Ex Celts in the English game

Its the time of year Celtic fans always dread. The transfer window. Regardless if
we would like to admit it our club is now a selling club. Young players move to us
and see the club as a stepping stone towards the English Premier League. It
appears that the media in England are happy enough to slate the standard of
Scottish football however the teams down south have no problem with cherry
picking the best talents.
Without a doubt over the past few years the Celtic scouts have done well. There
have been numerous occasions when we have signed a player and the question
on everyones lips has been who? during Neil Lennons time in charge this was
certainly the case. Hooper, Wanyama, Forster just to name a few. These players
have come in with next to no reputation for a decent amount of money. So they
have definitely been a risk but the Celtic hierarchy obviously had faith in their
scouting system and coaching staff.
The young players who arrive at Parkhead from abroad and even the ones from
down south who may not know the stature and the history that the club has,
soon find this out. As a player arrives he is not only signing for a club steeped in
history, he is joining a family. A family which stretches over every continent. If
you play your cards right you could just etch your name into the history books
here.
Some of the young men who have passed through those famous Parkhead gates
have done just exactly that. For example, lets go back to November 7 th 2012. We
host the Spanish giants Barcelona. Even the most optimistic Celtic fan would
have said a draw would have been a good result. Every single player wearing the
Hoops that night played like world beaters. Wanyama rose in the six yard box
and headed the ball past Victor Valdes in the Barcelona goal, he sent the Celtic
family into rapture. Then a long ball over the top set clear a young Tony Watt.
Only 18 at the time, bearing down on one of the best goal keepers in the world,
slots passed him to make it 2-0. Unbelievable scenes inside Paradise. Yes, Celtics
defence were broken down in the 90th minute by Lionel Messi but none the less
those players who played that night have gone down in Celtic history. I have to
give a special mention to two players that night, Gary Hooper, whos work rate
was out of this world and played the game like it was the world cup final. Even
though a striker, he was everywhere that night, great performance. The second
goes to the man dubbed by the Spanish media several times as the The Great
Wall who in my opinion confirmed his place as one of the best goalkeepers in
Europe. It was just unlucky that he conceded so late on.
Last weekend saw a host of ex Celtic servicemen shine in England. Gary Hooper
getting a hat trick, Beram Kayal scoring, Twardzik scoring on within 6 minutes of
his debut, Joe Ledley winning the game for Crystal Palace, Fraser Forster keeping
yet another clean sheet and statistically being the best goalkeeper in the country
and Ki Sung-Yueng scoring to get a draw for Swansea.

The impact the Neil Lennon has made since taking over at Bolton is outstanding.
Taking over when the team was bottom of the table and had no clue where there
next win was coming from, Lennon has come in and revitalised the whole club
taking them to mid table of a very competitive Championship. With no money
available may I add.
Overall the ex-Hoops flying the flag for us down south are doing very well. The
phrase dont knock it till you try it comes to mind before the media start to
judge the standard of football and the players who play here. As if they do there
research they will probably find that the players and managers that they are
raving about, will have a connection to the Scottish game.