In terms of European football, Club Brugge is a club comparable to Celtic. Playing in a ‘lesser’ league, a big club, big support and a history of success on the domestic front…
In fact when you make those comparisons Celtic are probably bigger in all those categories yet when it comes to the Champions League Brugge are more than capable while Celtic is, as is often the case, on the outside looking in after failing to negotiate a summer play-off round against the kind of opposition that Celtic should have no difficulty beating.
Unlike our own club, the Belgian club has adapted very well to the top flight of European football, and this season look very much like a serious European outfit after clever strategic work in the summer transfer window.
Their own Champions League play-off round saw them hand out a 9-1 mauling to theRangers, so absolutely no issues with their own qualification for the group stages – it was emphatic while Celtic faced Kairat, apparently the weakest team in the play-offs and couldn’t find the back of the next in two matches or extra time and hardly managed much more in a dreadful penalty shoot-out.
As the Champions League group phase kicked-off yet again without Celtic, Club Brugge demonstrated how competent a side they are on the European scene as they thumped Monaco 4-1 in their Champions League opener in Belgium. Many football punters will have found good odds on Club Brugge getting the better of Monaco in a tight match but that result was as impressive as it was emphatic and, in many respects, caught the cookies off guard. In fact, the odds were similar to the kind of wins you can get on a real money pokies Australia app where the best bonuses pay out thousands of dollars.
Last season Celtic supporters witnessed first hand how decent a side Brugge were as the teams played out a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park in the Champions league. Celtic since they have got weaker with key players like Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn being sold and the Celtic Board failing to sign replacements ahead of the play-off against Kairat. They people ask how Celtic failed to score against the Kazakhstan Premier League champions who many are tipping to finish the group stages of the Champions League with zero points.
Nicky Hayens’ Brugge side last season reached the last 16 of the competition whilst producing some impressive results and performances along the way. And this season the Belgian outfit now look like having a genuine chance of replicating that form, or even better after yet another fantastic performance and result against the Ligue 1 side. This was possible by their excellent and strategically sound summer transfer business while over at Celtic Park calling it a shambles would be an understatement.
It’s not just the results Club Brugge are getting, it’s the manner of their all round play that is so impressive. Great on the ball, always looking to go forward, but more importantly they look like a well drilled formidable unit. After Celtic put Bundesliga side to the sword in the Champions League last season the headline on The Celtic Star stated that Brendan Rodgers was cooking something special at Celtic Park.
But after giving Bayern Munich their toughest match of the season in the post-group stage play off, things have gone backwards for Celtic as the manager spent the summer warning that quality recruitment was needed quickly in order to build on a fine Champions League campaign last year. It all fell on deaf ears in the Celtic Boardroom as the moneymen kept their £100m in the bank and then lost £40m due to the shock embarrassing elimination in Kazakhstan.
Even more impressively as far as Club Brugge is that whilst not exactly working on a shoestring budget, their investment on the recruitment front is a splash in the ocean compared to the so called elite of Europe.
Brugge invested around €36 million on new arrivals, which was made possible by the a whopping €80 million in player sales over the summer, and more importantly the incoming players recruited were all proven quality and first team ready.
Going back previous campaigns is just as impressive last year incomings were more than covered by their impressive sales in the transfer market. That’s despite working in a similar landscape as Celtic ie lack of TV revenue and sponsorship opportunities. Even their focus on youth development and scouting is so much better than our own, although there are some promising signs as under Brendan both Colby Donovan and Dane Murray have broken into the Celtic first team squad this season and both look like they are here to stay.
Club Brugge are a fine example of how to run a football club, and what can be achieved in the Champions League. The Celtic Board should be taking a note or two and in particular ditch their crazy policy of waiting to the last minute in the summer transfer window to see if they get through the qualifiers before deciding whether to spend. This crazy policy more than anything is the reason why Celtic have repeatedly failed to reach the Champions League when having to qualify via a play-off.
Look at the list of Celtic’s Champions League play-off woes since 2018.
2018 — lost to AEK Athens (third qualifying round / play-off area): Celtic went out 3–2 on aggregate after a 2–1 defeat in Greece following a 1–1 draw at Celtic Park.
2019 — eliminated by CFR Cluj (third qualifying round): Celtic dropped into the Europa route after a 5–4 aggregate defeat (2019 season records).
2020 — lost to Ferencváros (second qualifying round): Celtic were surprisingly beaten 2–1 at Celtic Park and eliminated early in qualifying. Contemporary coverage highlighted tactical and attitude failings.
2021 — knocked out by FC Midtjylland (second qualifying round): Celtic lost 3–2 on aggregate after extra time away in Denmark (2–1 on the night)
2025 — lost playoff to Kairat Almaty (play-off; penalties): Celtic failed to score over two legs and were eliminated on penalties, missing the group stage to a club with a much smaller budget.
The Celtic Board might have around £100m in the bank but the club lost that sum and more by failing to properly prepare for these games listed above by failing to invest in the squad in case they failed to reach the Champions League group stages. The Celtic bosses each time were the authors of their own misfortune yet come the next summer and the one after that they still persist with their tried and failed policies.
And that is why the Celtic support has now had enough.
‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ‘Albert Einstein – The Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson should pin that on his office wall.
So much wrong with this analysis, Club Brugge do not have a big support as average attendances are circa 20,000 compared to Celtic’s 54,000 season tickets alone.
The TV money for Belgium is some 3 x Scotland , 93 million v 30 million.
Club Brugge play in a country who are ranked 8th in the world v Scotland ranked 43.
Club Brugge have a wage bill at least twice if not three times Celtic’s wage bill.
They have access to a home pool of far better players than Celtic, they pay far better wages to attract better quality players and they have a player development and sell on model that works far better than Celtic plus they don’t mind running with some debt. Our Club is obsessed with profit.
So, slipping in another gambling site as though it’s part of the narrative? Shame on you