Source: FOOTYMAD
Age is not a barrier
A good player knows how to deal with the advances of age Neil Lennon has pointed to Davie Weir as a good example of a player still being able to cope with the hurly burly of Scottish football while not being in the first flush of youth. He was responding to suggestions Freddie Ljungberg perhaps is too old to be considered a good signing for a side wanting to lift the SPL trophy. However, the Celtic boss claimed the Swedish legend, who trained for the first time with the squad on Monday, is still in good condition and positively youthful in comparison to 40-year-old Weir who remains a mainstay of the Ibrox defence. Lennon said: "Davie Weir is 40 and he has played more or less every minute of every game last season and he's played in most of the games this season. So compared to Davie, Freddie is a junior. It is very difficult to make decisions on one day's training but we like what we see. He's got that quality, there's no doubt about it and he is the type of player we are looking to bring in. He looked very sharp yesterday and his experience is vital. He has had a great career so far and at 33 he is still relatively young in the modern day and he will still have a lot to offer. It's difficult to sign players on long-term deals in January, but this is an opportunity that we would be foolish to miss out on. Johan Mjallby obviously knows him very well from his Sweden days and the career he had at Arsenal. He had problems at West Ham but they were fixed and he has played a lot of games in America in the last 18 months. I think he has the hunger to play in Europe and win things and that's why he is here." The Irishman, though, wanted to dampen expectations that Ljungberg would be playing against Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday. He said: "It might be a bit early for that, we don't know yet. He could be in contention if the deal is done but I wouldn't look too far into that. You have to look at his general fitness levels and how he approaches the intensity of the training and then you have to assess if he is ready to be thrown straight in to a game. He ticks all the boxes from what I've seen so far but I'm only going on one day." Speaking at Lennoxtown ahead of tonight's home game against Motherwell, Lennon spoke about the qualities of Canada international Dwayne De Rosario who has also arrived for a week's trial. He said: "He's a similar player to Shaun Maloney, he likes to play off the left and come inside. He is a skilful, sharp and intelligent player. Again it's an opportunity for us to have a look and see what he can offer us." Lennon was less expansive about one report claiming he was interested in taking Spurs midfielder Niko Kranjcar on a loan deal. He said: "You have thrown a name at me. I will only comment on them when it is done and dusted or if they are here. We are going to get linked with a lot of players. I think he is a quality player but I can't comment on that." While most of the focus is on players who might be coming in to Parkhead, defender Cha Du-Ri and midfielder Ki Sung-yueng are away on Asian Cup duty with South Korea and could miss most of January. However, Lennon insists he has suitable replacements for them both. He said: "We have a lot of good cover there. Beram Kayal and Scott Brown are fit and Mark Wilson and Efrain Juarez can play at right-back. But we will miss them because they have played very well. Ki has been excellent and Cha has got better and better as the season has progressed." With Rangers' trip to St Johnstone postponed thanks to the weather, Celtic can go top of the table with a win over the Steelmen, who lost 4-1 at home the league leaders at the weekend. Lennon, though, refused to take anything for granted, saying: "After a defeat like that I think their players will be playing for pride. Motherwell might not have done themselves justice in the last few games so it's always a worry when a team comes off the back of a defeat, how difficult they will be to break down. But we are just looking at our team and how we can keep play the attacking football we have been playing."
