Yesterday in my pre-match article I ended it by saying it was time for Celtic to release the shackles and show we are serious about restoring our reputation on the continent…
It was time to show people the real Celtic. They certainly did that last night at Celtic Park where they steamrollered Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava and showed that we have turned up to the Champions League this season ready to not just take part, but to make our mark on this competition for the first time in a very long time.
I don’t care if the Slovakians are one of the weaker teams in the competition, anytime you rack up a 5-1 win in Europe’s premier competition people will take notice. And after being on the end of some heavy defeats ourselves over the last decade it feels good to hand out a hammering of our own.
I said yesterday I believe a win in our opening game of this year’s Champions League will give us that confidence boost on the continent that we have been crying out for. I believe the belief is now there for this group of players to go toe to toe with any of our European opponents over the next few months. The fear that has held us back in this competition over the past decade will slowly dissipate as these players finally believe they belong at the top table. After last night they now have the belief that Brendan has been looking to instal in his squad.
Do I expect us to go to the home grounds of Dortmund and Atalanta and do the same to them as we did to Slovan Bratislava last night? No. It won’t happen. I do however expect the days of us travelling away to these top teams and taking a battering to be over.
In many of the previous Champions League away days I have gone with the mindset of enjoying the trip, the drinking and the camaraderie with fellow supporters but not having any huge expectations of us achieving a positive result on match day. Our previous results on the continent indicate that if you go on one of these trips expecting three points you may be sorely disappointed.
As I head to Dortmund in a couple of weeks time however I will definitely be carrying a renewed sense of positivity, hoping we are capable of somehow leaving the Signal Iduna Park with something. Now that may just be pride that we were competitive against last season’s Champions League finalists in their own back yard but as I say I don’t expect the maulings of the past to be a thing of the future.
As was wholly predictable, our result yesterday has been dismissed by jealous fans of the 12 year old club across the city. Trying to convince themselves that we aren’t really that good, they have declared Slovan Bratislava on par with the likes of Ross County and St Johnstone.
I even saw one mention they are about the standard of Dunfermline which shows how warped their minds truly are! Totally oblivious to how we easily brushed aside their own team 3-0 just a couple of weeks ago, they maintain that only a team of ‘jobbers’ would lose by three or four goals to this ‘average’ Celtic team. They really are hopelessly delusional.
As a final thought I have to say when talk of Brendan Rodgers coming back last summer surfaced I wasn’t sure what to think. I think we were all rightly disgusted when he left us mid-season as soon as a cash rich side from the EPL made advances to him but at the same time I knew we wouldn’t be able to attract a better manager than the Carnlough native.
So in the end like most of us I gritted my teeth and welcomed him back to the club. I knew however that if he didn’t take this team forward that the fan base would turn on him much quicker than they would have before he left us for Leicester. He knew that to.
The fact he has come in and vastly improved this team after a successful period under Ange Postecoglou says a lot about Rodgers. He has most definitely proved he is an elite football manager. On a side note I found it almost ironic that while Celtic were putting on their best performance in the Champions League for many a year under the Irishman, Ange was sweating as his big spending Spurs side narrowly avoided an embarrassing exit at the hands of Coventry City in the English League Cup. How things change eh?
For all we lauded the Australian, I don’t believe Ange was ever going to vastly improve us in Europe. Yes I absolutely loved his style of play in Scottish competition. His all out attack tactics worked great on that front and we often blew the opposition away but it would always prove problematic on the big stage. Ange’s ‘plan B is to do plan A better’ philosophy would always leave us open to being picked off by Europe’s elite. Brendan’s more controlled, patient approach will serve us much better in the future.
I have a feeling this season’s Champions League campaign is going to be a thoroughly enjoyable rollercoaster ride. I for one am fully ready to get strapped in.
Conall McGinty
COMING SOON ON CELTIC STAR BOOKS…CELTIC IN THE THIRTIES, VOL 1&2 BY MATT CORR…
In amongst all of this well deserved hype and back-slapping, let’s get the feet back on the ground and remember, with one win, brilliant win at that, in the bank, we have seven more games left to play!
Make no mistake about this, some of these wolves in sheep’s clothing currently patting us on the backs are just DYING to knock us back down!
So get behind the Bhoys and help make more history!