CELTIC have been drawn at home against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the third round of the CIS Cup.

The Hoops also opened their SPL run against ICT earlier this month with a 1-0 away win and will now kick-off their League Cup at Celtic Park campaign on September 21 or 22.

DARYL Murphy?s first-ever competitive goal for Celtic sealed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Motherwell.

The Irishman found the net in the second-half after the impressive Shaun Maloney had been hauled down in the box by Steven Saunders while through on goal

It was a thoroughly deserved three points for Neil Lennon?s side, who responded well to the disappointment of Thursday night?s defeat against Utrecht to overcome Craig Brown stubborn outfit.

Neil Lennon had made several changes from the side that started in Holland. Most notably, Fraser Forster and Emilio Izaguirre made their debuts for the Hoops, while Glenn Loovens, Maloney and Daryl Murphy also came into team.

The hosts had the first effort on goal when John Sutton flicked on Tom Hateley?s free-kick just wide of the near post.

Celtic replied immediately with a sweeping move. Murphy found Forrest on the right and his low delivery was met by Maloney in the middle, forcing Darren Randolph into a wonderful one-handed stop.

Maloney had enjoyed a lively opening to the match and, after another darting run, he was brought down by Stephen Craigan 20 yards out. The midfielder took the set-piece himself and sent his strike narrowly off target.

In the seventh minute Izaguirre, who had made a confident start for his new club, picked up Ledley?s return pass and sent a dangerous ball across the six-yard box. However, there were no takers.

The Hoops had now gained a real grip on proceedings and Murphy was next to threaten, cutting infield and directing a powerful low drive on target, which deflected over the bar.

From the resultant corner, Forrest collected the ball at the back-post. He skipped inside, but his low shot lacked the necessary power to trouble Randolph.

Lennon?s side were dominant at this stage with Forster a virtual spectator in the Celtic goal. And, after an intricate passing move, Maloney was crowded out in the box when poised to strike.

Midway through the half, Georgios Samaras teed-up Brown at the edge of the area. His shot was blocked and eventually the ball was worked wide to Forrest. The teenager hared away from Stevie Hammell and Maloney glanced his cross wide.

Samaras, who had come in from tough treatment from the home side, showed excellent determination to burst past two challenges. He found Murphy on the right, but his driven ball inside was blocked for a corner.

In the 38th minute, Cha swung a deep cross in from the right, Murphy rose above his marker and looped a header over the bar.

Just before the break, Maloney showed tremendous skill to dance past three defenders, but he could only find the side-netting from an acute angle.

Motherwell introduced Nick Blackman for Steve Jennings at the break in an attacking substitution, but it was the Hoops who continued where they left off in the opening period.

Forrest won a corner on the right after 48 minutes, and Majstorovic headed over from Izaguirre?s delivery. Then, 60 seconds later, Brown fed Samaras 18 yards out and the striker?s shot was pushed away by Randolph.

The Steelmen had rarely threatened and when Craigan blasted a shot on goal from a Humphrey corner, Majstorovic was on hand to bravely block with his head.

Yet the play continued to flow towards the home side?s goal. Maloney put a dangerous ball into the mix from a free-kick. It bobbled around the six-yard box, but was eventually cleared with Samaras in close attendance.

In another rare foray forward, Keith Lasley failed to trouble Forster with an ambitious swerving shot from 25 yards.

While Celtic were dictating the play, they just couldn?t find a killer touch in front of goal, prompting Lennon to send Paddy McCourt on for Samaras in the 67th minute.

The Hoops continued to pour forward. Murphy was next to threaten, engineering space for a shot but blasting high and wide from a tight angle.

It was from a direct route that Celtic finally opened the scoring. Maloney got on to the end of a long ball and scampered clear of the home defence, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, Steven Saunders hauled him down.

Referee Dougie McDonald pointed to the spot and showed the defender the red card. Murphy took the kick and sent Randolph the wrong way from 12 yards to score his first competitive goal for the club.

With the 10 men now having to push forward, Celtic were finding an increasing amount of gaps to exploit. In the 78th minute, McCourt embarked on a trademark run through the middle and curled a shot just wide of the far post.

Brown led a Hoops breakaway and slid a ball through for Murphy, who held off his marker, but dragged his effort wide.

In the final five minutes, Celtic had a number of good chances to extend their advantage, with McCourt forcing Randolph into two saves and Ledley shooting wildly over.

But Murphy?s strike proved to be enough to secure maximum points, as Lennon?s side continued their 100 per cent start in the SPL.

It's been anotherpress-stopping week in the wacky world we call Scotland, and we've got lots of goings on from Celtic Park, the bowels of Hampden, Switzerland and thedeepest circleof Govan to discuss!

Lets start at the beginning. TV rightsare one of the biggest issues to hit football across the globe in the last decade, and the situation is no different in the Scottish Premier League.

Television is investing heavily in our game, changing its face forever - look at the madcap spending all over the EPL this summer to see what I mean. In Scotland, many clubs rely on TV royalties to make up around a third of their total turnover. In a time where the world economy is shrinking and business is getting rough, it makes sense that the most capable hands run the show, right?

But not in Scotland. No, in Scotland, the tail wags the dog. Celtic, not known for giving things away, made their feelings clear on the latest "debacle" to hit us from Hampden Park.

This week, the Scottish Premier League voted in favour of a joint bid by ESPN and SKY that gives them broadcasting rights for at least 3 seasons, and HALF what Setanta were going to pay over a similar period.

Hate to say we told you so... but we told you so. Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen made it clear to the SPL last year that rejecting SKYs bid at the time and accepting Setanta was going to backfire. Typically, the clubs rejected long-term stability for short-term gain. And now, here we are.

This grave error in judgement has cost Celtic around £12m in total ver four years, or 6500 season tickets a season. As Dr John correctly pointed out, we need long-term thinking at the top of the table and the leadership of our league cannot learn this lesson, we must find ourselves an alternative.

The SPL is no longer fit for purpose.

On a happier note, Celtic this week completed the loan-signing of Nancy midfielder Landry NGuemo. The Cameroon international is here for one season and Celtic have the option to buy him outright next summer.

NGuemo was initially to bebrought inlast Monday but this was delayed due to unforseen problems, thought to involve late Premiership interest and passport issues.

Nevertheless, Landry will likely meet up with the squad in Cardiff ahead of the opening game at Cardiff City's new stadium. The defensive midfielder will wear the number 6 recently vacated by Bobo Balde (That confirms it, he really is gone!!) and we wish him all the best.

Our visit to Wales will of course be marred with the terrible news of John Hartson being treated for Cancer in the testicles, brain and lungs.

Anthony Stokes became Celtic?s 11th signing of the new campaignand has committed himself to the Hoops for the long run.

After a flurry of different clubs during his short playing career, the 22-year-old striker hopes Glasgow will be the place he can finally settle now he has signed a four-year deal.

Signing just hours before the transfer window slams shut, Stokes has vowed tofight for his place up front and wants to become a long term regular in Neil Lennon?s starting XI.

?I?m delighted to get the deal all done and dusted,? he told Channel 67 in an exclusive interview. ?The last few days have been hectic and I?m now looking forward to getting into it and playing games.

?I?m hoping I can get one or two contracts here and really settle down for a long time because I am enjoying myself in Scotland and the people up here are great, so for me it couldn?t have been a better move.

?It?s hard to settle when you are going to clubs on loan for two or three months at a time. It?s hard to get into your stride and into your football so a few years here will give me some stability and something to focus on.?

The Dublin born striker started his career in the Arsenal youth side before moving to Sunderland in 2007. Loan spells at Falkirk, Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, before joining Hibernian last summer, has handed Stokes a wealth of experience during the first five years of his playing career.

Andhis move to Glasgow has opened a door for Celtic's new number 10 to take on anewopportunityand settle at a club for the long term.

He knows it will be difficult to break into the starting XI but is ready for the challenge which lies ahead.

?I?ll have to work hard in training to get into the team, but hopefully I can do that and get some goals,? he said.

?I had a chat with Neil Lennon and obviously with Gary Hooper being injured at the minute he?s looking for someone to get in there and score the goals. It?s up to me now to work hard and give the boss a headache.

?The main thing for me is to keep my head down, work my socks off and get myself into the team and I?m sure the goals will take care of themselves after that.?

Having already played in the SPL for two seasons, Stokes knows exactly what sort of competition he faces when the side returns from this week?s international break.

He displays a determined and fighting spirit and already has his sights firmly set on winning the league this year.

?I?ve been watching Celtic this season and obviously it has been very disappointing in Europe,? he added, ?But with three wins so far and three clean sheets, it couldn?t really have gone much better when the league is the main thing this year.

?Rangers are going for three in a row so the most important thing is stopping that and hopefully the cup runs will go well as well.?

Hoduras left-back Emilio Izaguirre says that, by joining Celtic, he has achieved his long-held ambition of playing in British football.

Previous moves to Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic fell through.

"Coming to a club like Celtic is a dream come true at last for me," said the 23-year-old.

"I will put the effort in during training every day and play each match with Celtic as if it's the last game of my life."

He secured a trial with Ipswich in 2008 then this summer was close to a transfer from his Honduran club, Motagua, to Wigan as a replacement for Maynor Figueroa.

"There was a chance I could have joined Wigan, but it was only going to be possible if Figueroa left and he didn't," said Izaguirre.

"It's true that when I was younger I went to Ipswich, but I couldn't get the work permit at that time."

Izaguirre, who featured in the World Cup for Honduras, last week made a special trip to Guatemala to ensure the paperwork would not present a problem with a transfer to Celtic.

It means that he is in line to make his debut against Motherwell on Sunday, both sides having crashed out of European football while he was back in Central America.

He admitted he was stunned that Celtic exited European football earlier this week with a dreadful 4-0 reverse in Utrecht that denied them qualification to the Europa League despite arriving in the Netherlands with a two-goal lead.

"I couldn't really believe what happened on Thursday night," said the defender, who has declared himself fit for Sunday. "I would never have thought it could happen.

"Of course European football was an attraction to me coming here, so it's disappointing, but I have many more years here for that."

Neil Lennon admits Thursday's Europa League defeat by Utrecht hurt more than last season's Scottish Cup humbling by First Division side Ross County.

Celtic crashed to a 4-0 defeat in Utrecht, despite leading 2-0 on aggregate, sending the Glasgow club out of European competition for the season.

After the match, Lennon said he accepted responsibility for the loss.

He said: "The feelings in defeat are compounded as a manager because the the responsibility falls with you."

Celtic failed to reach the final of the Scottish Cup final last season following one of the worst results in their history when Ross County stunned the Glasgow giants 2-0 at Hampden after Lennon took over as interim manager.

Thursday's defeat in the Netherlands spelled the end of Celtic's European campaign, with domestic silverware the only route to success left for them this season.

"In essence, this was more my team," said Lennon. "I inherited the team from last year and this is more of the players I've brought in and who I wanted to play, so it hurts more.

"You pick the team and set them out to get a result and we've failed on that account.

"We keep shooting ourselves in the foot and not giving ourselves a chance. We were pretty average in all departments really.

"It's a sore one, it's a setback, but we have to learn from that very quickly.

"Ultimately, I take the responsibility because I pick the team, so I've been analysing myself and my own performance."

Celtic travel to Motherwell on Sunday with Lennon anxious that the cohesion returns against opposition who went out of Europe at the same stage.

"The side that lost last night was more or less the same team that beat Utrecht the week before and played very well at the weekend," Lennon added.

"That team won 2-0 in the first leg and played well on Sunday against St Mirren, so in the space of a few days we go from a team full of confidence, vigour and quality to a very disjointed outfit.

"That's a mentality thing. All the things we'd shown, the athleticism, the speed, it shouldn't go away in four days, so it must be a mental thing and it's something we need to analyse to see what we can do better.

"People say 'you learn from these things', but I'm not so sure because we don't seem to be learning from it.

"I've done a lot of soul searching and I'm fed up with coming away from Europe with my tail between my legs, but again it's just another episode of that."

CELTIC suffered heartache in Holland as FC Utrecht turned the play-off tie around and knocked the Hoops out of the UEFA Europa League.

Barry Maguire topped off Ricky Van Wolfswinkel?s hat-trick in the 4-0 defeat to cancel out Celtic?s first-leg victory in what was a disappointing display in Utrecht.

The 2-0 win at Celtic Park proved to not be enough for Neil Lennon?s men who had been boosted pre-match by the return of Cha Du-Ri to the side.

The South Korean came back from injury and slotted into the right-back role, with Efrain Juarez moving into midfield. Jos Hooiveld, who missed the first-leg through suspension, kept his place in central defence from the weekend win over St Mirren, while James Forrest?s outstanding performance in the same match was rewarded with his first European start.

The match had barely settled when Utrecht opened the scoring and pulled the tie back within reach.

Lukasz Zaluska produced a spectacular save from Dries Mertens? free-kick on 11 minutes, but just 60 seconds later he was beaten by Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. The home side were awarded a penalty for Hooiveld?s foul on Michael Silberbauer and, despite getting a touch on it, the keeper couldn?t stop it going into the net.

And it was déja vu for Zaluska just eight minutes later when the Van Wolfswinkel lined up another penalty, this time for a foul committed by himself on Mertens. The Utrecht striker finished into the opposite corner and cancelled out Celtic?s first-leg victory, bringing the aggregate score level.

The Hoops? first effort on goal came just after the half hour mark when Juarez fed in Marc-Antoine Fortune, who was returning to his old firing ground, but his effort from the edge of the box went over the bar.

Mertens had a fantastic chance to turn the tie in Utrecht?s favour six minutes from half-time when Cha was caught ball-watching on the near post. The striker?s effort forced Zaluska into an impressive save from close range, the Celtic keeper pushing it just over the bar.

The home side went into the break with the upper hand and managed to turn the tie in their favour just seconds after the restart.

Slack Celtic defending allowed Utrecht to make a rampaging run down the left flank. Edouard Duplan was given space on the edge of the box to flick the ball on for Van Wolfswinkel who curled an unstoppable effort past Zaluska to wrap up his hat-trick.

Celtic continued to work for the all-important away goal which would have turned the match back in their favour but Barry Maguire stuck the final nail in the coffin on 62 minutes. His low drilling shot from outside of the box sliced open the Hoops? defence, beat Zaluska, and put the tie out of reach for Neil Lennon?s men.

Van Wolfswinkel came close to adding a fifth for Utrecht with a powerful right footed effort from 25-yards-out, but, luckily for Celtic, it was just wide of target.

The Hoops refused to go down without a fight and persistently battled down the right flank, but Forrest?s good runs and crosses across the face of goal failed to cause Utrecht too many problems.

Substitute Ki Sung Yueng?s free-kick came to nothing when he cracked it low off the wall and Zaluska was then forced to pull off a save from another Utrecht?s break.

Fortune watched his turning effort bobble towards Michel Vorm in goals but the Utrecht keeper coolly scooped up the danger.

This summed up Celtic?s luck for the evening. They just couldn?t find a final touch in front of goal and suffered a heart-breaking defeat, ending their run in Europe for the 2010/11 season.

The Celtic squad that arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday for their Europa League play-off return seem like a confident bunch.

Bouyed by an unbeaten and un-breached league opening and a two-goal lead against Utrecht, confidence seems natural for the new-look Glasgow side.

One man still wary, though, is their battle-hardened boss.

Neil Lennon seems at home in the hot-seat so far. He has not one league defeat to his name since replacing the shambolic Tony Mowbray era.

He is cautiously optimistic - certainly regarding his approach to the second leg clash just south of Amsterdam.

"An early goal would make a difference," said Lennon at the team hotel after their five-star lunch.

"We saw that, when Braga scored against us at Parkhead in the Champions League qualifier, it effectively killed the tie.

"It could be the same for us tomorrow night, but Utrecht are quality opponents.

"We've also had three clean sheets in a row, so we'll take a lot from that.

"We are certainly capable of scoring as there is a lot of positives in the team. We have goals in us from all over the pitch."

Utrecht did enough in Glasgow last week to suggest they can cause Celtic problems on home turf.

They battered three past Willem II to move into third in the Dutch Eredivisie at the weekend with the fantastically named Ricky van Wolfswinkel scoring his seventh and eighth of the season already.

But Lennon clearly believes the team he has built can take care of themselves.

"We'll set the team up to be hard to beat but try to be positive as well," he said.

"The onus is on them to attack, but we'll be prepared and have enough to hurt - not just Utrecht - but most teams.

"We'll have to be patient and be concentrated for 90 minutes. We won't be going 'Gung-Ho'."

The financial disparity between the Champions League and it's wee brother that Celtic are competing in was again highlighted by financial figures released by Uefa on Tuesday.

But, in playing terms, Lennon believes the Europa League still has much to offer his players.

"Players want to come to Celtic to play in Europe, so you don't want to be finished by August," he said.

"You want to put a concerted run together, so this competition and reaching the groups is very important to us."

Assistant manager Johan Mjallby expects Celtic to go on a lengthy Europa League run if they eliminate Utrecht in the Netherlands on Thursday.

Celtic enjoy a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Glasgow and Mjallby believes it would boost confidence to progress.

"The league is important, but you want to have some European games as well," Mjallby told BBC Scotland.

"When we crashed out of the Champions League, we wanted to go further in the Europa League and do well."

The last word has to go to Celtic's Dutch defender Jos Hooiveld.

When asked how special it was to be back playing in his homeland by the assembled Dutch media, he left them stunned.

"It's 11 against 11 here too, so it's not that special," said Hooiveld.

"I don't have such feeling with the Dutch people in a football way.

"Besides, it is the Scottish media I have to impress nowadays."

The reaction of the journalist who posed the question was, I imagine, similar to the one he had when Andres Iniesta scored against his national team in the World Cup final.