Celtic Exchange: Celtic Football Club in Focus

New signing Oh smashed home his first goal for Celtic at the weekend - a strike which was also our 100th of the 2022/23 season. Shortly after, Matt O’Riley and Reo Hatate nudged that figure up to 102 as this relentless Celtic side show no sign of letting up in front of goal. The goalscoring figures for our 36 games in all competitions are incredible, and with potentially 17 games left to play Ange...

Just because the January Transfer Window is over, doesn’t mean that Ange and his backroom staff have taken a break from continuing to fine tune Celtic’s squad – quite the opposite in fact. The manager has been speaking this week about the Celtic Park futures of Joe Hart, Aaron Mooy and David Turnbull – all who find themselves out of contract next summer. Hart has been huge for Celtic, Mooy is the...

The target for Celtic when entering any transfer window is to ensure that we come out the other side even stronger. So are we? In Ange Postecoglou’s fourth transfer window we’ve made key additions in Yuki Kobayashi, Alistair Johnston, Tomoki Iwata and Hyeongyu Oh, but have also lost big hitters Josip Juranovic and (very likely) Giorgos Giakoumakis. So are we better off for our January trading? Is...

With confirmation that Josip Juranovic has joined Union Berlin in a deal that could be worth up to £10m we’ve now seen the first example of Ange Postecoglou’s transfer policy coming full circle. Signed by the Australian for £2.5M, Juranovic leaves as a league winner and could net the club up to four times what they paid for him. This is the right move for all parties. As Ange himself says: “I don'...

This weekend’s League Cup semi-finals presented a perfect opportunity to show off Scottish Football in the best possible way, as 4 of our top flight sides came together at the National Stadium to compete for a place in next month’s final. Instead the players were met with a park that would be seriously questioned at amateur level, and a level of officiating that left many wondering why VAR was eve...

There’s been a lot of talk recently about data in football, particular in the Celtic Fan Media space. But should analytics, xG and performance stats ever be deemed more important than the old fashioned eye test when it comes to how we evaluate football and footballers? More and more teams in the modern game are taking a data driven/”Moneyball” approach when it comes to recruitment – and that has i...

Celtic came out of the New Year’s Derby with their 9 point lead at the top of the table intact and can be pleased with that after a mixed performance at Ibrox. Ange had some big calls to make with his starting line-up and it could be debated he got some right and some wrong on the day. His exceptional use of second half substitutions can’t be argued with though as Jota, Mooy and Giakoumakis all pl...

The Scottish Premiership resumed this weekend, with Celtic picking up exactly where they left off. Scoring goals and winning games. Jim Goodwin’s Aberdeen took a surprisingly negative approach to the game however, with only an 87th minute goal by Callum McGregor ensuring all 3 points returned to Glasgow. It was a game which gifted us the rarely spotted 8-0-2 formation. And despite that, it was a g...

Celtic’s recent historic ‘Quadruple Treble' is an outlier in World Football.   Success of that nature is incredibly hard to come by, and the history of Celtic (and of football) tells us this.   Despite dominating Scottish Football in large spells, Celtic have won just 7 trebles in 135 years.   4 of which were in the last 5 years.   It’s not a foregone conclusion that Ange Postecoglou’s side are go...

In a move that surprised absolutely no one, Celtic confirmed last week that former Chief Executive Peter Lawwell will return to the club as Chairman in 2023. This is an issue which completely splits opinion amongst the Celtic support. Many maintain that Peter Lawwell should be nowhere near the club following the failings of the 2020/21 season and his subsequent exit. Some think the man who preside...

Following confirmation that Japanese centre-half Yuki Kobayashi will become Celtic's first signing of the January window, and with Canadian right-back Alistair Johnston set to follow, is it clear that Ange Postecoglou has now prioritised Celtic's defence as an area for improvement?  Whilst our league form has been excellent so far, we've still conceded almost a goal a game (13 from 15 games) in th...

Ange Postecoglou will shortly enter his 4th transfer window as Celtic manager. Players will come, and players will go. That’s life at Celtic. But who are the core of this current squad that he should retain at all costs and build his next Celtic side upon? Is anyone indispensable? Are there players that should reluctantly be let go IF the money is right? And is there hope for any of the 10 loanees...

Celtic’s 2-1 win over Ross County on Saturday was the club’s twenty-third game of what’s been an eventful season so far. In the Scottish Premiership it’s been a season of success and consistency. In Europe we’ve learned some harsh lessons at the hands of more experienced teams. Teams who boast some of the world’s best players. Ange Postecoglou doesn’t have a problem with that though. He likes less...

One of the most exciting pieces of news to come out of Celtic's recent AGM was confirmation from Ange Postecoglou that the club will be undertaking an "aggressive" new transfer strategy as we aim to bridge the gap between ourselves and Europe's biggest clubs.  This may mean fans having to bid farewell to some of the current crop of heroes, but the flip side of course is that new heroes will emerge...

The Celtic Exchange is a weekly podcast bringing you an informed, insightful and entertaining look at all things Celtic Football Club, on and off the park. New episodes are released every Tuesday and each week our panel debate and dissect the biggest topics at the club, with no subject off limits! Also included as part of your weekly Celtic fix from us are regular features such as Listener's Quest...

With news breaking that Celtic are set to sign 22 year old Japanese centre half Yuki Kobayashi from J-League side Vissel Kobe in January, it’s clear that the planning for the second half of the season and beyond is already well underway at Celtic Park. So on that note, what are the key areas that the club need to prioritise - both on and off the park – if we’re to reach the next level and to achie...

This week’s sees the launch of the all new Celtic Exchange Weekly as we introduce a brand new format for our weekly show. Moving forward this show will be dedicated to looking at the bigger picture each week and talking about the most pressing matters surrounding Celtic Football Club. We’ve set the ball rolling with a couple of notable topics in the shape of how we respond to young talent coming t...

Celtic claimed a dramatic but deserved three points in a seven goal thriller this afternoon at Tynecastle as VAR made a debatable debut in Scottish Football! It was end to end stuff at times with Hearts playing their part in having a go but ultimately the Champions would prove too strong in the end. Goals from James Forrest, Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda set us up for a grandstand finish be...

Celtic head to Tynecastle for a lunchtime kick off against Hearts on Saturday fresh from the 4-0 midweek cup win against Motherwell that will have the players full of confidence. It's always a hard place to go but with ten goals scored in the last two games Celtic have found their shooting boots again and will be looking to add to that tally against the Edinburgh side. Jota and David Turnbull rema...

Celtic booked their place in the semi-finals of the Premier Sports League Cup with an emphatic 4-0 win over Motherwell at Fir Park. Liel Abada made it 8 goals for the season with a double on the night before Reo Hatate and countryman Kyogo Furuhashi made sure of the result. It’s now 10 goals in the last two games for Celtic and the confidence is well and truly back in the side as we now head to Ty...

Celtic make the short trip to Fir Park for tonight's quarter final against Motherwell and will be looking to take a step closer to retaining the trophy that Ange Postecoglou and his men picked up at Hampden Park back in December of last year. For new players such as Alexandro Bernabei, Moritz Jenz, Aaron Mooy and Sead Haksabanovic this will be their first chance of silverware with Celtic, and shou...

Mif’s been waiting on this day for a long, long time but finally we have an episode dedicated to his Celtic hero, James Forrest! By ‘episode’ we mean 5-10 mins at the start as we sing the praises of the hat-trick hero as he joins an elite band of Celts to have scored 100 times for the club. Well done Jamesie. A modern day Celtic legend! In other news we look at Celtic’s European progress and on th...

Jamesie Forrest wrote himself into the Celtic history books against Hibs  this afternoon as he became just the 30th player in our long and illustrious history to score 100 goals for the club. He's not a player that we always agree on here at The Celtic Exchange but he deserves all the praise going for the contribution he's made for the club and for his impressive achievements over the years. Giorg...

Part pre-match Hibs show, part Celtic in Europe discussion, Tino and Mif were on the mics tonight to debate the talking points of the day as the Hoops prepare to return to league action on Saturday at Celtic Park. The Edinburgh side have crept up to 3rd in the league table and should provide a stern test for Ange Postecoglou's men who'll be keen to put the midweek defeat by RB Leipzig behind them...

We love a quote here at TCE and this week's episode is named after some words made famous by the biggest winner on the planet, Michael Jordan! Celtic ultimately took all 3 points in Saturday's 2-1 v Motherwell but there's been notable discussion about the way in which we won, and of the fact that we were far from our free flowing best on the day. Winning is everything though and it's far better to...