Celtic F.C. season 2007-08
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2000/01 - 2001/02 - 2002/03 - 2003/04 - 2004/05 - 2005/06 - 2006/07 - 2007/08
Celtic started the 2007-08 season looking to retain the Scottish Premier League title and the Scottish Cup. They also competed in the Scottish League Cup. The team accepted an invitation to take part in the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game for 2007, as part of a pre-season tour of the USA, Switzerland and England. On October 9, Celtic opened their new training facilities at Lennoxtown.
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[edit] Domestic campaign
Celtic started the season with a 0-0 draw at Celtic Park against Kilmarnock. They then won their next five league matches scoring 5 goals in 3 consecutive matches and topped the league for most of the first half of the season. At the end of 2007 Celtic were still atop of the SPL standings. The Old Firm derby on January 2, 2008 and a match against Motherwell was postponed due to the death of former Celtic player and Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, who died on December 29. During the break in fixtures, the team slipped to second place behind Rangers.
On April 27, Celtic defeated Rangers by 3-2 to go 5 points clear in the SPL, however Rangers had played three matches fewer. Celtic's chances of winning the title improved over the following weeks when Rangers failed to win all their matches in hand, and the clubs were tied on points going into the the last day of the league season. Celtic defeated Dundee United 1-0 away at Tannadice Park while Rangers were defeated by Aberdeen 2-0 at Pittodrie, giving Celtic their third successive title, Gordon Strachan being only the third manager ever to do so. The victory was dedicated to the memory of Tommy Burns, former player and manager, who had died earlier that week. Victory in the league also secured Celtic automatic entry to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League in season 2008/09.
The club were less successful in the season's domestic cup competitions. They exited the Scottish League Cup at the quarter final stage, after suffering a 2:0 defeat to Hearts. They lost at the same stage of the Scottish Cup, losing to Aberdeen in a replay.
[edit] UEFA Champions League campaign
Celtic was drawn against Russian side Spartak Moscow in the third round of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League 2007-08. The first leg was played at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the venue for this year's Champions League final, and ended in a 1-1 draw, with Paul Hartley getting his first goal for the club after joining from Heart of Midlothian eight months ago. In the return leg Celtic emerged victorious after a 1-1 draw, with Scott McDonald scoring his first goal for the club. The game ended in a penalty shootout, with Artur Boruc saving twice.
Celtic were drawn with A.C. Milan and S.L. Benfica and FC Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League group stages. Celtic lost the first group match, away to Shakhtar in Ukraine, 2-0. But they rebounded with a 2-1 win over defending champions Milan at Celtic Park, leaving them in second position in the group after 2 matches. Following McDonald's match-winning goal, Celtic fan Robert McHendry ran onto the pitch and tapped Milan goalkeeper Dida on the face as he ran past his goal; Dida initially gave chase, then fell to the pitch and was stretchered off. McHendry later surrendered to police and was banned for life from Parkhead, and Dida received a two-game suspension for breaching UEFA's policy of “principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship”, which was reduced to one match on appeal. Celtic were found guilty of “lack of organisation and improper conduct of supporters” and were hit with a £25,000 fine, half of which was suspended for two years.[1]
The third match day saw Celtic drop to bottom in the game against Benfica. Celtic lost 1-0 with the goal coming in the 86th minute. Next up Celtic again faced Benfica, this time at home. They won this 1-0, with a goal from Aiden McGeady before half time. In the next game at Celtic Park, they came back from 1-0 down against Shakhtar Donetsk to win 2-1 thanks to a winner from Massimo Donati with the last kick of the game, which moves them up to second in the group, guaranteeing Post-Christmas European Football, and leaving them needing 1 point from the last game in Milan to be sure of qualifying for the last 16. Despite losing 1-0 in Milan, however, Celtic qualified as Benfica won 2-1 in Donetsk. In the knockout stage, Celtic drew FC Barcelona. Celtic lost the first leg at home 3-2, the second leg at the Nou Camp was lost 1-0.
[edit] Transfers
[edit] In:
| Player | From | Fee |
|---|---|---|
 Scott McDonald |
Motherwell | £700k |
 Tomislav Pavlov |
CSKA Sofia | Free |
 Scott Brown |
Hibernian | £4.4m |
 Chris Killen |
Hibernian | Free |
 Massimo Donati |
AC Milan | £2.5m |
 Laurence Gaughan |
Liverpool | Free |
 Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé |
Stade Rennais FC | Free |
| Luca Santonocito |
Inter Milan | Undisclosed [2] |
 Andreas Hinkel |
Sevilla | £1.9m [3] |
 Koki Mizuno |
JEF United Ichihara Chiba | Undisclosed [4] |
 Ben Hutchinson |
Middlesbrough | Undisclosed [5] |
 Georgios Samaras |
Manchester City | Loan [6] |
| Barry Robson |
Dundee United | Undisclosed + loan for James O'Brien[7] |
[edit] Out:
| Player | To | Fee |
|---|---|---|
 Neil Lennon |
Nottingham Forest | Free |
| Alan Thompson |
Leeds | Free |
 Kjartan Finnbogason |
Åtvidabergs | Loan |
| Craig Beattie |
West Brom | £1.25m [8] |
| David Marshall |
Norwich City | £1m [9] |
| Andrew Traub |
Clyde | Free [10] |
| Adam Virgo |
Colchester United | Loan [11] |
| Gary Irvine |
St. Johnstone | Undisclosed[12] |
| Dean Richardson |
Bohemians | Undisclosed |
 Thomas Gravesen |
Everton | Loan [13] |
| Kenny Miller |
Derby County | £3m [14] |
| Michael Gardyne |
Morton | Undisclosed [15] |
| Paul Lawson |
Ross County | Undisclosed |
| Craig Reid |
Stirling Albion | Loan |
| Rocco Quinn |
St. Johnstone | Loan |
| Mark Nolan |
Released | |
| Scott Fox |
Ayr United | Loan [16] |
| Teddy Bjarnason |
Lyn Oslo | Undisclosed [17] |
| Craig Reid |
Queen of the South | Undisclosed [18] |
| James O'Brien |
Dundee United | Loan [19] |
 Jiří Jarošík |
Krylia Sovetov Samara | £747,500 [20] |
 Maciej Żurawski |
Larissa | £500,000 [21] |
[edit] Fixtures and results
Fixtures and results for Celtic F.C. for season 2007-08.[22]
NOTE: scores are written Celtic first
[edit] Player statistics
NOTE: Friendly matches not included
| Shirt No. | Player | Apps (Subs) | Goals | YC  |
RC  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artur Boruc |
45 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | Andreas Hinkel |
19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Lee Naylor |
47 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Adam Virgo |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Gary Caldwell |
50 (1) | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 |  Dianbobo Balde |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Maciej Żurawski |
1 (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Scott Brown |
45 (3) | 3 | 13 | 0 |
| 9 | Kenny Miller |
1 (1) | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Georgios Samaras |
5 (16) | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 10 |  Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink |
44 (2) | 20 | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | Paul Hartley |
34 (5) | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Mark Wilson |
12 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Derek Riordan |
3 (8) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | Evander Sno |
5 (16) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Thomas Gravesen |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Steven Pressley |
6 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Massimo Donati |
34 (7) | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| 19 | Barry Robson |
10 (6) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Jiří Jarošík |
11 (2) | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Mark Brown |
9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Ben Hutchinson |
0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Shunsuke Nakamura |
33 (3) | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Cillian Sheridan |
0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Scott McDonald |
49 (3) | 31 | 7 | 0 |
| 29 | Koki Mizuno |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Chris Killen |
3 (24) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 41 | John Kennedy |
11 (3) | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 44 | Stephen McManus |
53 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 45 | James O'Brien |
0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Aiden McGeady |
48 (3) | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| 47 | Michael McGovern |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Darren O'Dea |
5 (5) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 52 | Paul Caddis |
2 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Ryan Conroy |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Paul McGowan |
0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Teddy Bjarnason |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] References
- ^ Dida banned, Celtic fined, UEFA.com, 12 October 2007
- ^ Celtic sign teenager from Inter, BBC News, 28 August, 2007
- ^ Celtic complete signing of Hinkel, BBC News, January 4, 2008
- ^ Japanese star Koki Mizuno signs for Celtic, Celtic FC, January 29, 2008
- ^ Hutchinson joins the Champions tonight, Celtic FC, January 31, 2008
- ^ Celtic seal loan deal for Geoggios Samaras Celtic FC, January 29, 2008
- ^ Barry Robson signs for Celtic, Celtic FC, January 31, 2008
- ^ West Brom complete Beattie deal, BBC News, 3 July, 2007
- ^ Marshall completes Norwich move, BBC News, 4 July, 2007
- ^ Clyde's Hendry snaps up quartet, BBC News, 2 August, 2007
- ^ Virgo seals Colchester loan move, BBC News, 17 August, 2007
- ^ Gary Irvine leaves Celtic, Celtic F.C.
- ^ Everton re-sign Gravesen on loan, BBC News, 30 August, 2007
- ^ Derby sign Celtic Striker Miller, BBC News, 31 August, 2007
- ^ Celtic transfer latest, Celtic FC, 31 August, 2007
- ^ Ayr Utd take keeper Fox on loan, BBC, 15 January, 2008
- ^ Teddy Bjarnason moves to Norway, Celtic FC, 15 January, 2008
- ^ Reid joins Queens from Celtic, BBC Sport, retrieved on 1 February, 2008
- ^ Celtic complete capture of Robson, BBC Sport, 31 January, 2008
- ^ Jarosik makes Russian return, Sky Sports, 31 January, 2008
- ^ Maciej Zurawski leaves Celtic, Celtic FC, 1 February, 2008
- ^ Celtic's fixtures 2007-08, BBC Sport
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