CELTIC Assistant Manager Chris Davies is confident that Celtic will be back at Hampden next month to play in the semi-final of the Betfred Cup. Davies, like his boss Brendan Rodgers has a 100% record in domestic cup competitions to defend this evening against a St Johnstone side that will have former Celtic star Tony Watt leading the line.
While Davies and Rodgers can have every right to consider themselves winners it seems that the relentless attempts to derail the Celtic juggernaut has now reached the international media.
Today a German paper has branded Brendan Rodgers the loser of the week and this will be gleefully featured in the media here.
Sport Bild have published this which translates as follows:
“The 45-year-old was trainer at Liverpool FC before Jurgen Klopp. At Glasgow Celtic he is now responsible for the worst start to a season in 20 years with ten points out of six games.”
Then there’s Charlie Nicholas, who is at least consistent in never missing a chance to put the boot into Celtic. Charlie’s just sitting there worried apparently.
Chris Davies and Brendan will find this all new as far as Celtic are concerned – although the media have tried to manufacture slumps before during their time at Celtic, one in the Invincible season! But the management team have plenty experience from down south where the criticism may have been a little less agenda driven.
The only way to stop it though is put the ball in the back of the net and win games and that’s what Davies reckons Celtic will do this evening. Speaking in the new edition of The Celtic View he outlined his thoughts on tonight’s intriguing Betfred Cup quarter final.
“We’re confident that we can go there and get the result having played well there previously,” Davies stated.
“That gives us a good feeling going back there. We know that they can be a difficult team to break down. They’re a very hard-working team and industrious with one or two players that can be a threat.
“They signed Tony Watt and he’s an example of someone who has the potential to be dangerous. We have to be ready for that and go there with an energy and an edge to us that reflects our potential and can get us the win.
“The fact that this is a cup game might change the dynamic ever so slightly. However, generally teams will feel that dropping deep and defending will give them moments on the counter-attack, so in terms of the style of their tactical approach it doesn’t really change too much in the cups.
“Often they’ll still sit deep and use counter-attacks and set-pieces for their goal threat. But at times St Johnstone have pressed further up the pitch and been more aggressive in their defensive play against us. There are two different approaches that they could have to the game, which we’ll only really find out in the night, but we’ll prepare for both.”
Meanwhile since it’s the League Cup tonight here’s another chance to see how well you know your Celtic history. David Potter, the Celtic historian and author, set a quiz ahead of the last round and the theme was Celtic’s triumphs in the League Cup.
He had previously supplied an article for each one of the 17 Celtic successes in the League Cup and the quiz has 17 questions, one for each time he had Celtic’s green and white ribbons on the League Cup.
If you haven’t tried the quiz yet – and well over a thousand of you have – then give it a go now. Or if you fancy another go, fire in! And good luck!
The pre-match thread is open over on Celtic Noise and we’re looking for first goalscorer and final score predictions…with some prizes for anyone getting it correct. (Correct score at end of the tie).
