A Mixed Start In Switzerland

Bhoys Win In Basle, But Lose In Berne To Kick Off The Pre-Season

By Tony Quinn

In their first appearance in the 46th Swiss Uhrencup in Grenchen, Celtic made a bright start to their pre-season campaign last Thursday as Kenny Miller's goal gave the Hoops a 1-0 win over Swiss outfit Basle. Celtic got the better of the 10-time winners at the Bruhl Stadium in front of a sell-out 8,612 crowd, with Miller finding the target three minutes before half-time. Miller made the breakthrough after a mistake by Basle central defender Francois Marque. Midfield prospect Teddy Bjarnason reacted to the defender's slip-up and his short pass found Miller who calmly fired past Costanzo to give Celtic a half-time advantage. Celtic's new summer signing from AC Milan ,Massimo Donati, had a reasonable debut in central midfield but was among the players replaced at half-time by Gordan Strachan, with £4.4million former Hibs man Scott Brown getting his first run-out after the break.

Celtic's Uhren Cup campaign came to a miserable end in Grenchen on Saturday when the Bhoys slumped to a 4-1 defeat against Young Boys Berne. Substitute Hakan Yakin returned to haunt the SPL champions five years after he helped Basle knock them out in the qualifying rounds for the Champions League, hitting two late goals. Celtic did not perform near the standard they displayed against Basle and were deservedly beaten, with only Jiri Jarosik's 39th-minute goal to show for their efforts. Despite the result, there were encouraging aspects to Celtic's performance, notably in central midfield with new signing Massimo Donati.

Gordon Strachan admitted he was to blame for the 4-1 defeat to Young Boys Berne after his players trained for over two hours before the game. Strachan said: "To have them train for 140 minutes wasn't a good idea. That's as simple as that, but that was my fault."

Former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel will spearhead the attack when the MLS All-Stars face Celtic on July 19. MLS revealed the line-up for the 2007 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game, with New York Red Bulls' Angel and Kansas City Wizards' Eddie Johnson headlining the selections. Angel has scored nine goals in his first seven matches after completing a move from Villa in April. Midfielder Shalrie Joseph - long linked with a move to Celtic - will also be in the side at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado. Former Liverpool and Scotland defender Steve Nicol, now coach of New England Revolution, is in charge of the MLS All-Stars. The MLS team is as follows: Matt Reis, New England Revolution; Jose Burciaga, Jr. Kansas City Wizards; Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Wizards; Claudio Suarez, Chivas USA; Frankie Hejduk, Columbus Crew; Ricardo Clark, Houston Dynamo; Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy; Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Crew; Andy Dorman, New England Revolution; Eddie Johnson, Kansas City Wizards; Juan Pablo Angel, New York Red Bulls.

Championship club Cardiff have emerged ahead of Celtic as frontrunners in the race to sign former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler. Bluebirds chairman Peter Ridsdale has confirmed the Welsh club have made an approach to sign the former England international and Fowler is now considering their offer.

Lawrie Sanchez is reportedly hoping to continue his Fulham rebuilding program with the acquisition of Celtic full-back Lee Naylor. Naylor joined the Bhoys from Wolves last summer for £600,000, but Sanchez hopes the champions may be willing to sell the Englishman for double that figure. However, Naylor enjoyed a successful first season in the SPL and it is thought Gordon Strachan is not eager to cash in on him. A Celtic source said: "We are aware of the interest but won't encourage any bid. Lee is happy at Celtic and we are happy to have him around for many seasons to come."

West Brom have signed Celtic striker Craig Beattie on a three-year deal for an initial £1.25m. Baggies manager Tony Mowbray has long admired Beattie, 23, and tried to sign him last summer while Hibs boss. The fee for Beattie, who has been capped four times by Scotland and scored once, may increase by a further £500,000 depending on performance-related add-ons. Beattie made his senior debut as a substitute in Celtic's Champions League qualifying win over Kaunas in August 2003. But his Parkhead career was ravaged by injury - he made only 23 starts after his debut in 2003.

Norwich City have completed the signing of goalkeeper Celtic David Marshall for an undisclosed fee. The 22-year-old was on loan at Norwich last season but his season came to a premature end when he was injured in an FA Cup tie against Chelsea in February. Celtic rejected an initial offer from the English club. But manager Grant insisted that he was still pursuing Marshall, who is keen for regular first-team football to rekindle his international career. Marshall, who made his Celtic debut in 2003, made 49 appearances for the champions. In 2004 he saved a penalty taken by Ronaldinho in a Champions League match against Barcelona but lost his place to Artur Boruc under Gordon Strachan.

Chris Sutton has retired due to the eye problem which prevented him playing in the second half of last season, his agent announced last week. The former Celtic striker, who won one England cap, was out of contract at Aston Villa, for whom he signed in October. Sutton's agent Tony McGill said on Villa's official website: "I spoke to Chris on Wednesday and, given the eye problem, he has decided to retire. Sutton won three SPL titles, two Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup as well as helping Celtic reach the 2003 UEFA Cup final. He struck up a formidable strike partnership with Henrik Larsson and received the Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year award in 2004.