Deila Assures Players Will Be Prepared For Conditions

After being paired with Icelandic club KR Reykjavik in the qualifying round for the Champions League 2014-15 season, Celtic will be expected to have a tough time with cold. However, manager Ronny Deila says that he will make sure that his players are made aware of the tough conditions that they can expect from the match. Scottish clubs need to go through the qualifying round in order to make it into the group stages of the Champions League. The lack of Rangers in the Scottish Premier league puts qualification to this tournament extremely important for Celtic.

This is the only way they can test themselves against the top opposition. Much will be expected from the club as they prepare for the new regime under Ronny Deila. Under the stewardship of Neil Lennon, they reached the last 16 of the Champions League two years ago. They were knocked out by Italian club Juventus. Even reaching the last 16 will be regarded as a major achievement, but for now, the sights will be set upon the group stages. Celtic will get as much as £ 30 million from the group stages, which will be a huge amount for the club.

The Scottish Premier league is not rewarding – compared English Premier league – in terms of TV revenue. After the draw was made, Ronny Deila said that he was happy with the outcome. The first leg will be on July 15 or 16.

“Icelandic football has improved a lot in the last few years. They are hard-working players with a good team spirit. They will be well organised too. But we are Celtic. We should be a better team than them over two matches. Now it’s all about doing everything right in pre-season to get the squad physically and mentally prepared for these games.  It could be better and it could be worse. I think it’s an OK draw,” said Deila.

Now what do we do?

So that’s definitely it then – England are out. The Italians refused to do us a small favour in despatching those giants of World Cup football Costa Rica – and our boys are on the first available flight home after they’ve had a consolatory crack at Costa Rica themselves.

And what happened in the Italy-Costa Rica game by the way? The Italian side that so cynically put away England with a professionalism that typified the way they have always played the beautiful game looked like they’d all taken a couple of tablets of Nytol before they walked on the pitch.

It seemed like they just weren’t interested – or was it the Costa Ricans’ determination to close everything down so quickly that made the Italians look like they’d been drugged? Continue reading “Now what do we do?”

Deila Already Working For Upcoming Season

New Celtic boss Ronny Deila has claimed that he has already started working for the upcoming season by looking at several DVDs of the existing players and also of transfer targets. He says that he has been on the phone trying to complete the deals for some players. Celtic recently appointed Ronny Deila as the replacement for Neil Lennon, who stepped down from his role after more than four years in charge of the club. Deila is one of the young and upcoming managers in world football at just 38 years of age.

Known as being a workaholic, he has stated that work has already begun for the new season with Celtic not just looking to win the Scottish Premier league again. Much will be expected from the Scottish club comes to the Champions League campaign. Under the management of Lennon, they reached the last 16 stage of the competition where they were knocked out by Juventus a few years ago. Deila states that he is still in the process of understanding Celtic after being appointed as the new manager only a few days ago.

However, it has not prevented him from trying to get in touch with his staff about the work for the upcoming campaign. Celtic won the league title by a comfortable margin.

“I spent a lot of my time in Norway over the weekend speaking to a lot of people. You have to get to know your staff and you have to get to know your players so I have spoken with some of them. I have also spent time watching the DVDs of Celtic because it is very important for me that I know exactly what was happening on the pitch last season. That gives me a better idea and a feeling for what was good in the team, what can be improved upon in the future and what direction I now want to take the squad,” said Deila.

Lennon Interested In Norwich Job

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has said that he would be interested in taking over the vacant managerial job at Norwich, thus accepting for the first time that the speculation linking him with the English outfit are true. Lennon has long been linked with the managerial job at Norwich, but he has resisted the lure to stay at Celtic. Now, though, he seems ready to come to English football after winning the league title with the Scottish outfit without much opposition in the last few years. Lennon is aware that moving to Norwich will provide him with a bigger challenge, although it would mean lesser trophies.

The absence of ranges from the Scottish Premier league has left a major void in terms of competition for Celtic. If Lennon comes to Norwich, then he will have to manage his first season at the club in the championship. The club were relegated after two seasons in the Premier league. They finished in the final relegation spots, which was confirmed in the last two weekends of the season. Despite the absence of Premier league football at Norwich, Lennon says that he would be ready to manage the club. This has opened the possibility of an exit in the summer.

Lennon may think twice about leaving Celtic because of the Champions League offer that are still present with the Scottish outfit. Their transfer budget in the summer could go a long way into determining the presence of the manager, who has received both criticism and plaudits in the summer. Celtic won the league title with a record number of points, but they were unable to progress in the Scottish cup final. Further, the Champions League campaign has also been a disappointment this time around after reaching the last 16 stage in the previous season.

SPECTACULAR SEASON

Rangers are going through a spectacular season as they still remain undefeated in the Scottish League One but everything has not been perfect for the team of Ally McCoist after being knocked out from the Scottish Cup when losing against Dundee United.

Despite losing 3-1 against Dundee United, McCoist refuses to put the blame on the goalkeeper of the club, Steve Simonsen who was recently been heavily critiqued in Twitter by fans. Continue reading “SPECTACULAR SEASON”

LENNON BACKS MOYES

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has come out in support of his countryman David Moyes after the Scot has faced a lot of pressure since taking over at Manchester United. Ahead of the club’s meeting with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday, fans have revealed about a protest by flying a banner on a plane. Even though only a small group of supporters have turned against their manager following a run of poor results against rivals, a majority of the United supporters appeared to be behind David Moyes. The club has been going through one of the worst seasons in recent history.

Aside from losses against the likes of West Brom at home, United have also suffered very poor results at the hands of their arch rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. Even though they have qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals, many reckon that it is an astonishing achievement that the club has come this far under Moyes. So far, the signings that he has made have also not worked out with Marouane Fellaini especially coming in for heavy criticism. Neil Lennon, who is about to win the Scottish league title with a record amount of points, says that a manager should be given time to implement his ideas.

“I have a little understanding of what David Moyes is going through but I can’t second guess how he’s feeling. With all managerial jobs, when you go through a rough period, it’s a lonely place. What I’m not happy about is the way people are rounding on him. You don’t mind constructive criticism but when it gets to the point they’re trying to humiliate him that leaves a sour taste in the mouth. He deserves a lot more than that and should be treated with more respect,” said Lennon, who has been linked with a Premier league job.