Dr John happy that the club have made history with qualification.

In his first real interview since taking on the hot seat (as opposed to sitting in a heated one) at Celtic Park, Dr John Reid has extolled the virtues of the playing side after their history making performance in Europe. Celtic is now the first Scottish team to qualify for the last sixteen of the Champions League twice! The fact that we have achieved this in consecutive seasons also fills the support with glee.

Rangers can emulate the feat next week should they avoid defeat at home to Lyon, but Reid can take pleasure from the fact that Celtic are already there.

"This is the first time a Scottish team has made it into the final stages twice so it's credit to the manager and the squad," he said.

"I'm delighted above all for the supporters because, wherever I go in the world, I'm told by the directors and managers of other clubs how much they admire our supporters so it's great for them to get through."

As for the next round, he added: "We take every game as it comes. The key is to balance a sense of realism with a sense of optimism.

"We keep our feet on the ground but we can always keep our eyes on the stars as well.

"With all the limitations that we have with resources and everything else, we've managed to get into the final 16, which is the cream of European soccer."

Well said Dr John, and welcome to Celtic!

Yours in Celtic

Clydebuilt