A relaxed Ronny Deila has told the papers what he wants this season;
“I dream of a lot of great stadiums in Europe. You have the English teams and Spanish teams, Bayern Munich, a lot of really good teams, it would be great to go to these places with Celtic.
“But it is more fun to be here at Celtic Park than to be at the Nou Camp. Better to bring Barcelona here, to our ground. Why? Because here we have something that is special, the atmosphere – you feel you are part of something bigger.
“I came over for the Barcelona game when Celtic lost 1-0. It was unbelievable. I had never seen anything like it. Inter Milan was a good experience.
“Those are the kinds of teams I want to play against.
“I want to do something in Europe, gain experience and enjoy moments you will never forget in your life. My dream is to play a big team at Celtic Park, have possession and really make a difficult night for the best opponent.
Could be even better if we scored a couple of goals against them.
The money helps but if you took away the money it is the atmosphere to really experience the Champions League and fight against the best teams in the world that is the most motivating.”
Then he had to go, as a chap called Peter was on the phone.
On his return, he added;
“The financial aspect helps the club get more secure and we can build even more.
“If you took away the money it is the atmosphere to experience the Champions League and fight against the best teams in the world that is the most motivating.
“It is the same as with the players, you don’t get money thinking always about money. You have to love the game, love to train and then the money will come.
“You have to be the best in something. Good performances, okay, you get the experience and you also get money.”
He was speaking ahead of todays friendly against Rennes at Celtic Park, and looked ahead to the upcoming clash with Azeri side Qarabag. The press asked for his thoughts on them because , as is the norm, they can’t be arsed finding anything about them for themselves.
“I feel under pressure in every game. But I put pressure on myself. Of course the fans and the media are there as well but I really want it myself and it is the same for all the players.”
What about from the board? He said: “No. It is not possible to get more pressure than what you put on yourself.
“If you give out your best and lose then okay you have done what you can. But if you play badly and lose that is the worst thing. We want to be on our best. If we can do that we have a very good chance to win and that motivates me.
“That is what will be important going into the Qarabag game.”
“We’re talking about a team with Spanish players, two Brazilians. They have money to invest.
“It’s not enough just to look at the country they’re coming from. You have to look at what kind of team they are.”
“You know how important these games are. I feel much more comfortable going into this game than I did at the same stage last year. So we are up for the game – and it will be a very good achievement to beat them.”
The press have begun to build up the Azeris, yet really don’t know anything about them. They had a decent campaign in europe last year, and gained a credible win in Macedonia to earn the right to play Celtic.
But what else do we know about them ?
Qarabağ Futbol Klubu, commonly known as Qarabağ, is an Azerbaijani football club from Agdam, but based in Baku since 1993 due to the Nagorno-Karabakh war, playing in the Azerbaijan Premier League.
Formed in 1951, Qarabağ were founding members of the Azerbaijan Premier League in 1992. A season later they won their first league championship, becoming the first non-Baku based club to win the Azerbaijan Premier League title. Qarabağ is one of the two teams in Azerbaijan, along with Neftchi Baku which has participated in all Azerbaijan Premier League championships so far.
Qarabağ plays its matches at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku, which also serves as the venue for Azerbaijan national football team matches.
In 2014, the club won the Premier League, their first league title for 21 years.[1] Qarabağ have won the Premier league andAzerbaijan Cup three times.[2] In same year, Qarabağ became the second Azerbaijani team to advance to the group stage of a European competition, beating Twente in the play-off round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.
Their record in Europe ?
| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 43 | 48 |
| UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Total | 56 | 21 | 15 | 20 | 54 | 74 |
Not really anything special, but there is always the possibility that they have improved over the years, and this current squad is a lot better than previous ones. They have , since 2008, altered their policy of nurturing young players, and now import talent.
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The three Brazilians catch the eye, as Azerbaijan is not usually associated with top level international players.
Their main striker, with 34 goals in 64 games for the club, is Reynaldo dos Santos silva.
Reynaldo began his career in the youth from Sport Club do Recife, before 2007 signed from Clube Náutico Capibaribe, he left after 1 year the club an signed at R.S.C. Anderlecht in Summer 2008.[1] He left RSC Anderlecht in January 2010 to sign an loan deal with Cercle Brugge, until 30 June 2010, which was extended for another season.[2] Reynaldo stayed with Anderlecht during the first half of the 2011-12 season, but was then loaned out again to Westerlo for the second part of the season.[3] In February 2013 Reynaldo joined Qarabağ of the Azerbaijan Premier League.[4]
How did we miss that one ?
He is not an internationalist, and up until July 2015, his career total goals was 71 from 181 games, 48 coming while at Qarabag. . He may well have found his best form at Qarabag, but there’s nothing to suggest he’s anything special. ( This bit will be edited out if it turns out he is. )
After all, Celtic have had two Brazilians recently, and they both turned out to be diddies.
Maybe that’s what Ronny was hinting at when he said we had to look at the team, and not where they came from.
Richard Almeida is a midfieder, formerly with Gil Vicente in Portugal, where he was a regular for a couple of years, in the Second division and then the first, but again, nothing special.
The third Brazilian, Chumbinho, plied his trade in Greece and Japan before heading to Qarabag, and is no different to the other two. Journeymen players, who have agents , presumably, who know how to put together a video.
At least with Rafael Scheidt he had played for the national team, if only to raise his asking price, which later emerged was the norm down there.
Virgil van Dijk is being linked with Everton, which of course he would be given the big games coming up, and Anthony Stokes is on the radar of Sheffield Wednesday. He’ll like it down there. some cracking Irish bars.
According to one source, Stokes has been told he can go, and he won’t be the only one. I think Kris Commons is already away, but not told anyone.
St. Pauli left back Marcel Halstenburg may move to Celtic, the sun claims a fee has been agreed , but talks have stalled. Ah, wait, it’s the sun. That means St. Pauli probably haven’t even got a player called Marcel Halstenburg.
Borussia Dortmunds Kevin Grosskreutz has also been mentioned as a possible new player for Celtic, but you get the impression that it’s all just to make people buy papers.
And anyway, the main transfer news concerns Scott allan, of Hibernian, who is the target of a bid from Second Rangers. Well, not a serious bid, because the Ibrox club haven’t got any money, and Hibernian , if they were looking to sell him, would get much more money from, say, a solvent club with a bank account.
The Scottish press, however, are claiming that Hibs are holding the player in an Easter road basement, and they should let hom go to the club of his dreams.
Despite Allan saying he hasn’t actually asked for a move.
Hibs boss alan Stubbs, whose side face the pluck, cash strapped ibrox minnows today in the Petrofac cup, insists that even if allan isn’t a hibs player by the end of the window, he certainly won’t be a Rangers one. Thats because Rangers died in 2012, of course, but he meant the new club.
Pathetic.
They really should get their priorities right.
Thats from January last year, and there’s still been no investment in the ground.
But the media, instead, choose to focus on other issues. The Ibrox Evening Times points out;
Warburton admits Rangers are ‘one or two’ short as
Allan and Eustace remain on the Ibrox radar
Not at all designed to unsettle the Hibs star.
MARK WARBURTON admits Rangers are still ‘one or two’ players short as he bids to bolster his Ibrox ranks this summer.
The new Light Blues boss has made seven signings ahead of his first campaign in charge and still hopes to clinch a deal to capture Hibernian star Scott Allan.
The Easter Road board have turned down two approaches for Allan so far, but Rangers are likely to go back to the table in a bid to strike a deal.
They could sell the table. It would enable them to double their bid.
Anyway, he doesn’t want to talk about Scott Allan;
“He’s not my player. He’s a Hibs player.
“I think if anyone was talking about one of my players I would be more than irate. So it’s not for me to talk about another club’s player.
“I know Alan, I worked with Alan at Everton in the NextGen tournament so I know Alan very well.
“The club made a bid so there is obviously interest, there is always interest in a club like Rangers in improving the quality of the squad.
Thats from January last year, and there’s still been no investment in the ground.
Meanwhile, I got an email the other day, and I’m sure most of you get these as well. Only this time I figured I’d open it.
It said “Horny woman wants to chat ”
I just empty my spam box now without even looking.
The missing word in the headline yesterday was “cheat “, which is surprising, since Broadfoot got a ten game ban for saying it. Perhaps there was more to it. You certainly wouldn’t get that from reading the Scottish papers;
Daily Record sanitises story of player banned for sectarian tirade
An article by Roy Greenslade in the Guardian, pointing out what we already knew, but it’s reasuring we aren’t the only ones who know it.
Today, we have a picture.
Why would I use this picture today ?
I’m away now. It’s the Lennon CSC AGM tody, at the Newcastle under Lyme catholic club. 1pm if anyone’s in town.
18 years ago today The great man signed for Celtic….
Ralph
Enjoy the AGM. I know you wont be able to read this till about Tuesday, if the agenda is short, but even the non compos mentis are deserving of my good wishes.
For the last couple of weeks I have been more than distracted from my daily routine by visitors including rarely seen family and the blessings that go with it. It is a great joy having them here but their going should not be underestimated either. I am of an age when any interference to routine can have traumatic, if not dire, consequences. So it has been for me especially as all I have managed to do with the Dairy over the last two weeks is speed read and try to suck as much milk from it as possible while pretending to clear up the droppings prior to bedtime – that sounds like all my relations have some sort of feral habits, but you get the gist. Tidiness is not compatible with fun visits or lengthy intoxication, particularly when family are ensconced in ones abode and in party mood. So, with some sort of normality restored, it is simply fantastic to read the Diary in peace and express ones opinion of it either way with composure and insight. Given the latter, I should in reality just keep my mouth shut. However, I have to tell you your scribbles have lost none of their wisdom, humour, honesty, directness or impact. It is a profound relief to have the psychological battering of the media roller-pinned by common sense and balance. This applies to the many great comments over the last couple of weeks too. There has been some really absorbing debate and argument on all sides and the additional articles have enhanced already exhilarating reading. There are of course some exceptions, but “he” only proves the rule and that there is something truly terminal and gasping-for-breath if you wear purple or swallow Warburton advertising no matter how thin sliced. I know I might be hyping this up but the relief of recovery from an almost fatal illness brings its own excesses. I have now completed my secret hermitage and look forward to undisturbed Diary reading from her on in – well, till the next family invasion or the wife burns down my den.
Great to be back, filled with hope and confidence for an exceptional season under blossoming management and a developing team.
I do not have an answer for the photo but keep it there . It both motivates and inspires.
H H
Ralph
Even a couple of weeks away does not fool that monitor fella.
H H
I hope we’re keeping tabs on the King’s son..he’s showing signs of being a chip off the old block. Can you imagine the reception he would get if a year or two down the line he arrives at Celtic?
And what about that World Cup draw? I was moaning tae the wife before the draw that we always get a horrible difficult section while they jammy English always get an easy wan. I’m still buzzing, this is the best draw we could have dreamed of…we couldnae have got a better wan if wee Strachan had rigged it himself!!! We’ll never get a better chance to get to a World Cup than this….and the lift it will give our players now in the middle of Euro qualifiers knowing that their individual performances can earn them a place in the World Cup qualifiers with a REAL chance of playing in a World Cup..that’s a dream boost for Scottish football.
Couldn’t agree more on all points.
Scotland need to take this opportunity on.
I don’t fancy being in the Republics group.
“Well, not a serious bid, because the Ibrox club haven’t got any money, and Hibernian , if they were looking to sell him, would get much more money from, say, a solvent club with a bank account.” – Nice one Ralph.
Pity about Hibs today though.
Glad to the see the Glorious Glasgow Celtic wrap up today’s game nice and easy.
Is Chico Mulgrew OK? Thought he could make it to half-time.
Overall, we look in good fettle for Wednesday.