The 2010–11 season was the 117th season of competitive football by Celtic. New manager Neil Lennon made considerable changes to the Celtic team for the 2010–11 season. He sold Aiden McGeady for a then Scottish record £9.5 million along with captain Stephen McManus and fan favourite Artur Boruc. 13 other players also left the club, this gave Lennon enough funds to re-build for the new season. He looked to sign talented, young, cheap, relatively unknown players, from smaller leagues around the world. This paid off with players such as Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal and Emilio Izaguirre all having excellent seasons and earning many plaudits. Lennon also signed several experienced players on free transfers. Charlie Mulgrew, Joe Ledley, and Daniel Majstorović all went into the first team. In addition to these Lennon also signed five other players, including Fraser Forster on loan from Newcastle who became first choice goalkeeper and helped set a new SPL record for most clean sheets.
In July Celtic were drawn in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Portuguese side Braga. Celtic lost the first leg of the tie 3–0 away from home. Celtic won the return leg 2–1, but went out of the Champions League 4–2 on aggregate. Celtic were knocked out of European football altogether in August, after they lost their Europa League qualifying match against FC Utrecht 4–2 on aggregate.
Celtic won their first eight league games of the SPL season,Celtic v Rangers as it happened BBC Sport, 24 October 2010 before losing to Rangers, who also had a 100% record, 3–1. Celtic started November beating Aberdeen 9–0 in an SPL record victory.Celtic hit nine past Aberdeen in record SPL victory guardian.co.uk, 6 November 2010 They then lost to Heart of MidlothianHearts 2-0 Celtic BBC Sport, 10 November 2010 and drew at home against Dundee UnitedCeltic 1 - 1 Dundee Utd BBC Sport, 20 November 2010 and Inverness Caledonian Thistle,Celtic 2 - 2 Inverness CT BBC Sport, 27 November 2010 with a victory over St Mirren the only consolation.St Mirren 0 - 1 Celtic BBC Sport, 14 November 2010 The Inverness match was notable because it was officiated by Luxembourg referee Alain Hamer, who had stepped in because of the Scottish football referee strike.Scottish Football Association aim to support referees BBC Sport, 28 November 2010 Celtic began 2011 by beating Rangers 2–0 at Ibrox,Celtic's Neil Lennon hails unplayable Georgios Samaras BBC Sport, 2 January 2011 and beat their rivals again 3–0 on 20 February.Celtic enjoy breathing space at the top after beating dismal Rangers guardian.co.uk, 20 February 2011 Celtic finished the season in second place in the SPL table, a point behind Rangers.Celtic 4 - 0 Motherwell BBC Sport, 15 May 2011
In the League Cup, Celtic beat Inverness 6–0Celtic 6 - 0 Inverness CT BBC Sport, 22 September 2010 and St Johnstone 3–2St Johnstone 2 - 3 Celtic BBC Sport, 27 October 2010 before beating Aberdeen in the semi-final.Celtic 4 - 1 Aberdeen: Celtic book place in cup final Scotsman.com Sport, 29 January 2011 In the final, they lost 2–1 to Rangers after extra time.Celtic 1-2 Rangers: Jelavic scores extra time winner MirrorFootball, 20 March 2011 In the Scottish Cup, Celtic entered in the fourth round, beating Third Division team Berwick Rangers 2–0,Berwick 0 - 2 Celtic BBC Sport, 9 January 2011 and drawing 2–2 with Rangers in the fifth round.El Hadji Diouf stays calm as Celtic haul back Rangers in Scottish Cup guardian.co.uk, 6 February 2011 They beat Rangers 1–0 in the replayEl-Hadji Diouf's sending off sparks mayhem at Old Firm cup tie guardian.co.uk, 2 March 2011 and booked their place in the final beating Aberdeen 4–0 at Hampden Park.Celtic march into Scottish Cup final against 10-man Aberdeen guardian.co.uk, 17 April 2011 In the final Celtic beat Motherwell 3–0, with goals scored by Ki Sung-Yeung, Charlie Mulgrew and an own goal from Stephen Craigan.Scottish Cup final 2011: Celtic 3 Motherwell 0 match report The Telegraph, 21 May 2011
Celtic played in an unprecedented seven Old Firm matches in 2010–11. This was due to being drawn against Rangers in both cups, and the fact that they required a replay to beat them in the Scottish Cup. Celtic won three of these matches, two in the league and the Scottish Cup fifth round replay. There were two draws, one in the final league match and one in the Scottish Cup fifth round. Rangers won twice, both the first league match and the League Cup final. Celtic also enjoyed an incredible run of results against Aberdeen. The two teams played each other five times, due to being drawn in both Cup semi-finals and Celtic scored 21 times against them only conceding one.
Competitions
Pre-season and friendlies
Scottish Premier League
Scottish League Cup
Scottish Cup
UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
UEFA Europa League Play-off round
Player statistics
Appearances and goals
List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition
Disciplinary record PlayerYellow Second Yellow Red Beram Kayal11 Daniel Majstorović11 Scott Brown111 Mark Wilson8 Charlie Mulgrew6 Georgios Samaras6 Anthony Stokes6 Ki Sung-Yueng6 Glenn Loovens3 Gary Hooper3 Emilio Izaguirre31 Jos Hooiveld2 Joe Ledley21 Niall McGinn2 Kris Commons21 Fraser Forster11 Shaun Maloney1 Łukasz Załuska1 Cha Du-Ri1 James Forrest11 Thomas Rogne1
Top scorers PlayerScottish Premier LeagueScottish CupScottish League CupChampions League(Qualifying)Europa League(Play-off)Total1 Gary Hooper200110222 Anthony Stokes140500193 Kris Commons112100145 Georgios Samaras303017 Paddy McCourt7000077 Joe Ledley231006 Shaun Maloney5100069 Scott Brown220004 Ki Sung-Yueng 31000414 Niall McGinn201003 James Forrest300003 Mark Wilson210003 Daryl Murphy 300003 Charlie Mulgrew 02100318 Efraín Juárez 000112 Thomas Rogne101002 Daniel Majstorović110002 Beram Kayal20000221 Glenn Loovens100001 Emilio Izaguirre 100001 Cha Du-Ri100001
Team statistics
League table
Celtic personnel awards PlayerAwardDate James ForrestSPL Young Player of the MonthAugust Neil LennonSPL Manager of the MonthSeptember Ki Sung-YuengSPL Young Player of the MonthOctober Neil LennonSPL Manager of the MonthJanuary Beram KayalSPL Player of the MonthJanuary Thomas RogneScottish League Cup Young Player of the Semi-finalsFebruary Scott BrownScottish Cup Player of the RoundFebruary Emilio IzaguirreSPFA Players' Player of the YearMay Emilio IzaguirreSPL Player of the YearMay Emilio IzaguirreCeltic Player of the YearMay James ForrestCeltic Young Player of the YearMay Scott BrownCeltic Goal of the SeasonMay Gary HooperCeltic Top Goalscorer of the Year Award (19 goals)May Anthony StokesCeltic Top Goalscorer of the Year Award (19 goals)May
Transfers
Players in DatePlayerFromFee1 July 2010 Charlie Mulgrew Aberdeen10Free2 July 2010 Cha Du-Ri SC Freiburg10Free12 July 2010 Joe Ledley Cardiff City10Free16 July 2010 Daryl Murphy Sunderland 10 £800,000 26 July 2010 Efraín Juárez UNAM Pumas 10 £3,000,00027 July 2010 Gary Hooper Scunthorpe United 10 £2,400,000Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper signs for Celtic BBC Sport, 27 July 201029 July 2010 Beram Kayal Maccabi Haifa 10 £1,200,00016 August 2010 Daniel Majstorović AEK AthensFree18 August 2010 Emilio Izaguirre Motagua£600,00024 August 2010 Fraser Forster Newcastle UnitedLoan31 August 2010 Anthony Stokes Hibernian£1,200,0007 September 2010 Nicky Feely Cockburn City Free4 November 2010 Olivier Kapo Wigan AthleticFree30 December 2010 Freddie Ljungberg Chicago FireFree4 January 2011 Tony Watt Airdrie United10£100,00027 January 2011 Kris Commons Derby County10£300,000 Total spend: £10.2 million
Players out DatesPlayerToFee11 June 2010 Mark Millar Falkirk 08 Free28 June 2010 Jason Marr Falkirk 08 Loan 1 July 2010 Cardiff City 08 Free1 July 2010 Guangzhou 08 Free1 July 2010 Kashiwa Reysol 08Free8 July 2010 Luca Santonocito AC Milan 08 Free12 July 2010 Daniel Lafferty Derry City 08Free13 July 2010 Stephen McManus Middlesbrough 08£1,500,00014 July 2010 Graham Carey Huddersfield Town 08Loan15 July 2010 Artur Boruc Fiorentina 08£1,700,00027 July 2010 Paul McGowan St Mirren 08Loan27 July 2010 Grant Gallagher Stranraer 08Free2 August 2010 Simon Ferry Swindon Town 08£175,0002 August 2010 Paul Caddis Swindon Town 08£175,00013 August 2010 Aiden McGeady Spartak Moscow 08£9,500,00013 August 2010 Cillian Sheridan CSKA Sofia 08£300,00014 August 2010 Charlie Grant Dundee 08 Free17 August 2010 Darren O'Dea Ipswich Town 08Loan18 August 2010 Ben Hutchinson Lincoln City 08Loan20 August 2010 Morten Rasmussen Mainz 08Loan20 August 2010 Josh Thompson Rochdale 08Loan27 August 2010 Marc-Antoine Fortuné West Bromwich Albion 08£3,000,00027 August 2010 Ryan Conroy Queen of the South 08Loan31 August 2010 John Marsden Hamilton Academical 08Loan10 September 2010 Sean Fitzharris Greenock Morton 08Loan17 September 2010 Milan Mišůn Dundee 08Loan20 October 2010 Declan Gallagher Stranraer 08Loan20 October 2010 Daniele Giordano Montrose 08Loan12 December 2010 Dominic Cervi Dundee 08Loan14 January 2011 Jason Marr Ross County 08Loan19 January 2011 Jos Hooiveld FC Copenhagen08Loan19 January 2011 Olivier Kapo Al-Ahly 08Free25 January 2011 Richie Towell Hibernian 08Loan 28 January 2011 Milan Mišůn Swindon Town08Free13 February 2011 Morten Rasmussen AaB Aalborg 08Loan15 February 2011 Marc Crosas FC Volga Nizhny Novgorod 08£300,00022 February 2011 Antons Kurakins Stranraer 08Loan Total sales: £15.9 million
See also List of Celtic F.C. seasons
References
External links