‘Celtic are deserving of a great deal of praise for last night’s performance,’ David Potter

CELTIC are deserving of a great deal of praise for last night’s performance. It was by no means a pretty occasion, but then again European football is always a tough place. However Celtic did not wilt, as they have far too often in the past, and we can look forward to the rest of the campaign with a degree of confidence.

It is a very even group with the defeat of Lazio by Cluj something that very few of us would have predicted. It is Cluj who are next up at Celtic Park on 3 October, and I feel that we owe them one. Do we not?

There were a couple of real crazy moments last night, one of which was our fault, the other we can do nothing about. The one that we are responsible for was the moment of madness of Kristofer Ajer, normally the sanest man in the team.

Just what on earth made him grab that guy’s jersey? Whatever he did after that was irrelevant. Grabbing a jersey was enough to give away a penalty kick, and it was a shame that it happened at the time it did, for we were definitely on top at that point.

And then we had the referee and the sending off of Bayo who was not really on the field for very long at all. The first yellow card perhaps was justified, but the second one was a clear case of a referee being conned by brilliant acting. It was an awful decision, and Celtic must surely appeal it. That was the second crazy moment.

In between all that, the referee missed a clear penalty on Ryan Christie, gave a few funny fouls often in the wrong direction and got certain corner kick/goal kick decisions wrong. The game ended with several players on a short fuse, and it was as well that the game ended when it did, for the Rennes support was showing signs of turning nasty as well.

In between all that, it was quite an even game with Celtic the better team in the first half and Rennes on top in the second. Celtic were particularly well served by Forster, Jullien, Ajer (apart from his brainstorm), Brown and Christie – but there was no-one who was a real failure. McGregor was quiet, Forrest was good only in patches, Bolingoli made rather too many mistakes but made up for them to a certain extent by the rest of his play and Scott Brown had hard luck with that header.

The important thing is that Celtic are coming home with their heads held high and with their self-respect intact. We did get the attitude right and our heads were in the right place. It is very early days yet, but at least the show is on the road and I am confident that, if we must go down, we will not do so without a fight. The players deserve a large crowd to see them take on Cluj on Thursday 3 October.

Changing gear slightly, we now have Kilmarnock at Celtic Park on Sunday. I expect a much changed line-up, and the opportunity will be there for some lesser spotted Celtic players to show us what they can do.

But a satisfactory night. European credibilty has been established. Let’s keep it that way.

David Potter

ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR…

‘I thought it was a stonewaller so there’s a sense of frustration,’ Ryan Christie…see HERE.

Lenny wants VAR in Europa League after Spanish referee makes wrong calls…see HERE.

Honours Even – Celtic Frustrated By Spanish Referee under Rennes’ Blood Red Sky…see HERE.

About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor, who has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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