Every pre-season tournament feels that their event is that bit special, no-one likes to think that their prestigious event is simply a glorified training session interrupted by masses of substitutions to take away from the little meaning that the games actually carry.

Getting the balance and mix right for your event is no easy task with a multitude of glamour friendlies going on in throughout the football world each hoping that theirs has some sort of competitive edge.

Wembley Cup organisers, IMG, have attempted a few imaginative ploys to put together an eye-catching event and through a series of variables coming their way seem to have come up with a successful event.

Key to that success was Barcelona’s Champions League success over Manchester United in Rome which brought the Catalans to Wembley as the worlds most successful, and watchable team.

Despite the majority of their first team being on extended leave due to international commitments at the end of last season the name of Barca and the lure of the shirt still carries lots of appeal, especially in a city as cosmopolitan as London.

Barca fans of all nationalities were at Wembley which just happens to have hosted their first ever Champions League success when Ronald Koeman’s goal defeated Sampdoria in the 1992 final.

With Wembley hosting the event, Tottenham acting as host club and Celtic’s famous support in attendance the organisers seem to have got the mix just right with Egypt’s Al Ahly providing an exotic alternative although their performance in losing 5-0 to Celtic was far from exciting.

Almost 60,000 fans were in place by the time that Spurs came back from being a goal behind to earn a draw against Barca which seemed a result to keep everyone content.

Barca finished the game with virtually their third team after making eleven half-time changes but there was no mistaking the quality of the squad gathered together by Pepe Guardiola. Of the 22 players used 15 had come through the club’s various academies.

The quality and style of Barca was familiar to that displayed last season as they thwarted the English attempt to make the Champions League an extension of the Premiership.

Nimble, fit enthusiastic players, all entirely comfortable on the ball gave Tottenham a footballing lesson for much of the game with Bojan Krkic opening the scoring in the 32nd minute.

The Tottenham support seemed in awe of the Barcelona jersey, giving their team every encouragement in the manner that a lower division team would cheer their side against a Premiership club in the FA Cup.

Harry Redknapp has one of the most expensively assembled squads in the Premiership with £50,000 a week not far off the average salary of the first team squad.

Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane arrived at Spurs for around £30m in the last year and made little impact on the Barcelona defence throughout the second half when they played together.

Nineteen-year-old Jake Livermore headed an equaliser for Spurs late in the second half but for the London side, who have never competed yet in the Champions League, there was a worrying gulf in terms of ability and technique between themselves and Barcelona.

The draw between the two main attractions sets up Sunday’s games nicely with Celtic, Spurs and Barcelona all capable of winning the tournament with the Glasgow side as slight favourites.

Spreading the event over three days rather than playing back-to-back should give players extra recovery time although all sides are more likely to use their squads to the full rather than risk injury going for glory in a pre-season event.

Beating Spurs to win the trophy would be a nice boost for Celtic but doesn’t begin to register in importance against Wednesday’s Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Moscow.

After watching his side beat Al Ahly 5-0 Celtic manager Tony Mowbray was on a flight to Russia to watch Dinamo in a bid to be as briefed up as possible.

With television income virtually negligible in Scotland, Celtic are desperate to play in the Champions League for the fourth year running to give their finances a £10m boost and offer a worthwhile incentive to signing targets.

There were just two new faces in the Celtic side that beat Al Ahly, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Landry N’Guemo, but the turnaround in the teams performance from last season was marked.

Gordon Strachan’s strict 4-4-2 policy was binned with wide men Shaun Maloney and Aiden McGeady making full use of their licence to come inside to create a more fluid and eye catching style of play.

Sunday’s Wembley Cup matches look to have a bit of everything with the reigning African and European champions kicking the day off before the clash of England-Scotland at the home of football which has housed internationals between the two nations down the years.

Eighty countries will be screening the games which tick most of the boxes that an organiser could wish for in a July event. A near full house is expected at Wembley with four teams gaining valuable fitness and match time to accompany the impressive cheques that they will bank for their involvement.

Joe McHugh writes on Video Celts.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Former Celtic reserve boss Willie McStay couldn’t have asked for a tougher start to his new job as manager of Ujpest Dozsa than a Europa League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest.

After less than a month in the job McStay, and his assistant Joe McBride, travel to the Romanian capital hoping to cause a shock that would certainly be noticed around Europe.

Hungarian football has plummeted over the last twenty years whilst pockets of Eastern Europe have flourished with local entrepreneurs pouring their new found wealth into football clubs and attracting players from around the world, particularly from South America.

Steaua have a great European pedigree and last season they played in the group stage of the Champions League against Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Lyon but despite the difficulties of the tie McStay is looking forward to the challenge of leading his new side into action for the first time.

“Before the draw was made our president said that he wanted to avoid Steaua and Galatasaray but unfortunately we got paired with Steaua,” he admitted.

“It’ll be a very tough challenge for the club, for myself and the players, but we’ve prepared well. I’ve been to watch Steaua against CSKA Sofia and everyone is ready for the match.

“I’ve picked up as much information as possible about them, they have excellent players with good European experience.

“It’s going to be a very hard game for us, totally different to games in the Hungarian league but these ties will quickly given me an idea of the squad and where we need to strengthen.

“There’s not much money available for transfers but my job is to work with the players that we have and put my stamp on their game.

“That will be an attacking passing game but we’re not going to get the chance to do that against Steaua. We’ll have to try and keep it tight and hope to take any chances that we create.”

After over a decade in charge of Celtic’s youth development programme and almost three years managing the Celtic reserve side McStay is enjoying the new challenge of working at the cutting edge of the game in an entirely new environment.

Without quite developing a Schteve McLaren-esque accshent he speaks at a slower pace delivering his words carefully after a few weeks of dealing with a curious local press intrigued by the new man in charge.

Dealing with the media is an essential part of modern management although it can’t be easy handling camera crews from Romanian television channels probing for an insight into his thoughts on how Ujpest will fare against Steaua.

“The language is fine,” he admitted. “All of the players speak or understand English, I’ve got a good interpreter but my delivery has to be different.

“I have to speak slower and doing that you can lose some meaning. I went off into a two minute rant the other week and although I don’t think that the players really understood me the message got across.

“We’ve now got an interpreter that understands football-speak. The language on the training pitch or in the dressing room is different to ordinary language. He knows the phrases and the meanings, small things like that can make a big difference.

“I have to get my views over and feel the reaction of players, that part is difficult but I’m learning their language and the players are getting used to the way that I operate.

“It’s strange but challenging to come to a new country and have to pick things up fast in football terms.

“I’m learning about Ujpest, the other teams in the city and elsewhere in Hungry, finding out how they play, the type of players that we have and how best to use them.

“It’s a huge learning curve but I’m really enjoying it. Everything is new and challenging and I can honestly say that 24 hours isn’t enough hours in the day for me.

“It’ll make me a better coach, I’m learning about a new football culture and having to adapt using the experience that I’ve picked up over the last 15 years.

“Having Joe McBride with me has been invaluable, we know how each other operates and it helps you settle in when there’s someone that you’ve worked with before at the club.

“We’ve got a similar vision for how to play the game and so far everything has gone as well as we could have wished for.”

Scottish managers have scattered themselves around the globe in recent years with Iain Porterfield, Bobby Williamson and Jimmy Bone finding themselves in unusual outposts.

Jobs in Europe have been a rarity with England normally the extent of any coach or managers ambitions.

Taking the leap into the relative unknown of Hungarian football is both a huge challenge but also a risk for McStay who probably had one of the safest jobs in Scottish football with 15 years service at Celtic.

Giving Steaua Bucharest a fright in his first competitive game would certainly launch his managerial career which without doubt will be closely followed by the movers and shakers at his former club.

Joe McHugh writes on Video Celts.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

At the recent Masters event at Braehead I had the good fortune to catch up with Tom Boyd who was in good form after scoring against Rangers.

In the video interview he enjoys a joke or two about his scoring record, what life is like as a former Celtic player and his hopes of a championship winning new season with the side managed by two of his former team-mates Tony Mowbray and Peter Grant.

Whatever the occasion as a player Tom always made himself available to speak and is a natural in front of the cameras, or in this case mobile phone.

Watch the Tom Boyd Interview Video Here

Tom is always the perfect diplomat, in a decade of playing for Celtic he barely said a word out of place during turbulent times and as a former player he’s resisted the temptation to make a quick buck by becoming a rent-a-quote in times of ‘crisis’.

He’s got the inside track on virtually everything exciting that happened in over a decade at Celtic having played through the Lou Macari era, the takeover of the club, working under Fergus McCann and Jock Brown through to the trophy winning transformation under Martin O’Neill and serenely into retirement.

His enthusiasm and continued support for the club is obvious through his attendance at matches where he is often seen with his son, supporting the team just as he did before becoming a professional at Motherwell and Chelsea prior to signing for Celtic.

Tom is always good company, he’s always got lots to say and retains the competitive spirit as he demonstrated throughout the recent Masters tournament where he played virtually every minute along with Mark McNally as the only natural defenders in the squad.

Goalscoring was never one of his strengths, he justifies that in his interview, but he did find the net against Rangers in the Masters even though the shine was taken from that as Rangers battled back to draw 2-2.

The new approach of Tony Mowbray has been warmly welcomed by the Celtic support anticipating a new era of excitement back around the club with the emphasis on attacking football without compromising the necessity of winning matches and trophies.

Tom played alongside Mowbray and Peter Grant and is looking forward to the new season as much as any supporter but knows that there is only one acceptable criteria at Celtic.

It was a pleasure to speak to Tommy inbetween games at the Masters, after the interview Celtic beat Hearts to reach the final where they defeated Dundee United 3-2.

A nice circuit is developing for the former players who last season played exhibition games in Dublin, Cork and Tenerife and who start the new season shortly with a trip to the spiritual home of Celtic in Sligo.

Also see: the Masters Presentation Video.

For more Celtic news, check out Video Celt.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News