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31/12/00 CELTIC WANTED TO SELL LARSSON - CHIEF
Out-going Celtic chief executive Allan MacDonald insists that the club were prepared to sell Henrik Larsson to the giants of the English Premiership in 1999. MacDonald claims that he thwarted the plans of the Celtic board to offload the Swede to either Highbury or Old Trafford. ''The board had already decided to sell Henrik Larsson when I arrived on the scene,'' MacDonald told the Scottish Mail on Sunday.
27/12/00 DOUGLAS ISSUES CHALLENGE TO RIVALS
Celtic goalkeeper Robert Douglas has sent out a ''catch us if you can'' message to Rangers and Hibernian. Douglas kept another clean sheet as his side crushed Dundee United 4-0 at Tannadice last night to stretch their lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League to 12 points. Rangers and Hibernian are now both level on points, but the Celtic stopper believes that their rivals are the only sides feeling the pressure because they cannot afford any slip-ups with the games ticking away.
26/12/00 CELTIC 4 DUNDEE UNITED 0
Martin O'Neill and Chris Sutton made a memorable return to the place where they launched their Celtic careers as the visitors produced some festive fireworks to stun sad Dundee United. Back in July, O'Neill enjoyed a winning start to his Parkhead career with his first signing Chris Sutton scoring the winner and Henrik Larsson adding the other in a 2-1 victory. And today the dynamic duo came back to haunt the Premier League basement club with the goals that gift-wrapped the maximum Christmas points for the second time in the space of three days.

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23/12/00  CELTIC 2 ST MIRREN 0
Celtic gave manager Martin O'Neill the perfect start to the festive period with a comfortable victory at St Mirren. The Glasgow giants looked hung-over from a Christmas party at times - but even though they were far from their vintage best, they still had enough sparkle for the struggling Paisley side. St Mirren presented Didier Agathe with a huge gift for the opening goal and Celtic raised a toast to Henrik Larsson who wrapped up the points with his 27th goal of the season just after the hour.

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22/12/00 BURCHILL TO KEEP SEARCHING FOR NEW CLUB
Celtic striker Mark Burchill intends to quit Parkhead despite the death of his £1.5million move to Birmingham City, according to the player's representative Blair Morgan. Burchill failed to agree personal terms with City owner David Sullivan and manager Trevor Francis yesterday.
21/12/00 BATTLING STUBBS BOUNCING BACK AGAIN
Celtic defender Alan Stubbs is winning his battle against cancer - but the Parkhead club insist he has yet to receive the all clear. Stubbs will undergo abdominal surgery in the New Year but the defender does not require further chemotherapy sessions for the time being. It is the second time the centre-half has battled against the disease after a random drugs test last year revealed the Celtic player had testicular cancer.
20/12/00 CELTIC TO HEAD TO THE STATES
Celtic are set to travel to America during the Scottish League's winter break, with a friendly against Tampa Bay Mutiny having been arranged. According to our sister site Soccer365, the match is scheduled for January 19 on the campus of the University of Tampa, at Pepin-Rood Stadium. The match will be a useful training exercise for Martin O'Neill's side, with Florida's climate considerably warmer than that expected in Glasgow over the New Year.
19/12/00 GLASGOW GIANTS SLAM UEFA 'STONE-WALLING'
Celtic and Rangers have told UEFA they will not drop their demands for a Euro League and have accused the game's governing body of stone-walling. The Glasgow giants are two of 11 clubs from smaller European countries who want to be able to leave their domestic leagues to play among themselves in a more lucrative tournament. On Friday UEFA rejected the proposals and instead promised a revamp of both the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
17/12/00 MJALLBY PUTS CLUB BEFORE COUNTRY
Celtic star Johan Mjallby insists playing for the title-chasing Glasgow club comes before his country. The Swedish international was ready to quit Celtic after falling out of favour with former manager John Barnes. But Mjallby has flourished in the first team after been given his chance by new manager Martin O'Neill and has been one of the club's most consistent performers since the season started.
16/12/00 CELTIC 6 ABERDEEN 0
Ramon Vega grabbed a dream debut double for his new club as Celtic stepped up their push towards the Premier League title with an impressive 6-0 victory over Aberdeen at Parkhead. Swedish striker Henrik Larsson also had a day to remember as he helped himself to a brilliant hat-trick while young substitute Jamie Smith had the final word in the closing minutes. Ironically, Swiss international defender Vega might not even have played had he not completed his move from Tottenham but he showed just how determined he is to grab his new beginning with both hands.

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16/12/00 CELTIC HOPE VEGA SIGNS IN TIME TO PLAY
Lubomir Moravcik is Celtic's biggest doubt with a hamstring injury while striker Chris Sutton is suspended. Celtic are hopeful defender Ramon Vega will sign in time for the game to replace Johan Mjallby, who is struggling with a stomach strain. Rachid Belabed is recalled to the Aberdeen squad as a replacement for German Andreas Mayer in the only change to the 16 on duty in the 3-1 defeat at Rangers in midweek.
14/12/00 LAMBERT WILL QUIT IN 18 MONTHS
Scotland midfielder Paul Lambert intends quitting Celtic when his contract expires in 18 months. But the man who won the European Cup with Borussia Dortmund has relaxed his intention to quit football altogether and is now contemplating moving to another club.
13/12/00 CELTIC TAKE STEP TOWARDS EURO LEAGUE
Celtic and Rangers have taken another small step towards helping secure a new European League after UEFA agreed to take their proposals to their executive committee at the end of this week. The Old Firm sides are two of 11 clubs to have signed a pan-European club charter promoting the concept of a EuroLeague for big clubs from smaller nations. Rangers director-secretary Campbell Ogilvie and Celtic chief executive Allan MacDonald were at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, ready to plead their cases.
12/12/00 ARTSON'S AGENT SLAMS TRANSFER TALK

John Hartson's agent has slammed fresh speculation linking the Welsh striker with moves to Celtic and Newcastle.  It has been reported in the Scottish press that Hartson wants to join Celtic in order to gain revenge over Rangers for pulling out of a £6million move in August. Hartson was said to be keen on a loan move to Parkhead or even Newcastle.
11/12/00 CELTIC CHASING SELAKOVIC

Less than a week after bringing Neil Lennon to Parkhead, Celtic boss Martin O'Neill is set to raid the transfer market yet again, according to reports. The Bhoys chief is reported to be chasing highly-rated Swedish youngster Stefan Selakovic, who currently turns out for Halmstad in his home country. If O'Neill was to sign the 23-year-old, the fee would be in the region of £3m.
10/12/00 CELTIC 2 - DUNDEE 1
Celtic pulled through a difficult and nerve-wracking game in a surprising fashion where Celtic had the first and last chances and scored them both to bring the points to Parkhead.

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8/12/00 LENNON FINALLY COMPLETES CELTIC SWITCH
Celtic finally completed the £5.75million capture of midfielder Neil Lennon from Leicester City. The four-and-a-half year deal brings to an end the on-running transfer wrangle between Martin O'Neill and his Filbert Street counterpart Peter Taylor.
7/12/00 HARTSON MOVE 'RUBBISHED' BY AGENT
John Hartson's agent has rubbished claims that the Wimbledon man is eyeing up a move to Celtic. The big striker has been linked with a big-money move to Rangers, Charlton and Tottenham in the past year but the deals fell through due to fears over the 25-year-old's fitness. But agent Jonathan Barnett has flatly denied reports that Hartson is hoping for another move north of the border, insisting he is very happy at the south London club.
6/12/00 LENNON DEAL NOT DEAD, INSISTS AGENT
Neil Lennon's representative has denied that the Leicester City midfielder's proposed move to Celtic is dead. Mel Stein insists the Northern Ireland midfielder is not disappointed at the two clubs' current stance over the transfer fee. He admitted that Martin O'Neill and Peter Taylor are still locked in discussions and claimed the deal was still very much alive.
5/12/00 EYAL NOT BE GOING TO VILLA
Celtic's wantaway midfielder Eyal Berkovic insists he will not be going on loan anywhere - including Aston Villa. The frozen-out Israeli was advised by his lawyer to take up the offer of a loan spell with the Premiership side now that he has fallen out of favour with manager Martin O'Neill at Parkhead. But Berkovic is adamant that he will not consider a move unless he is offered a permanent deal.
3/12/00 CELTIC SET LENNON DEADLINE
Leicester manager Peter Taylor has set Celtic a deadline of tomorrow afternoon in the latest chapter of the Neil Lennon transfer saga. Taylor has given the Glasgow giants until 5pm on Tuesday to come up with an improved offer for the Northern Ireland international. Former Leicester boss Martin O'Neill, now in charge at Celtic, has bid £5million for the midfielder but Leicester want an extra 15% to pay Lennon's former club Crewe, who are due a cut of the fee.
2/12/00 CELTIC 3 - DUNFERMLINE 1
We picked up the maximum points in a sloppy game with more missed chances than minutes. After going behind within a minute we looked destitute but fought back in the first half with goals from Moravcik and Larsson. The second half was one of the most sorry performances this season when we missed countless sitters. Larsson even missed from the penalty spot! Johnson rounded off the game with a header to guarantee that the points were going to Celtic.

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1/12/00 CELTIC MISSED DEADLINE TO SIGN LENNON
Celtic missed out on a chance to recruit Neil Lennon from Leicester because they dragged their feet, it has been revealed. The Scottish league leaders' last offer of £5million was acceptable to all parties, including the player. But Leicester manager Peter Taylor said the matter was now closed because Celtic had missed the deadline agreed on all sides.