FERENCVAROS came to Celtic Park yesterday with some betting companies offering 7/1 on their chances to win in 90 minutes. It is likely that this odd tumbled when the team lines were released and Neil Lennon decided to opt against playing either Albian Ajeti or Patryk Klimala and instead playing Ryan Christie in attack.
Celtic supporters were aghast, they shock and surprise factor of not playing a recognised striker was par for the course in European qualifiers as Celtic sluggishly go about their transfer business year after year. But this move had supporters flashing back to Cluj when Callum McGregor was played at left back as the Romanians triumphed at Celtic Park. Not only were the supporters surprised, Ferencvaros boss Sergiy Rebrov admitted that he was taken by surprise by Neil Lennon’s decision not to play a recognised striker.
As reported by the Glasgow Times, Rebrov detailed how he felt the game was won and lost with the pace of Tokmac, the discipline of his defence and the mistakes in the Celtic backline.
“I was really surprised they didn’t play with a recognised striker, because they had two strikers on the bench.
“Their plan was to find fast players between the lines. Most of the time we were defending, but we didn’t give Celtic too many chances. They had some problems in defence. We tried to go for counter attacks. Tokmac is very fast and he used it for the winning goal.
“We played against the strongest team we have played in Europe. Maybe they didn’t shoot enough. I’m very glad for my players. We tried to play to our plan. The early goal helped us.”
The Hungarian Champions left Parkhead with a victory after just two shots on target. Celtic meanwhile need to pick themselves up for a Europa League tilt but even then, the signs are worrying that there is a disjointed element to the club following yet another humbling European exit.
