Celtic FC: The Bhoys Are Back in Town

In his pre-season press conference, Celtic boss Ronny Deila said he was looking to improve on his first season in charge of the Bhoys.

The Norwegian led his side to the Scottish League Cup and Scottish Premiership double last campaign, but a poor showing in Europe still left much to be desired by the Celtic fans.

‘Last season was good, but could be improved. We won the league and the cup easily, and I would like to repeat that this year, but this year I would like to improve in Europe. Last season was disappointing, we went out early and we don’t want a repeat of that. So that’s our area for improvement.’

Celtic wrapped up the Premiership title with three games to spare, when Aberdeen lost 1–0 away at Dundee United, leaving Celtic eleven points clear. This should be another formality for Celtic again this year, due to Rangers’ financial troubles and the lack of strength in other teams competing in the division.

The League Cup should also be a certainty, with last year’s edition being secured with a 2-0 win over Dundee United, following a winning run in which they scored thirteen goals and conceded none, including a 6-0 dispatching of Patrick Thistle.

However, lack lustre performances in the Scottish Cup, where they crashed out at the semi-final stage when they lost 3-2 to Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Europe, at which they were beaten by Legia Warsaw in the Third Qualifying Round, only to be reinstated after the Polish side fielded an ineligible player, but were beaten by Slovenian side Maribor in the following round – a result which disappointed the Celtic faithful.

The Europa League campaign was slightly more successful for the Bhoys, going four games unbeaten, before a poor end to the group stage, losing two games in the row. Despite this, they qualified for the knockout stage, at which they were drawn against Italian giants Inter Milan. The Scottish side held their own in Glasgow, drawing 3-3 with the former European Champions, but couldn’t stop themselves falling out of the competition after 1-0 defeat in Milan.

Deila’s men will have to improve in Europe this coming season, following the successes of the last couple of European ventures under former boss Neil Lennon – including a historic win against Barcelona a few years ago – and it is a repeat of that the Celtic fans crave, and what Ronny Deila will want to repeat in the season ahead.

Good luck Tal

Great start!

<33333333333

Well good luck Delia!

Looking forward to this Tal, good luck

Good luck Tallery! I don't really like Deila tbh

Feliks: Thanks
Welshy: Thanks you
AlexTHFC: <33333333333 to you too
TylerK: Hopefully Celtic and I can deliver
Jer: I couldn't be bothered to think of another manager to replace him, so idecided to keep him on

Yesss, Tal story <33
Good luck!

Good luck. Scottish Premiership should be easy bit the Champions League is the actual Challenge

@Zed: Thanks bae
@mo_123: Yeah, that's what I am expecting and planning on building for!

Celtic today announced their pre-season games alongside the Champions League Qualifying draw.

The Bhoys will start their preparation for the upcoming season with a game against fellow Champions League hopefuls Steaua Bucuresti. The Romanian champions are one of the stronger sides that Celtic will face, and with it being the first game of pre-season, it will allow manager Ronny Deila to see how much work needs to be done for the rest of pre-season. The game will be played at Celtic Park, on the 28th of June.

The next pre-season game sees Celtic pit themselves against Mexican side Léon FC. Managed by Juan Pizzi – former Valencia boss – and captained by Mauro Boselli, they finished 15th in the Mexican league last season. Despite not being particularly strong opposition, Léon will provide a tough game for the Bhoys, and will play a key part in regaining their fitness for the gruelling campaign ahead.

The third preseason game sees Celtic travel to Falkirk. The game will allow the Hoops to pit themselves against familiar opposition – as they will face Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership this season – and will give themselves an opportunity to see the kind of teams that they will have to beat to win their fifth title in a row.

A trip to Raith Rovers is then next on the agenda for the Glaswegians. Raith play in the Scottish Championship, and will purely provide Celtic’s players a chance to regain their fitness and match sharpness, as the Rovers aren’t likely to pose any sort of challenge for the Bhoys.

East Fife is next on the agenda for Celtic, with the game also there purely for fitness reasons, but it will be interesting to see how they fair against teams that they could possibly face when playing in the cups, as it is likely that one or two rouge ‘small teams’ make their way into the final stages.

Celtic then face a trip to Lithuania to play Champions League opponents Zalgiris. Ronny Deila will hope that a repeat of last years trip to Poland is not on the cards, as Celtic need to push on into the later rounds of the Champions League if they are going to improve on last season. The away leg, a trip of 1658 miles, will be played on the 16th July, and the return at Celtic Park a week later.

The preseason schedule then resumes, as the club then faces Spartak Moscow, a game that will see themselves play quality opposition for the first time this summer. Spartak will be a tough challenge for the Bhoys, as the club possesses many talented players, and it will be an opportunity for Deila and co. to see how Celtic fare against European-competition-strength teams.

Celtic then round off their pre-season away from home, with Italian side Pescara playing host. Pescara have been a team that has threatened promotion to the top flight regularly, but rarely got their reward. The Serie B side will be an easier end to pre-season, but the young talents that are looking to follow in the footsteps of Marco Verratti and Ciro Immobile will still provide a difficult game.

Great start Tal!

Will be following this!

Beautiful graphic bae and great update!

Good look man, beautiful graphic and very interesting update.

Do my team proud, Look forward to future updates!