As is often the case, it has been left to Chris Sutton to offer some sanity to the debate surrounding the defeat to Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night. Although the defeat itself was disappointing, the reaction to it in some quarters has been out of proportion, and Sutton has pointed to as much naivety coming from a section of the support as any exhibited on the pitch from Celtic against the Norwegian Champions.
Writing in his Daily Record column today, Sutton points to an acceptance being needed when it comes to Ange Postecoglou’s attacking philosophy on the one hand delivering exceptional performances against theRangers, whilst on the other, the likelihood that the odd bloody nose will result at times too as we saw on Thursday night.
‘Of course, Bodo/Glimt are not Manchester City. They are not of the elite level. But they are still a fine team. Just ask Jose Mourinho and they were able to punish Celtic for not being at their best. I had Celtic-supporting pals saying beforehand the team was going to pump Bodo/Glimt easily but that, to borrow a word that Callum McGregor used in the aftermath of the defeat, was naive.
“On the flip side, since the game finished on Thursday, I have since heard others suggest the side was way too offensive and waiting to be picked off. That was a reference to the fact Postecoglou went positive. He went with all-guns blazing and naming both Tom Rogic and Matt O’Riley in the starting line-up was an aggressive move. It didn’t work out but quite why anyone would get uptight about that is beyond me.
“Postecoglou has been on the front foot since he took charge. That’s the way he is going to play. He is going to back his team to dictate and dominate and there’s no compromise. If fans are going to celebrate that approach when they are taking (the)Rangers to pieces, there has to be an acceptance it can backfire at times.”
Sutton is spot on in his assessment. The idea Celtic some seven months into a rebuild should be in a position to defeat the two-in-a-row Norwegian Champions does seem naïve. After all Bodo/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutson is in year four of his project with his club, has an engrained structure he has honed in that time, both on and off the field, and despite a limited budget has a supporting structure that allows him to sell the best of talents whilst already having earmarked replacements.
Knutsen keeps it simple by operating a 4-3-3 formation he rarely deviates from and every player in it is assessed on their strength to play within that system. He also has a squad who have players in waiting, signed as much as two years in advance, to replace those the club believe will be picked off by other clubs – as was evident by every substitution made by the Norwegians on Thursday night showing no dilution in the quality on the park.
Knutson’s side was as well drilled as any European team to visit Celtic Park. Their movement both vertically and horizontally across the pitch was as exceptional as it was disciplined. The players rotations and relationships on the pitch were second nature to them. In attack they had established patterns of play and they passed the ball simply knowing their teammates would be in position to receive.
Meanwhile defensively their ability to close off passing lanes and offer each other cover was impressive to witness – and so it should be after four years of having a plan both on and off the field. They also had the advantage of having four weeks to prepare for this tie, and pre-season or not, they used the time to do their homework on Celtic. Ange Postecoglou meanwhile in the middle of a demanding season had no such time to prepare with that level of focus.
Celtic are some way from having such a supporting structure, indeed bar changes instigated by Ange himself little has changed at an operational level at Celtic. In short, from a footballing perspective, Knutsen has reached a point where his team can operate his system against any side in any competition. Ange Postecoglou intends to do the same with his own philosophy, but to expect that to have happened in such a short space of time would be entirely unreasonable – particularly supported by an organisation that appears to work from season to season, with little long-term planning whatsoever until Postecoglou took control.
It takes time for such a philosophy to become second nature to players, and it was clear on Thursday night Celtic were defeated by a team simply far more advanced in their on-field relationships and a side who were perfectly prepared to implement a gameplan they haven’t deviated from in four years.
Celtic and Ange Postecoglou will get there, indeed with a bigger budget you’d eventually expect Postecoglou to surpass the achievements of Bodo Glimt, but for the time being there has to be an understanding that there are a great many teams operating in a far more sophisticated way than Celtic operate at when it comes to supporting the football operations at their club, and even with lower budgets, organisation can defeat superior finance. To expect Postecoglou or the Celtic players, the majority of whom arrived at the club over the course of the last two transfer windows, to blow away such opposition is, as Chris Sutton, said naïve.
It was a disappointing result on Thursday night and the performance left a lot to be desired, but at Celtic we are just starting our journey. It is, as Ange Postecoglou admitted himself, very much a work in progress.
Perhaps we have all simply got a little carried away with the speed of the improvement in Celtic on the back of a year of despair prior to the manager’s arrival. As such for the management, players and supporters, Thursday night should be viewed as a returning to a semblance of reality.
Celtic are doing well but it will take time to get to the level of understanding and consistency that Bodo/Glimt evidenced on Thursday night, and both on and off the park at management and boardroom level there will need to be further improvements made to reach the levels Celtic should be aspiring to.
Thursday night could be viewed as a bump in the road, or we could view it as a chance to assess why as a football club, European opponents, often with far smaller budgets, and with alarming regularity, defeat Celtic across all three European competitions. Such introspection may be the best way to correct mistakes and build for the future, but much of that is down to organisational issues at a club, who although huge in stature are small time in preparation.
Ange Postecoglou walked into that, and it appears he’s being left to fix it by himself. It would be naïve in the extreme to assume that won’t take a great deal of time to turn around.
In the meantime, we must accept for every awe-inspiring unbeaten run, or thumping defeat of theRangers, that a chastening defeat will also come our way, especially against European opponents. Yet given the results and performances the manager has produced, often against the odds, I wouldn’t give up on this tie just yet and I doubt very much Ange Postecoglou will either.
However, to compete on a regular basis against even half decent European teams, there has to be an understanding that we remain some way off when it comes to a supporting structure, or indeed as a football team, operating against clubs who have been ahead of the curve while we stagnated and stood still.
That will take time to fix and it is even harder when it appears the task of modernising it all appears to have been left to just one man. One who perhaps deserved a touch more patience than has been exhibited is some quarters since Thursday night.
Niall J
The biggest single problem we had on Thursday was…Bodo are no SPFL side.
This was a disciplined, skilled and well organised team who were comfortable in both possession and defending…. and that is not something we are remotely used to…and it showed
Their Coach, in a pre-match interview, not only spelled out exactly how we play…he named all our players …and what they contribute.
Just saying Ange.
Finally…I’ve never been a big fan of Rogic or Forrest…
Both have undoubted great ability…but both tend not to show it very often .
I thought Rogic was dreadful on Thursday…and Forrest did nothing, again, when he came on.
Other than that….:0)