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Celtic Diary Wednesday July 30: Legia v Celtic -Away Win ? I Should Say So.

Celtic can take a big step towards Champions League qualification tonight (okay, thats lazy -its what the lass on SSN just said before the adverts came on. )

But they can. Legia Warsaw have a terrible record of late in European matches ( see previous diaries ), especially at home. One of their players pointed out last week that their 5-0 over St. Pats was because the Irish side gave them room to play, something which Deilas side will not allow. Whilst management and media proclaim that this is a tough game, it shouldn’t be really.

After a wee bout of some sort of Bird Flu or at the very least Ebola , the daily round up of news, views, piss poor jokes and bad taste pictures returns.

Well, I thought I was dying, but the doctor gave me two paracetomol and played down this new strain of superflu with those comforting words along the lines of “don’t talk shite. ” Except he didn’t use those exact words, but thats what he meant.

I’ll teach him.

gravestone

Anyway, looking forward to tonight, after I spent a bit of time  catching up, Ronny Deila gave us his thoughts on this seasons European campaign;

“You have to be nervous or you are not human. You get tense. But it is different to be nervous than afraid. I’m not afraid.

“I have plans and dreams with the team. I know this season can be fantastic if we beat Legia and go on to reach the Champions League.

“I really want to get there and this is my first opportunity.

“My reputation and the way I work will come into it more over time. But the goal is to get a flying start and go straight in.

“My goals are to play Champions League every year, to win everything in Scotland, to develop a culture at all levels and to play nice football the fans like. We will see in a season or two if I reach those goals. 

Has anyone mentioned to him that he won’t have a season or two ?

“I can feel comfortable with the start we have made. I can look myself in the mirror and say I’ve done everything I can to get the team prepared for this tie. We will now see how good it is.” 

 “My dream is to play a really big European team and control the game. I want to have more passes than them and just blow the opposition away. 

Has anyone mentioned to him the idea is to score more goals than the other team ?

“It is about moments. Trophies are important but I don’t remember the trophies I won in Norway. 

Tony Watt could tell him all about moments… Oh, maybe he can’t. Deila sold him to Standard Liege , claiming he had a problem with his commitment and his professionalism, and, interestingly, that “we ” had been watching him for a while. A month ?

“I remember moments – driving to the stadium, seeing the people happy. Playing fantastic football to win and the young kids are smiling. I get goosebumps from that.

“When I came to watch Celtic play Barcelona at home last season it was unbelievable. Think what it would be like if Celtic could also control the game. That would be awesome, fantastic.”  

I can understand the sentiment, and it would be great to have this invincible , dominant side but realistically, it isn’t going to happen. Not without a complete restructure of every aspect of the club. Which would involve bringing youngsters through, teaching them ” all the right habits ” , and so on.

Anyone else hear Tony Mowbray when Deila speaks ?

Frankly, just concentrate on the game in front of you and leave the dreaming to the supporters.

Having said all that though, Celtic should win tonight. There should be too much in the tank , as journalists say when they can’t be bothered pointing out the superior players, tactics , effort and experience.

As I said earlier, I’ve had a couple of days away from the news, and have had a wee look at whats been going on. Tony Watt, as I’ve already said, is away to Standard Liege, and Ronny Deila made it perfectly clear why he’s gone;

“You have no chance to achieve your dreams if you don’t work and sacrifice everything,” said Deila. “No player does. It is about commitment.

“If you want to be a Celtic player, then you have to commit and you have to make that sacrifice. You have to live like a top athlete 24 hours a day, seven days a week and then you can reach the top. 

Footballers aren’t stupid. Well, not all of them. For instance, they know when they haven’t played well, they know when they haven’t put the effort in. And they know when they aren’t preparing or training properly. If he is talking to the players like they are all kids, then the experienced lads will cease to respect him. He’s a football manager, not a schoolteacher.

“Tony hasn’t progressed as we wanted so far and I think that’s because he hasn’t been getting into the right culture, realising the consequences and changing his mentality.

“I think now it’s good for him to start all over and to be the professional he needs to be to get to the highest level that he can. 

So, this coach , with the reputation of being able to develop players, has given up on Tony Watt after just a month ? It doesn’t say a lot for his patience. However, the flip side is that Watt has now had three managers say the same thing about him, so there must be something in what he says.

“It is no co-incidence that Celtic’s three players at the World Cup finals were Fraser Forster, Emilio Izaguirre and Efe Ambrose. They are top professionals. They stay after training, they go to bed at 10pm, they do everything perfect. The culture they have is the one we want to give the young Scottish players.” 

 You could also argue that these players were at the World Cup because their countries qualified, or is it a dig at Virgil van Dijk, who has attracted a few headlines for the wrong reasons ?

 So, with Watt away, Celtic moved into the transfer market and swooped ( Thats what teams do , isn’t it ? Swoop ? ) for Jo Inge Bergott, from Cardiff City. Well, sort of from Cardiff City. He can’t get a game for him. Deila knows him of old, and must be confident he can do a job. Not confident enough to sign him permanently, its only a loan.

 Theres that Tony Mowbray spectre again…..

 Now , theres every chance that Bergott will turn out to be a superstar, but please don’t compare him to those previous “unknowns ” we signed Henrik Larsson and Lubomir Moravcik. Larsson had already played in  the latter stages of a World cup, and Moravcik had made 76 appearances for Czechoslovakia.

 But if Deila knows him, and rates him, why not just buy him ?

 Theres also a new coach arrived, Haaken Lunov. He did three years with Deila in Norway, and replaces Garry Parker, who went at the end of last season; Deila said;

“Haakon has extreme expertise in analysis.

“He’s ambitious and very concerned with development. We have been looking for someone like him and we now have a great resource.”

Lunov is confident his unique skill set will transfer well to Celtic said: “There’s a need for graduates in football.

“In most big clubs in Europe, there’s a mix of coaches with a playing and academic background.”

It looks like the foundations are being put in place for a huge transformation of the way things are to be done at Celtic, with the emphasis on youth development. Thats, in itself, a great idea. Theres nothing better than seeing one of your own come through, nothing better than a player staying with the club because its what he wants to do.

 If thats the plan, then thats fine. As long as we can see its going somewhere. My biggest fear is that Deila has been brought in to develop players so we can continue to sell them on swiftly at a profit.

 Which brings me to the stories about those who want to leave. Which seems to be pretty much everyone. Deila said he didn’t want to rock the boat, and would introduce any changes gradually. If he has looked at how things are, and decided it needs urgently changing, then thats fair enough. There might be a clue in his statement about footballers going to bed at ten pm, not literally, but metaphorically.

You just have to hope he knows what he’s doing.

 So far, Virgil van Dijk , Fraser Forster, Lukasz Zaluska and Efe Ambrose have been linked with moves away. That was not unexpected. Southampton, heavily in debt , have had to sell their family jewels to pay the bills, and consequently, are looking to replace them by shopping north of the border where its a bit cheaper. Some reports say that their targets, van Dijk and Forster, won’t be landed until Celtic have made it to the group stages of the Champions League. Others reckon they are already on the train south.

 Zaluska, having patiently played a role as back up to Fraser Forster, has let fly with an astonishing outburst which shows either he’s just in a bit of a mood, or there is serious unrest in the dressing room;

“We have a new coach, Ronny Deila, and he has introduced new tactics, but we’ve not yet been involved in a serious match to test them. We beat a team from Iceland without any hassle, so we will get our first real test this week.

“In our team, Samaras left because the club didn’t offer him a new contract. For 
the first time since I’ve been at Celtic in almost five years, the club has not bought one player this summer.

“Every year something has happened, but now there is silence. We have played two years in a row in the Champions League group stages and we have 40,000 season ticket holders, so any rumour about the poor 
financial condition of the club is probably exaggerated. And without Rangers, the league is not what it once was.”

The latter presumably added by an exuberant hack who figured he might as well fling in the question anyway.

 Then theres Kris Commons. Last seasons top scorer looks as though he might go the way of last seasons top scorer, with Leicester reviving their interest. Commons ordinarily wouldn’t look twice at this move, but there are whispers that he wants a three year deal, and £20k or more a week.

 That would take him to the age of 34, with little or no re-sale value. Thats assuming he runs down his contract.  Apparently its why Celtic are reluctant to deal him in. Which may explain the dealys. Commons has wanted this new deal for months.

 On the one hand, Deila might well have a system he can teach players, and from the evidence of the second game against Reykjavik, it might just work.

 On the other, theres a real fear that he is changing too much too quickly, perhaps he has to, and maybe Tony Watt was just the first to go.

 Or, could he be the scapegoat, his sale speedily engineered to give everyone else a signal as to who is in charge now ?

 Whoever that might turn out to be ?

 I’m confident about tonights game. If Celtic play the way they did against Reykjavik, then I expect a win. Quite a convincing one, as well. The system, which is not unlike the way Chile played in the World Cup, is very difficult to play against. The players seemed to know their jobs last week, and theres no reason to think that Legia will be able to deal with it.

If Celtic want to win, they will.

 But if alls not well in the camp, theres a long , hard season ahead.

 And I’m going to have to get some more paracetomol and go back to bed.

 

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Bhoris
9 years ago

Am sure your gonnae get pelters again for your doom and gloom but am thinkin the same as you mate. Call me pessimistic but am not gettin good vibes from the new set up

Mike Annis
9 years ago

What happened to the humour. You’re getting more pessimistic by the post. Hope you don’t have any sharp objects to hand.

cha188
9 years ago

Well I suppose if you are not in bed by ten pm you might as well go home!

Tony Paterson
9 years ago

Get well soon Ralph. and cheer the bloody hell up!

If I didn’t know any better I’d think you don’t trust/like our new manager…

Hail Hail!

Devo
9 years ago

Really negative view of the new manager.
Magic, just what we need before tonight

greenmeastro
9 years ago

So was that Neil Lennon in the fancy dress costume at the bash in Newcastle where that photographer’s disposable camera was er. disposed of?

So where is the:
– the daily round up of news?
– views?
– piss poor jokes? and
– bad taste pictures returns?

Ralph, I think you’re suffering from PMS.

9 years ago

“If Celtic play the way they did against Reykavik then Celtic will win”……are ye kidding…..Reykavik were so far beneath champions league standard it was unbeleivable…..a good junior team could have beat them…..i hope we aint judging ourselves against anyone we’ve played yet……i’ll judge Deila after ten games into the SPFL campaign……and i fear the worst already…….its naive football we’re susceptable to a speedy counter attack…..and playing Leigh out wide is a sacrifice of about 30 goals a season…..and why Boerrigter wisnae out the door before mr watt is baffling…..a dutch guy who is way to much Van Vossen and no enough Van Nistelrooy.

GaryBhoy
9 years ago

By fuck, you’re a right cheery bastard today Ralph!

9 years ago

I wasn’t that worried about the new footballing culture that oor New leader had brought with him, I wasn’t worried about the new staff he’s brought in, I wasn’t even worried when he sold Tony Watt, but as soon as I heard his name mentioned, closely followed by that of Tony Mowbray all in the same sentence I’m now BRICKING IT.. only time will tell, and I’m still a glass half full type of Bhoy so bring it on….HAIL HAIL, KTF+

Old Father Tim
9 years ago

Last round I thought we would win easily and you were worried. This week I am crappin it and you think we should win comfortably.

Is it just me or you and the flu?

OFT

PS Is it oan the telly?

Old Father Tim
9 years ago
Reply to  Ralph Malph

Is that a Sky channel?

9 years ago

Why all the pessimism I believe Ronnie will transform Celtic (and no matter what you say he will be given time and resources)

Greg Kelly
9 years ago

And there was me thinking your Diary before the last round was bad, all this one was missing was a joke about palestinian children.

If I was you i’d go back and see the doctor.

Hector
9 years ago

Ralph,

Yir all doom and gloom and yet expect us to win easily away in Warsaw. Am I missing something 🙂

9 years ago

I think you still havenae recovered from getting your stresil confused with your Viagra and ending up wae a stiff neck!

Cheer up ya dour faced git. Youre sounding like Deadheads burd there!

Gerry
9 years ago

The manager is the most important man at the club, and I’ll trust him until he gives me reason not to. Comparison to Tony (stand silent leaning against dugout with hands in pocket)Mowbray are ridiculous at this stage.
Sad to see Tony go as there’s a player there somewhere, which is what Deila is supposed to be good at. But how long can he dine out on one goal?

specialbhoy
9 years ago

“anyone hear Tony Mowbray when he spesk”

I get this, but then thats also the reason we wanted Mowbray as a manager. I also hear Martinez and Rodgers.

Mowbray get pummelled cause Rangers speant what they didnt have, bought Jelavic and bullied their way to the league and our board and fans wouldnt wait for Mowbray to stamp his mark on the team.

Deila will get the time, although a bad european result will quicken the honeymoon period. But a shift in strategy takes time, we cant just make a chaneg and expect the resutls straight away. Stay with it and he will change the way we play for ever.

Thats what I deam acout.

deadhead67
9 years ago

this guy delia would have sold half of the lisbon lions,we dont want personalities these days just robots,who say yes sir to yhose in authority,Lennon probably left because pirate pete knocked back his transfer requests,as lennon had said he wanted 3 or 4 good signings before qualifiers started,now we have a patsy in who will just do what lawwell want,s

The Green Destiny
9 years ago

Strange diary… comparing Deila to Mowbray and assuming we’ll brush Legia Warsaw aside! I’d take 0-0 tonight. And give Ronny a chance.

deadhead67
9 years ago

the games on premiership sports minimum 2 months subscription at £9.99 a month

Greenyards
9 years ago
Reply to  deadhead67

So that’s £20 just to watch one game, well it might be worth it.

Raymobhoy
9 years ago
Reply to  deadhead67

You might as well subscribe to Celtic TV. £40 a year for some live matches, recordings of all matches and all things Celtic related.

Buckie1967
9 years ago

4 managers have said the same about watt & i don’t think you they are all talking shite look what happened on Saturday grabbing the ball to take pen then going in huff cause was told no & putting the boy off.
What has the new manager done to get all this negativity, let’s see how he gets on ffs give him a chance he is just in the door.
Hope the football is better than last season when it was across the park from one side to the other & if you wer in lennys we clique you got a game no matter how you wer doing or how long you wer out.

Dan Ward
9 years ago

The diary is becoming a bit of a joke- way too depressing and the attacks on Deila are boring. Lennon talked about trying to win the CL and I don’t remember you slating him then. It was pretty clear Watt would be out the door this summer. You only have to follow him on Twitter!

deadhead67
9 years ago

Colin what makes you think the patsy will transform celtic,he is an unknown manager with no track record,in big games,so far he has played our striker wide,and only one up front against the whale murderers who were about the level of brechin,and they still had a few chances against us,he has or has not been allowed to sign anyone,Lawwell will be laughing all the way to the bank,I think we will struggle in europe,and have a much poorer spl campaign than last season

jebus
9 years ago

im starting to have to check the writers name on the diary, jackson….traynor…lindsay?? what the fuck is with the negativity, especially towards the new manager? wouldnt look out of place on the pages of the record.

Stu M
9 years ago

Unlike Mowbray, Deila at least has the comfort of having no competition for the domestic title. Let’s be honest, we can play our second string and still win the title so in that respect he has a comfort zone. It’s to early to judge or even make an educated guess as to how his reign may go. I hope what we have been sold on with Deila will come to fruition but I can understand some trepidation as he is a step into the unknown. To be honest, I have a feeling Deila represents something of a ‘planned risk’ with the board. They will see how he goes this season and if it isn’t classed as a successful year (despite what will at least be a title winning year) I think they will look elsewhere.

It is something of a strange time at Celtic. Comfort zone exists domestically and arguably, the early CL qualifiers before our domestic commitments even kick off may be the most crucial period of the season. It’s impossible to predict what may happen and even what constitutes success for Deila.

wilson130
9 years ago

Jesus wept your mardy today

Bongo
9 years ago

You really don’t like the new manager – seems that everything he says and does is wrong. upsetting the poor wee lambs who couldn’t even beat Morton in the cup. now we are to listen to a second rate goalkeeper about who we should sign and when!!

Ruby
9 years ago
Reply to  Bongo

Hear hear!

Maniche
9 years ago

When you were off sick you weren’t by chance diagnosed with schizophrenia? Seems to have been written by 4 different people!

kris
9 years ago

So much gloom Ralph. Personally I like the way Celtic have decided to modernise the whole approach to the football side of things, hiring good manger after average and then bad really is an antiquated way of running anything.

I might be being brainwashed by PL’s brave new world approach but I think we might be onto something.

Doc
9 years ago

re the diary being negative: I like the pessemism and critical nature of the diary, if I wanted to read that everything was fine I would go to the official Celtic website.

pensionerbhoy
9 years ago

Ralph

I thought at first your dairy milk had been safely past-ur-eyes with all the hilarity in the opening volleys. There I was admiring this brave stalwart who threw aside personal danger to bring us the creme de la creme of blogs. There I was picturing the walking wounded of the trenches struggling through the mud and and disease to bring victory to their fellow human beings. You were right up there, my man.

But then, what do I get? Soor cream, greeting yoghurt and blue cheese. I think the doc got it totally wrong no matter what he said. Or, you picked up the wrong message when he said delirium was fine and it was ok to rant and rave when you are under the weather.

Can I just say, that flu virus is from the contradictory strain. You know, the one that says black then calls it white. And you have it bad, pal. You must have slipped today’s offering past the editor otherwise you would have been cast into the everlasting flames of Scottish Media’s journalism hell. I put it down to a flee in your pants that made you jump one minute and do a belly flap the next. Either way, methinks you have ended up with mud on the puss. Be consoled by the fact nearly every Celtic supporter is in the same condition most seasons due to overdoses of opinions and personal preferences. Of course, some like deadhead, and thankfully you are not there yet, live in a permanent quagmire of nonsense. So, realise, Ralph, we are throwing you a lifeline here. Grab it and get that smile back on your face.

Nobody wanted Tony Watt to come out smelling of roses and blossoming into the player we all suspect he is, more than I did. However, I have always accepted there is a problem with the kid’s genetics that several managers found impossible to adjust. I had hoped that Ronny Deila might find the trigger that would turn Tony around. I guess even he has not. That does not mean I will blow my brains out and certainly not abuse the manager by comparing him to the Mowbray. I can assure you, there’s only one Tony Mowbray, there ‘s only one Tony Mowbray!! And thank fully he is gone for ever. Could it be that Deila is so clued that he knows in the space of one month that Watt is not of the grade he is looking for. Could it be, as you have often said, that it is not the manger who makes these decisions? The man came in to set high, no higher standards than before. You yourself have mentioned there is already a noticeable improvement in fitness and signs of change in style. Why then rant about the guys methods and approach? You wanted a longer chance for Watt. Why not a much longer chance for our new manager? We have all gone on about the lack of new faces from the youth teams. The guy is giving us more in a few weeks that others have given us in years. Why spend fortunes on unproven foreign “talent” when we have home-grown potential equal, if not better than most others in Europe? Come on, Ralph, give the bloke a chance and some time to get his act together before selecting a firing squad. Either that or I will take you to Switzerland on a one way ticket.

By the way, where did all the unrest in the camp come from? You?

On the other hand, that bottle of optimism the doctor gave you seems to be having an effect,
“I’m confident about tonight’s game. If Celtic play the way they did against Reykjavik, then I expect a win. Quite a convincing one, as well.”
Or maybe you just overdosed.

See you, you are awful, but I like you!!!

H H

PS Thanks Desi for searching the bin the other day. I just hope Ralph hadn’t set any mouse traps for you. Wouldn’t put it past him the mood he is in the noo.

Raymobhoy
9 years ago

It could be worse.
We could be Southampton 🙂

Camberwick Green
9 years ago

The reason Watt is away, is that Celtic had an offer on the table that met their valuation.
That doesn’t apply to any of the other players.
Anything else (e.g. talk about attitude, etc.) is just spin.

chris
9 years ago

Aeay and geez peace. your hinting that Park is the man in charge, I don’t buy that so we got rid of Tony Watt big deal he was no Larsson so whits the problem?.you would be moaning if they hadn’t replaced him instead your moaning because they did!!!. Maybe the replacement is just to ensure we qualify which we bloody well need to do or then there would be real doom and gloom, it could be that we have other targets in mind that will be better than him but if we tied him to anything other than a loan we wouldn’t be able to afford more long term signings so the manger says right he could do us a turn to ensure we qualify but the guys I really want are xy&z but only if we qualify, right bring this guy in on loan if we qualify we can punt him in January having brought in better quality and if we don’t qualify we can bin him in January anyway so no long term damage…..We must get behind the manager and remember without Champions league football we would be watching our own p**h every week and not just opposition p**h…because we couldn’t afford anything other than p**h…Keep Calm and Keep the Faith, C’mon the hoops

stu67
9 years ago

To be honest, I don’t know what to think ,
I’m not feeling the same “connection” or belief in the team this season,
Ronny hasn’t lost a game yet (st pauli doesn’t count – team of weans)
However ,I feel he’s that happy to have the job that he’ll put up with
whatever shit is handed to him !!
I can’t understand why we haven’t bought a player yet ? we are told that CL money is required to make purchases – well, we have that from last season plus transfer cash in
And still we sign nobody !!
Is there a problem they aren’t telling us about?

Ruby
9 years ago

This is becoming a poor read unfortunately. If I wanted to read such doom and gloom, I’d buy a Scottish paper.
Judge the new guy in a few months, not a few weeks, ffs

andy bhoy
9 years ago

GET RONNY & JOHNNY TO FUCK, Lennon must be pissing himself.
LAWWELL IS A C*&T.

London celtic
9 years ago

Absolute joke, nieve tactics. Hole thing a farce now, Peter lawwell you have complety downsized Celtic. Times up man. Please, please go.

andy bhoy
9 years ago

SORRY LAWWELL IS A CUNT

Buckie1967
9 years ago

Mulgrew ?
Commons up front ?
Mulgrew captain ?
Ambrose ?
Tatics ?
Commitment ?
Heart ?
Tackling ?
Didn’t see anything tonight to make me think that we could overturn that result.
OH AND MANAGER ?????

Macca
9 years ago
Reply to  Buckie1967

Spot on analysis! Garbage from start to finish. 4 mins to go and it was 2-1, we down to 10 men. Any eegit could have insisted we shut up shop and wait for the replay. Nah, we lose 4-1 FFS!!!

andy bhoy
9 years ago

Mr Lawwell. 3 questions if I may.
1. Why did we sign a striker who couldn’t get a game for Schalke?
2. Why did we sign a nonentity who couldn’t get a game for Cardiff?
3. Who the fuck is Ronny Deila ?

bondibrian
9 years ago

BUCKSAKE.

Macca
9 years ago

Shocking, shocking, shocking!!!!

We were completely sh*t

Comparisons with Mowbray totally vindicated

Not seen us this bad for so long

Lenny, are you out there? Please help

Devoy45
9 years ago

Gutted. Why the tampering with the defense? Why the surprise lineup including an unfit Norwegian? Deila,try talk your way out of this one. The whole idea was to simply win and not play beautiful theoretical football.Shades of Mowbray here I’m afraid. I bet the dressing room has been lost already because the team will lose confidence in the man’s judgement and tactics. Remember when Mowbray said we could take some positives from the loss to St.Mirren?!!!LOL The positive last night was that it could easily have been 7-1.The emperor has no clothes I’m afraid—he can strip off all he wants to. What a disappointment. What a farce.Pushups and clever talk won’t mend this one.

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