Celtic Diary Saturday March 21: What We Need Is Another Game With Dundee Utd

For the fourth time in fourteen days, Celtic face Dundee United.

Poor Celtic. The premiums must have trebled over the last couple of weeks.

But never mind the opposition, the game kicks off at 3pm, on a Saturday.

There’ll be another eclipse before that happens again, so get along to the game and enjoy a proper day out.

Celtic will be ready to go, as Ronny has the chance to freshen the team up a bit, without losing any quality as Adam Matthews, Gary Mackay Steven, Stuart Armstrong and Stefan Johansen are all available to play.

If United thought they took a pounding on Wednesday, they could be in for a surprise today.

Aberdeen, who face Dunde at lunchtime, could be level on points with the hoops by the time kick off rolls around, and that means theres no room for complacency. I said that in yesterdays Diary, and because I don’t want to sound complacent, i’m saying it again.

The Rev. I.M. Jackie MacNamara, manager of Dundee Utd has said ahead of the game that he thinks Ronny Deila, who commented on the shocking tackle on Liam Henderson in the week, is feeling the pressure.

“Everything has just kind of boiled up over the last two weeks, but I understand the pressure Ronny Deila is under, He’s under pressure to succeed and win a domestic treble because of the money they’ve spent and the resources they have. Celtic are under enormous pressure because of the Champions League and I understand that.

“They should be winning domestic trebles because they have spent a lot of money and nobody is close to them. With the resources Celtic have they should be winning all three trophies.

“His [Deila’s] words are not accurate or helpful, speaking about players like Aidan and now Ryan. For me there hasn’t been any real dangerous tackles. We need to get a bit of perspective here. But that’s down to pressure.

“We’re all under pressure but using words like ‘career-threatening’ and singling out players, I don’t think the Celtic manager should be doing that.

“He’ll do things his own way, but for me – he’s under pressure and sometimes these things boil over.” 

 “Ronny has a guy on his coaching staff whose career was ended by a challenge. The one on John Kennedy was a career-ending challenge. It was an absolutely shocking challenge. That was a bad challenge. So to say that about Ryan’s challenge isn’t right. His was committed – he put everything behind it but he’s not hurt the lad. The lad has played on.”

 That patronising quote should be pinned up on the dressing room wall.

MacNamara either can’t see, or won’t see , how he has turned a club famous for attacking , entertaining football into a team of cloggers that has become unable to go through ninety minutes with eleven men.

Is this Jackie MacNamara really the same one who used to play for Celtic ?

 When Rangers died, some felt we needed a team to dislike in equal measure, and we got one.

Just didn’t think it would be that one.

Older readers will remember the three games against Racing Club back in the sixties, when the Argentinians decided to kick everything that moved. In the third game, Celtic lost their discipline, and retaliated, turning the game into a farce. Dundee Utd have some way to go to reach that level, although they are putting a fair bit of effort into it, and under no circumstances should Celtic turn the game into a streetfight, but booting a couple of United players into the air today probably wouldn’t be frowned on by the support.

 Manager Ronny Deila is starting to look ahead to next season, and he wants Jason Denaayer to forget about warming the bench in Manchester, and to stay in Glasgow when his current loan expires in the summer;

 “Jason has had a good year here and I still think he should stay here for at least half a year. 

“Hopefully we go through the Champions League qualification and he can be part of that.

“To take him away and have him sitting on the bench at Manchester City would not be good for his career.

“I talk with Jason a lot, but it’s not just about us and him, it’s about what Manchester City think also.

“He will go back there for pre-season, but we will see what us possible after that, if we can do something.

“If he does well down there and starts playing at City it will be tough to get him back.

“He will try to do that and you never know what could happen, but if you’re in a good place and are developing all the time, then it’s important to appreciate that and not go somewhere else and sit on the bench again.

“Money is not the important thing and Jason doesn’t think like that.

“To develop, to play and get the experience is the most important thing for him.” 

Denaayer is on record as saying he will go back to Manchester, but theres a long time between now and next season.

 Deila also had a message for Stefan Scepovic, the promising forward who has been kept out of the side by Leigh Griffiths and John Guidetti;

 “The story with Stefan is that we have big competition up front.

“Leigh has played well now and Guidetti also has played some good games.

“Stefan has some things he needs to work on and he’s doing that.

“He will get his chance again, then he has to be ready. I have to see in training and matches that he’s making improvement.

“He needs to be better in different issues. Every player is frustrated when they do not play, but every player has been through hard times.

“It’s how you deal with hard times that shows your character.

“Stefan is working hard and we will see more of him. He has improved but he can improve more than he has done.” 

Scepovic has an excellent sense of positioning, he can anticipate where the ball will go better than any of the other two, and theres no doubt theres a player in there. If he adopts the attitude that has earned Griffiths the number one striker tag, then he will get a shot, and the point about Deila, as opposed to other managers in Celtics recent past, is he doesn’t have favourites, and if you keep working, and do what he asks, you’ll get your chance.

Those who have faded from the first team over the last few months clearly haven’t taken that on board.

Well, when I say that Ronny doesn’t have favourites, he might have one….

Odegaard on loan ? Was that the plan all along ?

I’d hoped to see the end of this idea of developing players for other teams, but this might be an exceptional case.

Deila played the possibilty down, claiming he hadn’t heard if the situation had changed for the Norwegian wonderkid, or if, indeed, he was going to be available on loan. And he added;

“It’s more interesting to have players we own or have a buy-in option.

“They have to be very, very good like Jason Denayer, if we are to take them on loan without that buy-in agreement.

“I knew Jason would have an impact on the team and we needed a central defender but we don’t want many of those.

“We want to improve people and get the money out of it for ourselves, not improve the players of other teams and be left with nothing.” 

Ah-what he means is no more diddies on loan.

I’m happy with that.

 Chris Sutton appears to have changed his ghost writer, or he’s spending a little more time making sure his column says what he wants it to say. It’s hard to disagree with his thoughts on Celtic as we enter the final stages of the season….

Celtic are winning games with authority, but it’s more than that which makes you see where they are going.

You just have to look at the togetherness now within the group. I was fascinated to read Deila’s comments in yesterday’s Record when he talked of his treatment of players.

Deila spoke of being as one, treating the players as adults and big characters.

It’s a big change from telling them what to eat earlier in the season but his ways are working. 
Deila has got everyone
on board and it is clear
 as day.

I don’t know if the fist-pumping after games was pre-meditated to spark a response but it’s brought the fans and the boss together, too. Everyone at the club seems to be pulling in the one direction and that can only be encouraging for the supporters who can now see a glorious ending to a campaign which started with concerns. 

Thats probably as close to praise as you’ll ever see in the Record, but it’s a start.

More interesting praise comes from FooballFanCast.com,

 Ronny Delia is so far showing to be the perfect manager for Celtic.

He knows when to let the players relax but he also knows when to tell them to focus and the most important thing about that is they listen and respect him. Celtic are hoping to win the Scottish Treble and it is good to see such a team united the way they are in all parts of the club.

Carry on like this and they could be dominating all the Scottish trophies for many years to come. They have the right attitude on and off the pitch and it is good to see a team which is setting a good example to youngsters.

Instead of showing young players and fans that football is all about the money, the fame and the glory; they are showing it is about commitment, passion and pride. In order to achieve trophies and be the best, you have to work hard like you would any other job.

Hopefully more teams will look at Celtic’s ways and take note.  

Meanwhile, over at Ibrox, “Rangersitis ” is making a comeback. Stuart McCall is the latest victim.

 “I don’t think for one second that Rangers will not be competitive next year if they do go up.

“There are a lot of boys out of contract and I have already had 40 to 50 names put to me for next season, regardless of what league we are in. Players will always want to come and play for Rangers and it won’t be for big bucks.

“No disrespect, but look at Hamilton and Dundee coming up this season. Hamilton were in the top three until they lost their best three players.

“Alex Neil, the manager, was the most influential player they had and they had Mickael-Antoine Curier and Tony Andreu. They were third and playing great.

“There will be a change around here. If we go up, I would say 100 per cent that it would not be a struggle. There would be momentum, there would be everything.” 

I get the impression the last sentence was spoken in a state of near hysteria.

Well, at least that won’t come back to haunt him. They aren’t going anywhere.

Whats that number ?

0344 241 0266

If you haven’t done it yet, pick up the phone.

If you have trouble getting through, you can do it on line at Sky.com

Do what ?  I hear you ask …..

Get rid of Sky Sports, before they damage Scottish football beyond repair.

The last few articles on the site have created tremendous interest, and there have been a number of people who have decided to join the crusade against corporate interference in the game.

 So what if they have invested a lot of money in it.

We , as supporters, have invested far more than that.

And now it’s time to protect our investment.

 Ellsewhere on the site is an excellent article by Charlie Saiz, who claims that a cross club effort is required to tame the Sky beast, and he’s right.

 So, this weekend, pass that number on to a friend. Tell him why, and ask for his support.

At the moment, Sky take us for granted.

 With everyones support, we can remind them who the game actually belongs to.

0344 241 0266.

And don’t forget to tell them why.

Third Lanark were the opponents in yesterdays picture quiz.

This one is a little more tricky. Who is Jimmy Johnstone tormenting here ?