Collins echoes the words of Jock Stein

John Collins has echoed the words Jock Stein and says the Norwegian will never sit back and defend in a European game.

Despite Celtic’s European struggles this season, the assistant manager believes Celtic are going about the game the right way and trying to win games rather than being a shut-up shop team in Europe.

It’s this change in philosophy that needs the right people and players to bring about such a change in the club’s style and will take time to implement. Although conceding at least two goals in their last six European games is a cause for concern.

Some fans feel Deila has had long enough, while others still believe he needs longer to implement this change.

Collins fully believes in Deila’s vision and was defiant about how they’ve approached games this year, as quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times.

Would you like us to be five at the back, four in midfield, one up front, get the keeper to roll it to the edge of his box, kick it up the pitch, defend and try and get a counter-attack?

It is maybe the way to get a 1-0 result. A lot of people might be happy. But it is not the way we want to try and develop the team and the style of football.

Fans have grown frustrated with results in Europe and no longer see Paradise as the fortress it once was in Europe, with teams no longer fearing a visit to Glasgow.

Collins however, wants to go about getting results another way and echoed the words of Jock Stein, even if the results aren’t going Celtic’s ways right now.

You can sit back and play 4-5-1, everybody back and not care about dominating possession, hope you scrape a result.

Some people might want that, might think that’s the way forward. But we don’t think that’s the way forward.

We think the way forward is to try to play football, try to control the game, pass the ball through midfield and try to be creative.

We’re having a lot of possession in European football, we’re creating a lot of chances in football, playing the game the right way and developing players, developing a team.

But the negative, as you will remind us every week, is we’re conceding goals. And, when you concede soft goals, it makes it hard.