“As for that first leg against Artmedia, the argument that the game came too early for us was best illustrated by the upheaval to our defence in the full-back slots. The regular incumbents under Martin had been Didier Agathe and Jackie McNamara, Celtic’s captain.
“But with the former unavailable through injury and the latter having left for Wolves – much to my regret, following a contractual dispute, which I am convinced would have been settled to the satisfaction of both parties had Jackie and his agent adopted a more patient negotiating stance – we were forced to give debuts to both Paul Telfer and Mo Camara.
“The other back four headache concerned Bobo Balde’s contract situation. Bobo had a clause in his agreement stipulating that, at that particular time, he could leave Celtic for any club prepared to match or better his terms with us.
“He had every right to explore this possibility but in the build-up to a game as important as the one in Bratislava, his meetings and telephone conversations with other clubs were a distraction that we – not to mention Bobo – could have done without.
“For all this, there is little doubt that we should have done better against the Slovakian champions. I had the impression that their coach was as shocked about the scoreline as I was.
“Celtic did not play well but up to Artmedia’s young striker Juraj Halenar getting the first of his three goals, two minutes before half-time, I was thinking that the likeliest outcome would be a 0-0 draw.
“Even when Artmedia made it 2-0 early in the second half, I really could not see us taking the hammering we did. Hence the fact that, while some managers might have tried to bolster their defence and opted for a damage-limitation approach, I went the other way.
“My substitutions after Artmedia’s second goal – Shaun Maloney for Maciej Zurawski, who had struggled to make an impact on his Celtic debut, and then Jeremie Aliadiere for Alan Thompson, who had not been fully match-fit – were later described by some pundits as naïve.
“However, because of the importance of away goals in European matches, and my belief that Artmedia would prove as vulnerable at the back as we had been if we could put greater pressure on them, I felt that the gamble was justified. I still do.
“It could easily have paid off for us. Shaun Maloney missed one excellent chance and Aiden McGeady, who had come on in the first half for the injured Chris Sutton, failed to convert an even better one. The roof then fell on us again but bearing in mind that we beat Artmedia 4-0 in the return leg at Parkhead, we would still have gone through had one of those opportunities been taken.”
“When I die, I reckon the inscription on my headstone should read:
“This is much better than Bratislava.”
Matt Corr
*An extract from Matt Corr’s book Majic, Stan and the King of Japan published by Celtic Star Books and available from the link below. If you enjoy high quality Celtic writing then please support our efforts by ordering your signed copy. We know you’ll love it!
