I’ve decided to make a list of who I think the best and worst Celtic players from the last 10 – 15 years are.
As always, I like to read comments so please let me know your thoughts after reading this.
The obvious place to start would be with our goalkeepers.
Best Keeper: Artur Boruc- He stands out for me because he was with us fairly recently and because of some of the saves I have saw the guy make. Â Think of the penalty save against Manchester United at home from Louis Saha. Â Also, in a one against one, Boruc was brilliant at ‘making himself big’.
It must have been intimidating for a striker to see the keeper getting off his line so quickly and to see how little space Boruc would leave them with.
Some readers may be wondering about Pat Bonner, his last game for us was when I was about 13 years old so that’s pretty much why I have over looked him.
Maybe some readers can decide on Packie Bonner or Boruc ?
I also loved the fact that Boruc had such a will to win.  I remember him arguing with Lee Naylor and grabbing him by the throat during a match.  I know that Boruc wouldn’t have grown up as a Celtic fan but his ability combined with his desire to win made him my top choice.
Worst Keeper- This has turned out to be a more difficult choice than I thought. Â Dmitri Kharine was around for about three years and only played about 10 games. I never felt that him or his defence seemed particularly confident when he was there.
A harsh choice? Â Probably but I did have to choose someone.
Best Defender- Johan Mjallby it is for me.  He had decent pace, was solid in the tackle, could chip in with a few (important) goals.  Over six years, he played 144 games and scored 13 goals.  Outwith his last season when he struggled a bit with fitness, I don’t recall very many mistakes or bad matches from Johan.  Not bad for £1.2 million.
Worst Defender/s- Rafael Scheidt and Olivier Tebily.  If I had to choose one of the two to have in your team, it’s got to be Tebily and he was pretty bad.  Have I missed any worse defenders?  With us paying close to £5 million for Rafael, I think he may be the worst ever signing never mind just the worse defender over the last few years.
I always remember Rafael’s debut at Parkhead and thinking have they sent his brother or something over instead ?
Best Midfielder- As far as midfield players go, I feel you could argue all day over Neil Lennon or Paul Lambert, although I am going to opt for Lambert. Â The two of them were similar in style and both captains but I think Lambert slightly edges it on the basis that he had a few more goals in him than Lennon.
The goal v Rangers in the 2-0 home game when Wim Jansen was boss always stands out as did the 40 yarder that he scored v Motherwell in the same season.
I have left out attacking midfielder’s and wingers but that is because I wanted to choose one person per area of the pitch.
Worst midfielder- Freddie Ljunberg. Â What a waste of time and money that guy was for us. He turned up in January, said he needed time to get fit, got injured, played a few times and done absolutely nothing. Â One match that he did start, I forgot he was on the pitch at some point because he had done so little.
to continue to strikers.
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Rab Douglas was worse than Dimitri Kharine. Boruc could be our best AND worst keeper. His last 18 months were a series of game changing clangers, throwing ball into net, dropping the ball, allowing ball to squirm under him. He loved himself more than his wife, celtic or the fans.
He was embarrassing after a defeat at ibrox running about with a flag. I do not miss Fiorentinas 2nd choice keeper at all. Fiorentina are no great club, when did they last win anything? And he can’t get a game for them. No clamour to sign him when he left. He had the ability to be the very best but he is & always was… a clown.
How was him running with a champions flag embarrassing? Boruc put up with bigoted abuse by rangers supporters the whole time he was at Celtic and was right to do exactly what Lennon would have done and stood tall and defiant against a bigoted hate campaign, he wasn’t even allowed to bless himself because of the instalational bias throughout Scotland and ended up with a police caution because he didn’t want to be intimidated into hiding his religion and blessed himself as he always did even before joing the hoops.
Hear! Hear! (here! here! ?)
Artur was only displaying his contentment at losing a battle but winning the war.
He says he was abused by players and ‘the institutions’ supporters to an obscene level, the same reason he wouldn’t shake bags with bazza two bin bags, who he says gave him severe abuse throughout the game.
He had a brick thrown through his family home window with his child asleep in her bed ffs!
To quote the big chap himself after he had spoken of his love of the club,
‘I was getting fed up with Glasgow.
I wanted to leave.
Nothing against Celtic, it’s Glasgow.
Says it all really!
I wont get into a Bigotry Fcs ‘whataboutery’ style, so I’ll give Dignified bigotry fcs players antics a miss.
Sorry ‘bags’?
Bin bags?
Hand bags?
‘Hands’ of course.
I think you will find fiori’ are a massive club (allbeit not as big as celtic) and artur has made quite a few appearances, which is no easy thing to do when the number 1 is Frey.
And I don’t think it is fair to class a club by when they last won anything, if you are going by that tact are celtic a dire club because we just won our first cup in 2 and a bit seasons… You clearly have no understanding of football in italy, its more of a two horse race than in scotland…
Marcus Hedman was the worst for me.
He was world class at telling the media what he would do, shame he never showed it on the park. Gorgeous missus though!
Hedman would get my vote as well.
Specialised in getting injured in training or in the warm-up for matches but got himself fit to be on the bench in Seville.
Amazed that Mourinho gave him a contract at Chelsea, his post Celtic career says a lot about him.
Fiorentina aren’t a big side. They got dumped out of Europe by an average Rangers team wi Hemdani, Thomson, Weir & Darcheville !! They have won little during their lifetime. The crumbling stadium, modest support, empty trophy cabinet & star player is “Mutu” ffs. They are Italys version of Hibs. Average Italian team who i struggle to remember a great fiorentina side. Even when Batistuta was there they did little except win Serie’B’ to get up to Serie A! & an italian cup & they won the subsequent superitalia (league winners v cup winners) & that was Batistutas side! I know plenty about footy mate. Talking up Fiorentina & describing them as “massive” is wrong.
@struan1888
His career should have kicked on after his performance at the Euro 2008. He has went back. Euros was 4 years ago! Done little at Fiorentina except deputy for injured Frey a few times. His last 18 months at celtic he was a bombscare. His career has NOT moved on. Was a long time ago he showed brilliance.
Boruc was a very good keeper for Celtic, he had dips in form but on a whole was very successful for us. He won 3 titles, 2 scottish league cups and a scottish cup, 1st 3 seasons at Celtic he kept 17 clean sheets each season, 16 clean sheets the next season and he had a dodgey last season for us keeping just 12 clean sheets, but on a whole he was a very good keeper for us in my opinion.
boruc was the best over the past 10-15 years, yes he had a few clangers what keeper doesnt. his clangers were just highlighted more because he didnt fit in with the media.
as for fiorentina not being a big club…rubbish. most players would choose fiorentina just now or in the past over celtic, by your reckoning arsenal must be minnows. as for knowing a lot about football, jovetic, frey, gilardino and montolivio are bigger more important players for the viola. playing second fiddle to a world class keeper like frey is also not to be frowned at. boruc must have done alright as he seems to have a few clubs wanting to buy him this summer now frey is fit.
p.s the flag thing was brilliant. 90 mins sustained sectarian abuse and he wound them up with a pole and some polyester….MON THE HOALIE GOALIE!!
He blessed himself at ibrox and……. !
Some of my favourite Celts are Mcnamara, Lubo and Mcgeady.
how’s samaras the worse , we’ve had strikers like adam virgo
Boruc at his best was not just the best goalie in the last 15 years but the best goalie I have ever seen in a Celtic jersey, without doubt at his best he was world class. The first goalie I ever saw at Celtic was Ally Hunter and between him and Forster now there was not anyone to touch him. That includes, Baines, Latchford, Bonnar, McKnight, Marshall, Kerr, Gould, Douglas, Hedman. At his worst, he was no worse than any of our goalies over the last 40 years, his mistakes were highlighted more because of who he was, what he did and because the media loved to make a fool of him when they got the chance and sometimes he gift wrapped the opportunities for them. He never helped himself at times I admit that. But name me one goalkeeper in the last 40 years who won us matches? Certainly not on a regular basis like he did in his first 3 seasons. Statistically Boruc was poor with a clean sheet record of only 39%.
One keeper who actually did not disgrace himself in our No.1 jersey in the 15 year period was Javier Sanchez Broto although he only played a handful of games. For what its worth in the last 15 years Kharine actually had a 60% clean sheet record although only out of 10 games, only Hedman was higher with 62% over more telling 37 games. So as stats go (I know, stats) those two guys were our best keepers in the period in question with Broto (56%, 5 from 9) and Douglas with an impressive 55% with 88 from 161 appearances coming 3rd and 4th using the clean sheet record as a measure which I know can be as much as a measure of the defence in front of them.
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Samaras Your Worst Striker….Ehh Whi….?
Samaras Lazy….????
Serious….
Summa
@jebus How are Fiorentina a BIG club. Think what a BIG club is for a moment. Size of support, Stadium, , Successes, Turnover.
Everything i said is correct. Fiorentina don’t attract top players, (junkie Mutu exception, who like Diouf no one would touch.) they sign similiarly to celtic, like buying in Jovetic & Melo & developing them for profit. they generally bring through their own young players mixed with experience of older seasoned professionals from Italy.
They do NOT attract household names except for old boy Gilardino who was binned by a BIG club. AS i stated above, their crumbling stadium which looks condemned, empty trophy cabinet FOR YEARS, very modest support. They have the prestige of being in Serie A so of course they are attractive option compared to SPL..
They are famous by their purple strip & thats it. Read my previous message regards the side Batistuta played in for 9 years. 2 domestic cups & promotion from Serie B. They are not BIG, famously known by their purple kit yes, big no. I stated Boruc had ability to be very best.
Clangers over 18 months for Celtic & dropped from Poland team saw transfer window pass with no clamour to sign him & he left these shores to be modest Fiorentinas No.2
For me Boruc WAS world class and was a joy to watch. might have loved himself a bit but thats why he was so likeable. Theres not enough charachters in football today. He is easily our best keeper since Bonner. We have never really heavily invested in a keeper.
I could be wrong but think hes the only keeper we have paid money for in ten years. didnt mind big Frazer but far to suspect coming out of his box. When you saw Boruc one on one with a striker you felt confident there was a good chance he would save us and for me thats a quality sign.