After a couple of days getting his breath back, Ronny Deila stepped back into the limelight yesterday, and gave the impression he was loving every minute of it.
This was the Glasgow taxis outing, an annual charity event where the citys cabbies get together and give disadvantaged kids a run out to Troon for a day on the beach.
The official website summed it all up;
” THE organisers and participants of the annual Glasgow Taxis’ Outing have praised the carnival atmosphere of today’s event.
Families from all over Glasgow gathered at the West End’s Kelvin Way in the scorching summer sun to take part in the event, which gives children with special needs a chance to take a trip to Troon for a day at the beach.
Celtic helped fund the event with a £7,000 donation from Celtic FC Foundation, bringing the Club’s total support of the Outing to £121,000 over the past 16 years.
The journey sees taxi drivers decorate their cabs in colourful balloons and wraps to give the children taking part a journey they will never forget.
And new Celtic manager, Ronny Deila, was on hand to judge the best-dressed taxi and officially launch the event. And families and drivers taking part said the day was a massive success. “
But then it was down to business, and Deila got an idea of what to expect from the MSM when they dragged up a spat between captain Scott Brown and new assistant John Collins when they were both at Hibs several years ago;
“I asked him [Brown] about John, but, as he said, it has been many years now and he’s a professional, a little older and maybe brighter as well,” said Deila. “It’s not going to be any problem and, of course, I’m the manager. It is Scott and me who are going to have the most important dialogue.
“I think this is a much bigger thing for you [the media] than for them. In football, you have seen fights, a lot of things, and this is not a thing at all. If there is no temperature, there is no development. If everyone goes to training and returns home and thinks, ‘I don’t give a s***’, we will stay at the same level all the time.
“We need disagreement, but we have to solve it in a good way for Celtic and for the squad. I know that is going to be handled very well. People mature as well. Seven years ago, I couldn’t have been standing here as Celtic manager. If they had something in the past, they are grown-up people and I know that is not going to cause any trouble. We need strong opinions and personalities.
“It was a telephone call I had with Scott because he is in Miami and that is a little bit too far to go. I’ve spoken with some of the players and, of course, Scott was one of them as he is the captain and a very important player for us.”
Common sense ? Sounds like it.
Dialogue with Scott Brown ? Good luck with that.
But if he can take Brown to a level of maturity that means no more daft sendings off, or stupid wee fouls, then he’ll have the makings of a hell of a captain.
On the appointment of Collins, Deila gave us his reasons, and showed that he has put a lot of thought into it. a level of clarification completely new to any football fan anywhere…
“When I spoke with John, I understood he was the right one,” said the 38-year-old. “We started talking and didn’t stop for a long while. I think we are going to have a lot of good discussions.
“I love strong people. You really get real fights and arguments and that will make me better and it will make him better. At heart, we agree on football and I also love the standard he has about professionalism. His experience from Europe is also important and he is curious to learn.
“It is important to have a Scottish person beside me as he knows the players and the league as well as knowing the club inside-out.”
Deila has also confirmed that Brown will remain in situ as club captain for the campaign ahead. “You never say something is forever but of course Scott is going to be the captain,” said the Celtic manager. “What I like about Scott is his professionalism. It is the same as John. They give 100% in every training session.
“On the pitch, when something is going wrong, Scott takes care of it and turns it around. That’s what you need from a captain. Passion is everything and Scott brings that to the team. You need players who can turn things around when it is going wrong. You need them to be hard mentally. I have heard about his sense of humour too, but
I need to learn the language a little bit better first. For now, I will just laugh when the others laugh.”
And deal with the sackings later…
Deila is fully aware that he might not inherit all of Lennons team. The rumour mill is already spinning with possible destinations for Virgil van Dijk, Fraser Forster and one or two others. Tottenham, for instance are reputedly ready to offer £23.5m for those two and Adam Matthews, although there is no credible source for that one.
The new boss dealt with the prospect of van Dijk moving swiftly;
“The day something comes to the office and it is real, we can talk about it, but
I want to keep Virgil because he is a fantastic player,”
“He is a very important player for us to go into the Champions League with. I will do everything I can to keep him.”
And with Craig Gordon being offered a zero hours pay as you play deal-supposedly-does that mean Deila is resigned to Forster leaving-or will the ex-Hearts man be back up ?
6th July – Rapid (A)
8th July – Linsz (A)
11th July – Dukla Prague (Steyr)
19th July – Dresden (A)
26th July – St Pauli (A)
2nd August – Spurs (Helsinki)
“I’ll need to speak to the new manager and see what he thinks.
“If he doesn’t like me and there are good options from Belgium then I would look at them because it’s a nice league and I enjoyed my time there.
“If I just get myself ready for next season then I’ll be ready wherever the challenge lies. Hopefully it’s at Celtic but if not then I’ll need to wait and see.
“I heard there was a few Belgian teams interested and it was three good teams.
“But for me it’s Celtic first, that’s where my heart is and I don’t want to give up on my dreams too early. I need to go and speak to Deila and see what his ideas are.
“Hopefully he likes me but if not then I would consider anything on the table from Belgium.
“There has been good interest in me, so I must have been doing something right in the games I played there.”
Wayne Biggins??
Juninho?
juninho ?
If everyone goes to training and returns home and thinks, ‘I don’t give a s***’, we will stay at the same level all the time
Oh thats a great line from ronny, loving it!
First World Cup Celt….Pickles the Dog chasing the jungle Fox!
Andreas Thom
Bobby Charlton
I see what you did there… great Celtic quiz question that.
Watt is a great talent and it says a lot about Lennons man management skills that he could not work with watt,remember big jock put up with jinky and he was a lot worse than watt will ever be
Watt should be a priority to be kept at celtic
Maybe the problem with the doctors at Celtic is that they are on zero hour contracts?
It was Rafael Felipe Scheidt.
Not a real World Cup winners medal though, just a VHS video of him being presented with a World Cup winners medal.
Juninho. If not him, maybe Donati?
Bobby Charlton, he signed on at Celtic for one game in the 70’s,I think it was a testimonial.
Back in ebt days, Celtic & deadco neck & neck in title race. Hearts v deadco in crucial game (for both teams). Hearts 2-1 down & chasing a uefa cup spot, craig gordon leaves his area not once as hearts attack at the end of the game… they tamely lose 2-1. Fast forward a couple of weeks with Celtic still chasing title & hearts unable to qualify for Europe, or in fact, change their league position at all, the bold craig fkn gordon spends the last 5 mins camped in our box DESPERATLY trying to score. Sleekit git! For me unforgivable , & I truly hpoe he never gets to wear a Celtic top!!
I’ve mind of that tae. I wisnae gonnae bring it up, cos it seemed trite. So thanx.
I don’t think Craig Gordon would have made that decision. Look towards the dug out of who the Hertz manager was…
I see what you’re arguing. But I’d say at 2-1 down and chasing a Euro spot, you don’t want your keeper to be out of his box. At 2-1 you’ve still a good chance to take a point.
However if your effectively playing and end of season friendly. It’s easier to take risks then and there’s no great loss if another goal slips by, why not let your keeper go forward for free kicks and corners?
As Hector says, it would be the manager who decides when and if the keeper goes up for the set pieces.
I’m quite sure he’ll come out with something like that if he’s ever asked about it, but I’m afraid I’m not buying it. I remember watching his body language in both games & not determination, but desperation to score against us! Nope never liked him, never will! Also another reason I was glad Roy Keane asked ” not to be considered” for managers job, 9 million, 9 fkn million for at best a “decent” keeper!!
Did Du Wei play for China the one time they qualified?
*face palm*
Winners medal … doh!
Well done the wee biter!! Come on big Sammy – celtic pseudo-legend – get my treble up ya big greek bassa!!!!! COYBIG