THE NOTAPRODDYGAL – 1/10 – Poor Brendan. He’s only had the two seasons to craft and coach a squad out of the 40 million bucks he’s spent. How can the cruel among us expect him to take on and beat Khazakstan’s finest, who’ll go on to challenge The Zombies CL record for pumpings…If tonight proved anything, it’s that he’s very much not the ‘elite’ manager the Brendanistas will be crying over for the next fortnight of pro-Brodge, anti-board propaganda. The idea’s being floated that transfers like Idah/Engels/Trusty are nothing to do with the embattled boss…
LOL, Riiiight.
So your elite manager doesn’t get player transfers run past him at all? Sure, buddy. Kind of comically contradicts the ‘elite’ bit… And also has me reaching round to see if the zip’s slipped down my back. He’s a grifter. A good one, who coaches well. But not much more.
Certainly not when a maniac like me can point out last week’s midfield tactical flaw and then watch it played out allllll over again for 75 minutes (SEVENTY FIVE MINUTES AFTER NINETY MINUTES WITNESSING THE SAME PATTERNS LAST WEEK…) of tepid ineptitude. The irony being that his star buy had to wait until that point to finally get in tandem with Calmac and THEN we had a grip on the game. Until his star bhoy stepped up for a penalty…
So another one slips away, CL glory gone to the hungry minnows and fair play to them. They rolled the dice; double sixes. Feels a lot like Athens first time around for The Brodge. He eventually quit, and if he’s the smart shark we suspect, the notion won’t be far away tonight when he knows much of the fanbase venom will be seeking the veins of the entitled freeloaders in the comfy seats.
There’s alway a time in a mangerial reign when the bottom line is drawn; and here we are. A side set up to be harried out of rhythm, bullied and picked off. A mindset atuned to possession, caution and passive football. After last season’s expansive thrills, we regress to myopic blundering and timid failure. Was that a committee decision over an oak table, behind wood-panelled walls? Nope. That was down to one man.
MIBBERY – 6/10 – Italian gits. Fall down, foul. Roll around, time-wasting; blind eye turned. Donkeys.
OVERALL – 2/10 – Two for the penalties we actually did score. From top to bottom the Celtic summer drama has been an embarrassing soap opera of rumour, accusation, promise and disappointment, climaxing tonight in the almost inevitable grind into obscurity in the most obscure of European venues. This was everything worse about Rodgers’ Celtic. No purpose, no tempo, no desire to seize the game and slap down an insolent opponent; who’d had their measure taken last week and probably couldn’t believe they were getting away with the same tactics AGAINST the same tactics; deliberate, mono-paced tikki-takka designed to take the sting out of opponents and the joy out of football.
Our problem was we didn’t NEED to take the sting out of them. We simply needed to treat them at the level they are – Aberdeen/Hibs/St.Mirren, etc, etc. Once the midfield balance was fixed – Engels in beside Calmac, Reo advanced alone with more space to manouvre in – we had them pinned in like the SPL journeymen they truly resemble. Yet we didn’t have the legs or inventive energy left to find the killer touch. An incredible way to exit the tournament every player dreams of playing in – without a real scrap or focussed effort. Passion and fire sacrificed for banality and containment. Where was the bravery at this level? What had we learned from last season?
We went out like cowards against a side waiting for a hiding, who sat back and hoped against hope for the final hour of normal and extra time. ‘Leave it all on the pitch’ is the footballers’ cliche. What did we leave out in the arse-end of nowhere? Hopes and ambitions. A few shrugs and sighs. No blood. No thunder. What a waste.
The good ship Celtic founders on the far Eastern rocks and washes up in the Europa League. This Wild Rover needs a mutiny or two – one in the dressing room and one in the boardroom or we’ll be sinking towards Conference level within a couple of games. Champions League? We were having a laugh.
So, in summary, almost as last week, but much worse – torpid mince with a fatal bite.
Go Away Now
Sandman
Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.
Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image to join.
Pretty much agree with everything, but Scales was easily man of the match for me, by quite some way, and although Anthony never let us down, he never has, he was carrying an injury , and was as sloppy as the rest re passes etc.
Idah i would give a special mention to, held it up well(first who did), and tried to get us into the game.
I really don’t understand this thing about transfers, we know exactly how it works: Rogers says positions needing strengthened, the recruitment team(whoever they are)go out and find suitable candidates, and these are run past Rogers for final choice.
ps the refs were a disgrace both ties, falling for what can only be described as schoolboy antics, and acting like they’d never seen a game of football, they were literally using the oldest tricks in the book. Not only that, like last week he punished Celtic players for Almati indiscretions, in between patting them, shaking their hands and having a laugh with them, but alas he was not to blame for our shambles
The players completely bottled it, both ties, and as you say, against journeymen.
Anyone looking forward to the game on Sunday……anyone???
This was the replay of the Aberdeen cup final where the manager’s tactics were turgid and predictable. Last years signings left on the bench. The board are also culpable but an elite manager. You’re having a laugh.
The ratings and summing up are spot on
Just about spot on as always, and normally such a laugh. Just not on this occasion! I said the exact same thing in a post the other day about the definition of insanity. And yet here we are. What kind of tactic is that? Try the same thing away from home? Utter madness. And utter folly. We’ve rightly pilloried the board for lack of investment, but the Boss needs criticised for lack of invention.
This is a team that mostly also played under Ange. They know how to go on the offensive, at pace. And this is a manager who used to come out the blocks, all guns blazing (Man City 3-3 anybody?) – so it CANNOT be beyond the will of the manager or the players to conjure up a different approach, even for 1 game. All this rigid structure and style is a joke. It’s gotten us nowhere, and it’s completely strangling not just the style of the players, it’s now (clearly) strangling their confidence as well.
Calmac is clearly on the decline – pace and strength are nowhere near good enough for these games and he’s been exposed too often in Europe and in the SPL if pressured. But he could be far better utilised in a “number 8” role head up, going forward, taking chances etc, and getting more rest. The less said about Maeda’s missed chances the better. And 3 of the worst penalties I’ve seen. There are too many players bottling it not just last night but in every game – but I think the system we play is encouraging them to bottle it – so passive, so repetitive, so predictable, so unimaginative. We need a good shake up. It’s not just the Board now, it’s the Boss too, and the players. I hate to say it, but I do not enjoy watching us play right now – that needs to change. BR needs to bring back a bit of swashbuckling and in your face tempo or other teams will simply try and do the same thing that Aberdeen and Almaty have done – and so far we have no answer to that. It’s absolutely clear we have no answer unless BR changes it. Let’s see what happens against Martin Baw this weekend….
Yes tippytappy didn’t work in a lush flat Celtic park how the hell did Rodgers think it would work on a pitch thats was bumpy slippy McGregors pass back says it all what a bounce everytime we missed out a packed midfield that needy to touches to control which you didn’t get we got into good position but we kept trying to pass it in to the goals come on Brendan plan b you have players that cant think for them selves if they do likely dropped psg couldn’t pass on that pitch so why i persisted
Yes tippytappy didn’t work in a lush flat Celtic park how the hell did Rodgers think it would work on a pitch thats was bumpy slippy McGregors pass back says it all what a bounce everytime we missed out a packed midfield that needy two touches to control which you didn’t get we got into good position but we kept trying to pass it in to the goals come on Brendan plan b you have players that cant think for them selves if they do likely dropped psg couldn’t pass on that pitch so why i persisted