Davie Hay: A positive philosophy is all very well for Celtic – but you have to win with it

This is not a new thing. Celtic have always played football with the approach of getting the ball down and attacking teams. It is not a recent invention at Celtic Park. But, crucially, while Celtic have also tried to implement that kind of attacking style, the successful teams have done so while also being sensible and pragmatic, when they have needed to be.

It is all very well going out to play a certain style, but the bottom line is that if you play for Celtic then you are playing to win. You need to be successful.

When I played with Celtic under Jock Stein, our philosophy was always to attack and try to play football but had I or anyone else in the backline made the same mistakes time and time again, we simply wouldn’t have stayed in there. It was that simple.

It is all well and good to have a philosophy in terms of how you want your team to play but it has to be sensible and I think that is something that John needs to be mindful of.

John came in for criticism earlier in the season when he said that other teams weren’t clever enough to hurt Celtic the way that European teams were. I actually think most of us understood where he was coming from with that one and most people would agree with it.

But sometimes you have to be careful that you are not hitting the wrong buttons when you speak out publicly.

You can be made to look foolish if it comes back on you and there are times that it is maybe best to keep things to yourself and let others say it.

But in terms of how this Celtic team want to play now in Europe, the only thing that they will be judged on is results. Football is about winning and while it is laudable to want to do that with a certain brand of football, you also have to go into games with some pragmatism at times.

The worrying thing for me in that second half last week at Celtic Park against Molde was the lack of fighting spirit. There seemed to be an acceptance that the game had gone away from them and that lack of passion and commitment – with the exception of the kid, Kieran Tierney, is a concern.

It would not have been inconceivable for Celtic to come back from a 2-1 deficit, yet with substantial amounts of time left you could feel the stadium start to empty. That in itself tells you what people thought of the performance.

The complete lack of intensity about the performance in that second period was as alarming as the defensive lapses – and I am being kind on describing them as lapses.

The dispirited look about the team was something that surprised me because I had predicted before the game that Celtic would win because they had to.

For any Celtic manager, failure to win games will always result in fingers being pointed. I do, though, have to say that I heard one or two people question Ronny Deila’s touchline demeanour which I don’t really buy into. Ultimately, if you are winning games you can stand there naked on the touchline and no-one will say a thing. The minute you are managing a losing Celtic side there will be much more scrutiny on every aspect of your performance.

Ronny does tend to be a bit more animated when Celtic are winning than when they are losing but I think we are all different. I don’t think it matters a jot how you act on the touch-line.

It is about what goes on before that because that is when you need to organise your team and set them out to come away with a performance.

There is still a lifeline there, but the question now is whether or not they can take it.

In some ways they have played better against teams that are better on paper than Molde, so it remains to be seen if they can do the improbable and conjure up a decent display against Ajax later this month.

They need to be better, that goes without saying. Defensively they need to get it together, and there needs to be more intensity.

At least a win over the Dutch side would keep it alive going into that final game against Fenerbahce in Istanbul.

Days look numbered for Stokes at Celtic Park

ANTHONY STOKES appears to have fallen off the radar entirely at Celtic Park this season.

The Irish striker has been spotted in the first team just twice this season — and that was back in the summer — and there has clearly been something going on behind the scenes.

He has been out of the picture entirely and in a situation like this, the longer that goes on then the more improbable a resolution is.

The 27-year-old hitman still has one more year left on his contract but it could be that he tries to force a move in the January transfer window.

It seems detrimental to both parties to have him around the club if there is no chance of his getting a game or into the squad.

His days at Parkhead would seem to be numbered and with the addition of Carlton Cole last month then you would have to wonder where he would fit back in.

When Kris Commons fell out of favour last year there were still a few brief glimpses of him and then after that game against Kilmarnock he was able to use the chance to show what he had to offer the team.

Stokes has just vanished completely from the first-team picture and in a situation like that it tends to be the manager who will have the last say.

Griffiths’ goal tally is difficult to ignore

LEIGH GRIFFITHS is in the position at the minute where everything he touches seems to find its way into the back of the net.

The lad is making the chances and he is also getting himself into the right place to make sure that he is taking them.

I don’t know if it just the fact that he is playing with so much confidence – and I don’t think you can underestimate what that does for a player, especially a striker – but he is leading the line relatively well and he looks like a player who has improved.

It is interesting that Celtic have a tendency to field small, quick forwards. If you excuse the Martin O’Neill era when John Hartson and Chris Sutton played together, Griffiths fits in with a long list of esteemed Celtic strikers who would never be regarded as giants.

Henrik Larsson, Andy Walker, Frank McAvennie, Maurice Johnstone, Brian McClair, Frank McGarvey, Bobby Lennox, Dixie Deans…I could go on and on. They were all of similar physical stature and that in itself harks back to that football philosophy that I was speaking about.

But Griffiths has shown that he is ready and willing to take his chance and he has clearly made the decision to knuckle down and get on with it over the last year.

His performances have been impressive and the goal tally is something that is difficult to ignore.

I do, though, suspect that over the coming weeks we will see the gradual introduction of Carlton Cole.

The Englishman was on the bench for the weekend visit to Dingwall and I think that over the next few weeks he will be introduced to the fray.

It will be interesting to see whether or not that encourages a more traditional front pairing as the season goes on.

Your question for Davie Hay

J. ROBERTSON from Glasgow asked Davie: How hard will it be for Scotland to watch the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2016 play-off?

I would imagine that lots of the Scotland players won’t even want to watch it although the time that it really comes round to hit you is when the tournament itself gets underway.

There is always that feeling that it could have been you in their place and it can be a hard one to take.

If you have a question for Davie, just email him at daviehay@eveningtimes.co.uk and we’ll print the answer alongside the question.