JOHN KENNEDY has been speaking to the Celtic View and the Celtic coach has declared himself to be reasonably pleased with how the season has gone so far and relishing the challenge that has emerged, confident that Celtic will pull away in the weeks ahead.
The team are back in action on Saturday against Airdrie in the Scottish Cup, with the rather bizarre 5.15pm kick-off time to to suit the pay per view broadcasters and there are still tickets available if you haven’t already got your tickets.
The Celtic coach recognises that there is a challenge in the league this season with three sides – the Rangers, Kilmarnock and Aberdeen all within striking distance of Celtic at this moment.
“In terms of competition, there’s a challenge but we’re always challenging ourselves, even if we’re points clear in the league,” Kennedy said.
“We don’t ever take our foot off the gas or decide we’re comfortable. We always push ourselves and it’s no different this time round.
“In terms of the first half of the year, people may think Celtic haven’t been quite the same, but we’ve won the League Cup, we’re sitting top of the league and are in the next stage of European football. We’ve achieved the main goals we set ourselves, albeit things might be a bit tighter, but that’s the way football is. It happens sometimes.
“We’re still in a very strong position and we’re delighted with how the first half of the season has gone. Now it’s a case of working on our targets for the second half of the season. We just have to go out, push and deliver on that.
“The way the first two seasons panned out under Brendan have been terrific. We’ve been in similar positions at this point and hopefully at the end of this season we can say it’s been another successful one.”
Kennedy also praised the club’s winter training base in Dubai and believes that the work done over there in the sunshine will stand Celtic in good stead when the side gets back to business this weekend.
“It was a good week in Dubai,” Kennedy stated.
“It was nice to get the break just before it and then get back out working again in the warm weather.
“We’ve been fortunate in the last couple of years to have a lot of quality coaching time out there. Sometimes when you’re back in Scotland with the rain, wind and cold it can make it more difficult to coach.
“We had a couple of solid hours every morning to get the players working hard.
“That allowed us to get the fitness topped up and get that sharpness back. It was worth its weight in gold and, hopefully, it’ll stand us in good stead for the second part of the season.”
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