2008–09 Celtic F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was the 120th season of competitive football by Celtic.

Celtic
2008–09 season
Chairman John Reid
Manager Gordon Strachan
Ground Celtic Park
Glasgow, Scotland
(Capacity: 60,355)
Scottish Premier League 2nd
Scottish Cup Quarter-finals
Scottish League Cup Winners
Champions League Group stage
Top goalscorer League:
Scott McDonald (16)
All:
Scott McDonald (19)
Home colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Overview

Celtic went into the 2008–09 season defending their Scottish Premier League title, which they won for the third consecutive time in 2007–08.

They also entered the UEFA Champions League directly at the group stage, as well as taking part in the two domestic cup competitions, the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.

To prepare for the Season, Celtic took part in two Pre-Season Tournaments; the Algarve Challenge Cup in Faro, Portugal, where they finished bottom, having faced Middlesbrough and Cardiff City, and the Feyenoord Jubilee Tournament in Rotterdam, where they finished second, having faced Tottenham Hotspur and host club Feyenoord.

The campaign

League campaign

The Championship flag was unfurled before Celtic's first League game, against St Mirren at Celtic Park on 10 August by Rosemary Burns, the widow of former Celtic player Tommy Burns, who had died of skin cancer at the end of season 2007–08. Celtic won the game 1–0, through a Barry Robson penalty, getting their Campaign off to a winning start.

Celtic finished second in the SPL table at the end of the season, eventually finishing four points behind champions Rangers. This was despite at one point having built up a seven-point lead over Rangers. This lead was squandered though, Celtic dropping points to Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell, Rangers themselves, and on two occasions to both Hibernian and Hearts.

One day after the final league game of the season, a 0–0 draw with Hearts at Celtic Park, it was announced that Gordon Strachan would leave as manager of Celtic with immediate effect. This brought to an end Strachan's four-year spell as manager, during which he guided the club to three SPL titles, one Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cups. He also guided the club twice into the last 16 of the Champions League, losing out to A.C. Milan and Barcelona respectively.

European campaign

Celtic, as Scottish champions, qualified directly for the UEFA Champions League, where they were the sole Scottish side as Rangers were knocked out in the second qualifying round by FBK Kaunas, meaning Celtic received all the TV money allocated to Scotland.

Celtic were in Pot 3 for the group stage draw, which took place in Monaco on 28 August. They were drawn with Manchester United, Villarreal and Aalborg. The first game, a home tie against Aalborg, finished in a goalless draw. The next game, away to Villarreal ended in a 1–0 defeat, which was followed by a 3–0 defeat away to Manchester United. Next up, at home, Celtic drew 1–1 with Manchester United, with Scott McDonald putting Celtic in the lead in the 13th minute, only for Ryan Giggs to equalise for Manchester United in the 84th minute. A disappointing 2–1 defeat to Aalborg in Denmark saw Celtic's European aspirations end, despite having taken the lead through Barry Robson. Nonetheless, Celtic rallied to end their campaign on a high with a 2–0 victory over Villarreal at Celtic Park.

Domestic cups

Celtic entered the Scottish League Cup at the third round proper (the last 16 stage) and the Scottish Cup at the fourth round proper (the Round of 32). The club beat Livingston 4–0 in the third round of the League Cup on 23 September, and travelled to Kilmarnock on 28 October, beating them 3–1 and qualifying for the semi-finals, where they faced Dundee United at Hampden Park on 28 January. After a 0–0 draw in extra time, Celtic won a penalty shoot-out 11-10 to set up a final against Rangers on 15 March. The teaam won the 2009 Scottish League Cup Final 2–0 aet at Hampden, with Darren O'Dea and Aiden McGeady getting the goals.

The fourth round of the Scottish Cup took place on 10 January, with Celtic beating Dundee at Celtic Park. In the fifth round, Celtic hosted Queen's Park on 7 February, beating them 2-1. In the quarter-finals, Celtic lost 1–0 at St Mirren on 7 March.

Competitions

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Scottish Premier League

UEFA Champions League

Scottish League Cup

*Celtic won the match 11-10 on penalties

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2008-09 Scottish Cup

Player details

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition

No. Pos Nat Player TotalPremier League FA Cup League Cup Other
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Poland Artur Boruc 47 0 34 0 3 0 4 0 6 0
2 DF Germany Andreas Hinkel 42 0 32 0 2 0 4 0 4 0
3 DF England Lee Naylor 30 1 19+4 1 2 0 2 0 3 0
4 DF Scotland Stephen McManus 41 4 31 4 2 0 2 0 6 0
5 DF Scotland Gary Caldwell 47 4 36 3 2 1 3 0 6 0
6 DF Guinea Dianbobo Balde 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 FW Australia Scott McDonald 47 19 33+1 16 3 1 4 1 4+2 1
8 MF Scotland Scott Brown 48 7 36 5 2 1 3+1 1 6 0
9 FW Greece Georgios Samaras 41 17 19+12 15 0+3 0 1+2 2 4 0
10 FW Netherlands Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 32 6 15+10 6 3 0 1+1 0 0+2 0
11 MF Scotland Paul Hartley 33 3 20+5 3 1 0 2+1 0 3+1 0
12 DF Scotland Mark Wilson 25 0 15+3 0 0 0 1+1 0 5 0
13 FW Scotland Shaun Maloney 30 5 14+7 4 1 0 1+1 0 4+2 1
14 MF Northern Ireland Niall McGinn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 DF Czech Republic Milan Mišůn 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 MF Republic of Ireland Willo Flood 5 0 2+3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 MF Spain Marc Crosas 22 1 14+4 1 3 0 1 0 0 0
18 MF Italy Massimo Donati 8 0 2+2 0 0+1 0 2 0 0+1 0
19 MF Scotland Barry Robson 24 2 13+4 1 0+1 0 0+1 0 4+1 1
20 MF Northern Ireland Paddy McCourt 5 0 0+4 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0
21 GK Scotland Mark Brown 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 DF Netherlands Glenn Loovens 23 4 13+4 3 1 0 3 1 2 0
23 FW England Ben Hutchinson 4 0 0+3 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0
24 DF Cameroon Jean-Joël Perrier-Doumbé 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 MF Japan Shunsuke Nakamura 42 9 30+2 8 2 0 3 1 5 0
26 FW Republic of Ireland Cillian Sheridan 16 4 6+6 4 0 0 0+1 0 1+2 0
29 MF Japan Koki Mizuno 10 1 2+8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 FW New Zealand Chris Killen 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
41 DF Scotland John Kennedy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 MF New Zealand Michael McGlinchey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
46 MF Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady 40 7 21+8 3 3 1 4 2 3+1 1
48 DF Republic of Ireland Darren O'Dea 16 2 7+3 1 2 0 2 1 0+2 0
52 DF Scotland Paul Caddis 7 0 0+5 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
54 MF Scotland Ryan Conroy 1 0 0 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0
55 MF Scotland Paul McGowan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+1 0

Top scorers

R Player Scottish
Premier
League
 Scottish
League
Cup		 Scottish
Cup		 UEFA
Champions
League		 Total
1 Australia Scott McDonald 16 1 1 1 19
2 Greece Georgios Samaras 15 2 0 0 17
3 Japan Shunsuke Nakamura 8 1 0 0 9
4 Scotland Scott Brown 5 1 1 0 7
Republic of Ireland Aiden McGeady 3 2 1 1 7
5 Netherlands Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink 6 0 0 0 6
6 Scotland Shaun Maloney 4 0 0 1 5
7 Republic of Ireland Cillian Sheridan 4 0 0 0 4
Scotland Stephen McManus 4 0 0 0 4
Netherlands Glenn Loovens 3 1 0 0 4
8 Scotland Paul Hartley 3 0 0 0 3
Scotland Gary Caldwell 2 0 1 0 3
9 Scotland Barry Robson 1 0 0 1 2
Republic of Ireland Darren O'Dea 1 1 0 0 2
10 Japan Koki Mizuno 1 0 0 0 1
Spain Marc Crosas 1 0 0 0 1
England Lee Naylor 1 0 0 0 1

Transfers

In

Date Player From Fee Source
19 June 2008 Northern Ireland McCourt, PaddyPaddy McCourt Republic of Ireland Derry City £500,000 [1]
15 July 2008 Greece Samaras, GeorgiosGeorgios Samaras England Manchester City £1.5 million [2]
15 July 2008 England Matty Hughes England Rochdale Undisclosed [3]
10 August 2008 Spain Crosas, MarcMarc Crosas Spain Barcelona £400,000[4]
16 August 2008 Netherlands Loovens, GlennGlenn Loovens Wales Cardiff City £2.5 million[5]
22 August 2008 Scotland Maloney, ShaunShaun Maloney England Aston Villa £2.2 million[6]
16 December 2008 Northern Ireland McGinn, NiallNiall McGinn Republic of Ireland Derry City £300,000 [7]
23 December 2008 Czech Republic Mišůn, MilanMilan Mišůn Czech Republic FK Příbram £500,000 [8]
30 January 2009 Republic of Ireland Flood, WilloWillo Flood Wales Cardiff City £1.3 million [9]
2 February 2009 Czech Republic Filip Twardzik Germany Hertha Berlin Undisclosed [10]
2 February 2009 Czech Republic Patrik Twardzik Germany Hertha Berlin Undisclosed [10]

Out

Date Player To Fee Source
17 June 2008 Northern Ireland McGovern, MichaelMichael McGovern Scotland Dundee Utd Free Transfer [11]
30 June 2008 Scotland Virgo, AdamAdam Virgo England Brighton & Hove Albion Free Transfer [12]
1 July 2008 Republic of Ireland O'Carroll, DiarmuidDiarmuid O'Carroll England Morecambe Free Transfer [13]
27 July 2008 Scotland Kennedy, JohnJohn Kennedy England Norwich City Loan [14]
7 August 2008 Scotland Quinn, RoccoRocco Quinn Scotland Livingston Loan [15]
8 August 2008 Republic of Ireland O'Brien, JimJim O'Brien Scotland Motherwell Undisclosed[16]
14 August 2008 Scotland Cuthbert, ScottScott Cuthbert Scotland St Mirren Loan[17]
18 August 2008 Denmark Gravesen, ThomasThomas Gravesen Retired [18]
21 August 2008 Netherlands Sno, EvanderEvander Sno Netherlands Ajax £1.2 million [19][20]
1 September 2008 Scotland Pressley, StevenSteven Pressley Denmark Randers FC Free [21][22]
1 September 2008 Scotland Riordan, DerekDerek Riordan Scotland Hibernian £500,000[23]
7 January 2009 Scotland McGowan, PaulPaul McGowan Scotland Hamilton Accies Loan[24]
31 January 2009 New Zealand Killen, ChrisChris Killen England Norwich City Loan[25]
2 February 2009 Scotland Caddis, PaulPaul Caddis Scotland Dundee United Loan[26]
2 February 2009 Scotland Quinn, RoccoRocco Quinn Scotland Hamilton Academical Free[27]
2 February 2009 Republic of Ireland Sheridan, CillianCillian Sheridan Scotland Motherwell Loan[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "McCourt seals transfer to Celtic". BBC Sport website. 19 June 2008.
  2. ↑ "Samaras completes Celtic switch". BBC Sport website. 15 July 2008.
  3. ↑ "Celtic recruit Rochdale teenager". BBC Sport website. 15 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "Bhoys tie up Crosas deal". Sky Sports. 10 August 2008.
  5. ↑ "Celtic sign Loovens from Cardiff". BBC Sport. 16 August 2008.
  6. ↑ "Shaun Maloney returns to Paradise". Celtic FC. 22 August 2008.
  7. ↑ "McGinn seals transfer to Celtic". BBC Sport. 16 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "Misun completes Celtic transfer". BBC Sport. 23 December 2008.
  9. ↑ "Delight as Willo Flood signs for Celtic". Celtic FC. 30 January 2009.
  10. 1 2 "Transfers registered with the Scottish Football Association over the past three days". Scotsman Sport. 3 February 2009.
  11. ↑ "Dundee United make double swoop". BBC Sport. 17 June 2008.
  12. ↑ "Brighton re-sign defender Virgo". BBC Sport. 30 June 2008.
  13. ↑ "Morecambe snap up Celtic striker". BBC Sport. 1 July 2008.
  14. ↑ "Norwich win loan race for Kennedy". BBC Sport. 27 July 2008.
  15. ↑ "Livingston announce new signing". Livingston FC. 7 August 2008.
  16. ↑ "'Well unveil double signing". Motherwell FC. 8 August 2008.
  17. ↑ "Saints seal Cuthbert loan deal". BBC Sport. 14 August 2008.
  18. ↑ "Celtic part company with Thomas Gravesen". Celtic FC. 18 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008.
  19. ↑ "Ajax sign Evander Sno". Ajax AFC. 21 August 2008.
  20. ↑ "Shaun back better than before". Evening Times Website. 21 August 2008.
  21. ↑ "Elvis: thanks for the memories". Celtic FC. 16 June 2008.
  22. ↑ "Pressley moves to Danish outfit". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008.
  23. ↑ "Riordan opts for Hibernian return". BBC Sport. 1 September 2008.
  24. ↑ "Accies sign Old Firm pair on loan". BBC Sport. 7 January 2009.
  25. ↑ "Norwich secure Killen loan deal". BBC Sport. 31 January 2009.
  26. ↑ "Dundee United net Caddis on loan". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009.
  27. ↑ "Hamilton complete Quinn signing". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009.
  28. ↑ "Motherwell take Sheridan on loan". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009.

External links

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