No. I don’t know how thats happened either.<\/p>\n
Celtic stormed into the last thirty two of the Europa League-thats the bit that John Guidetti can play in-with a 3-1 defeat at home to Red Bull Salzburg. That wasn’t the result that took the club through, it was Astra Guirgi beating Dinamo Zagreb that clinched it.<\/p>\n
So , it didn’t feel like a defeat last night, although it was as comprehensive as any Deila men will take this season.<\/p>\n
Salzburg came flying out of the traps and were two up inside the first quarter of an hour. Then they switched off and allowed Celtic to claw thier way back into he game, Stefan Johansen getting one back before the break. After that Celtic did appear to dominate, but couldn’t make anything of it. In truth, the Austrians would probably have just switched back on if we had.<\/p>\n
There were some spirited performances on show, Leigh Griffiths was a nuisance up front with his endless running and battling, Anthony Stokes and Emilio Izaguerre combined well on the left, but the reality is there was little else to cheer about.<\/p>\n
Salzburg were fitter, stronger and faster than Celtic. Celtic, again, struggled to string their passes together when under pressure. And when not under pressure as well.<\/p>\n
Deilas been in charge for five months now, and based on last night, the team hasn’t progressed at all.<\/p>\n
Yet there we are, in with a chance of four trophies, or at least a realistic shot at a treble. So he must be doing something right. Or is he just bluffing ? Which means \u00a0sooner or later we are going to find out that he’s just been very lucky so far.<\/p>\n
The empty top tier shows that either the support isn’t interested in the Europa league, or they don’t feel its worth going to see the team when they are misfiring most of the time. The low turn out last night was disappointing, especially as a win would have secured qualification on our own merit.<\/p>\n
It was a funny old night, when alls said and done. Ronny seemed pleased, but a little dazed by it all.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy to get through but we wanted to do that by ourselves and win the game tonight,\u201d the Hoops boss said.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSalzburg are a very good football team. They threatened every time they attacked, and they were direct as we knew they were going to be.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe opened the game very poorly and conceded two easy goals, and one from a set-play that shouldn\u2019t happen and that put us in a bad situation.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI was really encouraged by the fight they showed to get back into the game to get to 2-1, and I was proud of how we really attacked them and put them under pressure.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We got the crosses and the chances we needed but we couldn\u2019t put it in, and in the end they got the third goal which can happen when you put everyone in attack.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe should maybe have had a goal in the second half but the best team has gone through. Salzburg have shown themselves as a very good team to win 5-1 away in Zagreb and win almost every game they have played.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe have been the second best team and we will have fight further to go through to the last 16.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Salzburg more often than not prevented the crosses going in, and they were also quick to close down Celtics front three.<\/p>\n The next stage of the Europa League will see Celtic face either a group winner or one of the third placed teams from the champions league groups. Which at the moment is quite daunting. But Ronny isn’t worried;<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the third-placed team in the Champions League will be any better than the team we met tonight so this is the standard,\u201d he said.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe met a modern football team in my opinion, tonight, with 11 incredibly hardworking players and very direct intensity. And if we can handle this we will be able to handle the Champions League teams.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0He does know they beat us, doesn’ he. He did notice that when they tried, they carved Celtic to pieces ? So, when he says that “if we can handle this<\/em> ” its worth noting that we didn’t ” handle this” by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n \u00a0Theres still the Zagreb game to go, which thankfully is now nothing more than a practice match, and then its a few months before the next Europa game. Lets try to be ready for it.<\/p>\n \u00a0Hearts are next up on. \u00a0Sunday sees the second meeting between Celtic and the first division pace setters on cup duty, and it might not be as easy as we think.<\/p>\n \u00a0Leigh Griffiths and John Guidetti up front ?<\/p>\n \u00a0Deila called Salzburg a “modern hardworking team” , and they use two up front. Come on, give it a go. This pattern, if you can call it that, of three advanced midfielders behind and around a striker isn’t working. No-one seems to know where anyone is, or what they are supposed to be doing. And they can’t get the ball to them accurately anyway.<\/p>\n Never mind.\u00a0<\/strong>Dion Dublin, former Celt, has released a Christmas album. From the Scotsman;<\/p>\n Dublin, 45, is a keen amateur percussionist, and invented an instrument he called \u2018The Dube\u2019, a type of percussion instrument based on the Peruvian caj\u00f3n, and accompanied Britpop band Ocean Colour Scene at a gig at the University of East Anglia.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Titled \u2018Dion Dublin\u2019s Christmas Presents\u2019, it features songs such as Silent Night and Fairytale of New York.<\/em><\/p>\n Dublin, who tasted success with Celtic in 2006 as part of their title-winning side, described the album as \u2018quite eclectic\u2019, adding: \u201cYou\u2019ve got ska, funk, soul, indie, even a bit of classical.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey are all familiar Christmas tunes but we\u2019ve given them a twist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For every copy sold, \u00a31 will go towards The Bobby Moore Fund, a cancer charity.<\/em><\/p>\n Dublin added: \u201cMy passion for music lay dormant during my football career and now I can explore it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI sing a few backing vocals but I\u2019m not much of a singer. You won\u2019t see me on X Factor.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Oh. Thats a shame.<\/p>\n We won’t see him on X Factor<\/strong>, but he will be on tv a lot this coming week. Craig Whyte is back in town, and he’s helping police with their enquiries. Is he the first domino in the line to fall ? A line that could lead deep into the bowels of \u00a0“respectable” \u00a0Scottish Society ? Well, we all know what comes out of the bowels, and there is probably a lot of it swilling around in a lot of high places just now, and it might just be time for it to fall.<\/p>\n So , cheer yourself up a bit with this;<\/p>\n \u00a0Paradise Road\u00a0<\/strong>author Stephen O’Donnell has a new book out. “Scotball ” is a coming home story filled with humourous \u00a0characters and an idea for a tv show that makes a lot of sense in any country in the world, except Scotland. Its out now, and a review will appear on here when I’ve finished reading it. Which is always a good time to do a review, I feel.<\/p>\n \u00a0Finally<\/strong>, one of Scottish footballs true greats, commnetator Arthur Monford has passed away. In the days when commentators described the action and not the statistics, Montford has a permanent place in the minds of those who watched Scotsport on a Sunday, when people in Scotland were allowed to watch proper highlights of games.<\/p>\n \u00a0Go over to You Tube and listen to some of his commentaries. Legendary.<\/p>\n May he Rest In Peace.<\/p>\n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No. I don’t know how thats happened either. 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