Many questions will now be asked of the under fire manager, especially after what can be considered yet another slow and disappointing start to a qualifying campaign which leaves the team likely again to fail to qualify for their first major tournament since 1998.

There are many things the Tartan Army will except our team is lacking; World class players, attacking flair, even goals, but sending out a team in a bizarre 4-6-0 formation to take on the currently far from outstanding Czech Republic team, who were beaten on their own soil in their previous game against Lithuania, is surely embarrassing tactical naivety by Levein.

The defence looked frustrated during the first 45, simply being left with no out-ball to end the Czech’s continuous insurgence on Alan McGregor’s goal, with the only option being to simply boot the ball aimlessly up the park back to the opposition to begin their next attack.

This continued onto the second half, where the home side began to take full advantage of what they must consider an incredible life-line for their own slow start to the campaign. One ‘punter’ on Radio Scotland’s Sportsound described the performance stating Scotland “were like a boxer taking punches, to see how long it would be before we got knocked out.” He was right, had we really just set our self up aiming for what would have been a very fortuitous 0-0 draw?Basically if a team needing a win at home sees that the opposition are choosing to adopt that strategy, it must be a dream come true. There was absolutely no challenge from the Scots, in a 90 minutes which failed to include a solitary attempt on target, and maybe around 2 attacks.

Levein had also chosen to leave out Kenny Miller, who this season has impressed at Rangers, scoring 10 goals, and winning player of the month twice. Surely he had to be on the team, but instead Naismith and English born international debutant, Jamie Mackie were chosen to start, playing the inform QPR striker out wide in some unexplainable role.

Does Levien now have the lack of respect from the fans that George Burley fell to? The decision to bring on Iwelumo for cap number two displayed amazing similarities along with the ridiculous experimental tactics.

Scotland’s solution, or common sense tactics is simple, and very effective, as Craig Brown, Alex McLeish and Walter Smith can prove, while Berti Vogts, George Burley and Craig Levein have shown how straying from the obvious ultimately fails. Play the 11 best players available in a 4-5-1 defensive counter-attacking system, and inspire the players to give everything they have, simple. How can any fan complain about that?

Where now for the manager? His refusal to accept his mistakes wont win many of the expectant fans over, and less than impressive results against Lithuania and Liechtenstein previous to this game leave many wondering how we will cope at home to European and World champions Spain on Tuesday.

When Rangers and Manchester United were drawn together in this year’s Champion’s League group stage draw, instead of billing the game with the usual cliche, Battle of Britain, the attention was mainly drawn to the troubles in Manchester during the UEFA Cup final in 2008 against Zenit St.Petersburg, incidents which will haunt Rangers fans for many a year to come, while still only the fault of the minority.

Martin O’Neill, Walter Smith and Gordon Strachan have all had the privilege of leading their teams off the field after 90 minutes, in recent seasons, to rapturous applause in Europe for recording some impressive results against the big guns, but these days seem to be rapidly disappearing.

Nakamura was the hero, now 4 years ago, when his late free-kick handed Celtic a memorable result in front of a  packed Celtic Park to help the hoops to their first qualification for the Champion’s League knock-out stage. They now seem incapable of reaching the group stages of even the Europa League, with this year’s Dutch mid-tabling opponents Utrecht proving to be too challenging. Other impressive ‘Battle of Britain’ results include a 3-1 aggregate win over Blackburn Rovers during their famous ‘Road to Seville’ and also a 3-1 victory against Liverpool during the same season.

Rangers may have to look further into the past to remember their last impressive display against a team south of the border, but many will expect a one sided affair tonight, even though Manchester United have thus far failed to find thier form in the Premiership. Rangers have also failed to reach their potential, struggling to a narrow win over St. Johnstone at the weekend thanks to a heroic late goal from inform striker Kenny Miller.

A remarkable result tonight for Rangers could even simply be a narrow defeat, but with Valencia also in their group, qualification for the next stage is going to be near impossible unless they manage to record one or two surprises.

Manchester United vs Rangers: Old Trafford, Kick-Off 7:45pm

After a first half of few chances ended with boos and jeers from the angered home fans, it was the second period that really left fans shocked and stunned with the away side taking the lead in less than 2 minutes from the restart. Experienced striker Mario Frick, 36, put the visiters ahead with a sublime finish, leaving defender McManus and goalkeeper McGregor stunned.

Scotland quickly took a stronghold of the game, although still the breakthrough looked distant as Lichtenstein remained solid at the back. Kenny Miller eventually gave Scotland fans, a nervous manager on the touchline, a sigh of relief leveling the scores with less than 30 minutes remaining on the clock.

As the game drew to a close fans became louder and more frustrated by more misplaced passes and wild efforts on goals before the long period of injury time began, which was mainly due to a large number of stoppages and an injury to Lee Wallace leaving the Scots down to 10 men.

Eventually, the breakthrough came in the 7th minute of injury time off the head of defender Stephen McManus to save Scotland from the majority of the potential humiliation, although once the dust settles many will remember, Czech Republic and Spain are the next double header early next month, and a repeat of this performance will simply leave us with more embarrassment.

On a more positive note, Czech Republic’s home defeat to Lithuania leaves Scotland top of the group, and helps greatly with their qualification chances should the make up the points from their uninspiring draw last Friday.

Another similarity with Barcelona’s current situation will be the opportunity to unearth some new young talent from within Celtic’s youth squads, something which Barcelona have done to great success for many years. McGeady could well be the most recent truly rewarding recruit from the youth ranks, gifting Celtic and their fans 6 years of flair, creativity and goals before netting them nearly £10 million in transfer money. Other recent promotions haven’t been quite as prosperous, without naming any names.

McGeady’s transfer to Spartak Moscow left a potential vacancy in the first team, and James Forrest has been the first to attempt to take the step up with a so far sparkling start to the season. His gradual introduction during the pre-season may have still been surprising to the Celtic supporters, but Lennon insists he is ready to step up to the challenge. His wonderful finish against St.Mirren confirmed his position as Celtic’s main youth prospect so far this season, and the fans will give him all the backing he needs to help him succeed in a season during which Celtic can’t afford to underachieve.

With Lennon signing a large number of new players during the summer, it’s good to see one of the youngsters making a notable contribution. Maybe Lennon there will be more future stars progressing from the U21′s and U19′s during the season with the potential to line-up against some of Europe’s best in the Europa League.

Celtic will now begin the search for their new manager, with a record 35th Scottish cup victory still a realistic opportunity, and an Old Firm game still to come, a new manager has plenty to compete for from now until the end of the season.

Here are the main candidates for the job based on budget, experience and whether the Celtic job would appeal to them.

DAVID MOYES:

Probably the fan’s first choice, the current Everton manager has also had a successful spell in the Championship with Preston NE. He has received mass praise for his success at the ‘Toffees’ leading them to a top 4 finish ahead of their rivals, Liverpool. He may be frustrated at his lack of silverware, and lack of full financial backing from the board, which has seen Everton’s progress stagnate this season, maybe it’s time to move on, although a move to Celtic is  unlikely to be a positive career step for him, and he would have to take a substantial pay cut.

ROY HODGSON:

After Fulham’s recent 4-1 victory of Juventus, Hodgson’s reputation has been fully restored. He has managed teams in Switzerland, Italy, England and Sweden, with experience managing at international level for 3 different countries. If Celtic need someone to make an immediate impact, and re-stabilise their defence, Roy Hodson has the credentials for success. Unfortunately for those Celtic fans who are looking for the attacking football Mowbray was trying to encourage, this is probably not the ideal candidate. But after such an unsuccessful campaign, the majority of the support will be happy to bring back a winning mentality.

NEIL LENNON:

The former club captain will be taking temporary charge of the team until a new manager is appointed, with former Celtic defender Johan Mjallby as his assistant. There is nothing to suggest he would not be in the running as current caretaker manager, with both Dundee Utd and Motherwell taking similar routes after sacking their managers this year. There is no indication as to the style of football Neil Lennon would adopt other than promising  a tougher approach similar to his previous mentor, Martin O’Neill. His more cautious and defensive style as a player may indicate a return to results based football, rather than emphasis on performance and style.

STEVE BRUCE:

Similarly to Hodgson, he offers plenty of experience as a manager, and a history of making an immediate impact. He proved reliable at Birmingham, Wigan and now Sunderland, and has been touted by some as a potential future Manchester United manager, although that would possibly be far fetch’d. He has been given a healthy transfer budget at Sunderland, and a decline in form since the successful early start has may have silenced some of the praise. Whether Celtic supporters would fully support him would be up for debate but he would be a wise choice.

RONALD KOEMAN:

Celtic might want to consider a foreign manager for only the third time in their history, since the short and unsuccessful reign of Josef Venglos and the more memorable term of Dutchman Wim Jansen in 19998/99 season. Ronald Koeman, also a Dutchman, has a decent amount of experience on the continent. His recent sacking from AZ means he would at least be open to negotiations without any potential compensation fees. His last spell was however, very unsuccessful, and even though he has managed in Holland, Portugal and Spain, he maybe a risky choice.

MARK HUGHES:

Hughes would be potentially the over all most convenient candidate for the job. His Celtic(that’s Keltic) origins would probably make him a welcome addition. With the potential of players like Bellamy joining the squad, and former Celtic striker John Hartson joining the coaching set-up, his appointment would be an exciting one for supporters. His time in charge of Man City was overall a disappointment as he failed to get his expensive squad to gel, although they did record some impressive results against the bigger teams. He did enjoy success at both Blackburn and Wales previously, and Celtic might well be the best opportunity for him to regain his once promising reputation. He is currently unemployed which would be a bonus, after Mowbray’s appointment cost celtic £2m+ in  compensation fees.

GERARD HOULLIER:

After his last well known application within the UK was with Newcastle, eventually beaten by Kevin Keegan, the very talented an experienced coach seems to have disappeared from the limelight over the last few years. His successes include winning the French league with Lyon, a very successful spell at Liverpool which will have grabbed the attention of many Celtic supporters and managing the French national team in the early 90′s. His wealth of experience, history of success and his contacts within European football would make him an ideal choice as successor to Mowbray. He us also currently unemployed.

Other, more unlikely, candidates mentioned by bookmakers and newspapers; Craig Brown, Mark McGhee, Paul Lambert, John Collins, Gordon Strachan, Henrik Larsson, Roy Keane, Willie McStay, Slaven Bilic, Alan Curbishley, David O’Leary, Martin Jol, Owen Coyle and Alan Irvine.

After an abysmal 4-0 defeat against St.Mirren last night, the Celtic board quickly took the decision to part ways with their struggling manager.

After the boos and jeers rung out at the final whistle, it appeared the fan’s patience had run dry. The defeat leaves Celtic 10 points behind title rivals Rangers, and completely out of the title chase.

After a poor season last year under previous manager Gordon Strachan, the appointment of former defender Tony Mowbray looked to be a positive one. With an exciting brand of attacking football and a freshening up of the failing squad of players, Celtic had looked to be heading in the right direction, although it had appeared to be taking longer than everyone had hoped or expected.

Mowbray, now after 9 months in charge, ultimately failed to gain the trust of his players, fans and the board. One positive will always be his signings. On a very small budget he impressed with his squad changes, but failed to fully utilise them in a consistent team line-up or tactical shape. His choice to bring in 4 key players on loan may have also been a massive failing in an attempt to build a team. Temporary imports are never going to provide the right attitude or enthusiasm to take a team in a positive direction.

Last night he made some huge decisions which cost him his job.

The continuously failing Samaras started ahead of Fortune, Rasmassun was left on the bench for rookie striker McGowan, Crosas was ignored in favour of Ki, and Boruc was left out again for Zaluska. The final line-up consisted of 6 forward minded players, leaving O’Dea and teenager, Thompson, completely exposed.

The 4-0 defeat was their worst reversal against St.Mirren in over 50 years, and also their worst league defeat since losing 4-0 at Ibrox in 2000.

After Rangers were knocked out of the Scottish Cup, Celtic still look to be on course for a record 35th Scottish cup. Had Celtic won last night, they would have also cut the points gap on their rivals to just 7 points, although Rangers have two games in hand. Things could have been so different. Even ‘Mogga’ was able to admit that he had made the mistakes last night which have ended his reign.

“Maybe it isn’t a league for trying to force the game and be expansive – maybe it is a league for playing defensive, negative football and having quality up front to counter-attack.”

After 45 games in charge, Mowbray managed to lead the team to only 23 wins, just over 50%, and 13 defeats. A lack of progress in ‘Old Firm’ games, poor defending, and a poor European record added to his unimpressive term.

So what now for Celtic? Will they have to return to playing the negative, but successful, style of football Gordon Strachan favoured, or will they continue to press on with the positive and progressive style, the fans wanted, with a more experienced manager at the helm?

Former club captain Neil Lennon will take charge for Sunday’s game at home to Kilmarnock.

It was also a major milestone for long-standing manager Mirek Porosa who recorded his 100th win as coach of the Ryerson Rams. In a typically positive post-match interview Mirek praised his players especially for their fight-back in a tightly contested final set.“You don’t know what this means to me, after so many sleepless nights, it has been worth it.”

Courtesy of Sports Logos.

After 25-16 and 25-12 wins launched them into a quick 2-0 lead, it was the away side who started brightly in the third taking an early 7-1 lead. An impressive fight-back from the home side though lead to a very tense finale to secure the 3-0 victory which takes them to 4-11 for the season so far.

In the pre-match interview Mirek was encouraged by his teams performance on Friday night against the superior and “more experienced” Queen’s and expressed delight with his team’s solid performance against RMC. He remained optimistic going into the final games of his 14th season at Ryerson and believes his team have the ability to fight for a 4th placed finish next season. “We had a difficult start to this season playing the four best teams in the league.” He further added, “ We have lost a lot of experienced players, this season has been about rebuilding, and the players learning to communicate with each other.”

For most of the season, while losing the majority of their games, the Rams have managed to match their more able opposition on performance level although they have failed to take full advantage.

The team though appears to be moving in the right direction and should use the final games to prepare for a hopefully more successful campaign next season.

The Rams next play away at Waterloo on the 5th of February, while their final home game of the season sees them host Guelph on the 10th.

Courtesy of Team Talk

By Ross Doyle

While the recent transfer of Danny Fox to Burnley may confuse many Celtic fans, the propsect of signing highly rated hearts left-back Lee Wallace may be enough to justify it.

Danny Fox arrived from Coventry at the tail end of the Summer transfer window last year for around 1.5 million pounds, after regular Strachan favourite Lee Naylor’s massive decline in performances over the previous season. After a successful start though, Danny Fox has experienced a few injury problems, and has maybe over-all failed to offer more than an in-form Lee Naylor would in terms of performance level and style of play. So maybe making a small profit on someone Mowbray signed just 6 months ago is good business as the much critised new manager continues his mass spending spree and rebuilding process until the January transfer window slams shut in the next few days.

With the addition of Hiooveld, Rogne and summer trasfer Josh Thompson, its obvious Mowbray sees huge changes are needed at the back. This week several more players have been linked with moves to Glasgow, mainly Majorca centre-back Ramis, and Hearts wing-back Wallace, both of which would provide good competition to an already encouraging number of defensive options.  The return of Darren O’Dea has seen the loaning out of Stephen McManus to Middlesborough to join Strachan and other former Celtic players; Flood, Robson and Killen.

Other new signings have included highly rated Korean international, Ki and young goal-scorer Rasmassen, while more midfielders and strikers are being continously suggested in the papers. One thing is for certain, Celtic fans will know with in the next few weeks how the real Mowbray team will look, and this may be the best time to start properly judging his capabilties. Huge amounts of criticism has been directed at the struggling former Celtic player, after an admittedly unacceptable start to his term, although to be fair he has revolutionised their style of play as Celtic now press and attack and have dominated the majority of games this season. A simple lack of composure on front of goal has been the main problem, rather than poor defending in my opinion.

If McDonald, Fortune, Samaras and Rasmussan can start converting chances into goals, Celtic might at least show enough improvement to convince fans that ‘Mogga’ is the man to lead the Hoops to future success, if not this season.

Toronto Varsity Blues 7 – 3 Ryerson Rams

After an exciting match, the Rams recorded a disappointing 4th straight defeat against the impressive Varsity Blues last night.

It took just 29 seconds for the home side to score through Joe Rand, before Elliot and Vadala added another two in the first third of the game. An 18th minute score for Matt Schmermund gave the the Rams some much needed encouragement as they chased a heroic comeback.

In the second third Ryerson picked up where they left off in the first piling the pressure on the home side as Michael Paolo’s shot pulled it back to 3-2 on the 8th minute of the second period. A revitalised away team began to control the play although this was not to last long.

The fight back was cut short as Toronto restored their two goal advantage seconds before the break making it 4-2. The chances of the visitors ending their losing streak now looked unlikely.

The last period however, began positively for the Rams as they again reduced the deficit to just one through a second goal from Michael Paolo. But 4-3 was the closest they would come to levelling the scores before a collapse in the remaining minutes seen the Blues score 3 in 3 minutes to complete an in the end well deserved victory. The game finished 7-3, with Elliot netting an outstanding hat-trick for the Blues. The Rams looked to lack confidence towards the end as the home side controlled the play.

Ryerson remain in 6th place in the OUA East Division, although now 5 points behind today’s opponents. With just 8 games left, holding on to 6th place may be their main objective for the remainder of the season. This will surely leave them with a difficult play-off tie when they begin on the 17th of February.

Without a victory since the 28th of November, the Ryerson Rams will hope their luck improves next Thursday as they host last nights opponents.

Belarusian defender Verkhovtsov arrived in Glasgow today to con

Left to right, Filipenko, Heskey, Verkhovtsov (Courtesy of Day Life)

clude a dream move to Glasgow giants Celtic. The transfer fee looks to be close to the half million mark, which may be considered a bargain if he is able to improve on Celtic’s current defensive deficiancies.

With Loovens, Caldwell and McManus all failing to impress in the centre-back role thus far, question marks will remain on wether O’Dea is capable of stepping in after a dissapointing loan spell at Reading in the English Championship. Young defender Josh Thompson, who was drafted in during the summer transfer window, is clearly considered to be one for the future by manager Tony Mowbray, as he has still to make his first team debut.

The main problem for Mowbray will be who to drop, due the age of Verkhotsov it is unlikely he has merely being signed as a squad player due to the U21 rule which has seen several players struggle to make it into the match day squads, most noteably Willo Flood and Koki Mizuno. But with plenty of first team experience and several appearances at international level, this is surely a signing to offer serious competition to the current pool of defensive options. McManus has been frequently dropped from first team action, while Caldwell’s contract comes to an end during the summer, paving the way for a Loovens and Verkhovtsov partnership.

The new signing will also aid to sorting Celtic’s other main problem, goals. At club level he has offered an astonishing goal scoring record averaging at nearly a goal for every two games.

Along with the signing of Ki Sung-Yong, Mowbray has also been linked with moves for another defender, Matthew Kilgannon, and the usual Transfer Window rumour of Robbie Keane, while several trialists have been in and out of Lennoxtown over the last few weeks. Expect to see more new arrivals before the end of January as Celtic aim to regain the SPL title.