“I have never heard of a game being put off or cancelled because a pitch is bumpy so it’s highly unlikely.<\/em><\/p>\n “The pitch is the same for both teams and if it is bumpy then we might have to be a bit more direct. We have to adapt.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Ach, lets face it, the passing of late has been dreadful even on good surfaces, so we’re probably as well just hoofing ti up to ciftci. well, maybe not Ciftci, but you get the point.<\/p>\n UEFAs match delegate decided the pitch was playable before the Celts flew out yesterday, as the rules stipulate, and so therefore it will take place. It’s that simple, and hard to see what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n The doubts came from, and grew with word from a “source 2 who told the Daily Record;<\/p>\n \u201cObviously the situation is far from ideal but a decision has been made today that the match will go ahead as planned. The surface is not in a good condition at all but unless it gets worse between now and Wednesday night it will be playable and there will be no issue with safety.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cUEFA are coordinating things in Baku but as a result of the problems, both teams will be asked to train at different venues on the night before the game.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cObviously if Celtic are unhappy about this then there may be more discussions. They could still be given the chance to come to the stadium and to look at the pitch, to see it for themselves, but the feeling is they should not be allowed to train on it.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Manager Deila accepts Celtic may not be able to play his usual way;<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWe will have to adjust the tactics according to the pitch.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn the Champions League you expect quality pitches but we just have to deal with it. We will check it when we get there and maybe have to modify the tactics. We want to play total football but we need to use our brains as well.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be very careful on a bumpy pitch. You don\u2019t want to be passing it around. It will be stupid to ask the players to play passes in their own half on such a bumpy surface.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s the same for both teams. It will affect them because they are a football team which we saw in the first game at Parkhead.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n It’s just like the old days really, when Celtic would fly behind the iron curtain and have to play army teams on red ash pitches and try to get the game finished before it went dark. ( are you sure sure -Ed ? )<\/p>\n Deila seemed happy enough when he got there, but thats because he’d left some contraband \u00a0in someone elses bag during the flight for a laugh and couldn’t wait to see what happened as they arrived in Baku.<\/p>\n Qarabag have said that they will carry out a bit of work on the surface before the game, to try to bring it up to scratch, and have hired a couple of expert horticulturists looking at the problem;<\/p>\n There may have been a clue in how Celtic will approach the game in Nir bitons terse reply to a hack who warned him that supporters won’t allow the pitch to be used as an excuse for defeat, in that time honoured way that Scottish hacks get behind the hoops in Europe.<\/p>\n We won\u2019t accept that either. There are no excuses for us. We just need to go through, and to do that we need to play our game.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe will be playing in the same conditions as Qarabag. The most important thing for us is that we keep the clean sheet that we need to go through. If we play as a team defensively, then we can do that. It\u2019s about working hard as a team, and if we do not lose a goal, everything will be good.\u201d \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n And the heat ?<\/p>\n \u201cI used to play in this heat. It\u2019s been two years now that I have been in Scotland, so that experience is all gone!<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t matter how much you are used to playing in temperatures like this, it\u2019s difficult when it\u2019s 35 degrees \u2013 especially for the Scottish guys! The foreigners will find it tough also \u2013 it will be difficult for me \u2013 but, like I say, there are no excuses.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThe weather and the pitch condition doesn\u2019t matter. We just need to do our best and play in the way the gaffer wants us to play.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Will Celtic be adopting the park the bus method ? Biton is right, keep a clean sheet and Celtic go through.<\/p>\n hopefully not, because \u00a0that’s not going to work. An hour and a half of sitting deep will not keep the Azeri’s out. Especially on a bumpy pitch. Celtic will have to score at least one tomorrow, and possibly more.<\/p>\n Hopefully Celts will be working on set pieces, especially with the news that Charlie mulgrew hasn’t made the trip. We will need someone to tee the ball up for Boyata and van dijk, who will be our main threat up front, because Ciftci hasn’t settled yet, and appears to be delegated to bring others into the game as opposed to scoring himself.<\/p>\n One thing that does offer env=couragement is the fact that Celtic will be going into the game with more or less a full strength squad. There have been no strains or knocks of note picked up pre season, with the exception of perhaps Mulgrew, and this is down to the changes Deila made to the way players are looked after at Celtic Park;<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cEverything we do with treatment and planning is to avoid stupid injuries. Charlie is maybe the first one where we\u2019ve had an over-use injury last season. It makes it harder for me if it is (going to be) like last year.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t talk of this last season because everyone had to play, as we had five or six players out all of the time. Now we have zero. It made it harder for me. The level in training better and everybody is getting better when they can train consistently.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe have added people to the medical and physical side. We have also changed the way we train and prepare to train, how we have treatment and everything else. It has totally changed from last year.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of improvement to do there because we had way too many injuries – pulled muscles and things like that. The numbers now speak for themselves. Players are in the right way and doing the right things.”<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIf you lose your best players to injuries, that can be the difference between success and failure,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we had Scott Brown available last season, maybe it would have been a different story for us in the Champions League.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt is something we have done over the season. It is about getting in knowledge, about developing everybody in the right way, so everyone is thinking in the right way and the same way. It is about good planning and good treatment, to always get people ready for training and matches.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Education and development is important, and as long as they are in the right proportions, the players cannot fail to benefit;<\/p>\n \n There’s no doubt that has made a difference, although I keep hearing the words Mikael and Lustig as a warning that maybe theres still work to be done.<\/p>\n \u00a0The Swede, arguably Celtics best defender when fit, hasn’t really got going this season yet, and looks to be in pain at times. Hopefully, he’s getting better with every game, but the fact he’s playing when not completely fit is a worry, and it flies in the face of everything Deila is saying.<\/p>\n It wouldn’t be a big European game if the papers weren’t selling our key players, and one paper claims that Southampton are keen to land Virgil van Dijk before the English season starts, whenever that is.<\/p>\n And they are prepared to, or have already , \u00a0put either \u00a37m or \u00a38m on the table for him. ;<\/p>\n Express Sport\u00a0can reveal the English Premier League club have now opened the bidding for the Dutch defender.<\/em><\/p>\n The offer was made before Van Dijk and his team-mates flew out to Qarabag for the second leg of their Champions League qualifier.<\/em><\/p>\n Southampton were prepared to let Celtic get the tie out of the way but would want a deal done before their league opener with Newcastle this weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n How many times ?<\/p>\n As long as Celtic are in the Champions League, he isn’t going anywhere, and there is no desire to go to a mid table English side when he does eventually go.<\/p>\n And not for that sort of money either.<\/p>\n Craig Gordon provided a little light relief at the airport yesterday, when he saw the Scottish National Orchestra were around;<\/p>\n![\"All](\"http:\/\/i2.dailyrecord.co.uk\/incoming\/article6186197.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/celtic.jpg\")
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