Whilst picking over the bones of a rather sombre, humbling and overall disappointing European night under the floodlights at Celtic Park, I have found the same motif of past years in this Ange Postecoglou side. The theme seems to be that if we lose a goal it completely eradicates our confidence altogether. For years this has been an issue and it is the crux – I believe – of our poor knockout record in Europe these past 18 years.
Yes, we gave a right good go in Germany against Leverkusen and likewise in Seville against Betis during the Europa League. But the salient point remains we did not emerge with a single point to show for our commendable endeavours in European competition once more. The wins against Ferencvaros were excellent, although they really should be expected if we want to be punching upwards on that stage in the golden ticket of the Champions League moving forward.
My mind goes back over and over again to the night in Israel, when Celtic played Hapoel Ber’Sheva for a place in the elite tournament on the Continent. We had a comfortable cushion after overcoming the Middle Eastern side at Parkhead 5-2. Heading to the Holy Land we had every reason to be confident we would get the job done and progress to the Land of Milk and Honey, just as Moses led the slaves out of Egypt all those years ago. Things were fine until we lost a goal.
Boom.
Panic set in, uncontrollable panic amongst the ranks and we began to fluff our lines, and nobody wanted the responsibility of carrying or keeping the ball. Then we lost another. All Hell broke loose. We just could not stop the rot that had filled the individual and collective performances on the night and looked to be on the ropes and in need of a sustained break or minor miracle at the time. I distinctly remember the experienced Kolo Toure shouting at his teammates and calling over Scott Brown to send the word to keep the head and all would be fine.
Toure got us through that match and that play-off on that occasion.
But we still have this problem and it refuses to be eradicated from successive Celtic sides. Knockout ties seem to be especially crippling in this respect, as the evidence provides the cold hard facts that we have failed to win a knockout phase tie since way back in 2004 against the mighty Barcelona. Oh how long ago that Thompson goal was… If it doesn’t improve Thompson’s goal may become as antiquated as Moses journey through the desert!
Night’s like last night show the fragility still inherent within not only the team but the club as a whole. We need to overhaul a system and way of working that has finally run it’s course and reinvigorate the football and scouting departments. Ange has done wonderfully since he came in and deserves all the plaudits in the world for how he has managed to get the side he inherited in June to top of the league in February.
Astonishing really. However, there is still a long and winding road ahead of us if we wish to play this type of football. We definitely need an upgrade at left-back as was patently obvious after the horror showing on that side of the pitch last night.
Individually and collectively we were poor. In fairness, I don’t think we can play much worse than last night and it was still only 3-1. Moving forward I would like to see more on-field leadership and accountability from the players. Callum McGregor cannot do this on his own, particularly at European-level. The return of Christopher Jullien and our Golden Bhoy Kyogo will be most welcome. I sense we may see an improvement once they return to the current set-up.
It was a blip on what has been an excruciating and arduous process trying to get back to were we belong. We have managed to get our groove back in the league of late, now we must keep that up and prove this team has what it takes to become Champions again. Meanwhile, the return leg against Bodo should be viewed as an opportunity to showcase our real abilities as a team and fight to the death for a place in the next round. Who knows, we may very well be more dangerous now that we are a wounded animal.
I wouldn’t bet against anything at this stage with Angeball.
Would you?
Paul Gillespie
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Yes,I would bet against it we are nowhere near that team….on any level you want to look at .” The groove” has been fading away recently to the point of Ange doing the nut on the touch line . He knows we’re not at the races just now and looks a very worried man. His post match interview was his worst since he arrived,muttering on about how we were in control of the game. He knows we are broken and is struggling to sort it out.