Assistant manager Chris Davies has spoken out on behalf of calamity keeper Dorus De Vries, who has struggled since he joined Celtic. with virtually everything aimed towards him ending up in the back of the net, the unconvincing former Nottingham Forest and Dunfermline veteran has been made the scapegoat for the Barcelona defeat, the Inverness draw and the US airstrikes on Syrian soldiers.
Circling the wagons, but presumably not asking De Vries to hold the reins, Davies outlined the situation…
“We’re very conscious it’s not just the responsibility of the defenders, it’s the whole team.
“We defend from the front with a high press, so it’s a collective responsibility.
“We want to keep clean sheets and be a team that gives nothing away. That’s really important to us.
“Dorus is a very experienced goalkeeper and a switched-on guy. He has made some excellent saves and really good performances.
“It’s about being consistent and making sure that in the moments we have to defend, we do so to the top level.
“We’ve scored a lot of goals and been very creative. Our goal difference is plus 10 and I was looking around at other leagues and Man City are plus 11, so that’s a marker of sorts. We need to be able to see out games more and get clean sheets, become a team that’s very hard to get anything from. It’s still a work in progress. We’ve only been here a few months and we’ve got to get going very quickly.”
Roughly translated, that means keep the ball well away from the keeper because he’s fucking hopeless, and we’ve signed him so we’re sticking with him. Which is great news for Alloa fans, who must now fancy their chances of progress in the League Cup tomorrow.
We asked a couple for their thoughts on the possibility of facing the under pressure keeper.
Davies continued, in an attempt to justify the inclusion of De Vries, but he was far from convincing..
“The most important thing is that there is competition for places because that way the level gets driven up.
“Dorus knows that, just like every player, you’ve got to perform. He was player of the season last year at Nottingham Forest. We’ve worked with him before and had success.
Being player of the year at Forest may not be quite the achievement it appears to be. Whilst De Vries was valued for his experience in helping the team, there is considerable opinion that the side may not have been ready for full time professional football.
“He has come into a new team and a new environment and there have been good performances.
Yes, but not by him.
“Obviously as a team we never look back and say it’s someone’s fault – we are looking at taking shared responsibility for any shot that goes in on goal. It’s about us sticking together.
“We’ve got two goalkeepers fighting for one position and Craig’s attitude has been fantastic since he came out the team. He’s been training well and he’s been focused because he knows it’s about performing and having that competition within your squad.
“We are all in this together and we support each other.”
Clearly , the management have their favourites, and there must be something about De Vries that none of us have seen thus far. Well, Brendan has seen it, and whatever it is it’s enough to keep him in the side. As long as he doesn’t publish it, or them.
Should make the Alloa game interesting, I suppose. Though Davies says that they are not going to treat the opposition lightly…
“For us it’s about picking the best team to win the game, We’ve got an opportunity to get to the semi-finals, a chance to win a trophy before Christmas.
“The manager made it clear when he came here in his first press conference that his aim was to continue with the domination of Scottish football – that’s about winning trophies so this is a big game for us.
“We respect the competition a lot so there’s no chance we’ll be thinking any less of Alloa because that would give them an advantage. We’ll be treating it as a big game.
“It’s the boring old line of just win the next game. That’s all you can ever focus on as a player is your next training session preparing for the next match.”
If De Vries plays, it won’t be boring.
The accounts are out !
And the club has made a profit !
Iain Bankier, the chairman who thinks we are all racists, told the press;
“These results, which show a profit before taxation of £0.5m compared to loss before tax of £3.9m last year, in comparable trading conditions, reflect in large part the increased contribution during the year from the sale of player registrations.
“Following two seasons in which the club did not qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, the increased contribution from player trading enabled the company to maintain investment in football operations and to continue to build for the future.
“The board continues to believe that the company’s self sustaining financial model provides the necessary stability to preserve the long term future of the club and player trading remains an important element of that model.
Note how many times he mentions player trading…
“Following an exhaustive recruitment process, the Club was delighted to announce the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager in May. The scenes at Celtic Park as Brendan was unveiled were fantastic and created a real sense of optimism for the season ahead.”
Exhaustive perhaps means something different in his world.
“Roy, Martin, the jobs yours but you need to commit now. ”
” No, we want to go to the Euros. ”
” Anyone got Brendans number ? ”
Shortly after Rodgers was appointed, you’ll notice that Keane and O’Neill signed up with Ireland again, a contract that had been on the table for months…
Bankier continued…
“For a club like Celtic, operating in a market where television values have fallen significantly behind our neighbours across Europe, qualification for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League is of paramount importance.
“The financial rewards allow for investment in the playing squad and physical assets, but moreover, the prestige of participating in the premier club competition in the world reinforces the reach and importance of the club to so many people around the world.
Paramount ? The level of investment and ambition shown, Rodgers apart, to get there has hardly been inspiring. And frankly, they didn;t exactly push the boat out when qualification was secured.
Note the target, as pointed out by Keane, is qualification. There’s no thought as to what happens when we get there, except for how it balances the books.
Don’t kid yourself, they’ll still sell the best players at the first possible opportunity.
“Fundamentally, Celtic is a Champions League club; our infrastructure and continued investment reflect that.
What investment ? Seriously, whilst I understand the reluctance to pay daft money, they’ve not bought a player who was a first team regular at his previous club. They got a freebie-more or less-in Dembele, and , oh wait, De Vries was a regular, but he’s shite.
“On the pitch, the year to June 30, 2016 did not meet with our expectations.
“Whilst the SPFL Premiership title was retained, our performances in the domestic cup competitions and in European competition were poor, as the club failed to reach either domestic cup final and failed to qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the second successive season.
“Off the pitch, the company returned to profit, mainly as a result of the transfer of certain player registrations during the period leading to a gain on sale of player registrations of £12.6m.
“This enables us to continue to deliver long-term sustainable football success in a very challenging environment.”
Long term sustainable success. He didn’t define what he means by that, but you can be fairly certain his idea of long term sustainable success is entirely different from ours.
What it shows to the thinking supporter is that the club would be in trouble if it didn’t sell players, but the problem is that you have to buy players that someone will want to buy further down the line, and Celtic hadn’t been doing that until the arrival of Dembele and Scott Sinclair.
On that basis, one would have thought that serious investment to ensure-as far as possible-UCL participation would be at the top of the agenda, but again it was very, very close.
Will we improve in January ? Time will tell, but I wouldn’t get over excited about it.
An amusing little battle of wits is under way between outspoken and refreshingly honest Chris sutton, of Bt sports, and Mark Warburton, currently steering the new “rangers ” through choppy waters. Well, trying to.
Sutton had claimed on tv that Warburtons complaints about negative media reaction after his side had lost 5-1 to Celtic were ridiculous, as his team had “had their pants pulled down by their biggest rivals “, which would not have made for pleasant viewing for anyone, and Warburton hit back, after, as is his custom, claiming he wasn;t going to hit back;
“Offend me? Two things. One, as manager of Glasgow Rangers and an individual I am not going to get embroiled in spats with so-called pundits. That’s not going to happen. I am not going to lower the position of the club.
Pausing long enough to draw breath, Warbs then outlined exactly how to get involved in such a spat;
“I was always told that you only value the opinions of people for whom you have any iota of respect. Therefore, I have absolutely zero interest in that opinion.”
“Being the manager of Rangers is a privilege and a unique challenge. How many people get to hold this post? I recognise that privilege.
“Every job offers a challenge. It’s about how you deal with it. There are always high points and low. The key is to stick together. You have to be better for adversity. If you struggle under it then you have a problem.”
Thats the way, Warbsy. Stick together, unless you happen to have Joey Barton in your squad, who is now banned for three weeks after he told Warbs-and a few others, according to reports -that he was useless.
Sutton , happy to have a row with anyone, answered the Warbuton wailing.
“The Queen of the South match is a huge game for Mark Warburton. It’s a game Rangers have to win.
“It’s hugely significant, all the more because Rangers then have Aberdeen on Sunday.
“A loss-loss scenario? The question would certainly be asked if he could survive that.
“If we’re being honest, when the draw was made for the quarter-finals of the Betfred Cup, you would’ve said: ‘Good ties for Rangers and Celtic.’
“But then Queen of the South are a team who have done particularly well this season and have certainly surprised me.”
They are top of the first division and playing well by all accounts, whilst “rangers ” are struggling to find any sort of form, with just nine points out of eighteen, and Warburton is beginning to buckle under the pressure.
Sutton is right, the bears will be growling if the Ibrox club exit the League Cup. And then there’s Aberdeen at the weekend at Pittodrie…
All of which will delight Barry “Baz ” Ferguson 8, currently manager of high flying Clyde, who has suddenly found his voice in the media. If Warbs has his jacket on a shoogly peg, then a real Rangers man will be called upon to save the false “rangers ” from catastrophe, and without actually chucking his hat into the ring-they do like their hats over there-he has certainly let the club know he has got a hat with this sneaky wee dig at Warburton over the Joey Barton debacle, who no doubt will come out and defend himself against someone that nobody at all respects..
“The manager is the man at the club who makes the decisions and it’s clear to me he’s not happy with what Joey’s done. I think Joey knows himself that he won’t play for Rangers again.
“But I don’t see why it takes four weeks [to resolve the situation]. It’s not good for the players or the fans – they want to know what’s going on.”
Aye, aye…Dave King will be keeping an eye on the situation..
Joey Barton, the man who would rule Scottish football, is probably regretting his move north, unless , of course his new book sells well. He’s now the victim of a dirty tricks campaign, surely not designed to entice him to walk away without a settlement from Dave Kings stricken club, after news emerged he may have had a bet on the Barcelona-Celtic game…Grant Russel, of STV , explains..
Rangers midfielder Joey Barton is being investigated by the Scottish FA for breaching their rules on gambling after allegedly betting on Celtic’s Champions League defeat to Barcelona.
The 34-year old has already been suspended by the Ibrox club for three weeks after a training ground bust-up following the Old Firm derby defeat earlier this month.
STV understands Scottish FA’s compliance officer, in conjunction with the Gambling Commission, is looking into claims the Englishman placed money on Celtic’s heavy defeat at Camp Nou last Tuesday after a red flag was raised.
Brendan Rodgers’ men lost 7-0 in the opening match of the competition’s group stages.
The SFA judicial protocol forbids players from betting on any football match, anywhere in the world.
Former Rangers players Ian Black and Steve Simonsen were both banned for betting on football in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
Black was handed a 10-match ban for betting on his own side and served three of them with the other seven suspended. Simonsen missed one game for putting money on other teams with another game suspended.
Unlike the Black situation it is understood Barton is not suspected of betting on matches involving his own team.
Partick Thistle’s Steven Lawless and Michael Moffat, then of Ayr United, have also previously been sanctioned for betting on football matches.
Barton is a controversial figure, with a chequered past and a now uncertain future. Yet it could all have been so different-so he says in his book, anyway…
The same way as when Nacho Said No, one assumes…
Oh, one more thing… was it a penalty?
Matt MacGlone on twitter offers fairly conclusive proof it wasn’t…
Caption competiton, and yesterday we gave you this..
Which was won by..
Caption: Search party are delighted to find Dorus De Freeze’s missing eye/ball.
And today, we have this, a snap of an empty, decomposed vessel pictured holding a skull.
