Yesterday ended up a rollercoaster of emotions as we watched Celtic battle for a point at Tynecastle in a game that we knew we dared not lose if we wanted to keep ourselves in the title race…
We had the highs of taking the lead twice, the lows of conceding twice from set pieces and we also had the added misery of watching on as Steven McLean and John Beaton tried their hardest to make sure Celtic left Edinburgh empty handed.
Even though I felt like it was two points dropped come full time, under the circumstances it was probably a decent result, one that doesn’t change very much in the overall title race picture. It was clear to see that Thursday night’s exertions took a heavy toll on the players, which isn’t surprising after giving their all against Bologna whilst playing with ten men for most of the game.
Due to a bit of good old Anti-Celtic bias from the officials, we also had to play the last 20 minutes yesterday a man down due to the incorrect red card shown to Auston Trusty.
Celtic were poor yesterday, there’s no doubt about it. The fact we were still a match for Hearts whilst playing badly and coming off the back of a extremely tiring away day trip to Italy shows that Hearts are nothing special.
Neither are their Glasgow cousins which makes the fact we have struggled against them so far this season all the more frustrating. At full time I was thinking that if we had a free week leading up to this huge match, like our opponents did, would we have taken all three points? I certainly think the performance would have been better. You could tell the Hearts players were so much fresher than us as the game went on.
This got me wondering, is our continued Europa League participation actually starting to become a hindrance?
After being embarrassed by Kairat Almaty in the Champions League qualifiers we of course were demoted to the Europa League. There was certainly less excitement around our European campaign from that moment on, after all as fans we always feel that Celtic belong at the top table. The draw however threw up some decent ties and I have enjoyed a lot of the games, being in Rotterdam for the Feyenoord match has definitely been a season highlight for myself.
So we head into Thursday home tie against Utrecht with qualification to the Knockout stage firmly within our grasp. A win and we are through, it’s as simple as that.
After yesterday however I find myself thinking, do we really want to qualify? I know many will be appalled a Celtic fan could even think this way, but hear me out. What will we actually get from continuing on in the Europa League?
Firstly, does anyone actually believe we are good enough to get into the latter stages, where the excitement really starts to build up?
Personally I think that with the current squad the furthest we could hope for is the quarter finals, and even that’s a push. I’ve been saying recently that I feel this squad, with the current injuries we have, is probably the worst since the Ronny Delia days. Some may fantasise about going on another run like we did under Martin O’Neill in 2003, but those two squads are worlds apart.
So if our chances are slim of making our mark in the latter stages of the competition then what do we actually gain out of it? Helping the coefficient? Scottish teams have performed terribly over the last few years in Europe, a run in the Europa League by us isn’t going to magically repair years of damage.
What about the money we will make?
Well, firstly the money on offer in the Europa League is a fraction of what we would be getting in the Champions League. Just simply qualifying for that tournament would probably provide more cash than a run to the Europa League final would bring in.
Even if it did bring in a lot of extra money, what does it even matter? We are run by a board who aren’t fit to run a youth club never mind a huge club like Celtic.
The money would either be hoarded away as usual or spent on the next ‘project’ in some backwater league like the Israeli one. Even worse it could be spent on the next wide boy who proclaims to be a ‘Football Doctor’ or the next Pep Guardiola emerging from a top league like the MLS.
Would I be happy then to see us fail to beat Utrecht on Thursday and end our European adventure for the year? Well I certainly won’t be hoping for it, but at the same time I wouldn’t be as devastated as I normally would be when we have exited Europe.
If you look back at say the last ten years you will see our form usually picks up after the new year, which just happens to coincide with our exit from Europe and less games per week. In some of the previous years if we were in this situation we would have the luxury of a healthy lead at the top of the table, so going all out in Europe seemed less a risk.
This season with it all on the line in a three way title race, one we are currently sitting third in, rest between games could be vital. If we continue in Europe we continue with the two games a week scenario, as well as a lot more travelling involved. All the while our two biggest challengers will be enjoying some rest, whilst being able to fully concentrate on their next league game.
If we had a strong squad this wouldn’t be such a problem, but with multiple key players still injured and a transfer window that is ever increasingly looking like it’s going to be another major disappointment, I genuinely feel like Europe at this time feels like an added burden we don’t need.
To me the most important thing this season is the league title. Nothing else really matters.
I would rather look back in the future and remember this as a terrible season overall but one where we ground out five in a row as opposed to the season we made the quarter finals of the Europa League, as we watched either Hearts or theRangers claim the league title. Wouldn’t you?
Conall McGinty
Do you agree with Conall or think he’s got this one badly wrong? Have your say in the comments below.
For me , the league is the priority every season , this then gets the bonus of CL money and club exposure . All other trophies are a bonus and a cup final is a reward for our fans . It’s a simple Football / business model . What upsets me is we have no forethought to keep this going . We are quite content to react to failure rather than be proactive in building from strength. You can see from other European nations there are clubs who are in the CL every season because they dominate their domestic leagues. The rich are getting richer through this method . I’m surprised DD and those at the top haven’t concentrated on this. Now we have allowed a shift in power by those who are prepared to gamble for this position. This , was our own making 🍀
When you don’t get a squad sorted out during the summer period. Then it makes a European campaign even more challenging. Especially with the January window in operation, and 2 europa league matches in order to extend a European campaign into the knockout stages.
That was the changes introduced last season, yet in both seasons, we haven’t adapted to the changes whatsoever imo?
Personally didn’t have to many complaints, about increasing squad numbers initially, but our so called development of players for the likes, remains at woeful levels. Even moreso that ourselves as the best club in Scottish football, can’t even fulfill it’s homegrown requirements,?
With dealing with the summer period as badly as we did, then makes the January window, all the harder to deal with. That’s due to the 3 changes rule to the original squad named?
We already have potentially way more than 3 changes, that’s required within our squad at present imo. But MoN is now having to look at where those changes can be applied to the squad now?
The lack of players that can be trusted yesterday, especially in our midfield areas, was of a huge concern to myself. Looking at 3 more Thursday/Sunday turnaround in matches and without much if any rotation in positions is of a big concern imo?
Of course the injuries have complicated matters hugely, and makes the decision making for MoN and Maloney even more challenging.
The prospect of an extended europa league run, potentially can attract a higher calibre of player required for ourselves. In turn potential loan deals may well come with players wanting to know if they would be part of our europa league squad, beyond the league phase?
3 midfield options available from the bench yesterday, and none used, set alarm bells ringing, for the remainder of this season, with myself anyway. Even more so when our midfield 3 couldn’t get any control of the match yesterday, that has been an ongoing theme under 3 different managers so far this season imo?
Both our defensive set up, along with our attacking options is hardly resolved either.
So feel for MoN and Maloney to have inherited such a mess, within the squad building process involved. Especially when both weren’t responsible for the mess created?
But expecting it all to be resolved during January, isn’t an option with a live European campaign in operation any longer either these days?
Even missing out on the knockout stages, leaves very little time available, to resolve the squad issues that are currently hampering ourselves imo?
Weakest squad in memory yet MON and staff had steadied the ship Ist time round and left the winning of the league at Celtic’s feet.
Now depending on other clubs to defeat the top two.
Hail Hail.