backroom staff. New manager Tick Jones said "I am absolutely thrilled that both Kenny and Don have agreed to join the club. Don’s many years of experience will be invaluable as we embark on an exciting new direction at the club. And of course Kenny is an absolute legend here at Parkhead and he is particularly keen to work with some of the excellent youngsters already here and the additional youth players that we hope to attract."

BobBev

The Glasgow Herald
July 21st, 2001
Celtic For Sale
As a result of the new policy announced by Celtic earlier this month, all of the "foreign" players in both the first team and the reserve squad have been made available for immediate transfer. This has, of course, generated much interest, with clubs queuing up in the hope of grabbing a bargain or two. Manager Tick Jones had this to say. "I appreciate that it is a rather unusual step to take, but the Board agree with me that if their bold new initiative is to be effective, then we must make an immediate start in transforming our squad. But I warn potential buyers that there will be no cut-price deals to be had. We have a number of quality players and their price will reflect that fact." Here at the Herald, we are shocked by this drastic action and would have thought that a more gradual approach would have been appropriate. However, we applaud the bravery of the new boss and await the results of his actions with interest.

BobBev

The Glasgow Herald
July 27th, 2001
Parkhead Exodus Begins

Yesterday saw the first casualties of the new regime at Glasgow Celtic as Didier Agathe and Bobby Petta were transferred. Agathe has agreed a £5M move to Lens and Petta has moved to Austria Vienna for £5.5M.

Andy Cullen

Glad to see somebody else having a bash at this challenge, especially the man behind it.

BobBev

Thanks Andy. I'll be following your attempt with interest seeing as we're both using Celtic.

Scotland On Sunday
July 29th, 2001
Winning Start For The Bhoys

A crowd of over 56,000 saw Celtic got off to a winning start in their first league match of the season with a comfortable 4-0 win over Hearts. New manager Tick Jones shocked everyone by playing what was effectively a reserve team. He has filled his first team squad with Scottish players, most of whom are youngsters who would have certainly been expecting to be playing for the reserves at the start of the season. With virtually the entire original first team squad up for sale and relegated to the reserves, the youngsters have been given a chance to show their mettle. They responded very well, but it was veteran Tom Boyd who opened the scoring after 36 minutes. 18-year-old Shaun Maloney added two more in the second half and young Stephen McManus got the 4th from the penalty spot right at the death. Captain Paul Lambert played a vital role in the midfield anchor position but it was an impressive debut by many of the young Scots boys.

bjorn

Great start with both Celtic and your story Bobbev. I will give this challenge a go also, but not wright now as I'm enjoying myself way to much with my Brugge story.

BobBev

Thanks bjorn, and good luck when you do give it a go.

The Glasgow Herald
August 2nd, 2001
Celts In Champions League Draw

Yesterday’s draw for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round saw Celtic paired with Romanian team Dinamo Bucharest. Their opponents had a narrow 2-1 aggregate win over Maccabi Haifa of Israel in the previous round. Celtic face a tough first leg in Bucharest on August 8th and it will be interesting to see if Tick Jones continues with his current policy of fielding a 100% Scottish line up. Rivals Rangers were drawn against Basle from Switzerland with the first leg to be played at Ibrox.