Celtic Diary Saturday October 25: Ch Ch Changes

After accusations that they turned up to simply go through the motions on Thursday, a bit like my mate who is a stool sample sorter at the hospital, Celtics players and management will be determined to put on a show tomorrow when Kilmarnock roll into town.

Won’t they ?

One of the more distressing  comments from Ronny Deila post match was that he went to two up front when he was worried , and after Stefan Scepovic finally scored, he immediately reverted back to one.  Seeing as how he has now worked out how to get his players to score, its alarming that he only does it when he feels he has no other option. It defies logic and doesn’t help his case when he tells the fans he knows what he’s doing.

For those who were at the game, when they could have been doing something more entertaining , such as watching a Miranda Hart box set , there is a feeling Deila owes them a performance. The players certainly need to show us what they can do, so if I could humbly suggest that they all get together over lunch and come up with a plan that suits everyone.

Obviously Celtic need to beat Kilmarnock, but to make everyone feel better, we need to beat them with a flourish.

Craig Gordon will start in goal. Then, lets freshen things up at the back. Keep Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguerre as full backs, but chuck Charlie Mulgrew and Efe Ambrose  in at centre half. Virgil van Dijk loooks as though he doesn’t want to be here, and Jason Denaayer has publicly stated he isn’t hanging around either once his loan spell is up, which frankly means whoever hired him needs a boot in the haw maws.

Bringing in a loanee and neglecting those who have remained loyal or need game time is out of order, unless the player wants a deal at the end of his tenure.

That should give van Dijk, who is already listed as an incoming amount in the January sales a short sharp shock, and whilst some would argue it may see his value drop, so what ? Its not like we’d spend it on a replacement anyway. As far as I’m concerned , a desire to wear the hoops outweighs anything else a player brings to the table.

In the middle, Scott Brown is a given, with Stefan Johansen alongside him. But lets give Nir Bitton a berth in front of the defence. That will give the usual two a chance to draw breath in between impersonating a dog chasing a bin bag on the beach.

That leaves a spot for Kris Commons if his bottom is better, or a free role for Calum McGregor-or even Wakaso Mubarak, who may well take to a roaming remit. He’s got the pace, the goal threat and maybe an eye for a pass that isn’t straight down the line. worth a shot anyway.

Then the radical change up front. Stefan Scepovic has an excellent sense of positioning and awareness. He’s just maybe a fraction of a second behind the play at this stage, and needs games. Put him up front with a loanee who is clearly having the time of his life at Celtic, John Guidetti, and whilst its not Sutton and Larsson, ot yet, anyway, its certainly not Stokes, and well, anyone.

I’m at the game tomorrow, and would like to enjoy the period between the long haul north and then back south. It would make a refreshing change. I can’t remember the last time I thoroughly enjoyed a match, but I do remember the strip didn’t have writing on the front

. Put the Astra game behind us now. Its gone. we can’t change the performance, and we don’t need to change the result.

But we do need to change the sense of nervousness among the support that Deila is struggling to find a way to get the best out of his charges, and instead sticking to the only system he knows, the management equivalent of holding his breath until he dies.

Theres been a few Celts in the media having a pop at Ronny, which is what they are paid to do, and Chris Sutton has joined the likes of John Hartson , Andy Walker, Davie Provan and , to a lesser extent, Charlie Nicholas in swinging a hammer at the manager.

( We’ve had a new one fitted. I wore the last one out. )

I’ll excuse Nicholas, he actually cares about the club, and isn’t intelligent to have an agenda, but the rest have no excuse.

Sutton and Hartson were treated fairly badly when the O’Neill side was finally broken up, but they were both past their best, to put it kindly. Both were fantastic players who could have walked into most top sides at their peak, and we are eternally grateful for their time in the hoops.

But the sepia toned eye has a way of a way of clouding the memory. both were also very well rewarded for their spells in Glasgow, and its not our bloody fault they’ve spent it.

Criticism should be heard, but it should be fair and honest. Whilst Sutton was essentially an honest player, and after reading his autobiography, you feel he’s essentially an honest guy, maybe sometimes he should think before he speaks. He’s not wrong in what he said during the Astra game, but you got the feeling had someone else been the manager, and not the Ronster, then Sutton wouldn’t have been quite so vitriolic.

( Note; The Diary  speaks its mind without,  a) being paid for it b) saying things for the sake of saying it and c) without the benefit of actually having a fully functioning working model working  away between its ears.. )

So , Ronny if you are reading this ( aye, okay, of course he is..) this is for your eyes only…

Se, vi vet at dypt nede er det en anstendig trener i deg et sted. Slapp av, og la spillerne spille, du kan trene , og vi kan støtte .

Right, whilst Celtic have one or two minor things to sort out, which are not beyond those in the position of being able to sort it, it appears that Scotlands newest club , with its inexperienced boardroom and rookie manager, have hit the same problems as the very club they bought the ground and other facilities from in a liquidation fire sale just two years ago.

 While everyone in Scottish football wanted to see them do well, life in Camerons britain is tough for any new business, and £70m or so just doesn’t appear to cover the bills on their climb to the top, with several unforeseen expenses draining the bank account, such as directors wages, directors bonuses and directors expenses.

 Even though they managed to find an experienced top level manager in Ally McCoist at a fraction of the salary he would be able to command anywhere else , even his guile, reputation and ability hasn’t been able to get them to the Champions league glory they have targeted as quickly as they wanted.

 Players such as Lee McCulloch , Ian Black and Campbell Bell forsook the riches of the English and Spanish leagues to hitch their horses to the storybook dream of being a part of the clubs dream to win every league they competed in from the day they were born until the day they die

With thousands of supporters hooked by the idea of being a part of something new, something fresh and invigorating, clear to write its own exciting new chapter in the history of the worlds greatest game, the future looked rosy for the fledgling entity, but when financial whizz kid Charles Green called it a day, their was no-one with his unique business talents to continue the drive forward.

 Sadly, the club finds itself in dire need of financial assistance, and they could yet be the only club never to have faced Celtic at senior level.

 But, help is at hand… there are several businessmen ready to offer emergency funding, genuine people who want to help preserve the dream.

 Brian Kennedy, owner of the unfortunately named Sale Sharks, Mike Ashley, billionaire owner of Newcastle United and the Sports Direct chainstore.

 Dave King, who is ready to use all his experience and knowledge gained from his previous stint at a Scottish club.

 Help is out there. They are ready to listen.

 Me ? I’ll be sorry to see them go. Which is at least consistent.

 I was sorry to see them appear in the first place.

 Yesterdays picture featured the final days of the old Jungle, heralding the arrival of the new North Stand.

 Its still hard to comprehend the size of the old place when compared to the new stand.

How did we all fit in ?

 That was a picture of the past. today, we have a picture of the future….