Over in Bad Leonfelden, Austria, ( Lawwell baulked at the cost of staying in Good Leonfelden, and positively fell apart at the price quoted for Excellent  Leonfelden ) it looks like everything is coming along nicely with the pre season training, which, if you saw the videos in yesterdays diary consists largely of John Collins running around shouting at the players, and Ronny Deila standing at the side deep in thought.

Which is fair enough.

Deila is happy, and things are apparently turning out to be better than he expected;

“We have a very good squad and as I’ve said before, there is a lot of consistency in the team and that’s good because they know each other well. That is good for me and the whole staff.

“I see a lot of very good football players, but there are some differences between how they play before and how we want them to play and that takes a little bit of time but we have made a good start.

“We would ideally have more time before the UEFA Champions League qualifiers but the boys are working hard every day so credit to them, some things are going a little bit slower than other things but I think we have come very far in a short space of time.

“It has lived up to my expectations, but everything is the same when you get on the pitch and work with the staff. I’m used to that. The difference is when you go among people and you understand that it is an enormous club, with a lot of passion and that is what is new for me.” 

The first game, against Krasnodar, on Thursday starts at five thirty, and interest is already high in the game. How will the players adapt to a new system ? How quickly can the team get up to speed ? Will John collins play left midfield ?

 Celtic TV have, as yet, not decided to do the friendlies on a match to match basis, but theres still time. Otherwise, you’ll need to subscribe. Surely they have worked out that doing them on a single match basis will hook viewers, and increase the season long subscription ?

 Deila played down the importance of the game;

“At this time the result or the opposition doesn’t really matter. It is all about how we perform.

“I’ve been talking to almost every player now so I’m starting to know them a little bit as people as well as players but they have a little bit to do physically after vacation, but also at the same time they need a little break after playing for so many months and we are going to play a lot of games until May.

“I think it’s very important that the players reflect on how they are doing. One of my big issues in coaching is that players have to take responsibility for themselves, to develop and be curious and want to learn.

“I will the try and get a culture in which they are able to see pictures after games, have good comments after games and that means both on and off the pitch. I think they know what’s expected now both on and off the pitch but it takes time to adapt.

“I am an emotional person and I have a picture in my head of what I want and although it’s never going to be perfect, the closer we get to it the better the team are going to play. I have to be patient, try and take a little bit at a time but I think we’re getting there.” 

Dare I say it, but its all very exciting, and certainly has me looking forward to the new term.

The best way to secure a seat is with a season book! ( Will this do, Peter ? Cheques fine )

Celtic , of course, continue their drive for season book sales, and perhaps its unfair to joke about it. But our CSC intends to hit the highway a lot more this season, simply because it looks like being fun. And theres nothing better than your own seat.

The good news is, that despite the speculation, there have been no offers for any of the players yet, with just a couple of months of the transfer window left. Deila is not fazed by any talk of losing his players, and confirmed no-one has put an offer on the table, or anywhere else for that matter.

“I have always been used to this kind of situation because at Stromsgodset I lost half a team every year, it’s a positive. If no one wants your players then you are doing something wrong.

“There are always going to be rumours, but that is all they are at the moment. When someone faxes Celtic with an offer then it is real and we will have to make a decision but there is nothing concrete right now and I am positive about the rest of the window as well.

“Peter (Lawwell) doesn’t call me to tell me it’s a rumour. He will call me when there is something true and so far I’ve heard nothing.

“I am hoping that remains the case. I want to keep these players but I know there is always the possibility the club can get good money, which can be reinvested. That’s a good way to work.” 

 Apart from what is possibly over optimism about Lawwell calling him when they get an offer, maybe Deila thinks he’ll be wanting an opinion, it seems like the Norwegian is very much a man with his own mind. The mind to get on with his job and work with the players, and to get the best out of them.

And he knows how to say the right things….

I mean , look. Our players are fitted with wheels.

The article, in the Record,  concerns fears that Fraser Forster might be the subject of an £8m bid from Atletico Madrid, and although he didn’t exactly quash any fears that we may have of Forsters exit, he made us all feel a little better by telling us how bloody marvellous we are, which was nice.

 “I saw Fraser in the Champions League matches and he was unbelievably good.

“He didn’t play in the World Cup but I can see why he is a prospect for big clubs in Europe.

“But Celtic are a bigger club than Atletico Madrid. The difference is the money.

“That’s why we lose players because we need to balance the club financially.

“Every player here knows they are at a huge club and it has to be something very good to make them leave.

“It’s frustrating but that’s how it is. I can’t do anything about it but I am proud of the way Celtic are, there are not many teams in Europe that can compete with the fans here.”

Another player has committed his immediate future to the club. Nigerian defender Efe Ambrose told African Football.com that he was happy in Glasgow and wasn’t planning on leaving;

“I have two years left on my contract with Celtic. I am presently very happy at the club and enjoying my football. And so I will see through my contract,”  

It also looks as though Craig Gordon will be joining this week. Deila seems happy enough with what he’s seen, and said;

“We are getting closer with Craig Gordon, it is down to the small details. We can make this happen but it’s not confirmed yet.

“We need to have alternatives. You always make contingency plans.

“If you are going to bring in older players then they need to have the right mentality and Craig has that.” 

 I don’t think its his mentality that worries supporters as much as the possibility he’ll break down injured again. Gordon is a very good keeper, or was, and it just seems way too much of a risk to bring him in as a direct replacement for Forster, especially with the talk of Zaluska being allowed to leave.

 As for bringing players in, Deila wants a couple of wingers, preferably a couple made of bone and muscle instead of glass and putty.

“We are looking now,” he told STV, “We think we need especially in the wide positions we need more players.

“We have Derk [Boerrigter] and James [Forrest] who have had a lot of injuries.

“Then we have a lot of midfielders. So maybe in the wide positions is the important place to look at.” 

 Injuries ? Or are they the sort of injuries and problems referred to by the Secret Footballer, mentioned in earlier diaries. Absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is the case, but he seems to have made his mind up very quickly.

 Elsewhere, the troubles at Ibrox are getting worse. an experts vehicle was spotted outside the gates, as a desperate owner sought assistance ahead of the new season …

 What was his conclusion ?

 But while they have Matthew Lindsay banging the drum for them,  theres always hope.

 The Evening Times allow him to sing the Sash, sorry the praises of the new club on a regular basis. Yesterday was no exception;

The light of Don can illuminate pathway

for Gers in Championship

ALLY McCoist will be getting four players in one for Rangers if he succeeds in signing Don Cowie this week.

 Don Cowie played against some top Barclays Premier League sides for Cardiff 

That was the verdict of former Cardiff City coach Joe McBride Jnr today as the Gers closed in on their latest target.

As was revealed in SportTimes last month, McCoist is keen to land 10-times capped Scotland midfielder Cowie.

The 31-year-old is a free agent after his contract with the Bluebirds expired at the end of the season.

City have offered the player a new deal and he is also interesting their Sky Bet Championship rivals Blackburn Rovers.

However, the chance to return to his homeland and join the Ibrox club is believed to be interesting Inverness-born Cowie.

And McCoist is keen to have the player in his squad when they head to the Highlands for their pre-season tour later on this week.

McBride worked with him at Watford and Cardiff, where he was first-team coach under Malky Mackay, and rated him very highly.

The former Everton winger believes it would be a shrewd acquisition by the SPFL League One champions – due to his astonishing fitness levels and versatility.

McBride said: “Don is probably the fittest guy that I have ever seen in the game. He is an immaculate professional.

“He trains hard every day and lifts the whole session with his enthusiasm. He does everything at full tilt in training and in games. He is just a consummate professional.

“Age is not an issue with Don Cowie. He has the lowest body fat of any player I have ever seen and he was always first in all of the bleep tests.”

Cowie is primarily a central midfielder – but McBride revealed he can perform effectively in a variety of different positions across the park.

He added: “As well as being fit, Don can also play a bit as well. He is a very neat and tidy player. He has got a nice first touch. He gives and he goes.

“Don can play in central midfield and he can also do a job for the team in wider areas. He can play at the front of a diamond.

“He even played at right-back for us on a few occasions.

“If you ask him, I think he would prefer to be in the centre. He can really get about the park there and hunt the ball down.

“You don’t play at the level he has against the opposition he has without being able to play a bit and he can certainly handle himself.”

Rangers boss McCoist has drafted in Kris Boyd, Kenny Miller and Darren McGregor in the close season to help with the push for the Championship title.

And McBride, the son of the legendary Celtic striker of the same name, believes Cowie’s experience would help their promotion bid greatly.

He said: “Don would bring Barclays Premier League experience with him if he signed for Rangers.

“He played in the Premier League for a season with Cardiff. Sure, he was not involved in every game, but he played in some of the bigger matches.

“He came on in the win over Manchester City on the opening day of the season and also played in the draw with Manchester United.

“I know there are a lot of clubs down in England interested in him and I know he has enjoyed his time down south.

“But he has got a young family so maybe he is keen to get back to Scotland.

“On top of everything, Don is a top, top guy. I think he would be a great signing if Rangers were to get him.”

Thats a hell of a write up for Cowie. One might even accuse Lindsay of overdoing it a bit. Effectively , all he has done is ask someone if he’s any good, and would he be a good signing for Second Rangers.

I told you they had moved on to the letter “C” in the cheeky chappies phone book.

Wee bit of trivia, Cowie ‘s wife is the twin sister of Suzanne Grant, who plays for Celtic Ladies. Just in case anyone asks you.

Except, like everything else that idiot writes, its all a complete waste of time, as Wales Today tells us;

Cowie is currently out of contract and technically available on a free but has been offered a new two-year deal, which he is now ready to sign. 

 Thats that then. Tomorrow, Lindsay reveals that Mccoist is in talks with a World Cup star, two current internationals and the most promising young winger in Brazil.

When actually, its going to be “D” -and Diouf. Well, probably. Thats because Ally Dawson is 56, and might be just be slightly too old for a glorious return to the club.

 Finally, the World cup has now reached the quarter final stage. The USA bowed out last night when surprisingly they didn’t get a last minute penalty, converted by the striker who had is leg broken in the preceding foul, before his son and estranged wife ran onto the pitch in tears at the end, having found the assassin in the crowd who had threatened to blow up the stadium.

 Someone obviously hadn’t read the script. Though no doubt its already being drafted.

 Speaking of the US, I liked the reply to yesterdays diary-see, we do read them-about the team in Raleigh , NC, playing in a set of donated hoops that made the final. If Run sammy Run wants to find out more about them, and send us a wee article, we’d like to have a look at it.

 Its the sort of thing that sets us apart from other clubs.

 Tommy Docherty was the player who tried to re-write history with his comment in his biography about Celtic relaxing the rules on signing protestants under Jock Stein. Celtic, of course, never had any policy of this kind that needed relaxing.

 Still, it makes the rest of the book exciting, especially when he talks about the games he was involved in. You never know how they might turn out. I especially liked the bit about his three European cup wins as manager of Doncaster.

 If we did have a sectarian signing policy prior to Stein, its unlikely this fellow would have been captain. who is he, and who called him ” the Irish coffee ” while he was the cream ?