SUNDAY CELTIC

Mark Viduka (pictured left) is certainly beginning to look like a fine investment. He has great touch for a man his size and the physical presence up front that Celtic have missed since the departure of Pierre Van Hooydonk.

It seems certain that Celtic are to name Allan MacDonald as their new chief executive. MacDonald is currently managing director of British Aerospace's operations in Africa and Asia. MacDonald, a lifelong Celtic supporter will take over officially at the end of the season. Celtic have been impressive in their board restructure, McCann has acted shrewdly and efficiently in his own replacement, had this been the case when replacing Wim Jansen Fergus could have left Celtic as Champions. The appointment of Dr Jo Venglos has been a good one, the problem was it's timing. The greatest manager in the world could not have prepared a team for the champiions league in a month, especially with the catastrophic injury list Celtic endured in the first three months of the season. If the new board fails to recognise Venglos's qualities that will be a shame both for Dr Jo and for Celtic.

Transfer speculation has linked a number of players with moves to and from Celtic Park. It is reported that Celtic and Chelsea have agreed a £1 million transfer for Stuart Kerr. A sad loss for Celtic as Kerr is undeniably a splendid keeper, but it is unfair to keep a player of that quality on the nbench permanently. This is bad news for Celtic as there is now inadequate cover for Jonothan Gould, I am not convinced it is a good move for Kerr as Ed De Goey has been one of the best keepers in the English Premiership. All Stuart will have to look forward to is the occasional Worthington Cup game unless De Goey picks up an injury.

Alan Stubbs remains unhappy about his aborted move to Aston Villa. It is an unfortunate situation for Stubbs, however Celtic cannot be blamed for wanting the market rate for a highly rated central defender. £5.5 million would have been a realistic figure, Villa's bid of nearly £1 million below that was simply unacceptable. A possible replacement for Stubbs has been mentioned, Celtic are been linked with a £4.5 million bid for AC Milan defender Fabio Galante. It remains to be seen how much foundation there is to this rumour.

Finally Phil O'Donnell is injured again. Perhaps there is reason to the apparant madness of letting a player of O'Donnell's obvious quality leave the club on a free. O'Donnell has been unavailable for selection for a large part of his stay at Celtic Park, perhaps it is time to let him go and let another team take the risk.