We've qualified!
Friday 24th November 2006
I thought we were outplayed for most of the game against Manchester United in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. The main thing was the result, the 1-0 victory that put us through to the last 16 for the first time. At first, I just thought it was a great result but then in the dressing room a few people said we were through and that was excellent news.
Although the performance was not great, the main thing for the players in a match like that is the result. We could have played really well, as we did away to Manchester United, and lost and not made it through. In such a situation playing well on the night would have been of little consolation.
When I saw Naka lining up to take the free-kick, I thought it was pretty far out but he’s done things like that before so nobody was really surprised when he scored. He’s got a great technique and he does practice it quite a lot - but a lot of it is natural ability as well.
I didn’t see the penalty so I don’t really know whether it was fair or not and Shaun hasn’t said much about it.
It’s great to be part of the Celtic team that's made history by getting through to the second stage of the Champions League for the first time. It’s impossible to say how much further we will go in the competition but it is just fantastic to have that platform. We have beaten Manchester United and other top-class teams in Europe so that shows we could possibly go on and do well against similar opposition. It depends on which team we are drawn against and how we perform against them on the day but we must have a chance.
I don’t really have a particular preference as to which club I would like us to meet in the last 16 although Real Madrid would be a nice one. I’m not too fussy - just being involved is wonderful and ensures there are two great games in Europe coming up for us after Christmas.
On Sunday we travel to Edinburgh to play Hibernian, who have a new manager in John Collins. I was a big fan of John Collins when I was a young Celtic supporter. He was a player I always looked up to and he did great things in a Celtic shirt . He was my favourite Celtic player when I was growing up. We weren’t doing particularly well as a club when John was here in the early to mid-1990s, Rangers were dominating and winning the League every year, but John and Paul McStay were the two Celts who lit up the gloom for me more than any others.
John was a good passer and had the ability to go past players as well. He was decent at free-kicks too; I remember two superb goals scored by him from free-kicks against Rangers at Ibrox; in consecutive seasons . Both were extremely similar - one was scored at the end of one season and the other at the start of the following season. He is remembered well at Celtic Park for those moments.
He has been doing well since taking over as Hibernian manager. He has maybe added a wee bit of consistency to the Hibs team, which is perhaps something that they were looking for. I always like playing at Easter Road - they are always good, open games. John’s management may add an extra edge and competitiveness to Hibs that would make them powerful challengers to us but it’s not really my concern whether there are more and better challengers to us - my only concern is that we keep being better than the competition and keep winning.
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