I’m hoping suggestions Stefan Scepovic and Kris Commons are struggling for fitness for Thursday is a classic attempt at European football disinformation.
Back in July I wrote about Commons “dependence on one creative talent feels like an unnecessary vulnerability”. We remain (unnecessarily) dependent on our only creative talent, as subsequent games without him have established. If he’s not in the starting line-up, we’ll need a radical change of system.
Bringing a second creative talent to the club should be a priority. On this subject, I hear Bosnian fulcrum, Semir Stilic, who we were reportedly interested in a few years ago, before he detoured for a indifferent spell in Turkey, is now back in Poland with Wisla Krakow and eclipsing his earlier form for Lech Poznan. We could do worse.
Shocked and stunned at the news Rangers International’s nomad, Daniel Stewart Securities PLC, have had trading in their shares suspended by the Stock Exchange as they were unable to file their accounts to year-end 31 March 2014 on time. The Ibrox club’s board will be incredulous that the diligence they carried out to ensure they were dealing with an advisor of standing overlooked some fundamentals.
Four days out from the Great Scottish Run, which I’m doing for the Foundation’s work for Health, Equality, Learning and Poverty. This is our Foundation, established and run by Celtic fans for 19 years. It’s an important part of the story of where our club came from and what’s important to our mission. Any donations here, from £1 up, are welcome.
Thanks to everyone who has helped.
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philvisreturns
At least he’s persistent and inventive in thinking up so many monickers – but not too bright in his delivery.
My team for tonight (so no chance of it happening) would be, in a 433 formation,
Gordon
Fisher Denayer VVD Izzy
Brown Biton Johansen
Commons Scepovic Wakaso
Bench Tonev McGregor Griffiths Henderson Ambrose Zaluska Berget
Rony is only being realistic if it doesnt work out he will return to Norway I dont have a problem with that and I dont think it is meant as a dig at the players it is just the situation he finds himself in.Celtic have to win some trophy every season and if it doesnt happen there will be consequencies and Rony understands that.However,I think the supporters should get behind him 100% and Lennie who no longer has anything to do with Celtic should keep stume.H.H.
I welcomed Ronny’s fight back against ill-founded criticism in today’s articles. For me, Tony Mowbray’s greatest fault was in “taking it on the chin” until he ended up punch drunk and defeated. Good managers are restless improvers; they always believe there is another ounce of improvement to be squeezed out. Even when they’re wrong, they are right. While it is obvious that continuous improvement is one of the most stupid modern guru management buzz phrases that nobody ever encapsulates, you still have to believe and persuade that the next match will see a better performance, otherwise complacency sets in.
Ronny Deila has not criticised directly his players or previous managers by name. He has been respectful. The key quote in his fightback statement was :-
“There are many roads to Rome, but I have to believe in my way,”
That is a very good way to express it. Neil Lennon was a good manager too. He took a more relaxed view of off-field behaviour because he knew that you could make a very good career out of a good work: leisure balance as a footballer. If you trained hard and met the standards set by the training team, he saw nothing wrong in letting the boys blow off some steam during the week. He was not alone in thinking that as many other successful and revered managers preached the same philosophy.
We have been hearing complaints about continental managers and their bizarre demands on cutting booze, chips and alcohol for over 25 years now. Jo Venglos got hounded from Villa in 1990 with that being cited as a failure. Arsene Wenger got the same reaction from Ian Wright in 1996. We are kidding ourselves if we think that footballers have cut back drastically on all these things but there will have been a gradual change.
I don’t believe the diet gap is such a wide one. As an example, I saw the fit and lean (but fairly useless) Derk Boerigter munching on a Scotch Pie in the Players Lounge last season while he was injured watching a match. Derk did not bring any ingrained Ajax phobias about processes savouries with him to Glasgow. He was not corrupted into becoming a secret pie eater on arrival.
These players are young enough and fit enough to cope with alcohol intake at a moderate level and some high class performers can even smoke (Henrik??). It is not great for their future physical health but it may be good for their current mental health. The balance can easily be detected by standard fitness tests and weight monitoring which all clubs will carry out assiduously. None of our players are failing their set tests. Ronny is talking about raising the bar on fitness, not about our players being unfit for purpose. He is reminding them that there is an elite level at Champions League where body fat measurements are even stricter, where distance run in given time is a couple of seconds faster than our minimal levels for match fitness, but he will also let them know that Ronaldo, Messi, Ibrahimovic etc; do not live like monks on water and lettuce.
We can get distracted too easily on the small matter of diet.
The real test is on the pitch. If Stefan Johansen outperforms Leigh Griffiths in the final 15 minutes of a football match that has to be weighed against the fact that Leigh might be more productive in those 75 minutes than Stefan is in 90. So, which way do you react?
Neil Lennon was happier to say, I can use my subs to relieve a good player who has got too knackered to be effective.
Ronny Deila says I can benefit Celtic and Leigh Griffiths to become a better player so that this is no longer an issue.
As he said:- “There are many roads to Rome, but I have to believe in my way,”
new article posted.
theoriginalsadiesbhoy – he reminds me of Val Kilmer in the film version of “The Saint”: he dons a number of cunning disguises, each one making him look more Val Kilmery than the last.
New article posted. (thumbsup)
Wont make CQN corner tonight as thanks to 1st bus inconsideration in putting the No2 bus off at 7pm its a supporters bus for me tonight .
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy
I think they have the right thinking but a couple of things rankle with me in their methods.
If there were players not toeing the line make an example of them.
Punt the player in question in the window and send out a message to the rest. This will not be tolerated. It’s my way or you are out. I read an article that most managers in their new job will punt the first experienced player who disagrees with them to let the rest know he is in charge.
I felt Moyes got that wrong at Man Utd. Whether it was his choice or not Rooney should have been punted. That would have laid down a marker to the rest that he was in charge and took no nonsense. He looked weak after that and never got to grips with the role.
The Watt situation was a strange one. Neil Lennon himself said he wasn;t fit and the attitude wasn;t right so it wasn;t that embarrassing. It was pretty clever business to get him out and try him elsewhere. It was also good business getting the fee we did for him.
As for Hibs. They are doomed to failure I am afraid. Their fans embrace failure. They don;t even realise it. Stubbs will be away at the first job down South if he gets some success at Hibs and they will appoint another poor gaffer.
LB
Just read Ronny`s comments. I am more convinced than ever that RD = Real Deal.
None of your `taking it on the chin` defeatism from this guy. If fan pressure leads to an early departure, I will be very disappointed.
Apparently , we are supposed to be bored because Sevco are not in our League ( in many ways). Personally, I am really looking forward to the game tonight and again on Sunday.
I accept that scintillating football will take a lot longer to achieve than some are willing to wait but I am enjoying the journey. I also accept that some think we are downright awful to watch right now. I hope they can accept that I don`t see it that way.
JJ
Ronny should sit the players down and make them watch a re-run of the Man City v Roma game the other night, and tell them to pay particular attention to the way the Italian team played.
Crisp passing, pace, running into space, keeping their shape, pressing the opposition…
Maybe he should pay a visit and have a word with their coach Rudi Garcia. He’s French btw.
HH!!
BGX
The issue of the quality of the football is not being argued.
The only debate there is whether we ARE poor just now or whether we are not as poor as we think we are.
The losses to Legia, Maribor, ICT and draws with Dundee and Motherwell are irrefutable evidence that we are not in a good place yet.
The only question is whether he can turn it round, like WGS did after Artmedia and NFL did a couple of times, but, especially, after Kilmarnock.
Ronny Deila is an interesting man. Because talks a good game, what most of us recognise as common sense, we are keen to see him improve and succeed. It is also what leads to him being called a Consultant or Guru (both used in a pejorative sense here) to denote someone who has learned his stuff from textbooks or at diddy clubs. I think that is a mistake. I suspect the guy has more substance than that. Outdated attitudes about fitness will have been present in players at Stromgodset just as they were at Celtic. Ronny is letting players know that he has shown the strength of character to resist knee-jerk calls from the fans for the restoration of their favoured unfit player if said player has shown insufficient signs of getting on board with the programme. And, yes, he would even use a hard working promising reserve like Callum McGregor than a lazier first team player, no matter their transfer cost or high wages.
He will stand or fall by his own methods as he strongly believes them to be right. That is a contrast to the passive stoicism of Tony Mowbray from November onwards where he would not even rail against blatant refereeing decisions being visited upon him.
Ronny has not got the football department, the important one, going just yet. But we have just entered October. That infamous 3:3 game with Killie was in mid-October. We should be prepared to give him, at least, November to see if this is being turned round. Getting results that see us in the top 2 positions in our Europa Group, getting through to the semis of the LC, and getting back to the top of the league should all be achievable as targets by then.