Bhoys Mourn O'Donnell

Andreas Hinkel Unveiled In The Hoops

By Tony Quinn

The football world was united last week as it paid its last respects to former Bhoy Phil O'Donnell at the late Motherwell captain's funeral. O'Donnell, who was 35, died on the pitch from heart failure playing against Dundee Utd on December 29th. More than 500 mourners attended a service at St Mary's Church in Hamilton, while hundreds more lined the streets outside to pay tribute to the former Scotland, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder. Motherwell's youth team formed a guard of honor at the church for the arrival of O'Donnell's widow, Eileen, and their four young children, who each carried a single rose. Motherwell's manager, Mark McGhee, and O'Donnell's team-mates were there as were the Dundee United squad and the Celtic squad. .

Andreas Hinkel has revealed that Celtic's rich history of success at home and abroad played a major part in luring him to Scotland. The 25-year-old German international put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal last week and trained with his new Hoops team-mates for the first time on Monday morning. Hinkel, who will wear the No.2 shirt, was then paraded in front of the media and spoke about the prospect of challenging for trophies and regularly operating in the UEFA Champions League. He said: "I had the opportunity to visit Glasgow last week and see everything about the club, and it is all at the right level for me. The professionalism, the organization...it all helped me to come to the decision to join Celtic. This is the perfect club for me and I'm sure being at Celtic will help me become a better player. Overall, it was the best decision for me." Having already played in the Champions League for Sevilla this season, Hinkel is cup-tied for Celtic's upcoming last 16 meetings with Barcelona.

After the Gaps's John Fisher bought a piece of Celtic, Scottish businessman Tom Allison has now increased his shareholding in the club. Allison, a non-executive director, now has more than a 3 percent stake in the club, totaling 3.2 percent, up from 1.7 percent. U.S. billionaire Fisher took a 3.24 percent share in the club recently for nearly £700,000. Allison, who was chief executive at Clydesport in 1997, paid 64p a share, which is slightly above market value. Celtic, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market, recorded a turnover of £75.24 million in the first six months of last year and a pre-tax profit of £15 million in the same period - an improvement to the £4.22 million loss the club made in the same period of 2006.

Burnley striker Kyle Lafferty believes a move to the SPL could be the next logical step in his career. The 20-year-old was the subject of a failed bid from Celtic last year and the Hoops have again been linked with him. He hopes to play in the EPL at some stage in his career but admits it may be too soon to step up to that level. "It may be that I might have to consider staying at Burnley or even moving to Scotland," he said. "I will leave it up to my club, but if an offer came in from Celtic and Burnley accepted it, I would give it due consideration." Neil Lennon quit international football after his move to Parkhead provoked sectarian abuse, which reached a head when he was the subject of a death threat. Lafferty said: "Obviously, I am aware of what happened to Neil Lennon from Northern Ireland when he joined Celtic from Leicester City. But I am also aware that those days are gone now, thankfully."

Artur Boruc is set to become Celtic's highest-paid player since legend Henrik Larsson after reaching agreement on a lucrative new deal. The Polish international's contract, which runs until 2011, is believed to be worth around £30,000-per-week. This means the New Year period has seen a £10million commitment from Celtic - including the £2m fee for German international Andreas Hinkel and his projected wages.

Aiden McGeady is determined to win medals at Celtic before he considers moving on. The Irish international winger has been in superb form this season and has netted seven goals in 20 league games. McGeady signed a new contract at Parkhead a year ago to commit himself to the club until 2011 and there's no dispute that he sees his medium-term future in Glasgow. "I think, for the time being, I am settled here," McGeady said in a recent magazine interview. "I signed a new contract with the club last year so I think that my foreseeable future is with Celtic. But, eventually, I would like to test myself in another league. I've always been a Celtic fan. I only live 15 minutes from the ground and I've been in that part of the city since I was three or four years old. So it is the ideal location."