Jablonec boss Petr Rada seems defeated already – before his team have even step foot onto the pitch against Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic.
Having lost 3-0 against Mlada Boleslav last week, the former Czech International and manager told the Daily Record he was extremely angry with his players, claiming they weren’t prepared.
And, with the tie now less than 24 hours away, Rada has again showed his soft side towards Celtic by claiming that the signing of Joe Hart shows just exactly what they are up against on Thursday.
Admittedly, the financial power that Celtic boast is much more significant than that of Jablonec; the city of Glasgow is 14x bigger than the small Czech settlement. However, Celtic earn the money themselves – Kristoffer Ajer was bought for £500,000 and sold for upwards of £15m, showing that shrewdness has gotten Celtic to where they are.
Nonetheless, Rada still had a moan at how large the gulf was between his side and the Bhoys.
“They play well as a team and, of course, they can buy good players because their economic situation is good. I know they bought the goalkeeper, Joe Hart, so it must be pretty good in their team.
“This is very different side to the one that lost to Sparta last year. The only thing we can do is be prepared because they are a very strong opponent.”
Maybe it is mind games from Rada, maybe it isn’t. But one thing is for sure; not matter how much Celtic think they are better than Jablonec, they cannot afford to get complacent – this game is vital in ensuring the long-term future of not only signings, but the club itself. And that starts with preventing losses to sides who are worse than them in Europe.
“It’s true those Sparta games were not so long ago, but they have a new coach and they have many new players.
“Their last season was perhaps not ideal, but I wouldn’t want to compare that side to the team they have now.
“They are certainly very ambitious for this year. Also Celtic is a big name as it is. They have so many titles. It’s a great opponent to have and it will be a great challenge for us.
