Celtic & 'Castle Preseason Posts #1.

Celtic and Newcastle have started up their preseason fixtures, and I thought it was time to highlight things, as my Euro soccer squads near their '10/'11 campaigns.

Celtic: The Bhoys have already played three games here on North American soil, as their preseason campaign gets under way, and we're left with an odd feeling at 1-2 so far. Let's explore!

Celtic 0 - 1 Philly: The newest MLS team delighted their fans with a win over my "original" favorite soccer squad. A 23rd minute goal from Philly's Sebastian Le Toux was enough to sink the Sligo side and start their tour off on the wrong foot. As the clock ticked toward 90, Celtic blasted the goal wildly, trying to notch a point. One disallowed goal and one crossbar banger later, and it was all frowns on the pitch for my Mighty Hoops. Mulgrew and Ledley started on the bench in the match, and the preseason train rolled on.

Celtic 1 - 3 Man U: Huge love to Andrew for calling me to alert me to the fact that this game was on ESPN 2. Huge hatred to Andrew for the way the game turned out. And, I just watched the highlights on You Tube and I'm ever more frustrated! Look, I think you have to give it to Man United. Two of their goals were nice, combined with shotty defense, and that's great. They also had a ton of other chances, so maybe we're lucky the outcome wasn't mor embarrassing. But, it's just the way the play, the shit fans in the stand in Toronto, and their celebration on the clearly offside third goal that makes me hate these Yankee-esque lobster backs. Berbatov opened the scoring in the 34th. He got a sharp pass from outside the box, had a brilliant first touch, and blased it home. Just after the hour mark, Joe Ledley was buzzing into the box and was yanked down by Chris Smalling, drawing yellow and a PK. Smalling acted like he didn't do anything, but watch the replay, he hooked Ledley's arm. The Gorgeous Greek, Georgios Samaras drilled the penalty to get us even. The Red Devil faithful were in shock. 12 minutes shy of the 90, though, Berbatov set up a game winner with Celtic simply not pushing hard on the back line. This guy Berbie is a champ, to be sure, but I still hate his guts. The third goal came on a deflection that left Lukasz Zaluska stranded, but it was a brutal non call on the offsides. It was a tough to take 1-3 finish, allowing the EPL to continue to shun the Celts as second tier. 

Celtic 2 - 1 Seatte: Finally a win! Celtic traveled up to Seattle to take on the Drew Carey of the MLS, and came out with their first (and possibly only) preseason victory. Hail Hail! The opening goal was a crazy one. Samaras dashed into the box, with the Sounders goalie coming out. The keeper got juked, and reached out and tripped our Greek striker, who still managed to score despite being pulled to the ground. Rather than play advantage, though, the goalie was shown the red, and a penalty kick was set up. Samaras nailed the kick to get the 1-0 lead, but it was a crazy start. With Seattle a man down, Paddy McCourt (no Doyer relation) struck in the 64th, slipping the ball in to double the lead. Despite a Seattle goal late, there was no looking back. 

With three games remaining in the friendly warm ups, Celtic has a little time to tinker the lineup and potentially bring in more names. We have Sporting Lisbon on the way Thursday, Olympique on 7/31, and finish with Aresenal on August 1. Let's get to 4-2.

Looking at the lineup, I'll just highlight some Sligo talent that I'm excited about this upcoming season for the Celts:

+ Georgios Samaras: The Greek heartthrob had 13 goals last year and 17 the year before that, and is ready to be a 20+ guy this year.

+ Marc-Antoine Fortuné: The Frenchie has been a stud since coming over, and netted 10 goals in 30 caps last time around. He vowed to pump up his play and make this team better this season.

+ Cha Du-Ri: Our new Korean stud is ready to step it up. He'll have his Korean teammate Ki Sung-Yong on his side, and he already said he's ready for the battle with Rangers.

+ Paddy McCourt: The Irish (albeit Northern) stud has drawn interest from others, but the Sligo side is trying to keep him around. With 3 goals in 13 caps since 2008, McCourt will have a much larger role this time around and he seems ready.

+ Charlie Mulgrew: Welcome to the club! He's a free kick expert, and nailed down 9 netters in the last two years with Aberdeen. He is really coming in with high expectations.

Also keep an eye on O'Dea, McGeady, Rogne, and Rasmussen. Onward to Sporting.

Newcastle: The Magpies have finished the first of three preaseason matches, and hopefully they can get a little revenge for Celtic soon. Let's explore!

Newcastle 3 - 0 Carlisle U: I just got done watching the highlights of the match via Sky Sports, and the three goals were a thing of beauty. After a nil first half, it was Leon Best striking gold for the Mags. Best came into one side of the box, sidestepped the charging keeper, and easily directed the ball into the net. Bad move by the keeper, but an equally nice move from Best. The rush was on. Nile Ranger would tally the second shortly after on a stylish move. A pass back to him as he came crashing in on net resulted in Ranger heeling the ball in. A perfect backwards deflection as a first touch, and we were two clear. Fancy stuff. Leon Best would be there to set up the finale, feeding a pass to Haris Vuckic. Vuckic had his back to the goal when he received the ball, but spun around, blasted a shot, and helped Newcastle walk off with a 3-0 win. On the downside, Steven Taylor was seen off with a yet to be disclosed injury.

'Castle get Norwich on Saturday and PSV Eindhoven on 7/31, before finishing against the hated Rangers on 8/7. Can my Mags get some revenge for Celtic? Let's all hope so.

Looking at the lineup, I'll highlight some Toon talent I'm excited about:

+ Andy Carroll: Often compared to Alan Shearer, Carroll is ready to make a serious impact on the EPL level. He netted 19 last year.

+ Kevin Nolan: The Liverpool native scored 18 times last year, and was one of the main reasons we got pulled back up. Can it continue?

+ Xisco: Is this finally his time to shine? He scored 1 goal in 7 games before going off on loan, but he scored 3 on loan, and has far less strikers ahead of him on the depth chart this time.

+ LuaLua: The Congo winger had his turn on the preaseason opener, and hopes to contribute this time around. The 19 year old has yet to score a goal in club play, but the potential is there.

Don't forget about Løvenkrands (one of my favs), Enrique, Barton, Best, Ranger, and Guthrie.

So there you have it. The preseason is on for my two Euro soccer squads, and I'm ready to support my pants off. 

Bhoys and Toon to the end.