# 2010–11 Celtic F.C. season

The 2010–11 season was the 117th season of competitive football by Celtic. New manager Neil Lennon made considerable changes to the Celtic team for the 2010–11 season. He sold Aiden McGeady for a then Scottish record £9.5 million along with captain Stephen McManus and fan favourite Artur Boruc. 13 other players also left the club, this gave Lennon enough funds to re-build for the new season. He looked to sign talented, young, cheap, relatively unknown players, from smaller leagues around the world. This paid off with players such as Gary Hooper, Beram Kayal and Emilio Izaguirre all having excellent seasons and earning many plaudits. Lennon also signed several experienced players on free transfers. Charlie Mulgrew, Joe Ledley, and Daniel Majstorović all went into the first team. In addition to these Lennon also signed five other players, including Fraser Forster on loan from Newcastle who became first choice goalkeeper and helped set a new SPL record for most clean sheets.
In July Celtic were drawn in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Portuguese side Braga. Celtic lost the first leg of the tie 3–0 away from home. Celtic won the return leg 2–1, but went out of the Champions League 4–2 on aggregate. Celtic were knocked out of European football altogether in August, after they lost their Europa League qualifying match against FC Utrecht 4–2 on aggregate.
Celtic won their first eight league games of the SPL season, before losing to Rangers, who also had a 100% record, 3–1. Celtic started November beating Aberdeen 9–0 in an SPL record victory. They then lost to Heart of Midlothian and drew at home against Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with a victory over St Mirren the only consolation. The Inverness match was notable because it was officiated by Luxembourg referee Alain Hamer, who had stepped in because of the Scottish football referee strike. Celtic began 2011 by beating Rangers 2–0 at Ibrox, and beat their rivals again 3–0 on 20 February. Celtic finished the season in second place in the SPL table, a point behind Rangers.
In the League Cup, Celtic beat Inverness 6–0 and St Johnstone 3–2 before beating Aberdeen in the semi-final. In the final, they lost 2–1 to Rangers after extra time. In the Scottish Cup, Celtic entered in the fourth round, beating Third Division team Berwick Rangers 2–0, and drawing 2–2 with Rangers in the fifth round. They beat Rangers 1–0 in the replay and booked their place in the final beating Aberdeen 4–0 at Hampden Park. In the final Celtic beat Motherwell 3–0, with goals scored by Ki Sung-Yeung, Charlie Mulgrew and an own goal from Stephen Craigan.
Celtic played in an unprecedented seven Old Firm matches in 2010–11. This was due to being drawn against Rangers in both cups, and the fact that they required a replay to beat them in the Scottish Cup. Celtic won three of these matches, two in the league and the Scottish Cup fifth round replay. There were two draws, one in the final league match and one in the Scottish Cup fifth round. Rangers won twice, both the first league match and the League Cup final. Celtic also enjoyed an incredible run of results against Aberdeen. The two teams played each other five times, due to being drawn in both Cup semi-finals and Celtic scored 21 times against them only conceding one.

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Premier League | Premier League | Scottish Cup | Scottish Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | GER | Andreas Hinkel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | HON | Emilio Izaguirre | 42 | 1 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | MEX | Efraín Juárez | 19 | 2 | 5+8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 5 | DF | SWE | Daniel Majstorović | 40 | 2 | 32 | 1 | 4+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | NED | Jos Hooiveld | 7 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | SWE | Freddie Ljungberg | 8 | 0 | 1+6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | SCO | Scott Brown | 39 | 4 | 26+2 | 2 | 4+1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | GRE | Georgios Samaras | 33 | 7 | 16+6 | 3 | 4+1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | FRA | Marc-Antoine Fortuné | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | IRL | Anthony Stokes (from 31 August) | 35 | 19 | 22+7 | 14 | 1+2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | KOR | Cha Du-Ri | 20 | 1 | 14+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | SCO | Mark Wilson | 33 | 3 | 25 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | SCO | Shaun Maloney | 26 | 6 | 15+6 | 5 | 0+1 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | NIR | Niall McGinn | 12 | 3 | 6+5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | SCO | Kris Commons | 21 | 14 | 11+3 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | WAL | Joe Ledley | 40 | 6 | 26+3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Marc Crosas | 3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | KOR | Ki Sung-Yueng | 34 | 4 | 18+8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | DEN | Morten Rasmussen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | NIR | Paddy McCourt | 31 | 7 | 8+17 | 7 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | SCO | Charlie Mulgrew | 35 | 3 | 20+3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 2+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | NED | Glenn Loovens | 21 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | ENG | Ben Hutchinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | GK | POL | Łukasz Załuska | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | NOR | Thomas Rogne | 20 | 2 | 14+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | ENG | Fraser Forster | 44 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | IRL | Daryl Murphy | 21 | 3 | 9+9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 28 | FW | SCO | James Keatings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | SCO | Paul Slane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | IRL | Richie Towell | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | MF | ISR | Beram Kayal | 30 | 2 | 18+3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | MF | IRL | Graham Carey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | DF | ENG | Josh Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | DF | SCO | Lewis Toshney | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | GK | USA | Dominic Cervi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | DF | IRL | Darren O'Dea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | FW | SCO | James Forrest | 24 | 3 | 15+4 | 3 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 54 | MF | SCO | Ryan Conroy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | MF | SCO | Paul McGowan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | MF | CZE | Filip Twardzik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | MF | FRA | Olivier Kapo | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | FW | ENG | Gary Hooper | 36 | 22 | 26 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

### Disciplinary record

| Player | Yellow | Second Yellow | Red |
| Beram Kayal | 11 | | |
| Daniel Majstorović | 11 | | |
| Scott Brown | 11 | 1 | |
| Mark Wilson | 8 | | |
| Charlie Mulgrew | 6 | | |
| Georgios Samaras | 6 | | |
| Anthony Stokes | 6 | | |
| Ki Sung-Yueng | 6 | | |
| Glenn Loovens | 3 | | |
| Gary Hooper | 3 | | |
| Emilio Izaguirre | 3 | | 1 |
| Jos Hooiveld | 2 | | |
| Joe Ledley | 2 | | 1 |
| Niall McGinn | 2 | | |
| Kris Commons | 2 | 1 | |
| Fraser Forster | 1 | | 1 |
| Shaun Maloney | 1 | | |
| Łukasz Załuska | 1 | | |
| Cha Du-Ri | 1 | | |
| James Forrest | 1 | | 1 |
| Thomas Rogne | | | 1 |

### Top scorers

| R | Player | Scottish Premier League | Scottish Cup | Scottish League Cup | Champions League (Qualifying) | Europa League (Play-off) | Total |
| 1 | Gary Hooper | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 |
| 2 | Anthony Stokes | 14 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 3 | Kris Commons | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 5 | Georgios Samaras | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | Paddy McCourt | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Joe Ledley | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | Shaun Maloney | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Scott Brown | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Ki Sung-Yueng | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 14 | Niall McGinn | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | James Forrest | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Mark Wilson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Daryl Murphy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 14 | Charlie Mulgrew | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Efraín Juárez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 | Thomas Rogne | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Daniel Majstorović | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Beram Kayal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 | Glenn Loovens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Emilio Izaguirre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Cha Du-Ri | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

## Team statistics
### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Rangers (C) | 38 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 88 | 29 | +59 | 93 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round |
| 2 | Celtic | 38 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 85 | 22 | +63 | 92 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round |
| 3 | Heart of Midlothian | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 53 | 45 | +8 | 63 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Dundee United | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 61 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Kilmarnock | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 53 | 55 | −2 | 49 | |
* 1 2 Celtic entered the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League as they won the 2011 Scottish Cup Final. Due to this, Heart of Midlothian also moved up to the third qualifying round, whilst fourth-placed team Dundee United received the second qualifying round spot.

### Celtic personnel awards

| Player | Award | Date |
| James Forrest | SPL Young Player of the Month | August |
| Neil Lennon | SPL Manager of the Month | September |
| Ki Sung-Yueng | SPL Young Player of the Month | October |
| Neil Lennon | SPL Manager of the Month | January |
| Beram Kayal | SPL Player of the Month | January |
| Thomas Rogne | Scottish League Cup Young Player of the Semi-finals | February |
| Scott Brown | Scottish Cup Player of the Round | February |
| Emilio Izaguirre | SPFA Players' Player of the Year | May |
| Emilio Izaguirre | SPL Player of the Year | May |
| Emilio Izaguirre | Celtic Player of the Year | May |
| James Forrest | Celtic Young Player of the Year | May |
| Scott Brown | Celtic Goal of the Season | May |
| Gary Hooper | Celtic Top Goalscorer of the Year Award (19 goals) | May |
| Anthony Stokes | Celtic Top Goalscorer of the Year Award (19 goals) | May |