SOMETIMES in life you don’t need to learn your own lessons you can learn simply from watching the mistakes of others.
The reason this came to mind was listening to the football on BBC last night I heard Connah’s Quay Nomads part time Welsh side had knocked Kilmarnock out at Europa League first qualifying round stage.
A bad enough outcome at any time but when you’ve won the first leg away from home with 2 away goals in the bag you’d normally assume the second leg would be a simple formality. A 2-0 defeat for the home side was a head shaker.
It was a shocking result not only of course for the co-efficient of Scottish football sides in Europe but the general embarrassment of having a team of Kilmarnock’s standing last season beaten in such a manner and by a part time side is terrible for the reputation of the Scottish game abroad.
It also made me get a hold of myself slightly.
As Eleanor Roosevelt wrote “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
I’d watched a good attacking display from Celtic on Wednesday night. The 2-1 scoreline didn’t do justice to the attacking dominance of Celtic. I thought as a unit going forward we played ever so well.
Watching Callum McGregor getting back to his best and orchestrating a midfield with Scott Brown as his cohort enforcer was a joy. Further forward Ryan Christie was showing, guile, flair and no little menace in his number 10 role while the interchanging on the wings of Lewis Morgan and James Forrest had the opposition full backs unable to settle or get the measure of their opponent.
Add in Boli Bolognoli’s attacking threat from full back and Nir Bitton looking like he could play centre half in a dressing gown and slippers I was a happy man as the whistle blew and Celtic had comfortably qualified against a decent side.
We could and possibly should have scored more but it must be said the fact we didn’t was in large part down to the FK Sarajevo goalkeeper who stood out a mile as the Bosnian’s best performer. Celtic looked like they had stepped up a gear from the previous week’s away encounter in Sarajevo.
This is where I think I started to get ahead of myself and where Kilmarnock’s European doing planted my feet back on the ground. Was I papering over the cracks in my mind?
I like many Celtic supporters I guess assumed North Macedonia would be Celtic’s next European destination. The destination itself was the worrying thing for me. I remember Scotland playing out there and suffering an embarrassing defeat but the word from Scotland players was the heat and humidity had caught them out, not the standard of football instead it was the conditions.
As such it was a surprise to see the Macedonians Shkendija defeated 2-1 at home and lose on away goals to the Estonian side Nomme Kalju. This left the Estonians as Celtic’s opponents in the second qualifying round and a more palatable trip to Tallinn for players and supporters alike. Not only however did I think Celtic had dodged a bullet I was even thinking ahead to who Celtic could face in the 3rd qualifying round so little respect had I actually given our Estonian opponent. I was already hoping to avoid PAOK in the 3rd qualifying round before we’d even dealt with Kalju in the 2nd round.
Kilmarnock were my wakeup call and hopefully it will also be a gentle reminder to all involved with Celtic that to take the second round qualifier for granted could be a mistake of Connah’s Quay Nomad proportions.
And it was from there that the doubts started to come to the fore. Yes we did look good in both legs against FK Sarajevo and it was another step forward to match sharpness from the previous week’s win in Sarajevo.
That said though we did look open at the back at times. Bolognoli made a defensive error that led to a goal. We were a little slack at the back on a few occasions. We of course did get away with it but perhaps better sides would have punished us with more than one goal on the break.
Add to the mix that as well as Nir Bitton played he isn’t a first choice centre half. He’s not even a centre half by trade. The reason he’s playing there at all at the moment is we have no right back that Lennon trusts on the European stage and Kris Ajer is having to deputise there. Not only do we therefore have a square peg In a round hole at full back we’ve also diluted a strong central defensive partnership with Jozo Simunovic to accommodate the change.
It must be said a better side than Sarajevo might well spot these weaknesses and punish us.
Looking back with the benefit of hindsight would it not have perhaps been a wise decision to see if Christopher Julien could have got at least an hour under his belt and get that step closer to match sharpness with one eye on the 2nd qualifying round?
As well as Nir Bitton has played and he has strolled it, Christopher Jullien is £7 million of a defender. Celtic’s most expensive defender of all time. He’s also a natural in the position. It would at least mean if Ajer had to play full back we were only one player out of their natural position rather than two.
It also got the nerves jangling again over this right back problem. It’s promising to hear we’ve been linked with Hatem Abd Elhamed amongst others but this needs to be concluded pretty quickly. How many of our likely opponents are going into these qualifiers without a first choice player in every position?
Through injury some may be doing just that. Through selling and not replacing though? I doubt that very much.
I like the look of Elhamed from the few clips I’ve seen. He looked far better at right back than centre back and he looks like he has an incredible acceleration and travelling speed going forward and tracking back.
It’s difficult to judge his defensive capabilities via You Tube clips of course but given we need two right backs at the club it would be a good start to get this lad signed up even if it as a backup initially. One natural right footed full back is better than none and it would allow our defence to get back into a natural shape.
The other concern takes me back to the Sarajevo goalkeeper. Before Connah’s Quay Nomads emptied Kilmarnock from Europe I was satisfied that Celts were just a bit unlucky in front of goal and up against an inspired performer between the sticks. After Killie’s embarrassment I’m edgy again.
Was he that good? Do we have enough options up front? If Edouard has one of his quiet games who puts the ball in the net?
Leigh Griffith is slowly but surely getting there but he’s off it for now. Bayo is injured again. Do we have plans for another striker? A real out and out experienced goal scorer.
Charlie Austin has been left to train with Southampton’s Under 23 squad. Given the press reports state his response to the snub was one of unbridled anger it may be that lad has burned his bridges somewhat with Southampton.
Celtic also have a decent working relationship with Southampton. That relationship has been a bit one sided in previous years. Maybe it’s time the Saints reciprocated and sent one North in the shape of Charlie Austin to help balance those that have headed in a southerly direction. A loan deal with a view to buy might suit both parties. Saints lose and unhappy player and Celts get an experienced and physical goal scorer with appoint to prove. Just a thought.
Whatever happens in the days ahead I just hope we can learn the lessons from Kilmarnock and not take progression in Europe as a given or something we can afford to gamble with.
A seat at the top European table is where Celtic belong. Our team has earned the right via domestic dominance on the field to be there.
Let’s give Lenny the tools he needs to achieve it. We can’t go into the fight with one arm tied behind our backs. We don’t want Nomme Kalju to be our Connah’s Quay Nomad’s.
I don’t want to wake up on the morning after the game feeling like a Killie fan does today.
Niall J
