KEEP YOUR COOL
Deila tells fiery Ciftci to control his temper
RONNY DEILA has warned Nadir Ciftci he must channel his aggression in the right way after being found guilty of biting an opponent.
An SFA disciplinary committee ruled this week that Ciftci must serve an eight-match domestic ban, two of which are suspended, for sinking his teeth into Jim McAlister during an end-of-season Dundee derby.
The hot-headed Celtic striker earned himself a controversial reputation while on Tayside, but the prospect of an imminent suspension did not deter the Scottish champions from spending £1.5million to bring him to the east end of Glasgow.
Deila is an admirer of Ciftci’s fiery style but, speaking as Celtic flew to Iceland for tonight’s Champions League qualifier second-leg clash with Stjarnan, the Parkhead boss warned him he must keep his temper in check.
‘When you play football, there is a thin line between being aggressive and going over the line,’ said Deila. ‘Nadir is still young and it’s very important that all the players at Celtic show aggressiveness, but it has to be in a fair play way.’
Ciftci’s past infractions include striking Inverness defender Gary Warren, accusations of grabbing the
FOR Celtic the concern remains that, with Nadir Ciftci, they may have bitten off more than they can chew. Off the pitch, Ronny Deila anticipates no problems from his new £1.5million signing. An eight-game domestic ban for biting Dundee’s Jim McAlister — two of the games are suspended — is Ciftci’s latest brush with officialdom. It’s not his first.
This is a striker with a reputation now. Yet Deila still signed him because, in contrast with other loose cannon strikers at his disposal, he bares his fangs on the pitch.
In March, Celtic captain Scott Brown accused his new team-mate of ‘blatantly’ kicking him in the head during a Scottish Cup match. These days Brown laughs that off. For footballers, getting changed beside those who once tried to boot them into the air is an occupational hazard.
Yet supporters have their concerns. Normally a six-match ban for a Celtic player would bring cries of SFA conspiracy and injustice. Not this time. Biting is one of football’s taboos. If anything, many believe Ciftci — once again — has got off lightly.
Addressing the issue before boarding a flight to Iceland, Deila showed a willingness to wipe the slate clean. To let sleeping dogs lie.
‘Nadir is not a challenge,’ claimed the Celtic manager. ‘Outside the pitch, he is very nice. On the pitch, he is also good in my opinion. I don’t think there will be any problems.
‘The important thing — and I have always said this about players we bring in — is that they have the capacity to learn and they must want to sacrifice everything. They also have to have skills and he fills all those boxes. It’s why we wanted him here.’
There were decent grounds for steering clear. In contrast with Luis Suarez, Ciftci is no £80m superstar. His Champions League pedigree has yet to be established and when Celtic supporters looked at his CV they saw trouble.
There was talk of a 16-game ban following allegations he grabbed assistant referee Gavin Harris by the throat two years ago. The charge was later downgraded to ‘placing an open hand’ on the lower area of the throat instead and he escaped with two games.
There were two further high-profile incidents last season. The first — a claim he struck Gary Warren of Inverness Caley Thistle with his arm — went unproven. The second when, during a Scottish Cup match against his new employer, he kicked his now captain Brown in the head.
That went unproven as well. Perhaps it was this Teflon quality which persuaded Celtic that, whatever the 23-year- old does — followed in every instance by a spluttering, emphatic denial — he invariably gets off lightly.
Deila i s willing to put past misdemeanours down to immaturity and believes he can tame the demons within. That Ciftci can develop and learn from his stupidity and tone down the temperament which landed him no fewer than four separate charges from the SFA compliance officer in two years.
‘It is something that happened in the past,’ added the Norwegian, who still has the Turk available for European fixtures. ‘We just have to keep going on. He can play a lot of games in the Champions League, hopefully, and then I think the situation would be good.
‘It’s no problem for him to play in Europe. He will only play one game a week — so that’s good — so he will train well and it’s important for him to get fitter and also he needs to understand the way we play.’
Ciftci will understand, also, that the scrutiny on his actions will now be intense and unforgiving. In Deila’s words the striker plays ‘on the edge’. It’s one of the reasons he signed him.
But when a Dundee United player bites an opponent, it’s front page news for a day. When a Celtic or Rangers player does it, the printing presses run with nothing else for a week.
‘I can’t do anything about it anyway, so I haven’t used any energy (to look at it),’ claimed Deila. ‘The player was a little bit disappointed and now we just have to move on.
‘Did I expect the verdict? Again, I’m not a lawyer. I did not know exactly what was coming but we have to take the penalty and move on.
‘I don’t know (if he’s learned his lesson). We have Broony, Nadir and different other players who are playing on the edge and that’s good. You do learn through experience and I am sure Nadir is learning.’
Soon enough, he will learn how it feels to sit in the stand when Leigh Griffiths is first pick. Tonight, on an artificial pitch in Iceland, it is likely he will start against Stjarnan once again.
His impact in the first game in Glasgow was modest. Yet, despite a narrow, desperately poor pitch, Celtic expect more space to play because the home team need goals.
Shrugging aside the issue with the playing surface, Deila added: ‘The pitch is artificial, so it can’t be that bad. It’s better than a very bad grass pitch. We have played good games on artificial pitches last season. If we are at our best, we have an advantage playing on an artificial pitch.
‘It’s all just part of the challenge of playing in Europe. Artificial pitches are not a problem, they are easy to play on.
‘The most important thing for us is to continue playing the way we have been playing lately.
‘ We need t o be very good defensively as a unit, be compact and balanced. We need to be direct when we have the opportunities.
‘We need to keep on producing chances and, hopefully, we will be even more effective than we were in the first leg and more like we were at the weekend (in the 4-1 win) against Eibar.’
In Spain, Griffiths — last season’s top scorer — claimed a hat-trick. Even though he missed a penalty last week, the Scot has a strong claim to start but is likely to be benched once again to accommodate Ciftci.
Stjarnan management and players remain bullish about their chances despite indifferent domestic form. Yet the ideal scenario for Celtic is an early goal and some breathing space to plan for the logistical nightmare of a third-round qualifier in Azerbaijan or Montenegro.
‘Of course I expect us to score,’ said Deila. ‘I want us to win the game over here. Stjarnan will have to go forward a little bit more but I think they will try to be compact as well again.
‘Of course there is always a chance for them but we have a very good result from the first leg. A 2-0 should be enough but you never know, so we have to take this game very seriously.’