CELTIC CONFIDENTIAL: Why Callum McGregor's Hampden goal carried echoes of the Lisbon Lions ... and the Bhoy who still believes he can follow his hero to Barca

Daily Mail​

23-04-2025

So much is made of Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah and the centre-forward question that it's easy to forget just how many of Celtic 's goals come from elsewhere in the team.
The depth of scoring options available to Brendan Rodgers was underlined in the Scottish Cup semi-final against St Johnstone on Sunday when Callum McGregor netted in a 5-0 victory.
That made McGregor the seventh Celtic player this season to reach double figures in the goal charts, following Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn, Idah, Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Arne Engels.
If that doesn't sound like anything special, bear in mind that it's the first time since Celtic's European Cup-winning season of 1966-67 that so many of their players have scored 10 or more.
During that historic campaign under Jock Stein, the top scorers were Joe McBride, Bobby Lennox, Stevie Chalmers, Willie Wallace, Bertie Auld, Tommy Gemmell and Bobby Murdoch.
Celtic are used to having McGregor as their captain – a lynchpin, playmaker and all-round inspiration rolled into one – but this season he has added goals to his game with a willingness to shoot from distance.
It is all part of the multi-faceted attack that makes Celtic so difficult to defend against. When the threat comes from a variety of sources, it is usually the sign of a good team.
With Luke McCowan on six goals and Yang Hyun-Jun on five, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that even more of the current crop could go beyond single figures in the half dozen games that remain. You wouldn't put it past them.
Forgotten man Marco Tilio could be ripe for a return to Celtic Park
The alarming downturn in the form of Nicolas Kuhn and the switch of position of Daizen Maeda to the central striking role are two factors that have undoubtedly led to a loss of sparkle in Celtic's wing play of late.
While Yang Hyun-jun has won plenty hearts with some recent impressive cameos and contributions, and James Forrest can be counted on to finish the season in typically strong fashion as more silverware beckons, neither are considered long-term starting options with next season already on the minds of supporters.
Luckily, there is at least one wide man playing himself into peak form and stating his claim for a sustained run on the flanks at Parkhead, yet he's so far off the radar that many fans might have forgotten he's even an option.
Marco Tilio has managed just 28 minutes of action in a Celtic shirt since arriving from Melbourne City two years ago and hasn't been spotted in Glasgow since jetting back the A-League club on loan in February last year.
Having arrived in Glasgow on the back of a 10-goal season for Melbourne, with what was then a record fee received for the sale an A-League player, big things were expected of a full Socceroos international widely regarded as a box of tricks by those who had seen him light up Australia's top division.
An injury suffered early in his time at Celtic prevented him from making inroads and, after struggling to break into even the matchday squad, manager Brendan Rodgers decided a loan back to the southern hempishere was in the best interests of all parties.
Unfortunately, Tilio then had two spells out due to his troublesome hamstring and suffered a muscle injury to boot, leaving him more often than not a frustrated spectator back in his homeland.
Since working his way back to the Melbourne starting line-up in early February, however, Tilio has gone from strength to strength and has been earning rave reviews with his recent performances as City have tried in vain to keep touch with champions-in-waiting Auckland FC.
Three goals and three assists have crucially been accompanied by complete confidence in his body again, and it is clear he is finally enjoying his football once more.
Tilio is contracted to Celtic until 2028 but wouldn't be drawn on what his future holds, with supporters and pundits alike Down Under keen to see him remain with Aurelio Vidmar's team if another loan agreement can be forthcoming.
Speaking on Australian television just last week, the 23-year-old said: 'There is ongoing conversations and I have to make a decision that I feel is best for me and my career. I am just starting to get game time and consistency with my body.
'Taking it week by week and game by game, I just want a top end to the season and obviously want to go into the final series and play very well.'
One thing is for sure. Keep playing the way he is and add a final flourish for City in a successful A-League Play-off campaign, and the decision won't be Tilio's to make. Rodgers will be on the phone and instructing Tilio to head back for pre-season with the aim of injecting some life into Celtic's lethargic wing play.
Odin Thiago Holm still believes he can follow his namesake to Barca
Odin Thiago Holm is scheduled to return to Celtic at the end of the MLS season later this year when his loan deal with LAFC expires.
However, the 22-year-old Norwegian has told the American outfit that his real dream is to use his time across the Atlantic as a springboard towards reklindling his fantasy of making it to boyhood loves Barcelona.
Holm added the middle name Thiago to his title as a teenager as a result of his love for former Nou Camp favourite Thiago Alcantara.
Despite still having to make any kind of breakthrough at Parkhead since arriving in a £3million move from homeland side Valerenga in the summer of 2023 - and being contracted to Celtic until the summer of 2028 - he was clear when asked in an official LAFC podcast about whether he still holds on to the hope of forging what currently feels like a most unlikely path to Barca.
'Hopefully,' he replied. 'That's the dream. I have always been a Barcelona fan.'
Holm admits, however, that having such a permanent reminder of Alcantara as a former hero doesn't seem quite as great an idea now as it did when he changed it, with his parents' consent, aged 13.
'I'm not sure if I think the Thiago part is as cool now as at 13 or 14, but it is part of me now.'
Holm was farmed out to LAFC in January after making just three substitute appearances for Celtic earlier in the season and looks to have a long way to go to force his way back into manager Brendan Rodgers' thinking.
However, he has expressed no regrets over making the jump to Celtic Park almost two years ago.
'It was a big, proud moment when I heard of the interest,' he recalled. 'I didn't hesitate.'
Moussa Dembele isn't just scoring for clubs these days, he's BUYING clubs
Former Celtic striker Moussa Dembele clearly has money to burn as he whiles away the best years of career in the footballing wilderness of Saudi Arabia.
For the Al-Ettifaq striker has joined the growing trend of owning football clubs by adding to his portfolio with the acquisition of Lithuanian second-tier outfit FK Minija.
Dembele, 28, is still rubbing shoulders with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N'golo Kante in the filthy-rich Saudi Pro League, but he clearly has one eye on his post-playing career having set up an investment group by the name of Triple M, which already owns AS Mansa in Mali, where Dembele has family ties.
Halfway through a lucrative four-year contract, Dembele has been out of action since the beginning of February after rupturing his Achilles tendon in a routine win at Al-Okhdood. It came after a promising start to the season that had seen him score seven times for the Dammam-based club, who finally dispensed with the services of Steven Gerrard back in January following his struggles to make them a competitive force in the Middle East.
Quite what Dembele sees in FK Minija is open to interpretation, given the recently-formed side has no real pedigree in Lithuania. They are based in Kretinga, a picturesque town a short hop from the Baltic Sea resort of Palanga, and they have collected six points from their five league matches to date of the new season.
But as a player with a fairly decent pedigree of sniffing out opportunities and making the most of them, on the field at least, perhaps we shouldn't be too quick to write off Dembele's latest venture.
Watch this space, indeed.
Celtic women's coach Elena Sadiku believes that their young midfielder, Maria McAneny, is developing into a leader with the mentality to inspire those around her.
In a 1-0 victory against Motherwell on Sunday, when Celtic struggled to turn domination into goals, McAneny separated the sides with a free kick curled round the defensive wall and past goalkeeper Emily Mutch.
The 20-year-old's strike, midway through the second half at K Park, was badly needed by a Celtic team who had not won any of their previous six matches and had scored just five times in that sequence.
Sadiku admits that, at times like these, it is vital to have McAneny, a midfielder who can make the difference. Not just with her technical ability but with her determination to step up when it matters most.
'Maz is growing into being a leader in this team,' says Sadiku. 'She shows standards and demands, and that's something I really like to see, in terms of knowing the mindset and the mentality.
'Obviously she has quality and she showed [against Motherwell] what she has shown throughout the whole season. She is one of the players who has done the most assists and also goals.'
While it was a welcome victory for Sadiku's struggling team, they are fourth in the SWPL table, eight points behind leaders Hibs, with just five matches to play.
The title looks to be heading elsewhere, but Sadiku says the win at Motherwell, which followed draws with Rangers and Hibs, was a step in the right direction.
'We have had a really tough time in terms of not getting wins, but I feel like the last four games, we put in a good effort, even if the quality is not how good we can be. Hopefully that's something we can work on.'
Old Bhoys will be back in town as Martin O'Neill hosts a grand reunion
Martin O'Neill is heading back to Celtic for a grand reunion with a number of his star players from yesteryear.
The Parkhead club have announced they are holding a special event at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow on Sunday, June 8, to mark 25 years since the Northern Irishman took over the manager's job and turned the fortunes of the club around.
O'Neill won seven trophies in five seasons – three leagues, three Scottish Cups and a League Cup - after leaving Leicester City and remains a huge favourite among the Celtic faithful.
He will be joined on stage at this official Celtic event by a number of the players he coached during those glory days with other famous faces from throughout his career also scheduled to appear.