Celtic Diary Monday September 29: Even Keith Jackson Can See It.
September 29, 2014 · by
Ralph Malph · in
Diary,
Latest
The Diary has been accused of being somewhat fickle at times, largely because it is, but even the author is beginning to question his sanity this morning, when he found he agreed with an article written by Keith Jackson of the Daily Record, presumably after his head was cleared of previous thoughts by the method illustrated above. Theres a first time for everything, I suppose. And no, the bold Keith didn’t write about bears utilising large areas of forestry in order to evacuate their bowels. In fact, it was something even more obvious.
“
Celtic boss Ronny Deila makes managing a team look hard just like Ryder cup flop Tom Watson”
Alright, perhaps the headline could have been phrased better, I’ve no idea or desire to find out exactly how hard Tom Watson is, and even less desire to watch golf. After all, if someone hits a wee ball as hard as he can and then trudges off after it, there is obviously a loose wire somewhere in his circuitry. In cricket, they make someone else fetch it, which seems a much better idea.
In the article , Jackson says;
Ronny Deila didn’t arrive here with much of a reputation to lose. For the most part the Norwegian was unheralded and, yes, even unheard of. His work at Stromsgodset may have made big news in Gulskogen but it hadn’t travelled as far as Glasgow which is why Deila was up against it from the outset. He has an army of doubters to win over and quite frankly, the more the fans see of Deila’s work the less there is to convince them. Yes, a victory was cobbled together at St Mirren but this was another strikingly sub-par performance from Deila’s side.
In fact, his team is becoming unrecognisable from the all-conquering unit left to him by Neil Lennon and, for that, Deila has some explaining to do. The more he tinkers the less impressive the team becomes and, more alarmingly, there are now mutterings of discontent from behind the scenes at Lennoxtown where Deila’s ultra-modern methods appear to be causing some confusion.
The 38-year-old is full of ideas but precious few of them appear to be working for his players who remain unconvinced as to how a portion of rice with their Saturday night Chinese takeaway is going to make them perform more poorly on Thursday night when Celtic take on Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League.
All carbs and sugars have been banned by Deila who is in danger of coming across as a bit of a textbook fanatic, exactly the way Paul Le Guen did at Ibrox not so very long ago. Of course, its nothing that many of us haven’t already concluded, but if even Keith Jackson can see it, then Deilas days are already numbered. Not because the hack holds any sort of influence at Celtic Park, but because if he can see it, then those who hire and fire at Celtic Park will have already been whispering about it.
It’s as if Deila is determined to make management look like some sort of science but he is not being asked to split the atom here. He is merely being tasked with keeping Celtic ticking over as the strongest team in Scotland and right now he’s falling a long way short. Which, in fairness to Keith is exactly what most of us have been thinking, and questions now have to be asked of the manager, questions such as
” What the **** are you playing at ? “
In the main, what Ronny and Jonny appear to be doing is improving -or trying to improve-the players eating, sleeping and drinking habits. There is nothing wrong with that in principle. In fact, done correctly, it could well improve their performances. A previous manager, Gordon Strachan , arguably got exceptional performances from largely ordinary players by improving their fitness, citing the adage that “tired minds make tired decisions, ” and the concentration of his players, especially in Europe, was astonishing, more than once performing above their weight.
So, on balance, improving their fitness is a good idea, but theres a reason as to why when we join a gym, alright, when you join a gym, ( you wouldn’t catch me anywhere near one, I have my own rigid fitness regime, up one two and then the other sock ) you have a personal trainer, someone who regulates your fitness programme to your needs and physique. Actually, when I did once venture into a gym, I put my finger through a hole in my trainer and had to sign on a register for a couple of years. Anyone with a bit of common sense-no pun intended-can surely see that the likes of Kris Commons should be on a different diet and exercise routine than say, Eoghan O’ Connell.
A blanket ban on carbs and sugar, to quote Jacksons article again, if true, is ridiculous. Its like someone gave Deila the Ladybird Book of Things that Are Bad For You If Taken in Excess, and he’s using it as his starting point to create an all running , all passing superfootballer, when in fact, he’s created some six foot headless chickens, who probably sneak downstairs at midnight, open a packet of fruit gums, and eat them behind the garden shed.
Although the Norwegian has probably banned garden sheds as well, in case anyone nips out for a *** during the ads on Coronation Street. Deila still has time to change things, to adopt a wee bit more maturity, and dare I say, improve his people skills before he becomes the unicorn who stood on the beach, watching a big boat disappear over the horizon, and saying to his pal ” Oh, bollocks, was that today ? “ Perhaps there was some evidence in these words from the boss that he really is lowering expectations…
“We stuck together as a team in 90 minutes to win the game,” said Deila.
“The game was brought back to 1-1 and that was difficult to come back again.
“But we did it, we kept them away from our goal for the last 20 minutes, and that was positive.”
Keeping a side who have won one game this season away from your goal is not really a positive worth shouting about.
