martino neill
All I ask is one thing
let me hear you roar
As always,
we will do
our best to
give you
a result to
be proud of
LAST Saturday's encounter at
Livingston was an extremely
hard-fought affair. Their own
excellent start to the season - beating
Hearts and drawing at Ibrox - left me
in no doubt it would be a difficult
afternoon. So it proved.
They have had a meteoric rise
since Dominic Keane and Willie
Haughey took over the reigns and
what has been achieved by Jim
Leishman and Davie Hay deserves the
highest praise.
Saturdays match was the first
occasion all three of our new boys -
John Hartson, Steve Guppy and
Momo Sylla - started a game for us.
Ideally, I would have preferred to bed
them in more gently but
circumstances dictated otherwise and
all three will have learned from the
experience.
It wasn't the easiest of afternoons
for them but I'm confident they will
all prove significant players for us in
the coming season.
We probably created fewer chances
than we might normally expect. But
full credit to Livingston for having
their own gameplan and causing us
plenty of problems. In my post-match
comments I admitted we had not
done enough over the 90 minutes to
merit all three points.
But as I have said repeatedly, these
type of games are extremely tough
and I have been more than satisfied
with the performances of our players.
One aspect of the match that
certainly concerned me was Johan
Mjallby's premature exit from the
fray. As I pen these notes, both he and
Joos Valgaeren are struggling to make
this evening's match and, should
either fail to prove their fitness, it
would undoubtedly be a severe blow.
Both are extremely important to us
and have been consistently
magnificent over the last year or so.
However, you know that whoever
pulls on the jerseys this evening will
give you complete commitment and
100% effort.
Tonight's match is undoubtedly
one of the most important in the
club's recent history. A marvellous
result in Amsterdam against a gifted
and skilful Ajax team has given us a
boost in confidence but absolutely
nothing else ahead of this evening's
return leg.
We played exceptionally well a
fortnight ago but will need the same
determination and commitment this
evening if we are to qualify for the
group stages of the Champions
League.
The support we received from the
8,000 Celtic fans in Amsterdam was
absolutely phenomenal. It goes
without saying we will need all that
and more if we are to see this match
through.
Make no mistake - this tie is far
from over. Ajax are very capable of
scoring, as they proved throughout
last season in their own league, and
since they have nothing to lose I
would expect them to attack us from
all angles. But I know we are capable
of scoring ourselves and am hopeful
j we will do so during the course of
this evening's game.
Qualification means so much to
both clubs in terms of finance and
prestige. Regardless of whether we
win or lose tonight, the draw for the
Champions League and the UEFA
Cup takes place tomorrow in
Monaco and will be followed later in
the evening by the presentation of
the Golden Shoe to Henrik Larsson.
This is a fantastic honour for both
Henrik and the club and is richly
deserved. I know the players are all
absolutely delighted for him.
Back to tonight's game and I have
just one more thing to say. If we ever
needed your help to get through a
match, tonight is the night.
We will do our best to give you a
scoreline to be proud of - I only ask
you help us to achieve that by
roaring the team on right from the
kick-off.
