\u201cThe boys will be thinking about that as soon as they go into the game. They won\u2019t want that to happen again. They\u2019ll believe they can be the ones celebrating at the end of the game.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAfter every defeat the lads want to go out straight away and show that was a one-off.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey want to prove they are better than that and can go anywhere and win. If you don\u2019t believe it there is no point turning up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Forget the tippy tappy stuff. Forget the bright new ideas, get the sleeves rolled up and , to coin a phrase ;<\/p>\n ” Get Right Intae Them ”<\/p>\n Browns words make you wish he was playing, but I’m sure he’ll be in the dressing room before kick off, reminding the players of what is needed, and how it feels when you do it, such as last year against Shaktor Karagandy;<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we celebrated at the end was outrageous. It was just a great night. It was one of those things that people only think can happen in fairytales, that you could turn that result around after getting battered in the 90 minutes over there.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut we managed to turn it around and it\u2019s pretty much the same squad as we have just now. So you have to go into this with confidence and believe you can score three goals.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good pitch at Murrayfield, like a bowling green, so we\u2019ll be able to pass the ball and move well. If we start with a good tempo then I have faith in the lads.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n And he reminded us of one thing, one crucial thing;<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve not played in front of Celtic fans or seen what it does to other teams. People like Messi and Iniesta are amazing on the ball but the fans surround you and that puts them under a bit more pressure.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey think they have an extra second or so to control the ball and we\u2019re right in their faces. It could be a great night and one for our fans to remember.<\/em><\/p>\n Then he displayed a bit of faith in his team mates, something no-one else has done yet;<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot to do and it will be hard but they are not the best team in the world and everyone is due a bad result.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe had ours last week and we can now try to turn it around at home. I have faith in the lads.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe gaffer has been giving us video analysis of where we went wrong and has been trying to put new things into practice on the pitch.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Theres no point in harping on about the board, the manager, the training or anything else we can think of thats led to the situation the team is in at the moment. We’re three goals down to a distinctly average side. Okay, we made an arse of it.<\/p>\n We’ve got an hour and a half to put it right.<\/p>\n And deep down, I think we will.<\/p>\n What we don’t need, and theres certainly no shortage of them at the moment, is former players earning a bit of pocket money by slating the club in the papers. I’m all for criticism, but it has to be constructive, original and imaginative. The amount of ex favourites lining up to state the bloody obvious, such as what Ronny Deila should do, or what Peter Lawwell should do, based on their own experience of, er, telling other people what they should do, is , quite frankly, sickening and embarrassing.<\/p>\n Guys like you and me are supporters first, and we just fire off whatever we feel like firing off, and some will agree with us, and others will think we are using the wrong anatomical orifice to release our feelings.<\/p>\n But, we speak from the heart. Part of being a Celtic supporter is the emotional roller coaster that comes with it. Like it or not, and I suppose we must enjoy it, or we wouldn’t do it, we are Celtic supporters, and what we say is what we feel.<\/p>\n There are others, though, who really should know better. There are times to get behind the team, no matter what else is going on, and times to criticise. At risk of sounding like a Celtic View article , this is when we get behind them.<\/p>\n Alright, sounding and looking like a Celtic View article.<\/p>\n Frank MacAvennie, a player who, granted, scored a few important goals back in the eighties, usually before jumping on a plane to get back down south as quickly as possible-great for team bonding -has earned a reputation as a daft wee boy over the years. For some reason, someone asked him for his opinion on the current side, maybe hoping that he would say something to stir the pot.<\/p>\n He didn’t disappoint;<\/p>\n I’m worried about Celtic’s season if they don’t get past Legia Warsaw. If they don’t overturn that 4-1 loss from the first leg I think they’ll lose Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster. And I hear a few more want to leave.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n No shit. Some players want to leave a club during the transfer window ? Who’d a’thought it ?<\/p>\n “The fans will only take so much if the club is not investing. I know a lot of people who had hospitality boxes and season tickets at Celtic Park and they’re not taking them out this year. Nobody is going to watch them if some of those players leave.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Frankly, who cares ? Leaves more room for the real fans.<\/p>\n “I’m worried because this is not the Celtic I knew. I don’t even know who Ronny Deila is.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Thats okay, Ronny Deila doesn’t know who Frank MacAvennie is. Though I’m guessing Frank would \u00a0rather he didn’t google it.<\/p>\n Then he started on Deila, who , remember, he doesn’t know;<\/p>\n \u201cI hope he is not the puppet some people say he is but I fear he might be,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat manager comes into a club and is told who his right-hand man will be?\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Er, he didn’t. He spoke to Collins before offering him the job. Sure, he might have been recommended to him, but theres little doubt he had the final say.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work that way. I played with John Collins and we get on well, but he is a strong character. If Ronny isn\u2019t strong, John will take over.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Thats a good idea. Create suspicion at the top. Where there is no evidence that Collins will be anything but loyal to Deila.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t know if he [Deila] will still be about. No one had ever heard of this guy but maybe [chief executive] Peter Lawwell didn\u2019t expect to go through [in the Champions League] and he has got someone to point the blame at.<\/em><\/p>\n When he says “no-one “, it’s reasonable to assume he means \u00a0” Frank MacAvennie. “<\/p>\n \u201cRoy Keane knocked the job back because of the budget but also because he wouldn\u2019t be allowed to bring his own team in. Roy would have attracted more players on a reduced budget than Ronny will.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Keane thought he would walk into the job. He didn’t, so he asked not to be considered.<\/p>\n \u201cHe will be shopping in the bargain basement because he doesn\u2019t know anything else. Lenny [Neil Lennon] tried to get a few players and never got them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Thats what happens in football management. You don’t always get what you want, but you manage with what you have. Theres a clue in the name. Manager.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t keep selling top players and not replacing them. Eventually you will come a cropper. Hopefully, I am wrong but they could get beat again on Wednesday.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cRonny came out and questioned the commitment [of the players after the first leg] and I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t understand if you are getting thumped and boys are not putting a shift in.<\/em><\/p>\n “You need someone on the park getting the boys together rather than going into their own wee shells but that\u2019s what it looked like.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n I’m sure after reading this, where MacAvennie more or less calls the players sub standard by hinting that the previous manager couldn’t get the players he really wanted, the players will feel so much better about themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cI have heard about unrest and there could be a mass exodus after this. Winning the league won\u2019t get fans back onside.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo disrespect to the manager, but no one knows him. I used to look up to Billy McNeill and he gave me countless kicks up the backside.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cEven if he was wrong you\u2019d take it because it was Billy McNeill. John Collins has that but I am not sure about Ronny.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n So, we’ve established that Frank MacAvennie doesn’t know Ronny Deila, which apparently makes him a shite manager.<\/p>\n He also took time out to criticise the club for offering Celtic Park as a venue for the Commonwealth Games, something that was decided years ago, and has benefited Celtic in several ways, and remember, we didn’t make an arse of it at Murrayfield, we made an arse of it in Poland.<\/p>\n \u201cThey got the money for it, I guess,\u201d he said. \u201cMind you, John Barrowman was the best performance I have seen at Celtic Park for a long time!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0He’s such a wit. No , really, thats not rhyming slang. Oh, alright, it is.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why they did it and I can\u2019t understand why it\u2019s not ready by now. You will [still] get the support and people will go because of the novelty of Murrayfield but that\u2019s not what you need.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou need the hard core. You need the Green Brigade in their corner to create that Celtic Park atmosphere.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Whilst not decrying the Green Brigade and their drummer, the other 59,000 Celtic fans have been known to play their part as well.<\/p>\n \u201cLegia are not a great side and it would be a big help. They could still get through \u2013 they did it last year \u2013 but who knows?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Certainly not MacAvennie. Thats because he’s an idiot.<\/p>\n I’ve not been a big fan of what I’ve seen so far from Deila, but, he’s got to be given a chance. Its going to be a test of his character this week, indeed this season. He won’t have experienced the way the press behave towards him in Scotland anywhere else. He won’t have had former players having a pop at him in the media either, and he’s never had to shoulder the expectations of so many supporters before. Supporters who are unrivalled anywher eelse for their commitment to their club.<\/p>\n \u00a0Its probably been a bit of a culture shock for him. He’s had all \u00a0the shite that can be thrown at him over the last week. At least give him the chance to throw it back.<\/p>\n \u00a0If he does come through this, we might actually have a decent manager on our hands. Remember, if you don’t make mistakes, you’ll never know when you’re doing something right.<\/p>\n John Collins scored the third goal in a 3-0 win over Cologne back in the days when 3-0 wins over anyone were a rarity.<\/p>\n \u00a0The hoops also beat another hooped side when they needed three clear goals to win. Who, when, and who was the manager at the time ?<\/p>\n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Finally, someone has remembered what it means to play for Celtic. Scott Brown, captain and heartbeat of the side came out swinging yesterday, and although…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/brown-v-legia.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-1q6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5464,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions\/5464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n