Nearly all of the goals, well the most important ones, we’ve score since the January window have come courtesy of Robbie Keane’s shooting boots.

Since Keano is only here until the summer, if reports are accurate, we need to have a consistent goalscorer coming to the fore between now and the end of the season.

But who will that be?

Marc-Antoine Fortune? Well MAF has scored a few since he joined the club but is hardly prolific, and seems to be a better link man than an out and out goalscorer.

Georgios Samaras? Sammy is an enigma. He can be brilliant then abysmal, all in the one move! He does score a few goals but isn’t one to rely on.

Paul McGowan? Gowser is knocking on the door for a first team place but is just a bit short of making a telling contribution.

Then we have Morten Rasmussen. The big Dane scored on his debut but has had very little game time since that day at Hamilton. He does have a penalty box mentality and that’s something we’ve been missing. Provided we get the ball into the area often enough Ras could be the one to get us the goals.

That’s what we think, what do you think?

Visit our new poll and tell us who you think will get the goals for Celtic after Robbie’s gone!

For anyone who doubted the wisdom of Tony Mowbray, including Skippy, for tempting Robbie Keane to join the Bhoys on loan, then the Irishman left all doubters high and dry today.

A second half hat-trick hauled the Hoops through to the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Kilmarnock this afternoon.

After a lacklustre fifty minutes in which Celtic were largely second best, Mogga changed things by bringing on Marc-Antoine Fortune and Sammy for the ineffectual Marc Crosas and Morten Rasmussen.

And for me, MAF made all the difference.

Not only did he lay on two of Robbie goals but his general play offered a more direct route.

Tactically the big man made the changes that counted and turned a hard fought tussle into a canter.

So, at last we’ve something to cheer about, well kinda, so lets make the best of it!

Watching Sky Sports News this morning the wee banner at the bottom happened to do a quick preview of tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie at Kilmarnock.

Apparently, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Glenn Loovens have trained and look certain to be included in the squad for the game.

Then, something strange happened on my TV.

The next screen mentioned……Shaun Maloney!

Remember him?

According to Sky, Shaun will resume training next week. Of course they don’t say how long he’ll last before he’s injured again.

That’s anybodys guess.

Shaun Keeping Busy While He's Injured!

Here’s a picture of Shaun in case you’ve forgotten what he looks like……

Well, it was nearly a Carlsberg Wednesday……

It was only spoiled by a dubious refereeing decision at Murderwell that stopped the home side taking a two goal lead, and some poor finishing at Celtic Park.

(I didn’t hear Wattie question the descent or religion of the referee last night, did you? Mustn’t have been Tom Murphy)

Back to the poor finishing.

Arguably all the best chances against Hertz fell to Robbie Keane. He must have had four or five one-on-one’s with the Wee Huns’ keeper. Each time he failed to score, although Kello did have a couple of good stops.

No doubt had Sammy missed the same chances the Faithful would be calling for his head.

But there is one real difference.

Sammy more than likely wouldn’t have taken up the same positions as Robbie. His movement at times is quite mesmerizing. How anyone can hope to mark him…..

He drops deep, picks up the ball, lays off, then the next thing he’s in front of goal. His vision at times is amazing. I for one didn’t realise he had so much in his locker.

Anyway, on the night Robbie was maybe trying a wee bit too hard. There’s no doubt his presence has lifted the atmosphere at Celtic Park. And the goals will come for him. ( A winner at the Hunnery would do nicely!)

A win at Celtic Park is always welcome and last night there was only ever going to be one winner. Two goals in quick succession from Glenn Loovens and MAF were enough to give the Hoops all three points.

I don’t think Artur had a save to make all night, an even better statistic when you consider we ended the game with an 18 year-old Josh Thompson and 19 year-old Thomas Rogne in the middle of our defence!

Roll on Saturday, three points against the Sheep and the pressure is back on Lloyds FC….

What it is with Celtic? We had twenty-seven shots at St Johnstone’s goal yesterday and scored with three of the hardest!

MAF’s first strike was stunning, Sammy’s volley was sublime and Paddy McCourt’s dribble and shot was easily a contender for goal of the season.(you can see what it means to Paddy below)

I said before the game that a good result could turn our season around and maybe it will. Of course we have to continue this kind of form against Hibs on Wednesday for there to be real hope of a comeback.

With players returning to training this week Tony just might have a couple of selection headaches ahead of the midweek fixture.

No doubt Mogga will deal with them, just as he dealt with David Tanner after the game, as he let the media know on Sky Sports what he thinks of their credentials for picking a player.

Nice one Tony.

Paddy Shows What It Means To Play For Celtic!

Now this is just what we want to hear! At last you can sense that Celtic are a team capable of overcoming adversity with the type of football we all want to see.

After taking the lead through big Sammy, who had another great game, we fell asleep to let Murderwell back into the game. Both goals we conceded were easily preventable and only better concentration will put a stop to these defensive lapses.

However, if anyone questioned the character of the side, then the Bhoys came up trumps today.

First Aiden scored a sublime equaliser, then as if it was written in a script, out of luck Marc-Antoine Fortune came on as sub and rifled a screamer into the Murderwell net to make it 3-2 to Celtic.

Three well deserved points that could have been a bit more comfortable had Barry Robson not missed a penalty at 2-2, our third miss in recent weeks.

As Tony says, this could be a game that goes a long way to deciding the destination of the title!

A header from Georgios Samaras after 29 minutes put Celtic one up against the surprise table toppers from Tel Aviv. Sammy met Aiden’s pinpoint cross perfectly and duly dispatched the ball past Hapoel’s Nigerian keeper.

Hapoel’s manager had made noises in the press about coming to Celtic Park to attack the Bhoys but in reality that never happened.

You just had a feeling that tonight Celtic were going to win this match no matter what.

And we had enough chances in the first half to make the game comfortable but once again failed to convert them, the most notable falling to Sammy who almost leisurely flicked the ball against the post.

But the Hoops weren’t to be denied.The game effectively over on sixty eight minutes.

After more chances went a begging Celtic were awarded a free-kick twenty five yards from goal. Luckily for the Bhoys Barry Robson waved Danny Fox away and took the kick himself.

Barry blasted the ball into the bottom corner to give Celtic a 2-0 lead and Tony Mowbray his first European win at Celtic Park.

As the game pettered out both Marc-Antoine Fortune and Skippy missed glorious chances to make the scoreline even more convincing.

Still, our aim of winning the three home games on the bounce is two-thirds there, now for the Sheep on Saturday!

To some, the board’s lack of activity in the January transfer window ultimately cost Celtic a fourth successive title in a row.

And this time around, the club have hardly burst the bank to secure new signings, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Danny Fox, Landry N’Guemo, Lukasz Zaluska and China captain Zheng Zhi replacing Naka, Jan, Bobo, Zico and JJPD.

Should the board be pushing the boat out to secure players of a different quality, a WOW signing…..like we were promised three seasons ago.

You decide in today’s poll….

In the run up to Celtic’s opening SPL fixture of the season today, Scott McDonald hinted strongly about a dilemma facing new manager Tony Mowbray.

Just who does he start with upfront today?

Aberdeen can be a tricky place for us, as we found out last season so it’s vital that we start the new campaign with all three points.

And to do so we must get the striking options right.

So far Skippy has done enough to secure his place, but has new Bhoy Marc-Antoine Fortune? I don’t think he’s settled yet, of course he will have to soon, but dropping him to the bench won’t do his confidence any good.

Which brings us back to big Sammy. Georgios Samaras.

Starting games in the past haven’t always worked for the Greek fellow. To me he seems to be better coming off the bench and making an impact, as he proved in Moscow.

But it’s not up to us, it’s Tony’s call.

With less than an hour to kick-off at Pittodrie I think Mogga will go with Skippy and MAF. What do you think?

P.S. Chris Killen?

When Celtic announced yesterday that the pursuit of Marc-Antoine Fortuné had come to a successful conclusion did we see the start of something special, something different?

By all accounts the big French/Guianan had offers to join clubs in the English Premiership, most notably Hull, Bolton and latterly Portsmouth. In fact Hull were convinced they’d got their man.

Marc-Antoine Celebrates!

But Marc-Antoine decided that his footballing future lay in Paradise.

The money on offer from the EPL was considerably more than he’ll be on at Celtic but for once, the money is NOT the most important issue.

Now don’t get me wrong, he’ll be earning good wages, probably more than £1m a year but the lure of playing for a manager, at a massive club and probably on the biggest footballing stage in Europe was too much to turn down.

His signing could well be as significant off the park as it is on it.

And it also lays down a marker for new boss Tony Mowbray.

Sometimes you’re better with the devil you know, hopefully Mogga can use his honest charm to prise more players away from the EPL.

Bienvenue au Paradis Marc-Antoine!