Despite several warnings from the Diary and its readers, ronny deila still hasn’t got the hang of dealing with the press. Or perhaps its just the ber talking. That San Miguel muck can have a strange effect on people, especially if they go all inclusive and drink it instead of tea or coffee.
In a lengthy chat with the hacks yesterday Ronny rambledon, and rambled, and rambled.
Alright, he’s on holiday, and perhaps we shoud be a little more forgiving , because we’ve all done silly things when we’re away, but at the very least you’d have thought the hacks would have given him a break, especially as they get an expenses paid jolly out of it as well.
Sean Maloney is available, but then he always is, and Deila sort of hinted he might be interested in bringing the ageing playmaker to Celtic, to replace ageing playmaker Kris Commons should the latter decide he’s been treated a little shabbily and bugger off to Bolton.
‘I am aware of all the Scottish players. He is a good player and is one we know about. He is at Wigan at the moment but we will wait and see.
‘I have seen him many times. He is a quick, creative player and is a very good person with a great mentality. He looks like a Celtic player.’
Really ? Which one ?
‘I have always had six or seven older players in my team,’ he continued. ‘You can have a lot of (young) talent but it is insecure without leaders and they won’t develop. That’s why guys like Broony (Scott Brown) are so important.’
Really ? Which ones ?
Maloney is enjoying an Indian summer at Wigan, a phrase which would make a cracking title for a book about a piemaker coming out of retirement and opening a shop in Norley, or some othe rpart of the Lancashire town, but as for bringing him back to Celtic ?
(Wigan is famous for its pies. One local story tells of a man , who when asked what he would do if he won the pools, replied he would open a pie shop. When asked what he would do if he won the lottery, he doubled his ambition by announcing he would open two pie shops. In fact, Orwells famous book was originally called “The Road To Wigan Pie , but there was a mix up at the printers. )
Apparently we can have him back for £1m, but other factors would need to be taken into account and added to that price. Such as the cost of increasing the size of the treatment room.
And what about Kris Commons ? Where does that leave him in the grand scheme of things ?
“It’s hard to say, only he can answer that, We are going to meet his agent next week when we get back .He is an important player and we want to keep him.”
We’ve been a little bit naughty, and someone sent us an i-pad which they claimed fell out of a bag the other day, and we don’t for a second think its Kris Commons’, but the internet history is worth noting;
Search: Bolton Schools
Search ; Man With A Van
Search : BTPhone book ;/ Lennon Bolton
Search :Nice Places To Rent Within thirty minutes drive Bolton
We hope not, although a side with two forwards supplied by Commons and Maloney is actually quite a prospect.
Anyhoo, Ronny , his northern European body and mind clearly affected by the sun, carried on;
“I will buy the Dundee United team, and Aberdeen as well. That’s one way to do it, we could buy all of their strikers But things are happening all the time. We are in a much better situation than we were in the summer,”
If you think he’s talking bollocks, then have a look at Chris Suttons latest wafflings.
Anything other than the Treble for Celtic will be a massive flop
You know, like it was when Neil Lennon was in charge, and Sutton was a constant thorn in his flesh about it.
I WASN’T afraid to take a bit of stick from supporters when I was a player – and as a columnist and pundit I accept that criticism comes with the territory.
I riled up a section of the Celtic support with my column last week suggesting a domestic clean sweep would be the least convincing Treble ever.
Well it would.
This is not a criticism. It is a fact and I stand by every word I wrote.
What he means is every word he dictated via the phone for the journo to type up. But we get his point.
Let’s also be clear that Ronny Deila has taken the reins at a difficult time in the Scottish game where budgets are falling and the shambolic situation at Rangers seems never ending.
And crowds are up, the clubs are all debt free and the smell of spring is in the air. The only problems within the Scottish game are the ones caused by the people who run it.
That’s not to say a Treble wouldn’t be a great achievement for the team and Deila. But it is what should happen as Celtic don’t have another team in the country who can get near them with strength in depth.
He does know we are second to a team we’ve beaten twice in the league already, doesn’t he ?
Anything other than a Treble would be a massive disappointment with Celtic’s resources domestically.
It is every year, but thats football.
Now I totally respect and admire fans who support their club and defend it no matter what.
Okay, i’ll have a lager.
That is what true supporters do and the likes of myself, John Hartson and Frank McAvennie have taken a bit of stick for voicing our opinion.
Let’s be clear, though, we have no axe to grind or agenda.
Alright, thats plenty..
Chris Sutton was a fine player in his day. He’s losing a lot of the respect he gained with his writings.
Celtic face PSV Eindhoven today, which if my memory serves me correctly are a team of bus drivers from a Dutch town, and the side has been named;
CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Lukasz Zaluska; Fisher, Ambrose, van Dijk, Izaguirre; Brown, Bitton; McGregor, Guidetti, Henderson; Scepovic.
Subs: Fasan, O’Connell, Waters, Thomson, Lindsay, Nesbitt, McMullan, Griffiths, Tonev.
And I’ve just noticed that its not a fucking 7.15 kick off as i thought, in fact its already underway.
Its probably worth noting that if you ever take any notice of any times, dates or information within this missive then its your own bloody fault.
See you tomorrow, I’m off to find the game.
Why is leigh Griffiths in the photo above …
During match time Guidetti’s name has been mentioned once on twitter and that was when he was substituted. I just do not understand the hype surrounding him. I wasn’t able to watch the game.
You were lucky, that was dire.
Andy,
Didn’t see it,wife dragged me shopping.How did big Scep look,worth the 2.5M we paid? lol
Ralph,Maloney’s got to be baloney.sorry.How would he get a game before his wee favourite McGregor ? For me,get rid Tonev,and buy Mackay-Steven for left side,he’s a good player.
After all,Lawwell’s got a 230k cheque due to World Cup players,add another 200k,and even Peter would be happy with that bit of business.
Apart from a ten minute period in the second half, didn’t look like scoring and Guidetti had the appearance of a man that looked like he would be happier in the sand dunes of Maspalomas rather than a football park. Scepovic had an opportunity with a header and contrived to fuck it up and let the goalkeeper save.
With the sheep now 4 ahead again,Deila is in serious danger of fucking this league up.Have we a settled team? No.Have they? Yes.
Sean Maloney? Aye, Shaun Maloney… Still a cracking wee player with tonnes of top level experience and for less than we spent on Balde or Pukki or half a Mo Bangura and guaranteed to produce more of the goods on one month than Tonev or the Ghanian guy whose name i cant even remember, so long its been since he last played and is off to the African nations. Get him signed now!
I watched about 15 minutes of the first half looked to me like Scepo and Guidetti were playing up together?
Terrible stream so sacked it in the end and prepared tea for later.
Ralph
Internet was down till very late on yesterday so could not comment. So, belatedly, may I offer my prayers and sympathy to the Kane family on the loss of a special husband and father. The true spirit of Celtic Football Club was embodied in all that he did to help others in spite of his own serious health conditions. It is this spirit of looking after others, no matter one’s own situation, that is my greatest inspiration for supporting Celtic. R.I.P.
Enjoyed the Diary and you did a far, far better thing by writing it rather than watching the game. That is a bit unfair – almost “suttonic”. Given the conditions and the fact it was a friendly, I thought it was pretty decent fare. However, although there were definite positives, I am afraid many of our failings were so, so evident to see. In the first half especially, it was interesting to compare the way PSV closed us down with very focused precision while Celtic’s attempts at the same were more reminiscent of a chicken coop with the incumbents chasing around without purpose. Consequently, when a Celtic player got the ball, at least one PSV player was on top of him almost immediately. Whereas, when PSV players got the ball, Celtic players were so far off them, they ended up chasing rather than challenging.
From an attacking point of view, again mainly in the first half, the contrast between PSV players looking for positions off the ball to receive passes, their ability to control passes when received and the general accuracy of the passing and the failure to do so by Celtic on most occasions was palpable. I do admit the wind played a major part in how the ball left and went to players in both halves but I still think these are the areas where currently Ronnie’s “new style” falls down. I am not sure that Scottish football is where it can be properly refined or whether we can afford the quality of player to make his methods work. All I do know is we cannot continue to play piggy in the middle. It has to be either Scottish style with all its weaknesses and little hope in Europe at any level or perseverance with a preferred option that might prove to be a failure all round.
That was a combination of Sutton, Walker and McAvennie all in one crass report. Told you I had a future.
Nice to have something to talk about during the holidays – well, their holidays.
Off to watch Sgorio on SC4 for a bit of decent football. Damn, it’s tomorrow. How can I wait that long?
H H
Well summed up PB,a very accurate account.
Why do people keep saying crowds are up? Our crowd at Celtic Park has dropped massively and its clearly down to Celtics lack of investment in the team. Sell sell sell, Commons is the next one, reduce the wage bill again and replace him with someone on a quarter of his wage.
People say this because the crowds at other grounds are up.
They are part of Scottish Football as well, not just us.
Our crowds are down because it appears that we have little ambition by selling without properly replacing players, either by buying or from our youth set-up. We have a couple of cracking centre backs in our youths who need to get a chance, but do they get a run? Fans can only be treated like imbeciles for so long and patience is running out. I’m afraid that Celtic take us all for granted.
I also wouldn’t like to work in any place that employed John Collins.
Who the hell decided to employ this guy? This is one of many little signs put together that have made Celtic supporters drift away. I believe that Collins is a very negative influence on events at Celtic Park, with his narcissic and egotistical behaviour and I do not see what he brings to the club.
Thanks for the write up PB.
You say that we might not be able to afford the style the RD wants to play.
Im sure oor wage bill and fitba budget says a lot different. We overpay for what we currently have. Thats been a problem for years. Or scouting is mainly rotten and youth system non existent.
All this needs changed for RD to suceed. It will take time to get to Salzburgs, Legia and PSVs style. A few years.
In other news, the sheep are on their best run since 1989. Winning butt ugly today it seems.
giggsy
I was not saying we did not have the finances to buy better but we do not have the money to buy players of the ability required to reach the level of style I think Ronnie aspires to. He gives the impression he would like to emulate the Barcelonas and the Bayerns. That will remain a dream, I fear, while we remain in the “struggling” side of football economics while others are allowed carte blanch to spend, spend, spend.
I am not sure I agree with you on the youth scene. I have watched them as often as possible on CTV and they are at least as good as most at youth level. Where we fail to produce is in that step up from youth to first team level. However, I have never done a comparison with other clubs to see if this is a universal problem or just a Celtic one. Maybe one day. The other problem at youth level is Scottish football once again. There is no formulated or established system at the lower levels to test or challenge our young players except playing in semi friendly tournaments with English r foreign clubs. I see this as a Scottish football governance problem rather than a Celtic one.
I agree we have an unacceptable amount of dead, utterly dead wood in our squad and I believe it should be priority to reduce it to a sensible working level. That means a proper cull and a reduction in size. However, while this should most certainly improve our transfer coffers, I do not see it being anywhere near enough to provide Ronnie with the quality he needs to achieve his dream.
But I remain hopeful that Ronnie will reach a decent level that will bring the entertainment and success back to Celtic. Like you, I think that may take a few seasons and certainly will not happen in just one. What we need to accept in the foreseeable future is we will not be reaching any of the heights of years gone by.
H H
PB,
I agree with what you say,re Deila.He is at Celtic where winning football is first and foremost.That means he has to WIN the fight with the Dons for this league.Then play football the
‘Celtic Way’which we have been accustomed to in the past.His dreams of dominating the superpowers in the game,are quite frankly,pie in the sky,and worrying,to say the least!
Answered you giggsy but the monitor pounced. Sorry.
H H
I don’t see a problem with the approach Deila is taking regarding the way he want’s us to play.
He want’s us to play a pressing game,attack using the wide areas and to sustain this for a full 90 if possible.
He believes this is achievable with the finances we have at our disposal.
So do I.
He’s not suggesting we are going to be Barcelona or Real Madrid all he is suggesting is if we can sustain this approach for a full game then at least we can compete on the same pitch as these teams.
Big Teams don’t like it when you get at them they are used to sides standing off them fearing a humiliation most weeks.
We are in a catch 22 at Celtic where the gap between us and the rest in Scotland is smaller than the gap between us and the big boys in Europe.
The Board will always Invest in players good enough to win things at home but not quite good enough to win things abroad.
So therefore any Manager has to adopt a System that shortens that gap through the style we play.
This is why Deila was brought in his way will work afforded the time and patience needed to make the changes.
Every Celtic player should be able to pass a ball 20 yards to feet,every player should be able to trap a ball and every player should be willing to run for 90 minutes if need be.
See if they can’t or won’t get them to fuck.
For they simply do not deserve to be at Celtic.
The Youth setup does not produce enough end product in my opinion and should be overhauled.
I would start with the coaches myself.
And also slim down the entire operation to 17’s and above.
Scout the best from the rest and bring them in at the right money.