Source: Team_Talk
Venus: Bhoys need trophies
The Hoops' fourth-round tie at Morton finally looks set to go ahead at the third attempt after twice being claimed by the big freeze in the last nine days.[LNB]The interim has seen Celtic slip nine points behind arch-rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premier League, while they have already been dumped out of the Champions League, Europa League and Co-operative Insurance Cup this season.[LNB]The Scottish Cup now looks their most likely avenue to salvage something from Tony Mowbray's first campaign in the Parkhead hotseat.[LNB]Like his Hibernian and West Brom sides in the past, Mowbray's Celtic have earned plenty of plaudits for the quality of their football but assistant manager Venus knows that will count for little come May.[LNB]"The bottom line is you're trying to win games, you're trying to win trophies," he said.[LNB]"You plot your graph at the end of the season from the start to the end to see what you've achieved.[LNB]"If you don't achieve anything, your graph probably doesn't look very good.[LNB]"If you win something - however you go about it - then your graph probably looks okay."[LNB]A cup upset on Tuesday would quickly see the vultures begin to circle around Parkhead but Venus said: "I'm not interested in what other people think, to be honest.[LNB]"I don't get paid to form opinions or to write things down or to say things.[LNB]"Bottom line is, we're second in the league and we're still in the cup.[LNB]"Whatever else goes around is irrelevant to me.[LNB]"I only care about the fans and the players and the club."[LNB]Like Mowbray, Venus believes Celtic have not been rewarded with the SPL points their performances deserve.[LNB]"We're not winning enough games, are we?" he said.[LNB]"I think that's the missing link.[LNB]"We'd like more points on the board for the performances we've put in, but unfortunately we haven't got them."[LNB]Conceding soft goals and a failure to take their chances is what has ultimately cost Celtic this season.[LNB]Venus said: "The two ends of the pitch are the parts which are the most important, the parts we need to get up to speed on."[LNB]Learning to win ugly might also help turn Celtic's season around, with Rangers having continued to pick up results in recent weeks despite a spate of injuries and suspensions and a minor slump in form.[LNB]But a change of philosophy under Mowbray looks unlikely, with Venus saying: "I don't know what different we can do."[LNB]Mowbray's right-hand man insisted there is no shortage of confidence in the Celtic camp ahead of what is set to be a tricky cup tie at Cappielow.[LNB]He added: "It's a good game for us to play in and we're looking forward to it.[LNB]"I think it's going to be difficult but it's something that you've got to get through and see if we can progress."[LNB]Celtic have a number of injury concerns ahead of Tuesday night's game and may be forced into blooding some of their youngsters.[LNB]However, with their entire season arguably on the line, there is little danger of the Glasgow giants failing to take the Scottish Cup seriously.[LNB]Venus said: "It's the main cup competition in Scotland. We play in Scotland - we want to win it.[LNB]"So it's very important.[LNB]"It's the prestige final, in the respective country it's in, at the end of the season.[LNB]"It's a major event and we want to be there at Hampden."[LNB][LNB]
