Regardless of how things pan out this afternoon in the final round of fixtures in the SWPL the Celtic manager Fran Alonso will be proud of his players after the tremendous season that they’ve enjoyed, taking Celtic to the verge of our first ever Champions League qualification and perhaps even, if results go our way, Celtic’s first ever SWPL title (given it would be a first, would that count as 55?).
“I expect a team who will really want to win, be well-organised and looking to maximise their strengths. They know the eyes of the country will be on two games tomorrow and they’re involved in one so they’ll want to play the best football they can and try and get something from the game,” Alsono said at the Mixed Media Conference ahead of today’s game, in which The Celtic Star asked him about how the other other coaches, Malky Thomson at theRangers and Scott Booth at Glasgow City will be thinking ahead of these vital games.
Alonso also told us that he’s sorted the weather to ensure plenty of Spanish style sunshine for Scotland and he’s even done something even more unlikely in that he’s got the entire Celtic support looking for a win for theRangers this afternoon.
Defend corners? Not a problem under Alonso, a huge threat at every Celtic corner, tick that box too and plenty more admirable aspects to the work he’s put in on the training ground, the most significant being the brilliant team spirit in the camp.
“It’s really about the three points – we can’t think about the goal difference or the other game. If we draw 0-0 and Rangers win, then we are out of the Champions League, so we need to focus on ourselves. Three points would be automatic qualification for the Champions League, and this would be a dream come true for us in our first year as professional with a lot of players who are still amateurs,” Alonso explained.
Despite knowing there’s still work to be done, the Spaniard is hoping he will be “the happiest guy in the world” come full-time regardless of the outcome in the other fixture, and stressed the importance of the Celts maintaining their concentration and attitude that has helped them create this 12 game unbeaten run.
Fran added: “If we score, we will try to score the next like we always do. We are an attacking-minded team but for me, if we can get the three points, I would be delighted. Winning the title would be amazing, but I would be the happiest guy in the world if we get the three points and qualify for the Champions League.
“We are in a very high standard routine now. We’ve been doing it for the last twelve games and we haven’t changed anything this week, other than tactically, but in terms of our standards we’ve stuck to what has been successful for us. The quality has been super at training, and although it’s almost like a Cup Final the game won’t mentally intimidate us. We have dealt with pressure before, so I don’t think we will be nervous.”
Watch his excellent Mixed Media conference below and as I’m now heading to Airdrie for the game against Motherwell, one last time ahead of the match COYGIG…
