First of all, apologies for yesterdays Diary, around three quarters of it was grabbed by the same Gremlins who grab a significant amount of replies. And , in the case of Pensionerbhoy, one or two of the replyees as well.
By the Way, if you are still out there PB, say hello or something. Your audience misses you.
The missing bits included this full run down on tonights opponents, Dinamo Zagreb;
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb (pronounced [dinamo ˈzâːɡreb]), or by their nickname Modri (“The Blues”) are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches atStadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won fifteen Croatian First League titles, twelve Croatian Football Cups and four Croatian Football Super Cups. The club has spent its entire existence in top flight, having been members of the Yugoslav First League from 1946 to 1991, and then the Croatian First League since its foundation in 1992.
Dinamo Zagreb was founded on 26 April 1911 in order to replace the three very popular Zagreb football clubs (HAŠK, Građanski and Concordia) which had been disbanded following the end of World War II. Dinamo entered the Yugoslav First League in its inaugural 1946–47 season, finishing as runners-up. In their second season in Yugoslav top flight in 1947–48 they finished as Yugoslav champions which was their first major trophy. The club won three more league titles and seven Yugoslav Cups before they left the Yugoslav league in 1991 amid the breakup of Yugoslavia and formation of the Croatian football league system. Dinamo are also the only Croatian club with European silverware, having won the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by defeatingLeeds United in the final. They also finished runners-up in the same competition in 1963 when they lost toValencia.
Until the early 1990s its foundation year was considered to be 1945 but amid political turmoil during the breakup of Yugoslavia the club began claiming direct lineage to pre-WWII clubs Građanski Zagreb and HAŠK. In order to reflect this in June 1991 it was renamed HAŠK Građanski, which lasted until February 1993 when it was renamed Croatia Zagreb. They won five league titles and participated in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000UEFA Champions League group stages carrying that name before reverting to Dinamo Zagreb in February 2000. Although the subject was dropped for a while, in 2011 club management increasingly began claiming that Dinamo is the direct descendant of Građanski (which had originally been founded in 1911 and disbanded in 1945) and in April that year decided to prepend the adjective “Građanski” to the club’s official name, turning it into the present-day GNK Dinamo Zagreb (Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb or “Dinamo Zagreb Citizens’ Football Club”).
The team’s traditional colour is royal blue, which has been replaced for European matches in recent times with the darker navy blue. The club’s biggest rivals are Hajduk Split, and matches between the two teams are referred to as “Eternal Derby“. Dinamo are currently reigning Croatian league champions having won their ninth consecutive Prva HNL title in the 2013–14 season.
So now you know.
As an aside, I found this bit interesting,which made me wonder if another club, a little closer to home, has used them as a financial model…
Dinamo Zagreb is a registered corporate personhood,[16] more precisely a nonprofit organization that, unlike the football clubs organized as limited companies, does not issue shares, and, consistently with the Croatian law for citizens’ associations,[17] does not pay income tax.[18]
Consequently, the club is obliged to issue publicly assessible memberships. Each legally capable member of Dinamo Zagreb has an equal say in its democratic processes, for example, the elections for therepresentatives in the chairmanship of the club.[17]
The club’s annual budget for the 2012–13 season was between 20[19] and 25 million euros,[20] though the following season it was intentionally halved to €11–12 million, drastically reducing the club’s operating expenditure.[19][21] The club also limited its wage budget, so that the currently highest individual player salary is €400,000 annually,[19] although in recent years first-team players like Josip Šimunić and Ante Rukavina earned as much as €650,000–670,000 per season.[22]
The members of an initiative Zajedno za Dinamo [Together for Dinamo], composed of Dinamo Zagreb’s supporters, have been claiming that the club was silentlyprivatised by its executive president Zdravko Mamić, and that it functions as an evidently unlawful “public limited citizens’ association”. Subsequently, the tax exemption granted to the club by the constitutional law came under heavy criticism, particularly in the light of the club’s lucrative transfers arranged at the start of the 2000s. Jutarnji list journalist Romana Eibl asserted that during this period the club had as much as 1.36 billion kuna of untaxed revenue, partly from selling its players for exorbitant prices, while approximately 360 million kuna were received from the public funds. The former director of the club Damir Vrbanović argued that the transfers do not offer a long-term source of revenue for the club, and that the club is therefore justified in remaining a nonprofit organization.[18]
In spite of all criticism, Mamić is genuinely praised for being unprecedent in arranging some of the club’s most profitable transfers of the Croatian players to top European clubs.[23] These include the transfers[note 1] of Boško Balaban to Aston Villa for €7.8 million in 2001, Eduardo to Arsenal for €13.5 million and Vedran Ćorluka to Manchester City for €13 million in 2007, Luka Modrić to Tottenham Hotspur for €21 million in 2008, Dejan Lovren to Lyon for €8 million and Mario Mandžukić to Wolfsburg for €7 million in 2010, and an 18 year-old Mateo Kovačić to Inter Milan for €11 million in 2013.
Peter Lawwell will be green with envy when he reads that.
Their current squad contains very few well known names, although Soudini, a forward is highly rated by those who claim to be in the know;
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Thier current form is a bit wobbly as well, and Celtic could have a chance here to take massive steps towards the last sixteen with a convincing win. anything else wouldn’t be a disaster, but it would have a terrible impact on morale. The home form of the hoops thus far this season has been poorer than any time in the last fifteen years or so, and is unacceptable.
Back to Zagreb, and I have to point out here that 20:05 is the kick off time tonight, live on BT Sports, and not a score prediction;
They are without a win in three, while Celtic are gunning for a third consecutive win this season for the first time. and its only October.
Yesterday, anthony Stokes commented that he hadn’t been told much , up to that point, about Zagreb by boss Ronny Deila. He added that he was sure that would change as the game approaches, which I found quite encouraging.
It means that the players will go into the game with any information still fairly fresh in their minds, which will help concentration, because if there are any areas that need working on the pitch, its concentration.
So, there we have some praise for Deila and one of his decisions , and since he got a result in Salzburg, whatever you think of the performance, you have to trust him to get it right tonight.
Told you I was fickle.
Anyone who has sat near me at a game will tell you, players go from hero to zero and back again in my eyes quicker than a BBC presenter out the back door when theres a knock on the front one.
Todays title, in Norwegian , translates as Frustrated Ronny Lashes Out, although my Scandinavian language abilities may have faded over the years, and it could also mean Man Found In Washing Machine After Eating Hamster, so I beg forgiveness for any inaccuracies…
Tomorrows title may well yet be ” I’ve always liked Ronny! ”
Ahead of the game, however, there are signs that the pressure and criticism are getting to the Norwegian, and it happened when he was asked if Leigh Griffiths would be involved tonight;
“First of all he has to up his fitness. That’s something he is also aware of. He’s a good player and he scores goals. But I know he can be much sharper and stay on top of his game for 90 minutes. Once he has that he’ll be so much better.”
Fair enough, he’s the gaffer, and he at least appears ready to stand or fall by his own decisions…
“I knew it was going to be difficult at first. It is very tough to make results while at the same time also bring improvement to the team.
“Doing things the right way while results are not good can be very difficult. But you have to stay with what you believe.
“You can push me as much as you want but I believe in what I’m doing and where we are going.
“At first I was controlling a situation, trying to go through to the Champions League. But now we have time to work and we’re improving.
“But we also need results. That’s the hard part – but also the fun part.”
Oho, cracks starting to appear in his temperament ?
“Look at Norway, you don’t find the solution to get to the Champions League. But if I want to get to the Champions League you f*****g have to look towards the Champions League, look at the European level.
“And if you see the fitness in the Champions League it’s unbelievable. Celtic is a big club, we want to go there. If we want to do that then we have to look outside the country, not inside.
“That’s because the levels are not inside the country, they are outside. There are many roads to Rome but I have to believe in my way. When you come to a new club, of course it takes time.
“You can ask van Gaal about that. He has hard discipline and knows what he wants.
“But if you don’t make mistakes, you don’t improve. If you always play the same way, you will get the same things. If you don’t want to develop, you will never get anywhere. You will always be the same – boring for a long time.
“I want to do something with a big club and you don’t do that in days or weeks. You do it in months or years. But are we talking Scotland or are we talking Europe? To win in Scotland we can do the same things as before. But to succeed in Europe, you have to adapt to Europe.
“If you tell me that a player can be three or four kilos too heavy and play against Ronaldo then good luck.
“I get irritated discussing it. You have to understand the fitness is unbelievable out there. If you see Gareth Bale, that’s Champions League level. So are we not going to try to adapt to that? Do you think Andy Murray eats chips?
“This is not easy for a Norwegian to say. If van Gaal was coming in and saying all these things you would be sitting there nodding your heads.
“But I come from Norway and they are only good at ski-ing.”
Wow. The dam burst there and the water is cascading towards the village!
The stress is getting to him. Thats obvious, and its not hard to understand why he feels frustrated with the Scottish media, and with supporters who doubt his methods. He clearly believes in what he is doing, and deserves praise for that.
Depending on tonights result , that is.
However, the PR department at Celtic have scored a huge own goal here. What has happened is somehow they have allowed Ronny to be exposed to the press vultures who taunted and teased their way to getting a reaction.
Which led to him criticising players and their habits on the eve of a big game.
Someone in PR needs to find a wage packet with “P45 Enclosed ” written on it for that one.
Celtic have a few players missing tonight, Charlie mulgrew, Mikael Lustig , Adam Matthews and James Forrest are all injured, John Guidetti is ineligible, and there are doubts over the fitness of Kris commons and Stefan Scepovic, and just doubts in general over Efe Ambrose.
Darnell Fisher played for the reserves the other night, and might find a place on the bench, but as Deila will probably stick to his system, whatever its supposed to be, I would expect Celts to start with;
Gordon, ambrose, Denayer, van Dijk, Izaguerre, Brown Johansen, MacGregor, Commons, Stokes, Scepovic.
Ronnys obsession with fitness means that he is unlikely to start anyone who is not 100%, which is a refreshing change from previous bosses, so if Commons and Scepovic don’t make it, then maybe MacGregor will be more central with Wakaso Mubarak playing on the left, with Leigh Griffiths in the lone striker role. Which would make me feel better, as Griffiths can play that role as well as anyone.
At risk of knackering my one hundred percent prediction rate in the Europa League-I did say 2-2 for the Salzburg game, I’m going for Celtic to win with the odd goal in five tonight, and a wee spring in the step tomorrow.
Elsewhere, millions of shares in Second Rangers, or their parent company, or whoever it is who owns them this week, have changed hands. But the faces remain the same.
We asked Chuckles Green if he really thought the supporters of the Ibrox club were stupid enough to allow him to make even more money off their backs…
No, seriously , Charles, you will need to do something to convince them you are really their saviour..
Yeah, that ought to do it.
Finally, a mention for the next foodbank collection.
At a meeting in January Peter Lawwell promised to publicise this one. I’m sure he’s already on the case.
Machado in the centre of the pitch is a quality plyer for Dinamo, he ran the show for Olympiakos against PSG, Benfica and Man Utd last season. Duje Cop can bang them in too. Dinamo are the best team we have faced this season.
Tough gig for the bhoys.
Ronny should focus on implementing a clear tactical plan rather than moaning about the media’s interpretation of his pro-fitness methods. Fitness and tactical know how CAN go hand in hand, if Ronny figures that out then we’ll be okay.
Signs aren’t encouraging though ……………
I wish Deila would stop the talk talk talk especially to the press. He is not doing himself or the players any favours. He certainly talks the talk as far as footba and fitness goes but I have yet to see the evidence. How long does it take fit players to get super fit? Or are the players not buying into the philosophy?
All I want to say about tonights game is “M’ON THE HOOPS!”
It will be a long night watching that idiot Ambrose fall asleep intermittently. I’d rather have a one-legged, pipe smoking donkey grazing in his position than that eejit running around like one of those sacrificial headless chickens from his home town. .
“Press vultures who taunted and teased their way to getting a reaction.”
A bit rich from a guy who has taunted and teased Deila non-stop for the last weeks on a daily basis!
I’ll be there tonight and backing the team and manager 100%. I agree with every word Deila said in the press conference. It’s strange that we are talking about his “obsession” with fitness. People don’t say Olympic atheletes or tennis players are obsessed with fitness, as if they are over doing it. There is just an expectation that they will take fitness very seriously all they won’t achieve anything. I don’t think Deila is obsessed with fitness, I think he’s just surprised that professional athletes in Scotland don’t take it very seriously and he is making the point that they should, or they will never achieve anything at the top level.
What planet are you on? This clown is hiding his lack of ability behind the fitness bollocks he forever spouts. He will have nowhere to hide within a couple of months when results will show he has been an absolute disaster for Celtic.
I agree with Martin 100% well said. If you want to do well in the CL then first of all we have to be fitr enough. If we want to remain in the dark ages keep boozing and eating monster munchs like are recently deceased neighbours. Look what happened to them after the monster munch revolution!!
Ronnie may have good tactics given the players have taken this long to adapt to a new fitness regime. They may be struggling trying to learn tactics too.
PS great diary you Copped a ridiculous amount of grief in a previous one.
Thanks for printing Ronnies statement there.
Love to hear anyone read that and actually complain.
The guys set out his stall, his reasons for doing what his doing and timescales. He can do no more. Hes told folk like Leigh Griffiths to up their game and get on board and he will do all he can to improve them.
On yourself Ronnie!
Big Picture CSC!
PS: I note/await the rants about him losing it yet if it was Martin ONeill it would be “Finally such a strong willed character..exactly what we need!”
Desi Mond,
I couldn’t agree more.
I’m not really sure what people were expecting….it was clear Deila came in with a remit to fundamentally change our approach to a style that is adopted more commonly in Europe and rest of the world (high pressing, ball on the deck, every player comfortable on the ball and no hoofing long balls up the park as an often used last resort). There’s no magic wand where a new manager can implement all this and have the team playing great football and winning games immediately….and any manager that has a great track record of doing it won’t be at Celtic, he’ll be at Barca or Bayern Munich. So we took a risk and brought in a guy that has a track record but in a relatively unknown league.
Reading some of these comments you would think we have been treated to Real Madrid / Barca style attacking football under Strachan and Lennon the last decade – we definitely haven’t, despite a lot of success domestically, there was plenty of poor performances and we punched above our weight in Europe a few times, more often than not we are out played in Europe by teams with smaller budgets than us.
So we’ve gone out and got a coach who is going to try and implement some of that European thinking and style to our game….it might not work but it’s worth taking the chance that just carrying on with the old model. One thing is for sure, if it does work it was never going to happen easily or over night.
If you support the idea of what the club is trying to do them just back off Deila a wee bit and give him time to get it right. If you don’t support what the club is trying to do and think the manager should be OK with players drinking and eating rubbish food, as long as they hammer St Mirren 5-0 now and again, the just sit back and hope Ronny fails and you’ll have your wish soon enough.
Good to see a thoughtful and positive post (relatively) among the abuse that the manager has been receiving. If Deila’s message are translated into domestic success on the pitch (and a modicum in the Europa League), will those ill-advised critics here review their comments, take the hint, and shut up?
Ronny is really starting to piss me off. He sounds more and more like Captain Ahab searching for fitness (not whale killing).
As for playing against Ronaldo, Lustig and Brown have done so well against him that Ronaldo got frustrated and heidered Lustig and volleyed Brown.
Look at the charity and legends games that involve super fit athletes from other sports and ex players in their late 30s or beyond. The athletes might last 90 minutes but have little impact on the games. The ex players who can only last 45-60 minutes are the ones who shine in those games. Skill trumps fitness every day of the week and there is only a finite amount of training players can do.
Tonights game… no point in trying to predict the team which makes it harder to predist a result, however, I predict that the formation will piss me off, as will the suicidal mistakes some players will make (Ambrose is no1 suspect). I’m getting little enjoyment from the games this season, maybe tonight will be different?
Theres also the point of less money means lower quality signings meaning look to raise areas where actually possible, ie fitness.
As for Ambrose…only playing there as 2 Internationalist right backs injured and 1 youngster just returning to fitness.
They aren’t injured.
I’ve got nothing against big Efe but he does make an arse of it sometimes and it’s frustrating to see none of his team-mates helping him by being available for a pass or covering when he bombs forward. Give the guy a hand when he’s struggling.
The fitness quest is starting to grate as it sounds like so many of our top players would not have made the grade under Ronny. Lubo – Getting old when signed and towards the end MON would only put him on for the last half our. Hartson – body shape. Sutton poor acceleration. Larsson – smoker. A lot of the Lisbon Lions were hardly bastions of healthy living either.
We’ve been in 3 European finals and of those players how many would meet Ronny’s demands on fitness and ‘attitude to fitness’?
we’re in a different world now when it comes to football. Why shouldn’t a professional player be as fit as he could be?
The good old days are gone where players trained in the mornings then headed for the pub / bookies in the afternoon.
We’ve been talking about getting a continental coach for years, now we’ve got one we’re not happy with his methods?
Do you think Barca are so good just because they are talented or do you think they are super fit athletes as well?
Italian teams basically train all day, all week – why can’t Scottish teams do the same?
As for Lubo – I loved him, an absolute genius of a player, one of the best to wear the hoops, but was he a regular 90 minutes every week player? I don’t think so.
Every Celtic fan I know thought Commons was unfit / over weight – great player, but could have been fitter = why is it a surprise when RD points this out?
Griffiths has talent, of that there is no doubt, but he’s been slated on here because of his off field behaviour – RD is trying to educate him and fitness is a part of that – where’s the problem?
Andy, usually I agree with what you say but I think there is a massive difference between ‘football fit’ and as ‘fit as could be’. I’m not wanting the players to be able to tab 40 miles with 30kg on their backs, 7 miles in 90 mins would break records in football.
I think certain teams are super fit and certain players are fit enough to play into their late 30s due to ‘alternative’ means. A certain Ballon D’Or winner took HGH for years and La Monde proved Real and Barca have had pre-season bookings with EPO (Lance Armstrong, Operation Puerto) doctors. They couldn’t prove it was the players that were doing it, Seria A is rife with allegations of such (AC,Juve, recently Inter). Some fitness is artificial and not something that should be strived for.
I will agree with one thing though, Lubo was a Gift From God.
Reply stolen by the gremlins
Many thanks to the bold Etims for summonning my retort.
An U16 would be more competent that that idiot Ambrose.
Martin, one of the best posts I’ve read here in some time.
Deila deserves a full year. We shall see how many are still clambering for him to get the bullet then, and take if from there.
Doc, you are correct when you say there is a finite amount of time to train. The point he is trying to make is about players behaviour away from the training ground. If they are responsible in terms of diet, rest etc, then this in turn should lead to better results from the training they do.
As for skill trumping fitness, this is a fairly outdated opinion. If you can keep the ball up for 24 hours but can’t run you will never play top level football.
Deila’s points are fairly straightforward and I can’t really see why there is so much reaction to them.
Whether they are being implement in the best way is another matter.
The players wives/mums get a fitness pack which includes foods, dos/donts, etc or at least they used to. A lot of the players are young guys and they need downtime to spend with their friends/family. I think these guys should be allowed to cut loose once in a while without their place in the squad being at risk, to expect these guys to live like monks is unrealistic. When Ronny said he didn’t want the players drinking sugary fizy drinks but to drink energy drinks instead (even more sugar/caffeine than Irn Bru or such) I thought that must be a joke, but it wasn’t.
I’ve seem more 10-15 easy passes going astray so far this season, than the whole of last season combined. The same players are looking rusty when it comes to the basics, passing, control, movement, defending. Berget might be fit but he can’t do so many simple things, if he starts ahead of Griffiths I think i’ll greet.
Martin, Well said. Change takes time and doesn’t happen overnight, whilst I’m not slagging Lennon or Strach before him new fresh ideas are always good, but time is needed before they can be fully implemented.
For those having a pop at the Deila(sorry,Ronny) doubters,take note,we only want what’s best for our club.We have a broad church of opinions on him,which is healthy.Why be critical ? We fear he will be a flop.
I take no notice of what he says,as the laptop loyal,like to set traps for any Celtic manager.To put emphasis on fitness,is part of his job.But,it is not the BE ALL AND END ALL.I am only interested on what I see on the park.So far,I honestly can’t phathom out,his team shape and tactics.For me,Wakaso is a left winger,with real pace,and should ALWAYS be played their.RD say’s Scepovic is a clever boy.Griffith’s isn’t so bright,but is a PROVEN GOALSCORER.I know which one I would have in my team,at the moment.
Ronny is determined to prove,he has what it takes.Get the team right,and tactics,tonight,and a win for the Hoops,will convert fans like me,that you are indeed the REAL DEAL DEILA !!
BNP has bought the Rangers shares. The French bank, unfortunately.
Messi likes a pizza after a game. Perhaps Ronny’s obsession with diet is well intended but counterproductive, like speed cameras.
Let give our new man the benefit of the doubt if it takes us forward and provides progression
As a Scottish club we are restricted financially and therefore must think outside the box in an effort to develop and promote what we can afford, as I see it that is exactly what is being done. Will it all work out in the end, I do not know, is it worth a try absolutely and lets hope he proves all the doubters wrong.The important thing is we must support the team, Ronnie and Johnny have a difficult enough job with out us making it more difficult by going against what they are trying to achieve.
HH Keep the faith
I’d love LOVE ♡ to be wrong about the Delia revolution. But he’s all talk, all excuses about fitness …..
Will gladly eat my words if he gets us competing with the player’s teams he mentions.
Who are the teams we’ve played in Europe with less money / budget than us? (Real terms please, exchange rates, currency value, ratios, disposable income, etc)
Hard to find I reckon.
I trust delia. Hopefully he comes good. Just a quick point lads. I’m glad to see Jim mc guiness involved with the first team. if this guy is iinvolved with first team fitness were very lucky. Just Google the man. Hes studied sports all over the world, nfl in USA, Australian rules. The man knows his stuff. I’m glad ronny working with him now.