Hello folks. The blogs are back. First and foremost I can exclusively reveal that you will find no references whatsoever to thunder within the next few hundred words. It feels great to get back into the swing of things and I hope everyone is ready for what will hopefully be a great season under Neil Lennon. His appointment, along with Mjallby, Thompson and the unknown quantity of Garry Parker has created a sense of long overdue optimism around the club. The false dawn of Tony Mowbray is now behind us. I have noticed from talking with online celts and also from talking to people first hand that there is an air of anticipation surrounding Parkhead. We all hope that the stars will align and the the parts of the jigsaw will fall into place and we will once again see a team on the park that will make us all proud to support the Celtic. Not that we aren't always proud of the team but after some of the results last year many peoples heads were down and it hurt to see our team struggle in the way it did. Fear not though because things are about to change!

The SPl season is slowly but surely creeping up on us but our first competitive game looms in the form of a Champions League qualifier against SC Braga. I must say that it is with trepidation that I await the coming of this particular game. Like most tims out there I feel that it is just a bit soon for Lenny's Lions so I have more or less resigned myself to Europa league football for the coming year. Not only is the Europa League lacking in the big glamour ties of the Champions League that became so synonymous with Celtic under St Martin and Wee Gordon but it's entrance tune is nowhere near as good. As if that wasn't bad enough, you have to listen to people like Pat Nevin and Colin Murray analyze your games, yes Colin Murray, the face of Lidl. Our squad is bereft of any real structure as of yet, we have no spine and no real leaders who can inspire the rest of the team. In fairness we have made encouraging attempts to rectify this problem by targeting players that can take the club by the scruff. I'm confident that come the 14th of August we will be in better shape but as things stand I don't see us having the steel to get through two tough CL qualifiers. Welcome to Lostbhoys, the home of positive thinking.

It goes without saying that the Champions league is where we long to be and while we struggle to really compete in the knockout stages of the competition we can still punch above our weight at times. The obvious reasons for not being able to compete is surely not having the financial muscle of the other "big teams" and also being dwarfed by the oil rich clubs of Ukraine and Russia. These days will be missed for a while in order for us to get our house in order, focus domestically and build a good side that will, in time, be able to compete against the big guns.

That might sound a little pessimistic but It is just the way things are at present. Most people call it a transition year. However gloomy that things might seem in regards to Europe I must state that I have been quite happy with the way in which the club have backed Lennon so far in the field of transfers and they at least seem to be moving in the right direction in terms of buying quality players who can help improve our european standing.

The board, who often come under intense scrutiny from us egotistical types who write blogs, have been shrewd in their current acquisitions, particularly with Joe Ledley and Efrain Juarez. With the signing of Juarez we have seen Lennon and the board delve a little into the unknown and take a risk on a promising young player who in a few years could be worth three or four times what we paid for him. I touched on a point in my previous World Cup article on how Celtic should look at the South American markets and while not claiming any prophetic ability I think they themselves have realised that there is a wealth of talent there waiting to be tapped into. I also think it's a good move for Scottish football on a whole as players of this quality can only improve the image and standing of the league we have the pleasure of playing in.

Signings of this magnitude have been noticeably absent for a number of years and while we have also signed players such as Mulgrew, Cha and Murphy who in my eyes are typically Strachan-esque, we have conducted our business in a more forward thinking manor targeting players such as Bullard and Campbell and talk of possibly a Bellamy or Keane. I say they are signings of "magnitude" as Ledley and Juarez strike me as players who typically would go to mid table EPL clubs and not to Celtic. If we are being honest there has also been a financial element to their signing at Celtic as they will be making top money and there could also be a mutual agreement that they will be sold on to teams in more accomplished leagues within a few years. This does not bother me, it's the way the football world works and if they can do a job for us and get us on track then I see no problem. This says to me that the board are being more open minded and acting with a greater degree of longevity, looking at the bigger picture and building for the future. It's also interesting to note the players mention Lennon himself as being a contributing factor to their signing. It has also been great to see Juarez proclaim his joy at signing for celtic through his twitter page and also take delight in our victory over Sporting Lisbon.

On the departures front we say goodbye to Artur Boruc, he has been a legend to us all not just with his performances but with his passion for the club and love for us supporters. He truly was "off his f**king rocker". God Bless you Artur and good luck at Fiorentina. Also away is Stephen McManus, a great Celtic character and a guy who was lucky enough to play for the club he loved. Unfortunately he wasn't up to standard but he will be missed around the club as all good Celtic men are.

Although we have a couple of daunting european fixtures on the horizon I would say that all in all I'm positive for the coming season. It just feels right seeing Lennon in the dugout and with a solid team in place to help him along the way I foresee some success this year. Initially I was open to the idea of a mentor figure working along with Lennon but with a degree of hindsight I think the club have made the right choice by appointing a backroom staff who played and won together for years. Although it is early days in their managerial/coaching careers, they were there for each other on the park in their playing days and this strong relationship should be the foundation of a successful management structure. We are making decent strides off the park, not just with transfers but also with the development of some decent youth players and James Forrest seems to be a name that we will hopefully hear more of in the coming months. We have had a decent workout in pre season so far and some players have looked the part while others have shown they don't possess the quality to be at Celtic.

To conclude this weeks blog i'll say that it's an absolute pleasure to be back for Lostbhoys season two. The hard work of Chris, Jamie, Gerry, my fellow bloggers and everyone else involved has paid off immensely and the website/podcasts have been brilliant, I have no doubt that the success of the first season can be built upon and maybe even bettered. Who knows, maybe the team will make the task a bit easier by giving us enjoyable things to write and talk about but either way I look forward to getting into the season properly.

Here's to a successful season for Celtic and to another successful season for the Lostbhoys. Without getting too far ahead of oneself I think things are looking up for Celtic!

Could that a faint rumble I hear in the distance?

Hail Hail

Conall