Chris Davies Hired As Rodgers Assistant

he's a good talker .. similar to Brendan who you can listen to for hours about football.. never one to be caught out with the press either.

 

Aye just because I said recycled quotes doesn’t mean I don’t rate him

 

CD: "Our objective was to qualify for the Champions League and make sure we have European football after Christmas, and thankfully we did that. We have this exciting game to look forward to in what is going to be a fantastic atmosphere

CD: "Zenit are Champions League level. I have spent a lot of time watching and analysing them. They are a team that are good in possession but also very good on the counter attack and they can be a threat from set-plays.

CD: "We respect them but we see it as an opportunity and we are going to take a lot of positivity and energy into the game and see what happens."

CD: "The fans generate the most incredible atmosphere. I have never heard noise like I have heard at Celtic Park at a football game before. It really is a fantastic experience in the stadium."

CD: "Roberts is just returning to training but isn’t available for the game. Rogic is a little bit further on and hopefully he will be available over the next week or so. Armstrong unfortunately is still in his rehab, the same with Griffiths

 

CHRIS DAVIES believes James Forrest could be Celtic’s match-winner tomorrow night against Zenit St Petersburg and allow them to take a massive step towards the last 16 of the Europa League.

Forrest has been on fire this season, especially on the European stage, and is fresh from bagging a hat-trick in last Saturday’s William Hill Scottish Cup defeat of Partick Thistle that keeps Celtic on course for the unprecedented feat of back to back domestic Trebles.

Davies, Brendan Rodgers’ assistant, feels the threat of Forrest - and that of Scott Sinclair - could hold the key to a positive first leg result.

However, he has cautioned that the Russians – bossed by Roberto Mancini – are a high-quality outfit who will be extremely difficult opponents.

Davies said: “James has had a great season so far. He played well last season but this year not only is he getting hat-tricks like that, he’s been one of our better performers in the European games going back to Rosenborg.

“You also think back to Bayern Munich at home.

“In terms of tactics and technique, he understands his role in the team but he’s got a very high level of technique. A first touch, the ability to evade people with his second touch plus he’s quick.

“That allows him to perform at this level. He’s in a good moment – in confident spirits.

“You want as many players like that as you can.”

Forrest has become a better player since the arrival of Rodgers and Davies just when it looked he might have to leave the club when he turned down a new contract under the previous manager Ronny Deila.

Davies said: “I’m absolutely delighted for James as he’s very humble, hardworking and dedicated. It’s always nice to see players like that getting the rewards.

“I think it’s just a question of maturing. We were aware of James when we were at Liverpool when he first broke on the scene.

“We played Celtic in a friendly. At that point he was the stand-out that I could see in the team. A really bright, quick player. He looked a real breakthrough player.

“Time has gone on and he’s carved out a good career for himself. Obviously, we’ve come in and he’s really flourished.

“He plays in different positions so he has to be adaptable. He’s added that end product which is very important for wingers.

“We try and emphasise that. Scott Sinclair is a player who’s done well for Brendan at a couple of clubs. He’s another winger who scores goals.

“It’s important that you can contribute with assists and goals from that position. James has certainly done that.”

The Celtic coaching staff have watched hours of footage of the Russians in action and scout John McGlynn got the very latest by watching Zenit play friendlies in Turkey last week.

“They are a very disciplined team,” said Davies. “They have a lot of attacking threats in the team and I think their mindset will be balanced, to be honest, because they have a very good team and a very experienced manager.

“They have tactical organisation, defensively they are very compact and organised and with the ball they can play equally well in possession as they can in counter-attack.

“They’ve got good technical players who make good passes and good decisions at the right times and they have pace, power and quality to counter-attack. They’ve also got set-piece quality and the delivery and execution of that. So they are an all-round top team - a Champions League level team."

He added: “That’s what we are prepared for and what we need to do is find a way to stop them and hurt them.

“At Liverpool, we played them at the same round five years ago when Brendan was the manager. We drew the game over the two-legs 3-3, but went out on away goals. There was a bit of talk about their condition pre-game but they were in very good condition.

“They've had a couple of training camps now to build up their fitness and plenty of games to be ready so I am expecting them to be physically at a level to compete.”

The good news for Celtic is that Tom Rogic should make the bench, therefore offering an attacking threat if they need it.

Davies added: “There's a chance that Tom will be involved in the Zenit games. We'll just have to see how he is and make a decision.

“We have a few injured players returning to training which is good. We are in a good place."

Meanwhile, Davies has heaped praise on the Celtic support he hopes, along with Forrest, provide a solid platform for the Hoops to build on when they go to Russia next week.

“Hopefully, it’s something we can use to inspire us,” he said. “The fans generate the most incredible atmosphere. I have never heard noise like I have heard at Celtic Park at a football game before. It really is a fantastic experience in the stadium.

“On the pitch, we have to perform equally as well to inspire the fans. We will be working together and that’s the plan. It’s a phenomenal place to play.”

 

CHRIS Davies believes that Celtic’s unprecedented Double Treble success will become an even greater achievement with the passage of time. The Hoops assistant boss was ecstatic as the champions lifted the Scottish Cup last weekend at Hampden to become the first Scottish team to secure back-to-back clean sweeps.

And Davies, who taken the club to his heart since arriving with Brendan Rodgers two years ago, hailed the fans, players and the management team for all playing their part in creating further history.

“I’m just absolutely delighted,” he told the Celtic View in an exclusive interview. “We knew that if we played well, we would probably win but there’s always that small element of doubt in your mind, so when you actually win the game it’s absolute elation. And you could see the players in the dressing-room just celebrating together.

"To win a Double Treble – at the time it sounds good, but it’ll get better in time because you don’t really realise the significance of what you’re doing sometimes. I said the same thing last year when we won the invincible treble.

“So to win the treble again on the back of that is unprecedented, and I doubt it will ever be done again in our lifetime.

“We always play different systems and different ways. The players are adept at changing and being flexible, and last Saturday was another great example of that – how we set up, and the players performed very well.

“I’m very proud to work for the club in the first place. It’s a phenomenal club, the fans are amazing and I’m very privileged to be working with this group of players who are so talented yet so humble and so hard-working and honest.

“And I’m very happy to be working with a manager and staff who are committed to the same ideals – playing the way we play, trying to play a certain style. We believe in it and we enjoy working it, but these are also guys who are good people as well. And it’s always nice to be successful with the right types of people.

 

CD on Dedryck Boyata: “Dedryck has had a long chat with the manager. It’s an unfortunate situation that’s happened, and we can’t change it and Dedryck can’t change it. It was frustrating."

CD: “We addressed it when it happened and he’s had a long chat with the manager, and the manager is managing that situation, as he’s done previously with other high-profile cases in his management career."


CD: “So he’s spoken to the player and they’ve had a long chat and he won’t be involved tomorrow, obviously."

CD: “What happened, happened, and there’s no point, from our point of view, from vilifying anybody or blaming one individual. The manager has spoken to the player. The situation, as it stands at the moment, is open and we’ll see what happens."

CD: "We have to move on and stay together as a club, as there’s a lot of negativity that’s trying to be created & this situation has been highlighted amongst all that. What’s important is that we don’t focus on it. I've every confidence that we’ll come out of this stronger.”

CD on the manager's relationship with the board: “Brendan has no breakdown there. He’s fine and is working closely with board as always. There’s no issue."

CD: “We’ve been here two years and it’s the first setback we’ve probably had. Brendan is dealing with it. We’ve had a bit of negativity in the past couple of weeks and that’s something Brendan is used to – he has dealt with that as a manager."


CD: “There’s no fallout with the board or big fractures within the club. It’s a story the media are trying to generate, but it’s not there. We’re fine. Brendan is working with the board and he’s in dialogue with them, as ever."

CD: “What I can tell you now is that we won’t let this negativity be created and start holding us back. What we’ve done is the past two years has been incredible, in terms of domestic trophies and qualifying for the Champions League."

CD: “I can tell you in terms of working with Brendan – and I speak to him every day about various things – that's there’s no issue. There’s no problem. He’s thinking about leading the team and we, as a club, will come through this stronger and better."

CD: “There’s no chance this negativity will hold us back or stop us in any way. What we have to do, as you do in football, is to stay resilient, learn from your experiences and come back stronger with optimism for the future. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

CD on
@PartickThistle
: "We’re the holders and we’re defending our trophy. Partick are a team who I thought were a decent side when we played against them in the league, and I was surprised that they ended up getting sucked into a relegation battle last year.

CD: “They have some good players, they have a good coach and it’s a difficult place to go away from home. We’re not going to have any complacency there. We have to go, be fully focused and do a job."

CD on new Bhoy
@iamdanielarzani
: “Daniel is a talent who featured at the World Cup. He’s a winger/attacking player and skilful and someone who’s quite direct. He’s young and someone we’ve brought into develop, and hopefully we can see the best of him.”

CD on team news for
@PartickThistle
: “
@Oedouard22
has a knock so he’s not going to be available tomorrow. I’m not sure exactly when he’ll come back into contention but he’s still a little while away yet."

 

He done well

 

Aye he did........told them vultures as little as possible, gave them no scraps to gnaw on and batted away everything pretty well with those answers!!!

Won't stop them printing their garbage and fantasy but at least they got nothing from us here!!

 

Impressive character Chris Davies, always a safe pair of hands in front of the hun reporters.

 

Love the big man, would love to see him succeed BR when he doesn’t decide to go

 

Get him in the team at centre-half, fit big * and only about 33.

 

Chris Davies on
#AMatchForCancer
: "It’s for a very important cause. It’s going to be a great day. There will be some really big names turning up and getting involved. Hopefully it’ll be a good day but the cause itself is what’s most important."


CD on international break: "We are left with a group to work with and hopefully we can have a good week. There’s a practice game on Friday in-house with the players that are left to get them up to speed physically so it’ll be a good week."

CD: "Next round of the cup, pushing in the league and we had a good win at the weekend so we’re really looking forward to the next part of the season. The
#UEL
group has been announced as well so we can plan for that to do our best in that competition."

CD: "The
#UEL
is a very strong competition and an opportunity for us to perform well and have some really good nights. The idea is to get out of the group and see where it takes us. Plenty to look forward to domestically and in Europe."


CD on
@iamdanielarzani
's exclusion from
#UEL
squad: "He’s still got a way to go in terms of building up to speed & conditioning. He’s a young player and we are going to support him to develop here. Obviously when selecting your registered squad you’ve got to make decisions."




CD on Allan McGregor decision: "I was surprised. I think that incident was discussed after the game. It was pretty clear if you saw the replays of it.

 

CD: KT was training on his own today, he is building his rehab steadily. Nthcam trained, Boyata trained, Odsonne Edouard had a bad knock yesterday, and we’ll see how he feels."

CD: "James Forrest is having a scan on his hamstring. It’s nothing we hope is too severe. He did the right thing identifying it yesterday, he could have played on, but he didn’t. He could be out for a while, but we’ll assess that.

CD: "It’s as stretched as it’s been. We’ve got a good team of injuries and suspensions – 4-4-2, we could fit them all in. It’s rare to have so many injuries, but we do have a strength in depth in this squad.


CD: "We can put out a team that’s full of quality players. Bitton can play centre-half, we’ve got Jack Hendry, we’ve got Dedryck training today. We have to * our next 24 hours and make a judgement on the team for Wednesday."

CD: "Hibs have always been a difficult opponent for us. It’ll be a difficult game, but we’ll have to work hard. Off the back of the couple of weeks they’ve had, we will not underestimate them."

 

gbnf to the one that started this thread xx

On a more serious note i like davies, and i think he's liked a lot more than our previous assistant was