Caitlin Hayes was first into the media room at Celtic Park yesterday ahead of her manager Fran Alonso and she certainly did a fine job battling away against the mainstream media hacks trying to get her to acknowledge that this evening’s match under the lights at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld is an Old Firm encounter. Caitlin every single time put them right emphasising that this is a Glasgow Derby. Well done that Ghirl!
With three league defeats on the bounce against theRangers, who last season won the title without losing a match, we asked Caitlin if a league win was overdue in this fixture. Two cup wins against theRangers last season on the way to Celtic winning the two trophies clearly points to the closeness of the games with one side continually getting the better of the other in the league and that position being reversed in the cups. All the matches were close and competitive.
Caitlin takes it back a little further and looks at the fixtures in the previous season and in the games she’s been a part of the record is Celtic 5 theRangers 3, while on the distribution of trophies last season the Celtic minded central defender notes that the scoreline on that from was Celtic 2 theRangers 1. Again outstanding entertainment from the centre half who likes scoring a goal herself.
That though still avoids the point that ultimately Celtic will want to win the SWPL1 for the first time. Last season was the first time tonight’s hosts won the league and they did that via a substantial investment in their playing staff after disappointment in the season before last.
Fran Alonso side has the top two goalscorers in the league this season in Clarissa Larisey and Jacynta and both are available this evening. Arguably those two are the top two players in the league and both are goal threats every time they play so Celtic can go to Broadwood with a great deal of confidence, knowing a win will take the Hoops to the top of the league looking down on theRangers.
Here’s some of what Caitlin was saying in a very entertaining media conference which you can watch below.
“I’m just super excited for the opportunity to not only play the game with my team-mates but also to have the opportunity to play in a Glasgow derby which is something that, as a Celtic fan, you look forward to,” Caitlin Hayes said.
“I don’t think you need any extra motivation when these two colours collide in any situation. At the end of the day, we’re there to play the game of football, we’re not there to play the occasion, and those three points will be worth the same weight as the ones we’ve reaped from Hearts, so we just focus on our performance and move forward positively.
READ THIS…Glasgow Derby Special: “The motivation is to wear the Hoops in any game,” Fran Alonso
“There were three competitions last year and we won two of them, and that is our positive spin that we’ll put on that. We knocked (the)Rangers out of both cups, and that’s obviously a great achievement we made with that team, but football is a revolving door and the personnel are different this year, but the colours are the same and you still fight with the same fight, and that’s how we move forward.
“You’ve got to be positive otherwise there would be no point going out there,” Caitlin Hayes explained, “so we’ve got the positivity of moving forward and sticking together, looking at past results in terms of how we’ve started this league campaign, and we are positive.
“The Glasgow derby is something we all look forward to and you don’t have to be from Scotland to know what it means to put on that shirt on a day like this.
“We’ll be there and we’ll turn up and hopefully, if we stick to our game-plan and put in the work we’ve been putting in these past couple of weeks, then we’ll reap the rewards of the three points.”
The Celtic Star asked Caitlin about the boost in having the top two players in the country this season – Jacynta and Clarissa Larisey – back in the squad for this evening’s Glasgow Derby.
“It’ll be huge to have them back. They’re not just great players, they’re great people. They add a lot to the team and they make the depth of our squad even stronger, and hopefully today they’ll get a few goals each!”
READ THIS…It’s Glasgow Derby Day – the Rangers v Celtic : Team News, Match Officials, KO Time and Where to Watch
Now that would be lovely. Enjoy Caitlin’s media conference and remember enough of that World Cup nonsense for this evening, instead (if you don’t have a ticket) tune into BBC Alba from 5pm where the game is live with the kick-off at 5.15pm.
We’ll be there to give the Ghirls a cheer….COYGIG
Saturday night fever 🔥
It's Derby Day in Glasgow…🍀
🏆 SWPL
🆚 Rangers
🏟 Broadwood Stadium
🕔 5:15pm
📺 @bbcalba #RANCEL | #SWPL | #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/Hkwe3yaMae— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) November 26, 2022