Strachan vows Celtic will be better next season

YESTERDAY'S defeat at Tynecastle was academic for Celtic in the context of this season, as they made sure of the SPL title some time ago. It could yet have an influence on next season, however, if Gordon Strachan is true to his word.

"We will come back a better team here next year, no doubt about it," the champions' manager said. "We will come back a better, better team than we were today."

Indeed, Celtic were also a better team in their three previous outings against Hearts, two of which they won, while the third was a draw. They were not markedly substandard yesterday, but Strachan accepted that the outcome of the match had a lot to do with the different situations in which the teams found themselves, with his side having accomplished all they could while Hearts were bidding for the runners-up slot and also have the Scottish Cup final to look forward to.

"It comes down to second place," he continued. "Going for second place gave them a lot of energy. But our boys kept plugging away. We're disappointed. There's no doubt about that. At times our build-up was a wee bit different from theirs. Ours was slower and more deliberate in terms of passes; theirs was great on the counter-attack.

"It's an unreal atmosphere about the place. I hope I'm in the same position next year.

"There's not many managers, because of how their players perform, who have to figure out how to go about the last six games but these guys are competitors.

"A couple of weeks ago we tried four days off - they were OK and got a draw against Rangers, weren't great. We trained a lot harder this week and got beat 3-0."

Strachan revealed that he had pinpointed to his players before the game the threat Hearts would pose at free-kicks. "I said to the players before the game that free-kicks were going to be a huge factor.

"Their first goal, an own goal, was a freak, but the second one was a fantastic strike.

It's not often that I'm right, but I was right this time."

Asked how he felt about John Hartson's decision to stay with Celtic next season, Strachan made the usual polite noises, but refused to say he was relieved that a striker of the Welshman's ability would still be available to him next season.

"Fine," he said. "I'm OK. Great announcement. We don't really want anybody to go."

Hartson came off the bench yesterday, as did Stilian Petrov, whose future at the club has also been uncertain. Strachan's insistence that Celtic were not exactly in the position of begging players to play for them could easily have been designed for the ears of the Bulgarian, who has said he wants to leave Celtic in the close season despite having signed a new contract with them just a few months ago.

Taken from the Scotsman