Celtic: Guide to 2015-16 season
- By Adam Higgins
- Jul 17, 2015
- 6 min read
A profile of Celtic as part of a comprehensive guide to the 12 top-flight teams ahead of the 2015-16 Scottish Premiership season.
They say familiarity breeds contempt and Celtic taking part in the title presentation party in May is now a customary sight at the end of a Scottish Premiership season.
Striving for 10 league championships in a row, another one this season would see them to the halfway stage in their quest for ultimate domestic dominance.
Boss Ronny Deila may have experienced teething problems as he settled into his first campaign in Scotland last year, however, the Norwegian soon found his feet and delivered two trophies in the Premiership silverware and League Cup - which could have been three but for a controversial Scottish Cup semi defeat to Inverness Caley Thistle.
Some new additions to add depth to the squad and another crack at the Champions League will give the Hoops fans more to look forward to amid the inevitability of wrapping up another league crown as the start of their competitive campaign fast approaches.
LADBROKES SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP TEAMS FOR THIS SEASON:
Aberdeen
CELTIC
Dundee
Dundee United
Hamilton Academical
Heart of Midlothian
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Kilmarnock
Motherwell
Partick Thistle
Ross County
St Johnstone
CELTIC
Deila delight: The Norwegian, 39, is targeting a domestic clean sweep and European success in his second season since arriving from Stromgodset (Picture from Sky Sports)
Manager: Ronny Deila Assistant Manager: John Collins Captain: Scott Brown (Midfielder) Chairman: Ian Bankier
Star Player: Kris Commons (Forward) 2014-15 player of the season: Stefan Johansen (Midfielder)
Stand-out: The Norwegian midfielder, 24, bagged 13 goals and six assists last term to collect the PFA Scotland player of year and be named in the team of the season (Picture from BBC Scotland)
Stadium: Celtic Park Capacity: 60,832 2014-15 Average Attendance: 42,500 This is the largest stadium currently in the Scottish Premiership
Last season's league finish: 1st (Won 29, Drawn 5, Lost 4 - 92 points) Last season's goals for/against: 84/17
Leading stopper: The Scotland Football Writers' Player of the Year kept 20 clean sheets in 33 league games last term - the most in the division (Picture from Sky Sports)
Discipline record in league (2014-15): 44 yellow cards, 1 red card Last season's disciplinarian (2014-15): Scott Brown (9 yellows, 1 red)
First three fixtures (2015-16): Saturday 1 August v Ross County (H), Saturday 8 August v Partick Thistle (A), Wednesday 12 August v Kilmarnock (A)
Other key fixtures (2015-16): 22 August v Dundee United (A), 12 September v Aberdeen (A), 26 September v Hearts (H), 31 October v Aberdeen (H), 28 November v Inverness (A), 26 December v Hearts (A), 2 January v Partick Thistle (H), 30 January v Aberdeen (A), 20 February v Inverness (H)
City of Discovery: Celtic - who won, drew and lost on their three Tannadice trips last term - will visit Dundee United in their sixth league game (Picture from Sky Sports)
Live TV games (confirmed): 1 August v Ross County (H) 12:45pm, Sky Sports 1, 9 August v Partick Thistle (A) 12:30pm, BT Sport 1, 12 August v Kilmarnock (A) 7:45pm, BT Sport 2, 22 August v Dundee Utd (A) 12pm, BT Sport 2, 12 September v Aberdeen (A) 12:30pm, Sky Sports 3, 4 October v Hamilton (A) 12:30pm, Sky Sports 2, 17 October v Motherwell (A) 12pm BT Sport 2, 31 October v Aberdeen (H) 12:30pm, Sky Sports 3
Influence: The Scotland midfielder, 30, has skippered the Celtic side since being named captain by Tony Mowbray in 2009 (Picture from Sky Sports)
Biggest league win of last season: 16 August 2014 - 6-1 win v Dundee United (H) Biggest league defeat of last season: 21 December 2014 - 2-1 defeat v Dundee United (A)
Best moment (2014-15): Nine wins from last 11 league games to seal title and League Cup double Worst moment (2014-15): Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Inverness denied first treble since 2001
Treble hero: The 24-year-old Scot, who joined Celtic from Wolves in January 2014, has scored three hat-tricks for the Hoops including two last season (Picture from Sky Sports)
Top league goalscorer (2014-15): Leigh Griffiths - 14 goals Top overall goalscorer (2014-15): Leigh Griffiths - 20 goals
Most league assists (2014-15): Kris Commons - 7 assists Most league appearances last season: Emilio Izaguirre & Virgil van Dijk (35 starts, 0 sub apps)
Best signing (summer 2015): Nadir Ciftci (£1.5 million from Dundee United) Key player for 2015-16: Stuart Armstrong Record signing: John Hartson (£6 million buy from Coventry City in August 2001)
Triumph: Captain Scott Brown lifted the League Cup in March as Celtic won the competition for the first time since 2009 (Picture from BBC Scotland)
Last season's Scottish Communities League Cup finish: Winners (beat Dundee United 2-0 in final) Last season's William Hill Scottish Cup finish: Semi-finals (lost 3-2 to Inverness CT after extra time)
Squad list: 1 Craig Gordon (GK), 3 Emilio Izaguirre (LB), 4 Efe Ambrose (CB), 5 Virgil van Dijk (CB), 6 Nir Bitton (CM), 7 Nadir Ciftci (ST), 8 Scott Brown (CM), 9 Leigh Griffiths (ST), 10 Anthony Stokes (ST), 11 Derk Boerrigter (RW/LW), 12 Stefan Scepovic (ST), 14 Stuart Armstrong (CAM), 15 Kris Commons (CF), 16 Gary Mackay-Steven (RM/LM), 18 Tom Rogic (CM), 20 Dedryck Boyata (CB), 21 Charlie Mulgrew (D/CM), 22 Saidy Janko (RB), 23 Mikael Lustig (RB), 25 Stefan Johansen (CAM), 26 Logan Bailly (GK), 34 Eoghan O'Connell (CB), 36 Jackson Irvine (RB/CDM), 38 Leonardo Fasan (GK), 41 Darnell Fisher (RB), 42 Callum McGregor (RW/LW), 46 Dylan McGeouch (RM/CM), 49 James Forrest (RW), 53 Liam Henderson (CM).
Possible line-up:
Players out:
Stuart Findlay (to Kilmarnock, season-long loan) Joe Chalmers (to Motherwell, free transfer) Lukasz Zaluska (released)
Calum Waters (to Dumbarton, season-long loan) Teemu Pukki (to Brondby, £500,000) Connor McManus (to Alloa Athletic, short-term loan) John Herron (to Blackpool, free transfer) Michael Duffy (to Alloa Athletic, season-long loan) Holmbert Friojonsson (to KR Reykjavik, free transfer) Paul McMullan (to St Mirren, season-long loan) Amido Balde (to Metz, free transfer) Adam Matthews (to Sunderland, £2 million) Mubarak Wakaso (to Rubin Kazan, end of loan spell) Jamie Lindsay (to Dumbarton, season-long loan) Jackson Irvine (to Ross County, free transfer)
Familiar face: The 23-year-old Turk, who rejected a move to Wigan, scored 16 goals in 42 Dundee Utd appearances last term (Picture from Sky Sports)
Players in:
Dedryck Boyata (from Manchester City, £1.5 million) Saidy Janko (from Manchester United, free transfer) Nadir Ciftci (from Dundee United, £1.5 million) Logan Bailly (from OH Leuven, undisclosed fee)
Pre-season results:
1 July 2015 Friendly Celtic 2-0 FC Den Bosch St Mirren Park (Paisley) Mackay-Steven 3 Pantophlet 25 (og)
4 July 2015 Friendly Celtic 3-5 Dukla Prague St Mirren Park (Paisley) Griffiths 28 (pen) Mackay-Steven 43 van Dijk 83
10 July 2015 Friendly Celtic 1-0 Real Socediad St Mirren Park (Paisley) Mackay-Steven 68
15 July 2015 UCL 2nd Qual 1st leg Celtic 2-0 FC Stjarnan Celtic Park (Glasgow)
Boyata 44 Johansen 56 Griffiths 79 missed pen
18 July 2015 Friendly Eibar 1-4 Celtic Ipurua Municipal Stadium Ambrose 49 Griffiths 59 (pen), 74, 89
22 July 2015 UCL 2nd Qual 2nd leg FC Stjarnan 1-4 Celtic Samsungvollur (Iceland) Bitton 32 Mulgrew 49 Griffiths 88 Johansen 90+3
25 July 2015 Friendly Celtic 2-0 Rennes Celtic Park (Glasgow) Griffiths 12 Mackay-Steven 22
29 July 2015 UCL 3rd Qual 1st leg Celtic 1-0 FK Qarabag Celtic Park (Glasgow) Boyata 82
Prediction:
Target of ten: Celtic are openly and ambitiously seeking to win 10 successive league titles after claiming their fourth in a row last season (Picture from Sky Sports)
In league terms, Celtic know what is expected of them year on year with the hunger and determination to create history and celebrating their success at the end of the season driving the players on. The only concern they should have is that complacency will creep into their play. To effectively seal the title, Ronny Deila will know the results against Aberdeen and Dundee United are going to be most important but they can still afford to slip up occasionally. Their early league progress may be determined by how far they can advance in Europe but the strength in depth in their talented squad is more than capable of coping with the demands that any challenge presents. Deila will have his own targets to rack up a certain number of points and score a certain number of goals. In 2013-14 under Neil Lennon, Celtic accumulated 99 points and netted 102 times in the league. They finished short of both totals last term but still conceded only 17 goals thanks to the excellent form of Craig Gordon and the defence in front of him therefore the Hoops still have their own aims to meet and improvements to make as they strive to become a powerful Champions League force.
Verdict: 1st (Title winners)
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