A Swiss Ramble blog on Celtic’s financial position:
http://swissramble.blogspot.ch/2015/06/celtic-everythings-gone-green.html?m=1
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Bhoys, I think Derk Boerrigter could play a useful role this season.
Hmmm… Was he fit at the end of last season? Ronny didn’t seem to give him any chances - but maybe the message was to get himself fitter and stronger for next season and writing off last season as a result. He isn’t actually a bad player, just hasn’t been available. He’d be a decent wide option in a decent attacking team.
Yeah, he was a development team regular for the last month or two. I’m speculating that his fitness was being built up and he’s been on a summer programme and Ronny will give him another opportunity now.
What do we make of the lunch menu at pre-season training? Chunky chips available.
I’d prefer to see the whole week’s menu at the one time so you can make a judgement on what to have today based on knowing if the same offering will be there tomorrow or not.
Henderson appears to be returning from Rosenberg with an injury of some sort - he’s on crutches but don’t think it’s serious.
He didn’t make a huge impression there after a bright start. He made 9 appearances, all off the bench and only got 116 minutes in total on the pitch. That’s pretty shit - he could have done that in 2 games by staying and we’d have used him.
He started 4 cup games also, @Rocko. But overall he probably didn’t play as much as he or Celtic wanted. It may be beneficial in the long run for him though to have experienced a different culture and all that shite.
That’s not so bad so. Still can’t really understand the logic given our lack of cover in his position but hopefully we’ll be better for it in the long run.
Wouldn’t be a big fan but I like the way New Balance/Warrior seem to not just issue the same shitty templates for clubs.
Some promising comments from Ronny on Boyata in this interview.
And then some not so promising comments on Mulgrew who he sees as a central midfielder. To be honest, I’m not sure what I’d do with Mulgrew. He’s far too slow on the ball and off the ball to play in midfield. He looked competent at the back for Scotland but then you think back to him playing there against Legia last season and he was embarrassing. But that was only after he was outclassed in midfield first before Ambrose got sent off.
#Ronny Deila: I waited a year to sign Dedryck Boyata… players like him only come along once in a Blue Moon
06:00, 28 JUNE 2015
BY GORDON WADDELL
HOOPS boss believes finally tempting the Manchester City stopper to Glasgow will see the Belgian make the same huge strides Jason Denayer did last season.
RONNY DEILA last night revealed he tried to get Dedryck Boyata out of his loveless marriage with Manchester City last summer before landing Jason Denayer.
Now he’ll finally get the chance to lavish the sort of affection and trust on the 24-year-old Belgian he felt he needed a year ago.
The kind of mentoring that has seen Denayer head back down the road to Eastlands with a sparkle in his eye and a spring in his step.
Boyata is the Hoops’ only signing of the summer so far, coming in on a four-year deal as a straight replacement for stop-gap stopper Denayer.
And Deila insists after another season of being unloved and under-appreciated by City, making only one EPL start, he’s ripe for a fresh relationship.
The Norwegian said: “I’ve known about for him for one year.
“We got Jason, we weren’t allowed to get Boyata then – now their roles have been changed.
“That’s not to say Boyata was first choice – that’s hard to say because at the time they wanted to keep him and Jason was a possibility.
“Jason then hadn’t played an important match in his life – now it’s quite different.
“But that’s also one of the reasons Dedryck wanted to come here because he saw what happened with Jason.
“He needs love and trust. He needs opportunities to play over time.
“You also have to deserve it, of course, but that is done in training and matches.
“When you don’t get any minutes, you’re just there, and you don’t feel the love you need.
“In the end we got a very good player. I know that if we can get the best out of him he has the potential to be a top international player.
“City agree and will follow him in the future to see if he can take the next step, like Virgil Van Dijk is trying to do now.
“Jason has shown what he was and where he is now. If we have good material to work with, we can make a top player.
“It’s not easy to play your way into the Man City team when they can buy players for £35million in that position.
“The level is very high. There are no youngsters coming through there.
“The Scottish top flight is a better stage to get into, the level of the league isn’t as high as it is in England.”
Deila was assessing his squad’s readiness for action last week with European football only two and a half weeks away.
He has no worries over skipper Scott Brown, last seen limping off the park at the Aviva in Scotland’s 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland.
Deila said: “It was just cramp. But Scott has been injured in the last two years so we have to try to do things differently with him in the pre-season because he is an important players for us and we need him on the pitch.
“It is very important for us that he is ready for the big matches.
“Was he the difference last season? Of course – maybe not against Legia Warsaw but Maribor was a tie of small margins and Brown is an important player.
“When he came back in the team he made a big impact.”
Deila also admitted he was delighted to see Charlie Mulgrew involved with Scotland – although he insists he still doesn’t see him as a centre-half.
He said: “That was our goal, to get him into that Scotland squad and get practice and now he has three or four games going into the pre-season.
“Do I see him as a centre half as well? I see him as a midfielder who can also play centre-half and left-back!”
Ronny Deila is confident he has a squad capable of improving on last season
While the personnel hasn’t changed as much as fans may have hoped, Deila feels there is the potential to achieve major improvements with the players he already has at the club.
He said: “Everything must be quicker. That is what we are working on. The pattern is starting to get quite clear, players know what they have to do.
“Now the goal is to get that as quick as possible and if things get quicker then it is going to be very hard for other teams to beat us.
“We are on a totally different level now than we were one year ago.
“From where we started and where we are now, it’s miles apart. I think the players feel that as well.
“It’s like a relationship – it gets better as time goes on, hopefully!
“You experience things together, positive and negative.
“You build trust and start to know each other and know what you can expect from one another.
“We’ve had one year, we look happy and we want to continue like that. Maybe I am the wife in the relationship, not the husband!”
Doesn’t sound like Lustig is going to play much more this season than last.
MIKAEL LUSTIG has revealed it will be another YEAR before he is fully fit.
The Celtic defender has just made his comeback after missing five months with an ankle ligament injury.
But Hoops medics have told Swedish full-back Lustig it will take 12 months for the swelling to go down.
He said: “I can give 100 per cent but the ankle is still quite swollen. But they say it’s going to be like that for a while so I just need to go through that. It could be up to a year before it’s back to normal but it could be worse. I am ready to go.
“It’s my ankle ligaments and of course I don’t feel 100%, but I can give 100%.
“I take painkillers when we play games but not for training. I try not to do that.
“I have trained now for three weeks and it’s getting better.
“It was frustrating being out for so long. I got some muscle injuries at the start of last season.
“When I got my second one, I thought, ‘I need to do this properly and take a couple of weeks extra’.
“I did that but then after two games I got the ankle injury and was a little bit unlucky.
“The boys played really well after Christmas and of course you want to be a part of that.
“We were so close to getting a Treble.
“Am I a good spectator? Maybe for one or two games. But after that, you want to be out there.
“To be honest, I’d rather be at home than watch games.
“I didn’t do that. I went to every home game to support the guys because it’s not all about me — but it can be hard.
“My wife did have another baby so it was good timing for that.
“It made things easier to look after two kids.”
Celtic boss Ronny Deila needs Lustig for his side’s Champions League bid after Adam Matthews was sold to Sunderland.
The Swede is ready to play his part and believes the Hoops will be a lot more streetwise in Europe this season.
Deila’s men shipped 23 goals in 14 Euro ties last term and Lustig knows that stat must improve. He said: “I think we were a little too naive in Europe last season.
“If we missed passes we got punished more than we do in the Scottish Premiership.
“A Scottish team may go with ten men behind the ball — but in Europe the other team has to score.
“But we are going to be more up for it this season and not as naive.
“I just remember the first game away against Legia Warsaw — we gave away two or three passes in the middle and they punished us with goals. We can’t do that again.
“We got punished for it last season but now we know more what the gaffer wants. We know the way to play.
“It’s really important that you remember it’s two legs and that we are strong at Celtic Park and can change the tie here.
“It’s 180 minutes and you have to remember that and not get too emotional about games.”
Lustig, meanwhile, has backed new boy Dedryck Boyata to be the ideal replacement for fellow Belgian Jason Denayer.
He said: “There is a lot of confidence in Dedryck. He’s a great guy and he has shown already he will be important for us and a good signing.
“He can be a good replacement for Jason.”
6 match domestic ban for Nadir Ciftci to kick-off his Celtic career:
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/celtic/1324967-nadir-cifti-six-game-ban-for-biting-jim-mcalister-in-dundee-derby/
Fuck, I forgot about that. A little nibble like that is part and parcel of the game these days.
What’s happening with McGeouch? Is he still under contract? Are we going to cut him loose or what? Has he been involved in pre-season?
I think he’s too lightweight to make it in the middle of the pitch and doesn’t have the pace to play out wide. 22 now as well so his Celtic career would look over if he hasn’t broken through by now.
i assume he will join hibs, never really did it
Lads is van dijk worth 10mill?
If Stones is worth 30m then Van Dijk is worth 60m.
We extended his contract by another year last month. Not sure what the motivation was. Can’t see him being involved with the first team this season. Were we hoping to sell him to Hibs?