Ronny Deila has called for the Scottish football season to begin much earlier even though his Celtic side slumped to defeat in the sunshine of Inverness!
The 1-0 loss left the Hoops four points behind the Highlanders, the surprise pacesetters in the Premiership.
Reflecting on their problems against Legia Warsaw in the Champions League, Deila said: “I think we have to start the season earlier than we did this year. This pre-season wasn’t ideal because the games came upon us so quickly.”
“If we had met a Norwegian or a Swedish team in the First Round Malmo for example I think we would have struggled. And we know what happened against Legia Warsaw.
“They had a couple of weeks’ start on us in terms of building up their fitness and sharpness. But I think a change would benefit everyone.”
The Celtic manager saw his side hammered 6-1 by Legia Warsaw in the Champions League qualifiers, only to escape elimination due to a clerical error on the part of the Poles.
Instead, the Hoops will go into Tuesday’s return against Maribor knowing a win or even a 0-0 draw would be enough to secure a place in the Group stages and a £16-million pay-off.
Yet while delighted at the turn of events, the Norwegian insists change is necessary if such embarrassments as Warsaw are to be avoided in the future.
“It would be fantastic if we could get, say, a month of League fixtures before facing the qualifiers.
“This is an issue not just for Celtic, but also for Aberdeen, St Johnstone and for every Scottish team playing in Europe. And Europe is so important for Scottish football. For the national team, for the money, for the interest in the game, for developing the young players.
Delia admits, though, that change would generate its own problems.
“It’s important the players get a vacation,” he continued. “But if you get to the Cup Final, which this season is on May 30, and you start early, then you would get almost no holiday.
“In terms of maximising the chances to qualify, it would be much better to do what we do in Norway play in the summer and take a winter break. But then if you go through from the groups and it’s not so often we do that there then you have a problem in the winter because then you’re not in shape. It’s the opposite problem.
“But if you have a break in December, maybe, then stop a little bit earlier, switch it around a little bit, you can get more power into your game.”
Over to the SPFL.
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