When Artur Boruc signed for Italian club Fiorentina it was the end of five great years for the Polish goalie at Celtic Park.

Probably the best keeper to play for the club in the past two decades, Boruc leaves Glasgow with three SPL badges, two League Cup and one Scottish Cup medal.

Always a character, the Holy Goalie’s match day ritual of blessing himself not only endeared him to The Faithful but angered the bigots that trawl this small minded country.

His heroics between the sticks included the famous penalty save from Manchester United’s Louis Saha in the Champions League, his penalty conversion against Dundee United in the CIS Cup semi-final and for me the best save of his career, when he tipped a swerving shot onto the post at Easter Road last season.

The big man was never afraid to voice his opinion or show his allegiance as he proved at Legoland when he left the park waving a ‘Champions’ Celtic flag!

Everyone at Celtic Fanzone wish the HG all the best for the future and look forward to seeing back visiting the club he held so dear for the last five years.

Good luck Artur!

The Holy Goalie

Our love of international breaks show no sign of abating, now that news of not one, but two injury scares on Celtic players representing their countries have emerged.

Scott Brown played most of the game at Hampden against Macedonia in some sort of limp mode, although it didn’t stop him getting about the park and up the noses of the Macedonian players!

He will need as much rest as he can get if he’s to play against Holland. We’ve got to remember he’s just getting his fitness together after a close season op.

Hopefully he’ll miss out and be fit for Saturday’s game against Dundee United at Celtic Park. A far more important game in my book!

Joining him on injury watch is the in-form Holy Goalie. Artur appears to have strained a calf muscle in Poland’s 1-1 draw with the North.

He faces a race to be fit for the Slovenia game on Wednesday.

If Artur doesn’t make it, our very own Lukasz Zaluska will deputise and might even find himself facing his old club Dundee United in Saturday’s SPL tie.

Once again we find ourselves waiting anxiously after an international break.

No? Me neither.

The Holy Goalie is roughly the same size as he was last season, and the season before and the season before…….you get the drift.

Yet yesterday at Easter Road, the big man brought off one of the best saves in the world, truly world class to deny Hibs an equaliser.

He flung himself almost backwords to tip David Wotherspoons shot onto the post. Brilliance! Even Craig Burley said it was world class, the only sense he spoke all afternoon in fact.

We all know that saves like Artur’s can go along way to winning league titles.

Well done THG!

P.S. Funny how nobody mentioned his weight after the save?

Watch it here again….

Celtic took all three points from Easter Road in a typical topsy-turvy encounter between the teams.

But the main talking point will be the sending-off of Aiden McGeady for diving.

Somehow the referee, Brother Dougie McDonald who was that biased he even wore the same kit as the Hibs goalie, managed to see Aiden fall when no-one else in the ground did.

He duly sent the player off and gave the advantage to Hibs.

And they almost capitalised immediately when Hibee Wotherspoon hit a screamer from 25 yards that looked a certainty all the way.

Except Artur Boruc had other ideas. The Holy Goalie produced a truly world class save to keep the Bhoys ahead.

Mogga then made a few substitutions, McDonald, Maloney and N’Guemo all making way for Killen, Flood and Caddis respectively.

Celtic did have a couple of great chances, Sammy greedily tried to beat the keeper when Broonie was lying open yards from goal only minutes from time, was the most notable.

However we did prevail and a win in Edinburgh is welcome, anytime.

P.S. Somethings never change,a tosser of a referee, and now that ESPN have replaced Setanta, more hunnish commentary from Booth, Burley and Co.

At least Mogga is in there fighting our corner, we’ll need him!

At approximately 7.40pm on Wednesday night the player destined to be the new Celtic captain will lead the Hoops out for the first leg of our Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Moscow.

Gary Caldwell, New Celtic Captain?

But who will it be?

The smart money is on Gary Caldwell, with Glenn Loovens an outsider.

Or will the Holy Goalie be given the armband.

He’s certainly in top form and might be looked upon as a senior member of the squad.

Who ever it is will surely be the club captain for the season with Mick stepping down.

His injury looks like keeping him out for a while yet and we need continuity from the start of the campaign.

Celtic Fanzone can reveal from a very reliable source that Celtic and Scotland’s Player of the Year candidate Scott Brown is on his way OUT of Paradise.

Broonie's Replacement?

What will come as a shock to the Faithful, is the news that agents are actively trying to find a suitor for the midfield player.

It has been suggested that Celtic want to cash in on Broonie while his stock it at it’s highest, with Hamilton’s James McCarthy already lined up as a possible replacement.

Some at the club are still sore about not selling on the Holy Goalie last season after the European Championships, and are determined not to get caught out again.

Of course the club will deny all knowledge…until a formal offer is made and the board take the cash!

Footnote: Over at HunsR Us, Steve Davis is being touted as their main selling asset, (only one) and is also being touted around clubs down south.

I know it’s not the same watching football that doesn’t involve the Hoops, and I do appreciate that a lot of people out there actually like watching internationals.

Some even go and support the country of their choice.

But to be honest, it’s not for me.

Will You Support Aiden Tonight?

Anyhow, it does make me wonder who the Faithful will be shouting for when both Scotland and the Republic of Ireland are playing at the same time.

Like tonight. When Scotland play Holland and the Republic of Ireland take on Bulgaria.

Will you be cheering Scott Brown and Gary Caldwell in the dark blue of Scotland or will it be Aiden McGeady and Darren O’Dea in Ireland’s green?

Or what about Artur Boruc and Poland? He’ll probably need our support more than anyone else when he takes to the field in the Belfast Bigotdome.

Before yesterday’s CIS Cup Final, that bastion of truth the News Of The Screws ran a front page report on the Huns’ money plight.

The Headline: “Gers’ £20M Debt Squeeze” was enough to make any concerned Tim invest a quid. Normally on the front page it’s some cock and bull story about The Holy Goalie, although he did get a mention inside!

Anyway, while trying to contain my laughter as the true extent of Herr Murray and Der Hun was revealed, I noticed a twist in the story much to my displeasure. (F**king annoyed to say the least!)

Falling To Pieces

According to an insider of the Crack Team from the HBOS debt recovery department, the Manky Mob are to be helped in their quest for survival.

“We don’t want Rangers to suffer on and off the pitch so we’ve pulled together some of our best brains to make sure that the club comes down as gently as possible”

The article went on to tell us that they are paying an estimated £8,000 a day in interest payments!

But what really pissed me was that HBOS, of which we, the taxpayer, are majority shareholders, are affording the Establishment team the time to get their act together, something that the very same bank denied the Celtic board in 1994. (I still believe Murray had some influence on The Mound at the time)

Why should we wait to get our money back? I though that Sir Dave was one of Scotland’s most prolific entrepreneurs. Surely he has some masterplan to get his beloved Rangers out of this mess?

Maybe not.

So, Der Loyal Hun took it upon themselves to do a spot of fundraising by having a sponsored silence on the slopes of Hampden for the whole of the first half yesterday. While their heroes were chasing shadows.

Then to top off their cash raising events, those that were left, indulged in a sponsored sprint at the full time whistle!

P.S. After this morning’s GMP raids, inmates at Strangeways are looking forward to some new arrivals!

Celtic 0 Rangers 0

Having watched the Hoops for over 30 years I can honestly say that this game was one of the worst I’ve ever witnessed.

As my wee pal Jimmy McNally said, “That wid get fitba stopped!”

Calum Murray

And bhoy was he right. From the off the game was slow paced, passes were misdirected, tackles mistimed and to make matters worse we had a referee that had a shocker!

The only positives we can take out of this waste of a Sunday was the performance of the Holy Goalie.

Once again he was there when it mattered, saving second half headers from Mick and old man Weir.

Oh aye, Willo Flood made his debut….

Match Report..

Goldfish Bowl Existence

Everyone in Glasgow knows that when you play for Celtic your private life is now very much in the public domain. More so if you’ve got any real ability, which the Holy Goalie certainly has.

But it has it’s limits. Here’s what his international coach thinks about it….

Poland coach Jan de Zeeuw fears that Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc could be about to crack under the pressure of being number one for club and country.

The 28-year-old has had a series of blunders this season, and after fighting with Aiden McGeady last week questions have been asked about his future at Celtic.

But de Zeeuw feels the stress could be getting to him after working with him when Poland faced Wales on Wednesday, and it could not come at a worse time with the Old Firm derby on Sunday.

“We all know he has had some tough times and anybody in that situation can find it difficult,”

“He has had a hard time and is still having a hard time. But everybody deals with private problems in a different way. It is difficult for him.

“He has to live with a lot of pressure in Scotland and it is even worse when he comes to Poland. The bull**** he gets in the papers in Poland is unbelievable.”

He continued: “He is one of the biggest stars in Poland and the pressure is unbelievable because the Polish media is brutal.

“Everyone has a right to privacy but Artur has none, in Poland or in Scotland. It is very difficult for him.”

Looking ahead to Sunday’s game, de Zeeuw feels that Boruc will struggle to focus on the match.

“It’s a massive game for him, of course, but I don’t know how he will do because he has problems,” he added. “If everybody is confronting you all of the time it is difficult to concentrate on your job.

“I don’t know the details of any problems Artur might have but if he has difficulties he has to deal with them in his own way.”

So there you have it, but like everyone else, Artur is entitled to some privacy. I doubt if he’ll ever get it, especially here with the media hounds on his case. ]]> http://celticfanzone.net/arturs-right-to-privacy/feed/ 0