“Our goalkeeper was outstanding, I think he made four or five magnificent saves and he’s been doing that for the last few weeks. He’s a top young goalkeeper and today he kept the scoreline down.”<\/em><\/p>\n There was a worry before the game when someone set the fire alarm off in the team hotel, but Deila laughed it off, and it didn’t seem to affect the players game;<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a team meeting at 2.30am!<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if the fire alarm was deliberate but \u2028we were laughing. I haven\u2019t experienced it before.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI thought it was my phone waking me up but it was a bit more than that. We were on the street for 15 minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Who could that have been ?<\/p>\n Any ideas ?<\/p>\n Anything on cctv ?<\/p>\n \u00a0Well, I’m fresh out of clues.<\/p>\n \u00a0The only worries after the game were the injuries to Kris Commons and Mikael Lustig, both of whom were replaced, but although they may miss Wednesdays Glasgow derby at Firhill, there are no real worries in the camp that there are any serious problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ronny Deila said afterwards that<\/p>\n ““Commons felt something on the back of his thigh but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s serious.<\/em>” and\u00a0\u201cLustig has twisted his ankle and hopefully that\u2019s not so bad either.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Looks serious to me. Theye’re not even on first name terms.<\/p>\n Ronny seems happy enough though, and he’s been telling us why;<\/p>\n “I love winning and developing things and that’s what we’re doing now, We’re starting to look like a Ronny Deila team and that makes me happy.<\/em><\/p>\n “I’m very happy with the performance, the team spirit and the energy. We seem very quick and sharp, and I saw that in training last week. We are improving all the time.<\/em><\/p>\n “If we needed it, we had another level to go to. Today we won in a very good way, Dundee is not an easy team to beat and they have very good confidence now – they hadn’t lost for five matches and I can see why.<\/em><\/p>\n “There is a very good team spirit and we’re having a lot of fun, you can see that on the pitch. People are enjoying running, enjoying chasing. Also, now the offensive side is coming more and more, and that’s the thing we have to work even more on, to get more tempo in the last third of the pitch.” \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n He keeps driving them on, and that constant demand for improvement is beginning to pay off. Many have been asking if there are any signs of improvement since Deila took over, and there are one or two, quite subtle, but important differences from the first few weeks of his tenure, that we may not have noticed.<\/p>\n \u00a0Theres no longer a marked dip in the pace after around seventy minutes, which means the players are that little bit fitter, but thats to be expected as the season goes on, and the team plays more often.<\/p>\n \u00a0But theres one big difference, that if it is a difference and not just a coincidence, that might just mean that the Europa League will be more than a distraction from the treble.<\/p>\n \u00a0In the early European games back inAugust, Celtic had a habit of scoring first, and then chucking it all away. Look at the last he last two cup games, albeit against a lower standard of opposition, which may be a little disrespectful to Dundee, but not to Second Rangers. They truly are a couple of steps down the ladder.<\/p>\n \u00a0In those games, Celtic have taken an early lead and held on to it quite comfortably. The introduction of Nir Bitton as a holding midfielder might be the main difference, but the gung ho attitude has gone. Not so much in league games, but the two cup games have seen a more professional “hold on to what we have “display.<\/p>\n \u00a0If we can carry that into the Inter game, then anything can happen. It may be that the step up will be too much, but the point is the attitude is there, and keeping possession and shutting the door when in front is something that Celtic have not really ever got to grips with.<\/p>\n \u00a0Optimism in the Diary ? Did we just get a new writer in ?<\/p>\n One final, one quarter final, a last thirty two and top of the league ? Nothing to moan about there, is there ?<\/p>\n \u00a0There isn’t, but there is a note of caution. Theres two league games this coming week, bith away from home,and both of whih need to be won as Aberdeen drew level on points with the Hoops while we were playing in the Cup. The Dons don’t look like they will give up, and its worth noting that they are out of both cups and can concentrate solely on the league, which means they will put up a strong and consistent challenge whatever else you may hear.<\/p>\n \u00a0So why is Ronny already dreaming about the Inter game ? There will be time enough for that after the Partick and St. Johnstone trips, neither of which are six points in the bag just yet.<\/p>\n \u00a0He told the press;<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to those matches against Inter now.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThis could be the best the team have played since I arrived. I think so.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFor 90 minutes, it was the highest tempo. But there\u2019s still more to go.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m much more confident now in that we\u2019re together and know how we want to play. We\u2019ll have a big test against Inter but I\u2019m excited about it.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe team developing the most will win the tie. And my teams develop all the time, we never stop.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working hard every day to get the small things right. We\u2019ll see how far we\u2019ve come when we face Inter.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The league is the priority, the cups are a bonus. Of course, its hard nit to look ahead to these games, and the press will want to talk about it as well, but maybe the boss should try to avoid it until after the Perth game.<\/p>\n Theres two more Cup games today, with Dundee Utd at Stranraer, and Raith Rovers visiting Ibrox to face the new look Second Rangers. The Ibrox club have moved to bring in five new faces as they attempt to claw back what is now a 19 point deficit at the top of the First division, with Hearts beginning to disappear over the horizon.<\/p>\n \u00a0Mind you, the other sides can’t be faulted for their commitment, if thats the right word. One Livingston player made his bid for palyer of the week with this tackle, which merited a yellow card as opposed to an assault charge;<\/p>\n \u00a0Will the new loannees fit in at Ibrox ? Fraser Aird, who played ( in the first half ) against Celtic last Sunday wants another crack at Celtic, so he’s hoping that it all goes swimmingly. Apparently, Scott Browns comments after the game have upset the delicate little flower;<\/p>\n “If players are saying that they are pretty much saying we were s***e on the day. But Brown can say what he wants because that\u2019s his opinion. I would love another crack at Celtic, definitely. I\u2019m a Rangers fan so I would always want to play Celtic and it would be an opportunity to redeem ourselves. We didn\u2019t give ourselves the best chance on Sunday because we had quite a bad first half. But if we got them again in the Cup I would definitely take them.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Rangers Noise, an Ibrox fan website, sort of disagrees;<\/p>\n It must be national Fraser Aird idiocy day because not content with making ridiculous comments in the press in recent weeks, as addressed in my previous entry, young Aird has now decided to poke arch-rivals Celtic with further nonsense in the red tops.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I shudder to imagine how Rangers would fare against Celtic again, given how humiliatingly we underperformed at Hampden against a Parkhead side barely in first gear.<\/em><\/p>\n Aird is getting a bit of a name for himself as the brand new \u2018Rent-a-Quote\u2019 at Ibrox ever since McCulloch rather relinquished that role in the recent years.<\/em><\/p>\n This is not to absolutely castigate the defiant sentiments Aird has made above, in their own context anyway \u2013 but for a Rangers player to disagree with the notion Gordon was \u2018bored\u2019 (I would personally say \u2018asleep\u2019) for 90 minutes and imply, with foul language, that the opposition are calling Rangers poor, is astonishing.<\/em><\/p>\n It must be due to the failure to do any talking on the pitch whatsoever that is provoking Rangers players to do all theirs in the press now.<\/em><\/p>\n With news today that the three bears are about to make another statement regarding their plans for the club, things are a little uncertain south of the river, but whilst its obvious that Celtic fans don’t want another game against the new club, it appears that neither do they.<\/p>\n \u00a0Oh, and that statement ?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/B9QzPZQIYAIqar-.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n
![\"bears\"](\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/bears.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/B9SETC_IQAAQgFl.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/B9UEfZGIAAAF9at.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/B9RLFCzIAAAL9-J.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n![\"Embedded](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/B9TqnUuIYAADzjb.jpg:large\")
<\/p>\n![\"waiting\"](\"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/waiting.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cache4.asset-cache.net\/gc\/1257613-feb-1997-alan-thompson-of-bolton-celebrates-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=OCUJ5gVf7YdJQI2Xhkc2QA7SguZVfb9rPMcuNRkTGWsQCgLDZaSCSZ609YeCgenC5FmJExru%2Bab6CkXq3FhZqQ%3D%3D\")
<\/p>\n