Ronny Deila is unlikely to remain at Celtic beyond the end of the season after their shock loss to rivals Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final, according to Pat Bonner.
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Erik Sviatchenko insists Celtic will not cry over their Old Firm heartache as he backed his team to clinch a fifth successive league title. And, ignoring the comments from his Celtic counterpart, Warburton has put the weight of expectation on the Scottish champions.
“But we had full belief and I really felt it would be our day. I’ve got no concerns about them letting their emotions get the better of them in such a big atmosphere”.
“They have the second highest budget in the country, so it’s not like we are playing a small team”. We have to go in next season to be highly competitive. Our quality has been evident, individually we have been strong and we deserve to be where we are in the league. “When we were up there after the final whistle and I saw grown men cry, there were tears rolling down the faces of every single board member”. (Barrie) McKay, (he was) all over the park so I’m delighted with the performance. The level of support they’ve given us again was magnificent. All credit to the players, I think they deserved a little bit more respect.
Warburton said: “Waghorn is not fit”.
Andy Halliday, McKay, Lee Wallace and substitutes Gedion Zelalem and Nicky Law scored their penalties, while James Tavernier fired his over and substitute Nicky Clark had his saved by Craig Gordon. “We hoped to win three [trophies] but now we will go for the one”.
Rangers – now a league below Celtic – won the match on penalties after extra time finished 2-2.
“After this game it is hard to talk about those things”, he said. You have bad moments and that is definitely my worst ever.
The former Stromsgodset boss said: “It is so important to keep everyone on the pitch but you never know in football, it could also be that we play 11 against 10 the other way”. I’m disappointed for him, because he was desperate to play in the game.
“It was nice to see that this team were able to hold up against Celtic and beat them in fact”.
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There was an air of defiance in Deila’s response to the question of whether Rangers can mount a serious challenge for the title next season. “Everyone in the club is looking forward to it and we want to finish the season with a double”. “If he plays he’ll be 100 per cent. We won’t take a risk”.
