Maintaining Success Is The Difficult Bit

A real cracking result unfolded at Celtic Park as we humbled a decent,talented,spirited Aberdeen side.
The scoreline in the end probably flattered us overall as the first half was way short of our recent performance levels sustained both at home and abroad in Europe.
Truth be told I was fearing for us with 30 minutes gone it looked to me as if they were hungrier for the result and we were feeling for the first time this Season the effects of a Big European encounter.
The 10 men for 60 minutes in the San Siro certainly never helped that’s for sure.
However 40 minutes in and the signs were the energy was coming back and the second wind was kicking in the goal was a serious body blow to Aberdeen as the challenger felt the full force of our first shot that landed.
The second half was the proverbial second half in game of two halves.
We put Aberdeen to the sword they were down and out come the last 10 minutes it had become a matter of how many?
John Guidetti kept us wondering of course as he tried his very best to foil every move we created and I thought looked out of place in this current squad.
Which leads me to the point of this particular ramble.
Ronny Deila has taken a reasonably successful Celtic squad altered it’s way of thinking and doing added a few well placed additions and come up with what I think is a real recipe for success and when I say success I mean sustained success which I don’t personally think was achievable under the approach when Lenny was boss.
Whilst the buy to sell Policy deployed throughout his reign reaped great Financial reward I think when you consider the overall results the physical rewards on the Park could have been better.
I don’t blame any one aspect in particular I think Neil probably over achieved in Europe 2 years ago as we reached the last 16 with a healthy points total but under achieved domestically as he found it hard to sustain both simultaneously.
The Board in this aspect did not help I don’t think as they continued to ship in and ship out players for Big Money moves at times when Neil could have done without it.
Selling the spine of your squad during Champions League Qualification is not in my mind the best preparation for playing in that particular Competition.
Even your Barcas and Bayerns would struggle with that approach.
Then to replace these guys with untested players from all over the globe is high risk in itself I think.
Players need time to settle and adjust and as we all know some never do as they struggle to cope with the rough and tumble of the pinball style of the SPL.
Even the likes of Wanyama struggled to cope at first being caught in possession and thinking he had all day to pick a pass.
Not so in Scotland it’s not Italy or Holland where you can spark up a Cigar read the paper before picking a pass.
No I think the new approach under Deila is best suited to our Club and new style of play under him.
When he came in a lot of Loans arrived with him and whilst I agree Loans are never ideal they can sometimes work out great like the Fraser Forster deal or work to your advantage like Jason Denayer has.
Whilst there will always be your Bergets ,Tonevs ,Wakasos and Guidettis guys who either won’t make it or are looking at us as a stepping stone to the promised land
not all of these will have been Deilas choosing I dont’ think most of them were most likely penned in by Park and Lenny prior to his exit.
But what we do know is Deila has targeted both Armstrong and Mackay-Steven as players who he seen as players who could drop into his system and approach.

It’s no coincidence both have slotted in like a dream I think he that is Deila knew this was always going to be the case.
The fact is both have been successful at United,both have cut their teeth in the SPL and were up to speed with the Scottish Game,both had technical Ability,pace and determination to go to the next level.
We picked both these guys up for a song seriously if we sold both these players right now I reckon our money would be more than doubled.
That’s not only terrific business by the Board but it is also low risk and sustainable provided you buy locally and only buy the proven best that suit your approach and plan.
No need to go scouting the globe or taking risks on players like Pukki, Boerrigter,Balde,Scepovic and Juarez to name but a few.
For every Wanyama there are 2 or 3 failures at least.
All of whom who have proved up to this point to be a complete waste of time,effort and most importantly money.

We have missed one or two players under our own noses the past few Seasons chasing these unknowns,Robertson,Russell and Gauld would be three examples I think would have like Zig and Zag dropped into our squad and kicked on no danger.
The quality was there to see and they were proving it under our nose.

No brainer for me and many others but apparently so for our Board at the time.

We have now reached the phase under Deila where real success is just round the corner after a bumpy start to the journey the Deila Express seems to have gathered real momentum as Europe went from disaster to recognised achievement we exited the Europa heads held high and now are in serious contention to complete a Treble.

A feat we have only managed a few times in our entire existence.

That is a success in itself because the side he inherited could not cope on all fronts it was either one or the other and it is now being done with an approach which is Sustainable and with less risk involved.
To make it work however the Board I think need to find a better balance in buying to sell.
I still feel we need to play the market for it to be sustained indefinitely.
Buy locally where it is possible, keep hold of these players whilst buying wisely in the wider market.
I think if we can sustain a solid Foundation to our squad with Scottish born players and add genuine quality to that Squad with proven Global talent whilst maintaining a healthy buy to sell policy with 1 or 2 others coming in then we can sustain the approach with a view to much more success on the park.

Deilas approach to Formation and Fitness allows these players to play the same way week in week out regardless of Opposition.
The more we do it the easier it will become to sustain it for the full game and the more we target individuals who have the basics already there like Zig and Zag then the easier it will become to keep it ticking over.
The Support love this style too the pictures of Brown and Deila embracing is proof there is a real buzz reverberating around the players now and it is also back in the stands.
It’s in our make up to attack teams it is the Celtic Way after all and it can be achieved and sustained indefinitely so long as we play the Market a bit wiser than we have in recent years.