Celtic Diary Monday February 9: Deila the Director

After eight months in charge, and visible signs of progress on the field and off it, Ronny Deila could be forgiven for sitting in his office this morning with a wee bit of a smile on his face. The doubters have been dispelled, the critics have been crushed, and the writers have ran out of alliteration.

Saturdays win over Dundee was a sixth consecutive victory wiothout conceding a goal. It seems that not only are the supporters buying into the Ronny Revolution ( enough alliteration -Ed ) , the players are already there.

Some of us who doubted Deila in the early days-and I have to admit that I wasn’t one hundred per cent behind him, as we saw in diaries such as ” Who is this fucking idiot ? ” and “Send for Mark McGhee! ” , but he’s stuck to his guns, done things his way , and the results are there for everyone to see.

At first, when the Norwegian arrived in a blaze of anonymity, supporters were still mourning the loss of a true Celtic man in Neil Lennon, who had finally annoyed the board enough to be mutually consented. When Deila came in, there were a number of loan signings who were clearly not Celtic class that were given a place in the team ahead of the players who had won the league the previous season, and had earned the right to test themselves in the champions league.

Ronny attracted criticism by ignoring them, and fielding such luminaries as Jo Inge Berget, and the returned loannee Calum MacGregor. no disprespect to MacGregor, indeed he p[erformed well, but the balance and mood of the team was upset, and consequently some embarrassing results were recorded against sides that should have , if not been beaten, at least known they’d been in a game.

Is it a coincidence that most of these ” new ” players, Denaayer and Gordon excepted, are now banished to the reserves or worse, and that the team is now performing ? Is it a coincidence that the strongest line up is actually the one that finished last season, with just a tinkering to the system and a bit of work on the fitness levels ?

It may have taken Deila a few months to realise this, and it may also simply be the case that he wanted to assess what he had, and that in itself is only fair to players, but the point is that he has realised, and not only has he accepted that the players presented to him as squad additions , were, in fact, the last throw of the dice for the current scouting team.

None of those who joined in the summer, again, excepting Gordon and Denaayer and possibly Guidetti, have been worth the trouble. Tonev, Wakaso, Berget, and I’m sure there were a couple of others, but I’m fecked if I can remember them, were a waste of time.

This transfer window just gone has seen a shift in policy. no more loans, and three players signed permanently. Mackay Steven and Armstrong amongst the brightest prospects in Scotland, and Michael duffy , who had been making a name for himself with Derry City.

Players who are hungry, players who will not feel they are doing us a favour by signing for Celtic, and thus they will be keen to impress.

Proving a point , or what will prove the point , is the case in hand at Ibrox. Five loan players in to ” help out “. four of whom have decided that they don’t fancy it at all and are now injured.

A cynic could argue that Deila had no need to make those wholesale changes to the line up and system from day one, but as a new man with new ideas he had to, otherwise nothing would have changed, and the players may well have continued in their comfort zone, putting in the effort when needed to win the league, but pretty much not giving a toss in the cups.

Alls well that ends well, though, and despite early misgivings, Deila has got the players onside. He has also got the players in that have caught his eye, and not the eyes of the scouts who have operated under the motto that if you fling enough shit at the wall, then some of it will stick.

For every Wanyama there was a Balde, a Pukki and a Boerrigter. There was more success when plundering out of contract British players, such as Ledley and Matthews, and of course Gary Hooper was a decent find, as was Fraser Forster, but again, all of these came to Celtic to prove themselves, and not to do us a favour.

One of the biggest problems in English football, and probably the one that will ultimately kill the game off in England, is the constant spending of big money on foreign imports, meaning that the money generated by the EPL is actually being spent outwith the country, which in turn probably explains why all the clubs are in debt, and is certainly a factor in the underperforming national side.

Promising players in the lower leagues are no longer going to the big clubs, and developing in the way that the likes of Ian Rush and others did in the past.

If Celtic continue to be the big spenders in Scotland. well, the biggest, a couple of million isn’t exactly big spending these days, then at least the money is staying up here and benefitting everyone.

There is always the danger that Scotlands top players will be lured south, but to be hinest, thats always happened, so theres no real problem there, but the return of the talented Paul dixon north after a torrid time in England may help to persuade others to stay in Scotland a little longer, and move when they are in their mid twenties, when they are more able to deal with a new environment, than jumping at the first decent contract that is placed in front of them.

The SFA, who are supposed to look after the game in Scotland, could do worse than set up an independent group of ex players and managers to help these young players get a bit of advice from others apart from agents and media people, which could help keep their feet on the ground and teach them a thing or two about the big wide world.

Which , in turn, would see an overall higher standard of player, a higher standard of teams as they grow and learn together, and more success in Europe, which would bring in more money, which in turn could be re-invested in youth, and the circle then grows, and everybodys happy.

Deila may have improved Celtic, in fact there seems to be little doubt he has improved the mentality at the club, but the knock on effect could be much wider if players and managers at other clubs follow his lead. One thing Ronny isn’t getting enough praise for is keeping the main players at Celtic, something he had said all along was his priority, and something which hasn’t received the credit it deserves.

The next step towards glory is at Firhill tomorrow night, when Celtic play Partick in the rescheduled New Year derby game. We might see the new boys on the bench, we might even see them get a start, but the point is, we are actually looking forward to seing them play, because we know what we are getting. The novelty of the exotic sounding new striker or winger has finally worn off, and supporters want to see James Forrest on one wing, and Gary Mackay Steven on the other. If Stuart Armstrong does play alongside Scott Brown in the withdrawn midfield role, then, along with Stefan Johansen, then Celtic will have an engine room with enough power and energy to supply every home in Scotland and most of northern England as well.

Looking forward to it ?

Absolutely.

When Celtic destroyed Dundee United 6-1 earlier in the season, there were signs that something special was about to happen. It kind of petered out, but now, in early February , with four trophies to chase, the momentum is back.

Lets enjoy the ride. Starting at Firhill, and keep the wheels turnig so that when Inter arrive in a couple of weeks, we’ll be ready for them. We might not beat them, but they need to know they’ve been in a game.

We could start by chucking their manager off the bench he’s on pre kick off. That could work.

If things are good at Celtic, things got even worse at the home of Second Rangers, the pretenders to the title of our biggest rivals.

They were knocked out of the Scottish Cup in front of a paltry 12,000 or so at home to Raith Rovers, who usually tend to beat them when it matters. As usual, they were bloody hopeless, as usual Lee McCulloch elbowed, stamped and fouled his way through the game, this time he got a yellow card, and it can only be a matter of time before he does finally get sent off. But only if he smuggles a gun onto the pitch and shoots someone.

The Ibrox board had been advised not to attend the game. apparently on the advice of the police.

We have a transcript of the call….

Police : We have received information that has led us to conclude that you should not attend the game ?

Director : Is it do with safety ? Have you heard of any threats ?

Police : No, its because you’re shite . Up The Ra.

We hear that as soon as he stops giggling, Constable  O’Shaughnessey will face disciplinary action.

Kenny MacDowell, in charge over there until they can afford a proper manager was captured trackside by tv cameras writing a note..

Again, we have a copy…

“Dear Mr. Easdale,

Kenny will not be in today as he has flu.

Signed

My mum.                         ”

We shouldn’t laugh, but we’re going to.

This was doing the rounds on twitter last night, originally, ( I think -apologies if i’m wrong ) from the huddleboard;

I’d show it to the Ibrox management team, and ask for comments, but I think they’ve already seen it.

Theres always room for a picture of Jimmy Bell looking miserable. The sour faced bigot even scraped the letters MAN CATHOLIC off his seat that had took me ages to paint on before the game. Though maybe some clever photoshopper could help put them back.

Then, when he sees it , we can note his reaction.

Finally , though, there is some evidence of team building and bonding over there, as this picture shows;

Either that, or the toilets are blocked again, and the player has to wait until he gets home to take a pee. Mybe thats what Dave King was on about when he talked of work needing doing on the stadium.

Or perhaps all the shite that has eminated from there over the last couple of years has finally blocked the pipes.

Don’t mock them, it must be awful being a Rangers fan these days ….

Alan Thompson was the man in the picture yesterday, he went from Bolton to Aston Villa to Celtic, which was pointed out yesterday by several readers who obviously have too much time on their hands.

Just kidding, but heres a thought. All MSM journalists should be forced to do a stint on an online “blog ” -they’d soon learn to check their facts.

A shameless plug now, and the Lennon CSc in Stoke is holdong its monthly meeting in the Catholic Club in Newcatle under Lyme tonight.

If you are local, pop along. Theres free beer, fre food, free cigarettes and an exotic dancer on afterwards. ( Is This right ? -Ed ) ( No, but no-one will come anyway -Ralph )

Another blast from the past now, in the colours of a club he played for at some point before he joined Celtic ( see what I did there ? )