Celtic Diary Friday September 26: Here We Go To Two In A Row!

Celtic face St. Mirren in Paisley tomorrow lunchtime, thus avoiding the embarassment of any of the players grabbing a pie to keep them going until tea-time.

Its a great opportunity for manager Ronny Deila to equal his best winning run as a Celtic manager, having previously only reached the giddy heights of two successive wins ( against full time teams ) with the wins over St. Johnstone and Dundee Utd.

Like a steam train, Deila has decided to start slowly with the aim of becoming unstoppable when he gathers speed.

“We want some momentum now. We want to win as many games in a row as possible.

“The team are capable of winning 10 games in a row, or something like that, but I’m not saying we are definitely going to do it right now.

“What I will say is we are definitely going to win the league. The goal is the Treble.

“In the cups everything can happen but we have to set high demands and high goals for ourselves. We will see in the end how that goes.

“I felt comfortable on Wednesday against Hearts. I felt like that was how I want to see my team play.

“Of course there is still more progress we can make but the structure is better defensively and we know it is going to be hard for other teams to beat us.

“Also, I like the atmosphere in our dressing room. It’s been like that since I’ve been here. Some of the boys have been here many years and are good boys who want good results. 

“The new signings have only been here three weeks – maybe only two if you take the international break into account – so we need to breathe a bit and let them settle in.

“There are good relationships forming between the players. That has been the case with the strikers for a long time, where Stokesy and Kris have a good understanding.

“Stefan Johansen and Scott Brown have a good relationship and against Hearts Stokesy and Emilio were starting to get something together.

“But relationships between two players are one thing. When we get good relationships with sets of three players things will become really good. That takes time and a different style from what they are used to but we’re working on it every day.” 

I’ve read that two or three times now,  once in astonishment, once in disbelief, and finally once in abject terror.

Whilst I can hardly claim to be Deilas greatest supporter, I can claim to be a fairly loyal-if a little fickle at times, but at least blatantly fickle, supporter.

He’s talking about players forming good relationships now-despite the fact they have played together for years in one case.

He’s talking about winning ten games in a row. Like its some kind of achievement.

He says the way his team played against Hearts made him comfortable. That scares me. It absolutely petrifies me.

Sure, we beat Hearts, but a better side would have made more of a game of it.

Oh no, he’s not finished yet….

“Psychology is important in football. We hadn’t kept a clean sheet for a while so that was important.

“The team’s defence was good and the front players worked hard as a unit. The structure of our side was good and that’s why we had a lot of counter-attacks and chances.

“There is a better balance in the team now but everything takes time.

“You can see what we are after – quick reactions in defence, 11 players to work together and be compact, with high pressure.

“That will make us fitter and stronger. We will have the ball more. We also have to develop a pattern of play so we can open up defences, like we did in the first half against Hearts.”

He is watching a different game from us. Weren’t Hearts all over us until we scored ?

Deila says he is confident of winning the league. But then, he says a lot of things.

Someone who perhaps has a greater grip on reality, but not by much, is Ally McCoist, currently helping the second incarnation of Rangers shed as much money as possible in the shortest time available.

He was apparently happy that his side avoided Celtic in the League Cup, on account of the hiding they would have taken, according to some, but more likely due to the prospect of his support disgracing themselves again;

‘We certainly weren’t pining for an Old Firm game although we would have taken whoever the cup draw gave us,’ said McCoist.

‘It’s going to be a tough game against St Johnstone. But it’s one which can hopefully be put on the back burner a little bit.

‘We’ll certainly be doing that because we’ve got some tough league games to concentrate on before we concentrate our thoughts on the League Cup again.

‘We said if we could get a home tie we would take it and we’ve got that against a side which, on its day, is capable of giving anybody a game.

‘St Johnstone are a really solid, hard-working team, who ended up winning the Scottish Cup quite comfortably last season.

‘As much as we’re pleased with the draw, we’re certainly not underestimating the task ahead of us.’

A shortage of pies at their last game against Falkirk reduced the great man to eating a couple of his fingers, while his assistant Kenny MacDowell desperately tried to suppress an outbreak of intestinal gas. 

Barry Ferguson, who played with the original Rangers, now defunct, has his own views on the subject of a clash between Celtic and Second Rangers;

Personally, it can’t come quickly enough because it’s been badly missed and that has been the feeling of many Celtic fans in the past two years. But I’m not so sure they’re as eager for a crack at Rangers now.

Perpetuating the same club myth, Ferguson is one of many who claim the now historical fixture was the highlight of the season. A theory rejected by the police, ambulance workers, hospital staff and anyone else who had to witness the carnage away from the ground , especially if the Ibrox club lost.

He’s right though, we’re not eager for a crack at the new club. Thats because its followed virtually solely now by the more rabid section of their support, most of the decent ones have realised its a different club, and now simply a vehicle for stripping as much cash as possible from the memory of the old one.

Ferguson works for a national newspaper, the Record, and in keeping with recent Record scoops such as ” The Vow ” , when English politicians promised not to take the piss out of Scots if there was a “no” vote in the independence referendum, before promptly taking the piss out of Scots, Ferguson continued to spout his nonsense, which clearly received no editorial checks for accuracy;

But there is no doubt the gap is closing. In fact I believe the squads are pretty evenly matched in terms of quality. But regardless of that I don’t think you can ever say one is 10 years ahead of the other.

The thing about the Old Firm is that superiority goes in cycles. That’s always been the case and it probably always will be.

They simply don’t get so far ahead that the other one can’t quickly catch up. 

 They do when one of them has ceased to exist. As the paper itself reported;

 If the Record  was a tv show, it would be cancelled before the second series, so frequent are the continuity errors.

 All of a sudden the MSM want another “old firm ” game, which in their minds mean the circle is complete, and everything has returned to normal.

 Thankfully, the venture capitalists still have to have their final say.

 Wim Jansen, who gave us the day we stopped the ten, was pictured yesterday in the Diary getting married.

 He does look a wee bit different from his days at Celtic doesn’t he. Especially in that dress.

 Can anyone see a familiar face in this picture ?