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Scottish Premier League November 2011 News
Scottish Premier League News November 2011: Naismith ruled out for rest of the season
Ali Morrello
Celtic
Celtic assistant manager, Johan Mjallby, has acknowledged that he and Neil Lennon are in the midst of the most testing time of their careers.
The pressure on the Celtic manager and his coaching staff has intensified after the latest poor result - a draw with Hibernian has left the Parkhead club a massive 12 points off the pace of Rangers in the chase for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title.
Supporters are increasingly restless with a run of form that has not seen Celtic string three successive victories together since the opening three games of the season and Mjallby is well aware that if things do not improve quickly that he could be out of a job before too long. "We can't lose any more ground to Rangers," he said.
"Of course we are battling to save our jobs. I was here six years as a player and I know how it is up here."
Mjallby insisted he and his coaching colleagues were not wilting under the strain of slipping behind Rangers in the championship. He said of the pressure: "Nothing surprises me and it's brilliant in a way because these are testing times. Sure, I would be more happy if the team was playing better and we were getting results. But this is a good opportunity for us to prove our worth.
"We have to be united and try and be shrewd in who we pick. We have to see who can be trusted but we have enough players who can turn it around.
"It is not only the players, but all the people in management are low in confidence right now. We have to get back to winning ways and until you do you are always low on confidence."
He dismissed suggestions the team was not performing for the manager. "If I was a player I would be very happy to have Neil Lennon as a manager and I would be fighting for him that's for sure," he said.
Mjallby confirmed Lennon had spoken to individual players about their performances in the wake of a spell that has left Celtic clinging on in the title race. "We aren't doing things much differently to last season when we were playing good, attacking football," he said. "It's a team and some players are more important than others. But it's more important that we all work harder as a team."
Rangers
Rangers have been rocked by the news that top scorer Steven Naismith has been ruled out for the rest of the season with anterior cruciate ligament damage. The Scotland international faces a minimum of eight to nine months on the sidelines.
Naismith, who has scored nine goals for the Scottish champions this season, suffered the injury during a crucial 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League at the end of October. As well as impressing for Rangers, Naismith has also established himself as a key figure for the national team and he has already been told by Scotland manager Craig Levein that he will be back within the fold as soon as he is fit again.
Levein said:"Having had to stop playing myself with a similar injury, I know just how frustrating it is and how soul destroying it can be to suffer from this particular injury. I had four or five of the same kind of thing.
"The good thing is the attitude of Steven will be what enables him to get back, not just playing well but to that gradual curve of improvement he was on already when he came back from a similar injury previously. His progress has been quite phenomenal.
"Knowing the type of boy he is and his attitude, I spoke with him the other day and he said all the right things that will help him to recover, I'm certain he will be back probably for pre-season training and he will very quickly get back on that curve of improvement. As soon as Steven Naismith is available and fit, he will be back in the squad."
Naismith suffered a similar injury on his other knee in 2008 and was out for eight months.
The 25-year-old's club and international team-mate, Steven Whittaker, has also backed him to return, although Whittaker admitted that the entire squad were devastated with the news."It's a big disappointment for the team and for him because he has been fantastic for us," he said."His hand went straight in the air as he crumpled to the ground and it was pretty clear then that it looked like it would be serious.
"You never know until you get the scan done but we thought it would be serious and it has turned out that way."
Rangers have confirmed that the same surgeon who successfully operated on the player three years ago will manage his recovery again.
Whittaker said that though such injuries used to lead to players hanging up their boots for good, Naismith would come back successfully.
"He's a determined character," he said."He has a great personality and hopefully he'll back to his best sooner rather than later. It's never nice getting one of these serious knee injuries.
"But in the modern game a lot of players are coming back from these types of injuries, whereas in the past it might have been career-threatening.
"He's been there before so he knows what to expect. I'm sure he'll be back stronger than ever."
Scotland
Scotland manager Craig Levein has announced a new code of conduct that requires players to live up to a certain standard of behaviour off the pitch if they are to get a game on it.
Aston Villa's Barry Bannan was left out of Levein's squad for a November friendly against Cyprus after being arrested on suspicion of drink driving. In recent times, Levein has not called on Garry O'Connor or David Goodwillie while separate criminal charges were hanging over the duo. O'Connor faces trial next year accused of possessing cocaine, a charge he denies, while Goodwillie faced a rape charge which was subsequently dropped.
"I have made decisions on these cases but, in future, it might be taken away from the manager if there are rules in black and white to be followed," said Levein."It is part of our performance strategy that there will be a code of conduct. The sooner we get it in at the younger age groups and continue it through all of the groups, then I think it is something we should be proud of."
Levein said the wider implications of playing for Scotland are behind his stance."It would be fantastic for me if we could see ourselves as role models, as people who want to behave in a manner which is representative of national team players," he added.
"I'm just trying to stress that there is a responsibility for players who are included in the national team to act in a responsible manner. When we have established that everyone knows what their responsibilities are, it becomes much easier to perpetuate it. I am trying to be pretty consistent now on what the message is."
That sentiment has, however, denied Levein the services of players."Yes, it probably has, but what do you do? Do you sanction going down a different road?" he asked."
At a club, a manager has to deal with his board of directors and his supporters. That's quite a small group. With the national team, there are so many different interests in Scotland who would have objections to different things the players are getting up to. They feel 'how could someone play for Scotland if this and that is happening?'
"So there is more of a moral responsibility with the national team. I might be wrong about that, but I feel there is. I think there is more of a moral onus on me to try and put people in the team who are behaving in a manner that befits playing for the national side.
"If I take a player away with me who is the subject of a lot of speculation, I also spend a lot of my time answering questions on stuff that is nothing to do with the game. It detracts from the match and takes the focus away. I don't want to be sitting in Cyprus answering these questions and putting players up who have issues back home. This allows me to concentrate on the football."
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