Winning the league is hard, or at least it should be. Aberdeen are finding that out as they unnecessarily dropped points on Saturday. Celtic have had it easy for so long we’ve forgotten a few truths of competition.
Sitting 6 points clear, and (again) confident of winning the league, we can constructively appreciate the job Derek McInnes has done at Pittodrie. They are very likely to come up short this season, but the gap between them and Celtic is not the chasm it used to be.
For years we discussed that what Scottish football really needs is teams like Aberdeen and Dundee United comfortably outperforming Motherwell and Inverness. No disrespect intended for the latter two, but Aberdeen have hugely better resources, if we are to receive a genuine challenge, it will come from there.
I was also delighted to see the 15k attendance at Pittodrie on Saturday, reflecting the bounce that has occurred at Tynestle this season. Figures like that will help Aberdeen (and Hearts) solidify. Both can make a profit at that level.
Progress isn’t linear, so don’t be surprised if Aberdeen or Hearts don’t leap forward next season, but the chances of them being overhauled by a smaller club is slight. The future looks healthier than the past.
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SeS
I do but not from you :-)
HH
JJ hear hear
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 14m14 minutes ago
We’ll have more from Ronny Deila later on http://www.celticfc.net (MH
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 15m15 minutes ago
RD: “We have options but not afraid to give that chance to Leigh – he knows where the goal is.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 15m15 minutes ago
RD: “Depends who is on the pitch as well as Kris Commons has taken penalties before along with others.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 16m16 minutes ago
RD on if @Leighgriff09 is still on pens: “I like that strikers are taking penalties. If I ask him, think he would want to take them.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 17m17 minutes ago
RD: “Know it will be tough but we also know that when we are playing at our best we have a very good chance to get three points.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 18m18 minutes ago
RD: “We need to be very good defensively and if we do that we will get opportunities at the other end, so we have respect for them.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 19m19 minutes ago
RD on Dundee: “They are a good football team, especially offensively and have players who can cause problems for us.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 20m20 minutes ago
RD on injury news: “It looks good, just Simunovic out. A big and healthy squad.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 20m20 minutes ago
RD on Tom Rogic contract talks again: “Talks haven’t stopped at all, keeping on as normal.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 21m21 minutes ago
RD: “So we have a great opportunity here to make history and I know the players want that.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 22m22 minutes ago
RD: “Some of the players have the possibility here to win five times in a row, which hasn’t happened many times in Celtic’s history.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 23m23 minutes ago
RD: “Only thing we can do is to win games. This club is used to winning trophies and having pressure on it all the time.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 24m24 minutes ago
RD: We lost two points at the weekend, disappointed by that but good we are still in a good situation, looking forward to game on Wed.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 24m24 minutes ago
RD on Aberdeen dropping points as well: “In football, you just have to try and do your job.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 26m26 minutes ago
RD on Emilio Izaguirre transfer speculation: “He’s also a player we want to keep, a very good footballer.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 27m27 minutes ago
RD on Tom Rogic contact talks: “We are working to get that renewed. He’s in our plans for the future.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 28m28 minutes ago
RD: “I’m honest with the players. I talk with Dedyrck and that’s not a problem. Not an attack on him. I have and will defend players.” (MH)
28m28 minutes ago
RD: “It’s important to be honest. I will never say anything negative of a player personally, a decision on the pitch.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 29m29 minutes ago
RD: “We want our players to stay on their feet, run with them and make the other player to make bad decisions.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 29m29 minutes ago
RD: “When you play a high line and press a lot, there is a lot of space behind us and can get into situations of one v one.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 30m30 minutes ago
RD: “This isn’t about Dedryck, about everyone in the defence. Had some issues with red cards before.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 31m31 minutes ago
RD: “When you see that he makes his decision and hits the ball then, in my opinion, it’s not a red card.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 31m31 minutes ago
RD: “We have quick defenders and running with people is better than taking chances and putting the ref in that situation.” (MH)
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 32m32 minutes ago
RD: “A tough decision. Still saying in these situations that I want my defenders to stay on their feet.” (MH)Celltic Football Club @celticfc · 33m33 minutes ago
RD: “His foot is on the ball. We will therefore appeal it. Punished by going down to 10 men but hopefully we don’t get a suspension.”
Celtic Football Club @celticfc · 34m34 minutes ago
RD on Dedryck Boyata’s red card: “I have seen it many times. Having seen it from angles, think it’s the wrong decision.” (MH)
Mr Pastry,
Good post at 1.24. I really don’t know if Ronny could answer those questions but it would be refreshing to see him speak to someone like Paul67 and maybe clear the air.
I sincerely wish him all the best but have growing reservations regarding our coach, the board and Scottish soccer.
Next season will see the arrival of the Zombie on our doorstep and there can be no room for any uncertainty regarding our direction and beliefs when that happens.
There is likely to be a sustained attack by every sector of the establishment, when they arrive.
I only hope that our strategy is not to fill the empty seats at Celtic Park by those hoping to see us play Sevco on a level playing field.
There won’t be a level playing field. The events of recent years have confirmed that.
‘I’m reverting to a position that I previously held that this entire process has been so badly handled that I would not be surprised if counsel for the accused requested that all indictments were dismissed and the case collapsed.’
John James
SoT
I suppose, but at least he said it and it could and should have been carried through with, it wasn’t so we are where we are.
HH
weeminger on 29th February 2016 2:12 pm
Can get 95 points and will get 95 points are two completely different things. How confident are you we will win our 11 remaining league games?
In NL’s second full season we won the league for the first time in four years and we were on an upward curve. This continued into the next season when we beat Barca and reached the last 16 of the CL. Do you honestly think the current squad and management team will lead us through three CL qualifiers in the summer?
When Efe was red carded wrongly they didn’t appeal and dropped the big guy too
I dont think ronny is handling the pressure very well …. it’s a disgrace what he’s going through and I suppose it is too much to expect for the ceo to step up and tell the sfa to fek off and ban the lowlife media from our stadium .
Instead they leave a decent honest man to take blow after blow .
Oh for a jock stein .. a Fergus mccann .. or a Paul mc bride
Eddieinkirkmichael
Good to see Ronny address the points that many were slating him for.
He did not do a Wenger on Friday – he called it truthfully as he saw it – well done
He has subsequently reviewed it and recognises referee made a mistake, and himself – well done
He has obviously told his players to stay on their feet, don’t give MIBs reason – well done
He has backed players who miss penalty – well done
Addressed Rogic situation – well done.
Not addressed the inconsistent refereeing – didn’t expect him too – small disappointment
TBJ – you forget how Fergus was treated, many so called fans can’t see the big picture.
Or was he told of the reaction from supporters to his post match comments and been advised to back track??
FOURGREENFIELDS
Should be doing a lot more with off field matters, regardless, Ronny should be getting a lot more out of the squad he has.
“When Efe was red carded wrongly they didn’t appeal and dropped the big guy too”
Tbj,
Kinda,
Efe is out the picture now but he made the bench the game after his red and started the game following.
I think his omission in the last couple of weeks has been more to do with the performances of Erik and return to fitness of Charlie.
HH
GARY67 on 29TH FEBRUARY 2016 2:37 PM
Or was he told of the reaction from supporters to his post match comments and been advised to back track??
–
Suspect yes.
Gary67
I think we will do the double – again.
I have reservations about 3 CL qualifiers – the bar is higher than before. Scotland’s coefficient makes it tougher, we now need 3 qualifiers rather than 2. More opportunities to slip up.
Giving clarification on instructions like stay on feet is hardly backtracking!
Gary67 on 29th February 2016 2:24 pm
True. Current projections are closer to 90. I did. at the end say at least as good as. The fact remains in league terms we’re not worse and we’re certainly scoring more. The one thing that’s changed is improved performances from teams below us.
I’m not talking about what happened after, which nobody else predicted either. Even at the low point of that season, while the press were suggesting defeat to Killie could curtail his management, that wasn’t widespread among the fans.
The Barca game is interesting. A backs to the wall draw that turned into a win due to an individual error from Xavi then a brilliant finish from Watt. Which is all that’s great about the game of football but somehow the unexpected giant killing becomes a benchmark. It’s a little bit ridiculous. Was it a blip or was next seasons 3 points a more realistic summation of where we’re at as a European club?
As to whether I can see us qualifying for next season’s CL groups. Dependds on the draw but RD has a better European record than NL did at the same point, so I see no reason why not.
“Giving clarification on instructions like stay on feet is hardly backtracking!”
Craigleabhoy,
No. It’s tracking back :)
HH
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked on 29th February 2016 1:51 pm
I do believe that the MSSM plays a MASSIVE role in shaping Public Opinion. People regularly tell me that they can make their own minds up. That being so, perhaps they could enlighten me as how they by passed the influence of genes, environment, random events and ever changing psychological make up in order to make up their `own minds` ?
*This comment was made in the Saturday edition of the Toronto Star about the movie that last night won an Oscar:
“The film captures journalism’s core mission to investigate and expose wrongdoing by the powerful against the powerless”
And there lies the difference between the Boston Globe that in a city where 50% of its citizens claim to be of the Irish Catholic Diaspora that its willing to take on the might of the Catholic church.
Whereas, a rugby supporting rag and bone man uses the tentacles of the craft to ruin our most passionate pastime for his own gain and has literally walked away from it (pun intended) scot free.
Oh for the days of a James Sanderson and John McKenzie who were both barred from the bigot pit for voicing their concern over team selection and tactics.
Or an Ian Archer who called them out on their bigotry and actually had to qualify his statement by stating “I have to put 6 words at the end of this column, I am not a Roman Catholic.
A parcel of rogues right enough.
Jungle Jim Hot Smoked on 29th February 2016 1:51 pm
PS If Celtic sacked Ronny because of fan pressure, it would , perhaps, be the fatal action that finally convinces me that the attitude of our fans is not that far removed from the WATP mob.
* we are on a 5 year plan to not only reconstruct the club but revolutionize it, that and Scottish football.
Should Ronny leave we will IMHO NOT deviate from this programme.
This is not PLG, bader and naesurname who gave into ned power both on and off the park.
This is DD and the board who have given PL a mandate to save our game. And he will.
As for those malcontents out there their names are Ronny and Peter and not a bastardised version of the latter’s name either.
FFS someone this morning actually called naesurname by his full name and stated he widnae throw any of his players under a bus, naw he just threw a linesman.
LG shouldn’t be allowed to take any more penalties,he’s missed about 4 in last couple of seasons.
I personally think it’s better having three qualifiers than two, there is no way we should slip up in the first, a chance in the second, but having the first should see us in good enough stead for the second, the third is a different kettle of fish.
Weeminger,
Did we not beat Benfica at home and the Russians home and away as well as Barcelona? I think that was more of a benchmark. Incidentally, we could still have dipped out on 12 points that season if Benfica had beaten Barca’s 2nd eleven in the final game if my memory serves me right?
Cragleabhoy on 29th February 2016 2:43 pm
On Friday night he said it was a sending off, the referee was correct and Boyata should have stayed on his feet. Of course Boyata should have stayed on his feet, that was obvious, but he should have been backed by his manager, in public, whether it was a foul or not. The fact that it wasn’t makes his comments even worse. He looked at a replay of the incident before his post match comments. A good manager backs their players in public, slaughter them in private if they feel justified, but don’t back a referee who for the second time in successive games he’s officiated for us wrongly sends a player off. A referee deems it ok for an assault on one of our players that’s a red card in every other league in the world.
thetimreaper
Can’t argue with that mate .
Bada,
Aye I hope the auditions have started.
Ironically, I thought the one that was saved was a better struck penalty than the one that we scored from.
HH
CRAGLEABHOY on 29TH FEBRUARY 2016 2:41 PM
Not convinced on that point. The 2 we use to play were the more difficult of the fixtures. Harder when it was the old set up. Lesser team is usually a very easy fixture.
BOIRNESOUPRECIPE
THANKS VERY MUCH FORTHAT!!!!!!!!
I hadnever read the eulogy-for that is what it was-by HughMcIlvanney before,but I recognised his style before I had finished the first paragraph
Certain Scotsmen who describe themselves as journalists pale beside him,Archer,Rafferty and Sanderson.
I’ll mail you later a wee tale,but meantime I hope no-one objects to a repost of an obituary of a great man by another great man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BOURNESOUPRECIPE on 29TH FEBRUARY 2016 12:26 PM
How he wrote Jinky’s obituary
Solemnity was always handed its coat early in Jimmy Johnstone’s company and something as ordinary as death had no chance of altering that. What else but laughter could be the predominant sound when the wee man was buried in his native Lanarkshire on Friday? The shadow cast by the horrors of diminishment that punctuated his improbably long struggle against the implacable ravages of motor neurone disease, and by knowing he was only 61 when his resistance was finally exhausted, was a darkness bound to yield to a thousand memories of somebody driven — sometimes destructively, often hilariously — by an instinctive conviction that life was meant to be lively. His own recollections in latter years were shot through with much remorse for the suffering his alcoholic excesses had inflicted on his wife Agnes and their children, and with appreciation of the saintly tolerance he had been shown. But his family’s devotion to him never wavered, which was the strongest of all testaments to his essential lovability.
Jinky was a one-man archive of outrageous escapades and incredible-but-true anecdotes, most of them woven around the mixture of breathtakingly mischievous audacity and incorrigible naivete which, on his drinking expeditions, made trouble and himself mutually magnetic. The most celebrated tale records how he was set drifting alone in a rowing boat with oars but no rowlocks out towards the dawn horizon on the Firth of Clyde, while inebriated Scotland teammates on the Ayrshire shoreline belatedly ceased catcalling and began a panicky and nearly disastrous attempt at rescue as a blurred version of his tuneful singing voice seeped faintly across the water like that of a ghostly gondolier.
Other stories, however, accumulated in remarkable volume and variety. A favourite that surfaced last week deals with the time he turned up at a friend’s door close to midnight with three Harlem Globetrotters in tow (presumably if one of them had turned rowdy Jimmy could have butted him in the kneecap). And, of course, there was the running theme of a perennially fraught relationship with his incomparable Celtic manager, Jock Stein, which had all the volatility and theatrical intensity of the tempestuous love affair it undoubtedly was.
Stein’s innumerable abilities included an exceptional talent for frightening, cajoling or outsmarting difficult players into line. But Johnstone’s repertoire of waywardness was so outlandish and inexhaustible that Jock once assured me soberly that anybody assessing his achievements in football shouldn’t focus on the cabinet-load of trophies his management brought, though they included the European Cup captured in 1967 when Celtic defeated Internazionale of Milan in Lisbon to become Britain’s first continental champions and, miraculously, did so with an entire team of players born within a short drive of their stadium. No, Jock said, the outstanding feat of his career was keeping Jinky at the top of the game five years longer than might have been expected. It involved endless variations on the good-cop-bad-cop routine and, occasionally, a bit of both in the same ploy, as when an ostensibly innocent telephone call to a pub that was going like a fair would bring Johnstone cheerily to the receiver, only to find his ear being blasted by a rage with the explosive effect of an ejector seat.
All of which guarantees that Johnstone will not be remembered simply as a footballer of electrifying virtuosity, though he was certainly that, with a genius for surreally intricate dribbling so extraordinary it is impossible for me to believe any other player before or since quite matched his mastery of tormenting, hypnotic ball control at the closest of quarters.
As I have acknowledged in the past, other wingers might fairly be rated more reliably devastating (Garrincha, George Best, Tom Finney, Stanley Matthews are obvious candidates) but none of them besieged opponents with such a complex, concentrated swirl of deceptive manoeuvres or ever conveyed a more exhilarating sense of joy in working wonders with the ball.
That last characteristic gave an extra dimension to the impact of watching him play for Celtic and Scotland. It went beyond excitement or aesthetics or entertainment. When he was at his best, the performance was so extravagant and idiosyncratic, so full of wildly imaginative impertinences and a small (5ft 4in) man’s defiance of the odds that it touched us profoundly but lightly, as sport should. The natural reaction was not to gasp in awe, which would have been in order, but to smile or even to laugh out loud.
Since the majority of football followers are too young to have witnessed his prime, it must be regarded as a blessing that there exists enough video evidence to provide at least a powerful flavour of his spellbinding uniqueness. The screen can show sufficient examples of his capacity to mesmerise and ample proof of the productivity of a magic reinforced by fearlessness, spurting pace, athletic strength and acrobatic elasticity of movement, excellent striking of the ball and an alert eye for releasing a telling pass just when it appeared that the personal demoralisation of opponents was his sole concern.
To run the tapes is to ask sadly why his astonishing arsenal of gifts was so shamefully under-recognised at international level by the awarding of a mere 23 Scotland caps.
Hugh McIlvanney
I cant see where all this confidence is coming from.
So..RD will take us into the CL.
I have not seen anything that would back this assertion up.
Maybe some have had their blinkers on rather too tightly.
RE: See Legia, Malmo, Molde.
Talk about wishful thinking:)
But…what do i know, carry on.
HH
Oh so predictable Ronny’s opinion slaughtered by the support on Friday, then slaughtered again when he changes it on Monday.
NoWin CSC
TONTIME TIM
Spooky,mate!
antipodean red on 29th February 2016 2:53 pm
We did with Samaras’ lovely last minute goal in Moscow.
I’m not suggesting RD is above criticism. Some of it is justifiable. I’m talking about the relative difference vs someone who was not really doing any better at the time.
PS If Celtic sacked Ronny because of fan pressure, it would , perhaps, be the fatal action that finally convinces me that the attitude of our fans is not that far removed from the WATP mob. – See more at: http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/aberdeen-progress-and-truths-of-competition/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+co%2FIRuC+%28Celtic+Quick+News%29#sthash.9aoIiwpM.dpuf
Way too late for that JJ GS got the same treatment.
BMCUW
Indeed to think what passes as journalism in Scotland.
Er…As far as i know…Celtic fans celebrate the Barca win, because of the spirit and fight shown by the team that night.
I cant remember at any point thinking to myself…’You know, Celtic could win the CL’.
Spirit and Fight….which the current team sadly lack….big time.
Id suggest, that if we are currently struggling to beat the likes of Aberdeen and Hamilton, it will take a mega transformation of epic proportions to reach the CL next season.
I cant see it myself….As much as i want Celtic to be there, i dont think the so-called custodians see things the same way.
Their God is money and the Old Firm.
HH
FourGreenFields on 29th February 2016 1:13 pm
Unfortunately Paul it’s more competitive due to Celtic dropping down a few levels more than Aberdeen getting better IMO
———–
Over the last five seasons we have accumulated 93, 79, 99, 92 and 87 (this season projected) points.
Aberdeen have had 41, 48, 68, 75 and 79 (projected).
So apart from one that’s a bit low (12-13) and one a bit high (13-14) we have been consistently around the 90 point mark.
Aberdeen on the other hand have increased every season and will have around twice as many points as 11-12.
But maybe they aren’t getting any better…..
Weeminger
I’m sure RD’s Euro stats are probably a bit better than NL’s but he has the advantage of 4 games v Icelandic opposition. I’m of the opinion that barring a really lucky draw we won’t qualify for CL. We have went from last 16 of CL to a really poor EL team in three years. Yes, 12/13 was us punching above our weight, the following season is probably more realistic of where we should have expected to be then, but now I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t qualify for EL group stages. Molde showed us up for what we are.
The defence is a shambles and will be picked off yet again because we do not learn from our mistakes and keep trying to play in a style that the players we have aren’t good enough to pull off. We are a poor team, we have some decent individuals, but the sum of the parts is way below what it should be.
CQN Fan Pressure
Weeminger,
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, possibly one of the big differences and it is a massive difference, is that we had those six CL games at that time and we were genuinely competing against either decent or very good teams in the group stages and even in our short forays into the last 16. Now we don’t look capable of competing with EL teams that are fairly average.