RONNY WANTS EURO ROAR
CELTIC’s double winning manager Ronny Deila today stated that his Celtic side are now ready to take on the best sides in European football in next season’s Champions League, even without new summer signings.
He said: ‘I think we are still in a good position, even if we don’t add anyone else before the qualifiers. I’m not worried.
‘I know that the players who are here already are the ones who are going to do the main job.
‘We were in a totally different place last year with a lot of uncertainties.
‘They felt unsafe with what I wanted to put into the team. The transition was so hard.
‘We struggled with that. A lot of managers have come into Celtic and other places before me and also struggled with that.
‘Now we have a foundation to work on. You can see that everyone on the pitch knows their tasks and have a good togetherness.
‘We know what is ahead of us and it motivates us.’
Ronny certainly seemed to enjoy the occasion and plans to stick around for many more Championship winning days in Paradise. He was also delighted by the performance from his Champions against Inverness, a side that seems to employ the “anyone can save” tactic used in 5 a sides when one side is a man short.
Reflecting on this afternoon Ronny said: ‘It was a very good experience, a fantastic day. I was very happy with the performance.
‘We didn’t have anything to play for except our honour and I think the players did that in a brilliant way.
‘The atmosphere was great, there were so many people in the stadium.
‘We got the trophy and it was great to see so many people excited about it.
‘We have also set a record for the number of goals conceded in the league this season.
‘That’s a great achievement, so I’m happy for Craig Gordon and the defence.’
With John Guidetti heading for the pastures new Deila finally got around to giving Stefan Scepovic a start and the striker who signed last year for a reported fee of £2.3million from Sporting Gijon rewarded the manager with a double.
‘We know he can score goals but I think he worked really, really hard today and showed that he is capable of doing what we ask him to do.
‘Everyone will get a chance next season. He is in our squad, so he is one of them.
‘I have no plans to speak to his agent. I will speak to the player, not the agent – it’s much better.
‘Of course he wants to stay here. He wants to succeed here. But everyone wants to play football, that’s the hardest part for me to manage.
‘We need competition and we need a squad who can stay over 70 games or so a season.’
Deila was pleased with his way his side applied themselves to their final fixture.
He said: “It was a very good experience, a fantastic day. I was very happy with the performance.
‘We didn’t have anything to play for except our honour and I think the players did that in a brilliant way.
‘The atmosphere was great, there were so many people in the stadium.
‘We got the trophy and it was great to see so many people excited about it.
‘We have also set a record for the number of goals conceded in the league this season.
‘That’s a great achievement, so I’m happy for Craig Gordon and the defence.’
Inverness manager John Hughes, who rested key players ahead of next weekend’s Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk, was gracious in defeat saying:
‘Celtic were very good today. They deserve to be champions, they are the best team in Scotland.
‘You could bring your best team to Celtic and get done for five.
‘But we need to get it out the way and get ready to go for next week.
‘It was disappointing to lose five goals nevertheless.’