A super Sammy strike and a penalty from captain Scott Brown were enough to take holder Celtic into the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup in Inverness today.

Lenny chose to shuffle the pack a bit with Kelvin Wilson partnering Thomas Rogne in the middle of defence, moving Charlie Mulgrew to left back and Adam Matthews returning at right back at the expense of Cha.

Also missing from the starting line up was Anthony Stokes, who dropped to the bench, Lenny favouring Sammy up front with Gary Hooper.

And that change in selection worked for the manager. With the game in a stalemate around the half hour mark, Georgios Samaras latched on to a Ross Tokely mistake to fire an unstoppable swerving shot from 16 yards to put the Bhoys 1-0 up.

The goal was no more than Celtic deserved having dominated most of the possession up to that point and seemed to settle the Hoops, although ICT very rarely threatened.

Although Celtic didn’t add to there lead until the second half, the Bhoys were never in danger.

And the game was put beyond doubt when man of the match Gary Hooper robbed ICT’s Procter on the touchline only to be scythed down by the defender for a stonewall penalty.

Up stepped Scott Brown to score his third goal in as many matches and and take the Celts safely into the next round.

As the game petered out, Sammy Hoops both missed chance3 to make the score a bit more convincing. Still, a victory over Terry Butcher and his men is always nice and made even sweeter with the way the game went.

Well done Celtic and well deserved!

As if things haven’t been bad enough for Lenny recently, the news that captain Scott Brown will be out of action for the next 8-10 weeks with an ankle injury is a blow Neil could well do without.

Broonie’s injury is just the latest in a season that’s been blighted by mid to long term injuries, mostly to key players.

The campaign had barely started when we lost Emilio in a freak tackle at Aberdeen. Little did we know he’d be missing for six months.

Unfortunately, that was to set the tone for the season.

Forrest, Commons, Kayal, Loovens, Mark Wilson, Kelvin Wilson, Ledley and now Broonie have all missed games already this season.

Although this isn’t taken into account when it comes to supporting the manager as too many fans think winning football matches is a black and white issue.

It goes without saying, if you don’t have the players available for selection, you can’t pick them!

Despite giving Aberdeen aka ‘The Sheep’, several ‘doings’ last season, including a 9-0, at Celtic Park, the Bhoys can expect a tougher game at Piitodrie in today’s televised SPL match.

Pa Broon has brought in several new faces to The Sheep, so each and every one of them will be looking to make an impression on the auld fella.

Because of this, we might find the game a wee bit tougher than usual.

Having said that, Lenny can chose from a squad that firing on all cylinders will blow ANY team in Scotland away, including ‘Sallys Slackers’.

With captain Scott Brown still suspended, and Glenn Loovens out for six weeks, most of the players that featured in our pre season fixtures will be available.

Should make for a good game, with Celtic winning by a couple goals, enough to take us to the top of the SPL, where we rightly belong.

C’mon The Hoops!

When captain Scott Brown signed for Celtic in a £4.4m deal from Hibs in 2007, which is still a record deal between two Scottish clubs, much was expected of this ‘wonder kid’.

His box to box and combative style was much sought after, with clubs both sides of the border vying for his signature. So when Celtic manager Gordon Strachan secured the player on a five year deal it was seen as a great piece of business. A coup, as he was all set to join the Govan Mob.

And over the last four years, successive managers, Strachan, Mowbray and Lennon have all seen Skoosh as a valuable part of the Celtic midfield.

Although at times he looks like he runs about like a ‘heidless chicken’ that couldn’t trap a bag of cement, he does add ‘something’ to the middle of the park.

I think it’s fair to say that since Lenny shifted Scott out to the right of midfield we are now seeing more of the player we expected to see.

In fact you say in the eyes of the Celtic support he gone from Zero to Cult Hero after his goal celebration at the Bigotdome in front of a bemused Hadji Diouf. (still don’t know how that warranted a booking!)

Anyway, according to Lenny and Broonie, the club and his representatives are close to agreeing a deal that will keep our captain at Celtic Park.

However, if you believe the hack Mark Guidi, then the parties involved are miles apart, the bold Scoop told us on Radio Clyde last night.

So, who do you believe? Lenny and Broonie or Scoop Guidi?

Listening to the radio phone in on Clyde, most of the callers were quite rightly having a go at the Govan Mob and their Champions League capitulation to Malmo on Tuesday.

However, there were a couple of callers in particular who were very unhappy about Neil Lennon’s team selection for last nights friendly against Wolves.

The gist of the complaints were the fact that none of the eleven who started on Sunday at Easter Road made the staring line up against Mick McCarthy’s team.

Obviously the Bhoys took along their kids, as I did, and expected to see Kayal, Izaguirre etc.

Now, did they really expect Lenny to field his strongest side when we have another three games to play in the next six days?

Are they over the top with their criticism of the manager? And if you were there, do you feel cheated by Neil’s team selection?

BTW. The team that started was:

Pletikosa; Cha, Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Matthews; Forrest, Brown, Wanyama, Maloney; Murphy, Mphela.

Speculation has been rife that Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will use goalkeeper Fraser Forster as some sort of pawn in a game of chess to get what he wants from Celtic.

Having lost his captain Kevin Nolan to West Ham with Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Jonas Guitierrez all set to follow, Pardew might well be casting his eyes at Broonie as part of a new midfield unit.

Forster and cash to take the Celtic captain to the North East? Mibees aye?mibees naw?

I doubt if Lenny would want to get rid of Skoosh, who has become a wee bit of a cult hero since he famously faced up Scooby Diouf at the Bigotdome. Add to that the player has rediscovered some decent form since moving out to the right.

I’m sure Neil would like to keep the midfield that performed so well for him last season together, if he can.

But stranger things have happened, just look at the Midlands for the unexpected!

If there is one lesson learned from last season then it must be that Celtic will NOT take anything lying down.

Our captain Scott Brown thought, and quite rightly in my opinion, that Murderwell set out to kick Celtic off the park on Saturday. Just like they did earlier in the campaign at Fir Park.

Although he was not the only one, Keith Lasley made sure that every Celtic player knew he was there, obviously under instructions from his manager Stu McCall.

Knowing that the Bhoys were a better team, McCall set out his stall to try and stop us any way they could. It didn’t work, the best team won on the day!

(Pity he didn’t give the same instructions when his team were playing against the Govan mob, instead of chucking goals in willy-nilly.)

The big Hampden surface suited Celtic style better, the fact that the park was actually playable was a major surprise when you consider the state it was in for the Co-operative Cup Final!

Anyway, back to the issue. Well said Scott, but be prepared for more of the same next season! Murderwell and a good few others will be trying to get ‘in our faces’ as often as possible.

It’s up to us to match them step by step!

Every club need to have a big squad these days just with the number of games we have to play. But when you’re successful, the need for quality as well as bodies becomes more apparant.

Suspentions and injuries mount up throughout the course of every campaign and eventually take their toll.

This season is no different.

The news of Cha Du Rei’s injury on top of the bans for Kayal and big Dan could have left Lenny with a major headache. As it is, the form of Charlie Mulgrew in the centre of defence and the resurgence of Scott Brown has given the manager a bit of leeway.

He’s also had a decent bench to call on for a few weeks now, which always helps if things ain’t going our way on the park.

Add to that the form of the team and the business end of the season is looking bright for the Bhoys.

Contrast that to the Death Star and they’ll be on their knees before the months out.

Best place for them.

For many of the Faithful Scott Brown will never be a Celtic captain.

However, he has recently shown signs at long last that he can reproduce the kind of form that led to former Celtic gaffer Gordon Strachan to lay out £4.4m for his services.

Many, including myself, have doubted his ability to step up to the responsibility of being a Celtic player never mind captain. Sure he’s had his fair share of problems with injury and personal tragedy, but Broonie just wasn’t cutting it.

That was until Lenny publicly backed him, put Joe Ledley and Biram Kayal beside him and let him loose to show why he’s a Celtic player.

On Sunday he had arguably one of his best games in the Hoops, capped off with a stunning curling shot into McGregor’s net, right in front of the Faithful.

Turning round to celebrate he came face-to face with the sewer rat. He staredt at the rat, not an offence or worthy of a yellow card, and showed that HE was the man.

He was then surrounded by jubilant team mates, and carted off to take the acclaim his goal richly deserved.

Obviously, the media HAD to make an issue about Broonie’s staring! In fact so low are these hacks, they even ‘interviewed’ the rat, you know just one piece of  gutter life talking to another.

They didn’t want to give Celtic the credit for a stunning display with ten men for more than sixty minutes. They wanted controversy.

By publishing the opinion of the Senegalese rat, they thought only about selling newspapers. And this is where Broonie has got it all wrong.

He should have let the scum have their say. He should NOT have retorted with any comment. This is what the media want. And Scott is playing right into their hands. Getting into a public slagging match is unfair on his team mates, we should all be talking about the performance, not anyone’s antics.

He’s made the first step to becoming a Celtic captain by playing like a leader, now he has to ACT like one!

It’s nothing physical of course, one’s 5′ 8″, pale, and runs about like a headless chicken, the other’s…..Bobo Balde!

The similarities start when you consider their respective roles as Celtic players.

Let me explain.

Since Scott Brown signed from Hibs in the eyes of most Celtic fans he’s yet to fulfil anything near the potential that Ghordon Strachan paid £4.4m for. In fact it amazes me he gets a game most weeks.

However, I’m hearing from certain Celts a voice of concern about the captain’s enforced absence through injury. Although his brash style isn’t every-one’s cup of tea it’s often needed in the hurly-burly of SPL football.

Which brings me nicely onto Mr Dianbobo Balde.

When Bobo was a regular in the Martin O’Neill Celtic side, there were constant calls for the big Guinean to be axed. His passing ability was very limited and his composure the same as George Michael driving a jeep!

Yet, once the big man was dropped by Ghordon Strachan, there was an almighty din about re-instating the player to the centre of Celtic’s defence….by the same people who wanted him binned in the first place!

So, if Neil Lennon’s Bhoys don’t win the next TWO games at least, can we assume that Scott Brown’s absence is to blame?