Celtic Diary Friday December 12: Deila To Stamp His Mark On The Club

The first half of the season drew to a close in Zagreb last night as Celtic lost 4-3 to Dinamo , but with the hard work already done, its the hoops who will be in Mondays last 32 draw, and not the Croats, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The “collapse ” of the side in the last two games may attract cause for concern from some quarters, in fact don’t be surprised if you see the odd cracked crest over the next couple of days, but the fact is Celtic had nothing to play for last night, and that was why Anthony Stokes, Scott Brown and James Forrest didn’t start, and Kris commons, Wakaso Mubarak and Calum MacGregor did.

Had Celtic been in Croatia to get a result, then everything would have been different in the preparation, but we weren’t so it wasn’t.

Manager Ronny Deila wasn’t happy, but there was a suspicion he wasn’t as unhappy as his words suggested;

“We were too open, that was the problem.

“We had the chance to win at 2-1 and it was disappointing that we gave away the victory. We have to take this with us to the next stage.

“We have the players but we have to think about the formation when we play away in Europe and what kind of players we use.

 “We were more offensive than we have been and we conceded too many goals.” 

 “We have to be a lot, lot better in the next round.

“We will have players back who will give us more spirit so I am not frightened about that. But it was disappointing to give the victory away like we did, from being 2-1 up.”  

 “It was a poor performance. We were not 100 per cent and there was a lack of intensity and aggression.

“It was disappointing that we weren’t up for the game.

“We scored three goals, that was a positive and I think the substitutes (Darnell Fisher, Liam Henderson and Anthony Stokes) were positive when they came on, but defensively we gave away too many chances and conceded four goals.

“You should win when you score three goals away in Europe.

“Individually, there were some bad performances but also as a team, as a back four we dropped too much and there was a lot of space between the defence and midfield and they got three chances from that at the start of the second-half.

“We were talking before the game about being compact and no balls in between us and we didn’t get that at the beginning of the second half.”

 Thats is one of our more unforgivable problems in Europe this season. We don’t seem to be able to hang on to a lead, but we have hung on often enough to still be in the competition. Of course, we will need to play better in the next round, but its very unlikely we’ll see a line up like lasts nights again anyway.

 What we did see was the end of a couple of Celtic careers.

 Beram Kayal was nowhere near the game, and this time next month its probably he will be nowhere near the club. He’s been telling everyone that he’s been trying to leave Celtic for mon ths, but it hasn’t occured to him yet that no-one seems to want him. Except for Maccabbi Tel Aviv, and with his contract expiring in the summer, a nominal fee has been mentioned and if the Israeli outfit agree to the amount Celtic have offered them, then he’s away.

 Kris Commons has a deal on the table, but its not what he wants. He wants to stay at Celtic, but claims the ball is in the clubs court. If they kick it towards him, he won’t be able to control it, which is why its probably better to let him go . Commons is one I would rather see stay, but with Stefan Johansen playing in the role Commons would prefer, then its probably time for him to have a look at schools in the Bolton area.

 Thats the harsh reality of football at this level. When someone comes in and is better at what you do than you are, then , however reluctantly, its time to move on. He’ll be fondly remembered for his contribution to the cause,

The deal has stalled because Celtic have only offered a year, and Commons wants two. Deep breath time, but if he can’t get into the side now, then a two year deal would be a little , well, silly.

 Good luck with whatever you do next, Kris, and thanks for everything. and thanks to your wife Lisa as well, she has been an absolute diamond with all her charity work.

 We would love for you to stay, but you must do whats best for you.

 Wakaso Mubarak got a rare start last night, and frankly was just taking up a jersey that could have been put to better use. Which, indeed it was when he was replaced by Anthony Stokes. When the Irishman took his now regular place on the left, Celtic scored within minutes, and created several other opportunities. Wakaso is a decent player, but he’s not going to be a first teamer.

 Calum MacGregor came in like a tornado back at the start of the season, but as we feared at the time, he is now too predictable for opponents, and is easily taken out of the game. Another loan spell to widen his experience would help, as there is something about him, but at this stage he isn’t going to break through.

 What has happened to Adam Matthews ? He played like he didn’t want to get his shirt dirty last night, or mess his hair up. But with Joe Ledley and Gary Hooper long gone, it seems the Welshman is just marking time until he joins them. When Mikael Lustig is fit, Matthews isn’t a first teamer. He has the quality, when its applied, theres no doubt about that, but , not surprisingly , he doesn’t want to be a benchwarmer, and to be fair he is better than that.

Efe Ambrose isn’t Deilas favourite. If Denaayer was fit, he wouldn’t be playing. I like the big guy. he’s, er, entertaining, and a Celtic defence without one player capable of turning a game against you with one touch wouldn’t be a Celtic defence. But he’ll be gone as soon as  we can replace him.

 Leigh Griffiths is working hard to get into the team. If he wants to stay, I suspect he’ll be allowed to. But he’s third in line for one spot in the team. As with Matthews, he’s better than that, and it doesn’t look like he’s ever going to be the number one. However, he does have the right attitude, and he knows where the goal is. so if he does stay, and does work hard, he could still make it as number one. But its whether or not he wants that.

 One who might not yet be at the end of his Celtic career is Virgil van Dijk. He said last night;

“If I left without playing Rangers it would be a little bit strange because as a Celtic player you need to play that game.” 

 Look. I know he’s a big lad, but someone is going to have to bite the bullet and tell him.

 Unless the plan is not to tell him so he stays. In fact, if that entity south of the river keeps crashing every year or so, we could keep van Dijk for life.

 Ronny Deila has now had a few months to look at what he has at his disposal. He comes across as quite an affable guy, but if you’ve ever eaten mashed potato and bitten the fork by mistake , you’ll understand that theres a lot more to him than he lets on.

 He’s got a fair idea of who he wants to play, and how he wants them to play. Those players already mentioned, and the likes of Boerrigter, Tonev , Berget, Pukki, Balde and maybe even Scepovic are not names you should have printed on the back of any Celtic tops you buy the kids this Christmas.

 Any player who comes in will have to challenge his favoured eleven or so for a first team spot. Then, perhaps for the first time in a number of years, we will be ready for the UCL qualifiers well in advance.

And we can have a good crack at the Europa League. Celtic are 80/1 this morning to win it, and thats got to be worth a tenner of anyones money.

 Green tinted specs ? Absolutely. But looking at the list of possible opponents, its not as far fetched as you might think;

Another two months of practicing the Deila system, and a more settled side-Ronny has yet to field an unchanged line up in any game so far-and anything can happen.

 Would like to play Feyenoord though, that could be quite a memorable tie;

 Speaking of tops, we mentioned the possibility -alright, probability-of New Balance doing the strips next year, and AndyBhoy posted a picture in yesterdays diary. For those who didn’t see it;

 I like it. Its traditional, its got no braids of gold nor hats with feathers plumed, and it doesn’t say Nike on it.

Straightforward green and white hoops. The way it should be. Worldwide, its an iconic strip, a master of design instantly recognisable anywhere for what is is and what it stands for.

 Why mess about with it ?

 Another club who are bringing out new tops-well, not officially-are Second Rangers. Scotlands newest club are milking the occasion of their League cup semi final against Scotlands biggest club with a t-shirt to mark the historic occasion of their first meeting with Celtic;

 A trip back in time now, and Bobby Murdoch is a wee bit upset in this picture . Why ?