Samaras Seals Cup Win

New Bhoys The Inspiration Behind Fine Showing

By Tony Quinn

Debut Bhoy, Greek striker Georgios Samaras scored the final goal of five for Celtic on his debut in the Scottish Cup fifth round at Rugby Park. A double for Scott McDonald, either side of goals from Gary Caldwell and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, put Gordon Strachan's side on the road to the emphatic victory - with Jamie Hamill scoring a consolation shortly before McDonald's second. But the icing on the cake for the Bhoys came with five minutes remaining when Samaras - playing his first game since arriving in a loan deal from Man City - scored a superb fifth goal.

After the game Gary Caldwell credited Celtic's new boys as the inspiration behind the team's strongest performance in a while. "We could have scored more than five and it is as good as we have been for a long time. I think it shows that the players who have come in have improved us without even playing. Everyone knows that the players who have come are ready to step into their place and nobody wants to give that up easily so everyone put on a show."

Gordon Strachan also had praise for young Paul Caddis, who slotted into the problem right-back position for the game at Kilmarnock. The Celtic manager said: "He did very well and he should be pleased with himself. We have held him back a little bit because he is not the tallest so you have to learn the game more to compensate for that. Now that he has had a long time training with us, I feel that's not a problem anymore. He has more knowledge on how to play the game."

Jiri Jarosik has left Celtic to join Russian Premier League outfit FC Kryliya Sovetov on a two-year-deal. The former Chelsea and Birmingham midfielder returns to the Russian league after having initially played for CSKA Moscow in 2003. The fee is expected to be around one million euros. Jarosik's agent said: "The agreement between the two clubs was pre-negotiated on Wednesday and today both clubs exchanged the relevant documents to finalize the deal." Jarosik admits he will miss Scotland after completing the move. "It's not easy to leave because I like Glasgow and Scotland in general," Jarosik said. "But Russia has its charms and players don't often spend their whole careers in one place."

Terry Butcher and Steven Pressley have been confirmed as assistants to new Scotland manager George Burley. Pressley skippered Hearts during Burley's short reign at Tynecastle. Pressley insists he can add to his 32 caps but the Celtic defender has been used sparingly this season. He was not listed for this week's squad gathering at Loch Lomond but Burley will monitor Pressley's progress.

Celtic have announced on their official website that Maciej Zurawski has signed for Larissa, who are 10th in the Greek Super League table. Celtic have offloaded Poland striker Zurawski to Larissa, who knocked Blackburn out of the UEFA Cup this season. Zurawski scored 30 goals in 73 appearances for the Hoops after signing from Wisla Krakow in the summer of 2005.

Celtic have completed the capture of Middlesbrough striker Ben Hutchinson for $500,000 for the 20-year-old. The Bhoys had already agreed a pre-contract with the 20-year-old - who scored on his Premier League debut earlier this season. Hutchinson has penned a three-and-a-half-year deal at Celtic Park. "I'm really looking forward to joining a club of Celtic's stature," said Hutchinson. "I know they're a massive club and it will be a tremendous experience to play in front of 60,000 fans. I will be doing all I can, and working as hard as possible, to bring more success to the club."

Neil Lennon has joined Wycombe Wanderers from Nottingham Forest. Lennon has been a fringe player in recent months at Forest, and Colin Calderwood said the former Celtic captain could leave if he wanted. It was Wycombe boss Paul Lambert that convinced the 36 year old to join the League Two side. Lambert and Lennon spent 5 years playing together at Celtic.