I knew it! We all knew it !

Ronny Deila, the man who has earned a reputation as being a wee bit dour, although not quite to the extent where the press have dubbed him the Norwegian Iceman, has finally reminded us that he is the same guy who took his clothes off and ran around in his pants when Stromgodset had something to celebrate.

Celtic boss Ronny Delia says Scots referees are ‘fantastic’

Its took a while, but now I know he’s been having us all on, and the team spirit that we have seen in recent wins in aberdeen and Edinburgh is , in fact , largely down to our very own cheeky chappie.

Except ours is actually funny.

With the media not quite sure how to deal with him, he’s worked out exactly how to handle them, and its probably the moist significant moment in his management tenure to date.

He’s decided to take the piss out of them.

“The referees have been fantastic so far since I came here. It’s a high level of refereeing in Scotland. It’s been worse in Europe, like last Thursday against Salzburg. We have more problems in Europe with referees.

“But the referees here have been good. Sometimes you get something for you, sometimes you get something against you. I don’t think a lot about it. If you perform well as a team, you’ll win. 

“We don’t want to cheat, of course we don’t. I don’t like that at all. I didn’t think this situation with John was like that. The referees are trying to do their jobs as best as possible.

“Sometimes they’ve been right, sometimes they’ve been wrong. But, if you go through a whole season, it’s going to be quite equal with decisions. The best team will win in the end.

“I’ve found the referees to be approachable and very good. So far I’m very satisfied with how they’ve been in Scotland. As I say, we’ve had more troubles with the referees in European games.” 

 He just needs to tone down the outfit he’s wearing at press conferences, though, otherwise even the dumbest hack will realise he’s being a little insincere.

 Ronny was looking forward to tonights game against Partick Thistle, and the prospect of pulling three points ahead of the chasing pack-note these days its a chasing pack, and not just one team-with a victory over the side  already dismantled in the League Cup this term.

 “It’s a big game for us because we can put pressure on the other teams, go three points ahead. It will be a very good position.” 

 “When we played them before, the first half we didn’t play well.

“We scored from a free-kick, but when they got the red card it changed the game.

“They are a good team and we have to be up for the game.

“It’s a good time to get the game now as we’re on a good run. It gives us a chance to put pressure on the other teams in the league.” 

 Charlie Mulgrew, Wakaso Mubarak and Stefan Scepovic are back in consideration for tonights game, and as usual I’ve got absolutely no idea how Ronny will approach it. He’ll approach it without Mikael Lustig and Jason Denaayer, but other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

Lustig has been keeping himself to himself, recovering from injury. Sitting quietly by the fire, reading a book.

 Craig Gordon will probably start in goal, Adam Matthews and Emilio Izaguerre in the full back slots, with Efe Ambrose and Virgil van dijk in the middle. Then Scott Brown and Stefan Johansen will probably combine with James Forrest and Anthony Stokes in the middle, with maybe the impressive Nir Bitton keeping his place, leaving John Guidetti to plough his lone furrow up front.

 Which tedious innuendo leads me on to a quick mention for the troll who appeared yesterday. Presumably “Steve” is checking out the websites of a club that his children are already asking him to take them to see. After that, he’ll start looking for our results, if he isn’t already, and then finally he’ll realise that he’s succumbed to the inevitable, and will be wearing a Celtic top under his workclothes-or prison outfit-and the conversion will be complete.

 He called us haters and obssessives, which indicates the level of intellect we’re dealing with here, so bear that in mind if you feel like entering a battle of wits with him. Actually, its not hate. Its indifference.

 But even he has to admit his former club are providing even the least talented comedy writer with an endless stream of material. Its a shame Jimmy Perry and David Croft didn’t hear about this before they decided that Hi-de-Hi was a ratings winner, because they could have written about the demise of Rangers instead.

 And called it Bye di Fucking -Bye.

 Which co-incidentally is what we’re saying to Steve. You were more than welcome to come on here and discuss the relative merits of your club, our club, or anything you wanted to .

 But you blew it.

 Anyway, back to the real world, and the transfer window will be open soon, and the press are lining up our players for the exit door again.

 Ever hear of Andre Pierre Gignac ?

Well, he has told Marseille he wants to leave , and with his contract up next summer, they will cash in next month. That, in turn , leaves a vacancy for a striker at the French outfit, and Guidetti is high on their list.

 What you won’t read in the papers is that they already brought in his replacement last summer, or at least a potential replacement in  Belgian Michy Batshuayi. So Marseille probably won’t be Guidettis destination. 

 He’s enjoying himself, for probably the first time in his career. Yesterday, he did a question and answer session for club sponsors Magners on Twitter, and there were several clues that he likes it just fine where he is. for instance, note his reply when asked who the biggest prankster is at Celtic;

We have a few pranksters – Broony, Charlie, Mikael, myself – everyone can dish it out and take it too. A great team spirit!

 A great team spirit.

 Now, coming from someone who has been sidelined at Manchester City and punted out on loan to places like Stoke, then if it was me sorting out his contract I’d be sure to make sure he’s reminded of that. And also I’d be reminding him what he has here.

 Mostly what he has here.

It looks like Celtic will be looking closer to home when ot comes to strengthening the squad, though. Dundee Utds recent lack of form may be explained by the fact that one of their key players, midfielder Stuart Armstrong , is not only high on a list of players wanted by the hoops, but also high on the list of “people we need to get a house for in Glasgow  ”  distributed amongst estate agents in the city.

Probably.

 Other whispers for the window include Jay Chapman, a Canadian playmaker, who at the age of twenty is being tipped to go on and turn twenty one some day.

Another name-and what a splendid name it is-in the frame is Tranmere midfielder Max Power.

 Thats him in the middle, wearing the shirt that says Home Bargains, which is probably what alerted Celtic to him in the first place. Reports down south indicate that Celtic want him, Tranmere want £400,000, and the potential for a merchandising bonanza using his name on tops, t-shirts and hats has put him fairly close to the top of Lawwells  Christmas list.

Oh wait, its already been taken. Its a magazine;

 You see, there would be copyright issues. Which need to be considered before launching any sort of product.

 To avoid any confusion, you see.

Heres another examples of two companies using the same brand.

 So you can see how easy it is to get mixed up.

 Celtics development side faced their equivalent from new club Second Rangers yesterday, and despite going a goal down, managed to scrape a 6-1 win at Murrayfield. Perhaps the game is best summed up by an unhappy Ibrox supporter after he got home from the thrashing;

Hitler Youth ? Thats a novel and refreshing way of describing us. Real, quality humour can only be a few short months away.

 Ach, it’ll get him in the mood for the clash between the senior teams in the New Year;

 New footage of the Guidetti Incident has emerged, which was taken with a modern camera fitted with the latest in military technology , which permits the user to see things that others cannot. Neil McCann, presumably, was using one when he watched the incident fro the television studio on sunday.

This is what he saw;

The Dive

Or at least, what he thinks he saw.

 Another caption today to ponder, and we go back in time , with a clip of the man many reckon caused the downfall of one of Scotlands biggest clubs, mainly because he was only ever in it for himself, and alongside him is Craig Whyte.

 Quick word about Scotball, Stephen O’Donnells latest book. It had sold out on amazon last night, but keep trying as they’ve sent someone out to get some more.

 And some teabags, apparently.