Celtic Diary Monday June 30: Search For Samaras Replacement Starts In Austria

Assistant manager John Collins, pausing only to give instructions on how to fly a plane properly at the airport,

certainly cannot be accused of taking his new job lightly. The new, almost military boot camp style of training had already raised  eyebrows before  the team landed in Austria for the annual pre season work out.

Still, at least everyone is taking it seriously, although Collins was disappointed at the players reaction when he attempted to join them at the back of the plane to tell them some of his stories…

If, however , his enthusiasm rubs off on the players, its going to be a hell of a season.

Celtic play four games in Austria, all of which are available on Celtic TV if you subscibe, but you get the feeling they are missing a trick by not allowing some of us to buy them one at a time. Even if only a couple of thousand take up the offer at a fiver or so each, its a few more quid in the bank. and of course, some of them may be impressed enough to take out a full subscription.

The first game is on Thursday, against Krasnodar, and will be followed by more testing matches against Linz, Dukla Prague and old chums Rapid Vienna, but not neccesarily in that order. We’ll look at each of those teams as the games arrive, unless I can think of something better to drone on about.

Collins, who loves to talk to the press, is looking forward to getting some games in as the Reykjavik qualifier is now looming on the horizon and getting ready to hurtle towards us. And Collins wants to be ready.

But he also wants to take a bit of time and survey the players he has at Celtic;

“We will look to see them in action. We have four games and we have got a big squad so we will get to see all the players and really we are building up towards that Champions League qualifier. That’s the important one so we have got to build the players up to it slowly.

“We will be training hard every day and we have got the games in between the training. The manager will work on the training pitch to play a certain way, a certain style so hopefully as every game goes by the players will know what we are after.” 

 Asked if we can expect any new arrivals before the game against the Icelandic side, Collins replied;

“I think it is probably too tight. It will be after those games but we will be looking at players in the training camp as well – videos of potential targets. But at this moment time the main concentration is working with this group of players towards that first game.” 

 He’s got his priorities right, and its up to the players to respond. Enthusiasm and committment , though, is infectious, and heres hoping that the players can adapt…

 However, there may be on problem. Will Jonny be able to spend time with Ronny ?

 Boss Deila was over in Ireland speaking at the Association of Irish Celtic Supporters club at the weekend, where we hear he went down well, and even took to the stage with a microphone..

We have no idea what he sang, we have no idea if he could carry a tune, but the support act went down a storm;

and thankfully, the boy band  couldn’t make it;

However, Collins is looking forward to being re-united with Deila..

“We will be spending a lot of time together in the training camp so it’s great. But we are getting to know each other already,” he said. 

Apparently, they kept in touch by phone all over the weekend, but the club were alarmed at the bill, largely because neither of them would put the phone down first.

Happily though, the boss did make it to the airport in time, and everyone was happy;

With the rumours beginning to gather pace about Virgil van Dijk being the target of a number of clubs this summer, Collins showed he knows exactly how to play the game when it comes to dealing with these stories in the press;

Swiftly, he moved to stage one;

“When you have good players there is always going to be speculation and teams interested in them, so I’ve no problem with that.

“We would love to keep all the top players but if crazy bids come in, you never know. But at this moment in time we need them all playing for Celtic.” 

Stage two, when its obvious to all that some bids have been received-thats when you see the board doing the conga round the car park-Collins will say;

 ” We have received a number of bids, but none of them are close to the valuation we have of the player” 

and finally,

” The offer represented an excellent return on our investment, and we couldn’t turn it down. The player wanted to prove himself in a bigger and more competitive league and we felt it inappropriate to stand in his way. ” 

If van Dijks to leave, we will need a replacement, and judging by what Adam Matthews told the club website, perhaps we already have him in place…

Matthews to right back, Lustig to centre half ?  Hence the improved  contract for the Swede , to keep him sweet ?

“I had a lot of niggly injuries so it was a disappointing season for me but a great one for the team,” he said

“I’m just hoping to get a good pre-season and kick on.” 

“The right-back position is really strong just now with Mikael Lustig and Darnell Fisher there, so I know what I have to do to get in the team,” 

Steal their boots ?

“It’s good to have competition, though, because it keeps you sharp in training. If you have a bad week you know you won’t be playing at the weekend.

“Luckily for us we have that in every position. It makes the training much more competitive.

“Last season I actually played left-back a couple of times as well as right midfield. Wherever I’m asked to play I’ll do my best but right-back is my best position.”

I’ve never been convinced by any player who says its good to have competition, and it keeps us all sharp. No-one wants to have their job taken by anyone else, whether they are better than them at it or not. Usually, they start looking in the paper to see what else is out there. Or they get their mates to keep an eye out for them..

The first departure of the new order at Celtic has already taken place. Steven Mouyokolo, who has been injured ever since he got here, has been allowed to go and find himself a new club. A health and fitness club might be his best option.

Meantime, I keep thinking about the Secret Footballer, and what he said about these long term injuries, and how they might be a cover for something else.

Of course, I’m not saying that Mouyokolo has any problems apart from his dodgy ankle, or back, or groin , or whatever it was, but I am wondering if he had. And no doubt I’m wrong, and maybe just a little paranoid.

I’ve been paranoid before, and rung a helpline once, but I hung up because the bastards were tracing my call.

And it was even worse at the clinic;

Anyway, his quiet exit is the best possible solution for everyone concerned. If Deila and Collins have already made their mind up about him, then it shows they are not going to mess about.

Former player Kenny Miller was embarrassed at a function last week. The organisers used a picture of him in a Celtic top, presumably to remind him that he used to play for a big team;

The curator added, off the record,

“You should have heard the language from Peter Lawwell when he heard about this. ”

Ally McCoist is looking to add Don cowie to his old boys club at Ibrox. No, I don’t know who he is either. You can have a look on google if you’re that interested, but the odds are he’ll be fat, flatulent and nearly forty.

And probably have fell out with his boss and be without a club.

Andy Little , who was shown the door by McCoist ( and the car park, and then the  street ) to make way for the new influx of players, is still a wee bit surprised that McCoist didn’t keep him on..

“It was a massive shock. I was fully expecting to sign a new contract and stay at Rangers. 

Little, recovering froma visit to the dentist, was also disappointed when he discovered the tooth fairy hadn’t left him any money. On top of Santa Claus losing his address last December, it was all a bit too much for him, and he needs a bit of time to work out his next move.

 Efrain Juarez was the bhoy in the picture yesterday, the cross dressing party animal who was let go a couple of years ago, never made the grade at Celtic, and frankly , I’ve no idea what happened to him next. We did get an email from him a while ago

” Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me again, no more holidays in Thailand. “

We’ve had some unique talents at Celtic over the years. whats the story with this one ?