Former Celtic midfielder Kris Commons has conceded these are not normal times for Celtic and Celtic fans after watching Ange Postecoglou fail to win his first three competitive matches as Hoops boss.
In ordinary times, Kris writes any Celtic manager who had a start like that would already be heavily criticised and under the microscope. However, because Ange Postecoglou has inherited an absolute mess – fans are cutting the Australian a huge amount of slack.
Commons bemoans the fact Celtic got knocked out of the Champions League belt a ‘bang average’ Midtjylland side and claims this team is comfortably the worst Celtic side in the last twenty years.
Writing in his column as cited by SunSport, the former Hoops star said he’d be ‘astonished’ if Celtic got anywhere near their city rivals this season.
“When a new manager takes charge of Celtic and fails to win any of their first three competitive games, the sound of alarm bells is normally deafening.
“But these are not normal times. There is an acceptance among fans that Ange Postecoglou has inherited a shambles of a squad.
“This is without question the worst Celtic team we’ve seen in well over 20 years. You would need to go back to the dark days of the early to mid-90s for anything to even get close.
“Rangers won last season’s league title at a canter. They romped home like a true thoroughbred, amassing over 100 points and finishing the campaign unbeaten.
“Celtic had an abundance of time to prepare for the summer rebuild. Yet, eight months down the line, they have handed Postecoglou a donkey in what already looks like being a one-horse race once again.
“I would be astonished if Celtic got anywhere near Rangers this season. The Old Firm clash at Ibrox on August 29 already looks like it could be a painful affair for Postecoglou.
“But he can’t afford to look that far ahead because, in the here and now, he has a huge week ahead of him.
“A Europa League qualifier against Jablonec on Thursday night already looks fraught with danger. Put it this way, I wouldn’t bet my last tenner on Celtic going through.
“Jablonec finished third in the Czech top flight last season, behind Slavia and Sparta Prague. Clearly, they are no mugs.
“If this sounds pessimistic, then how else are we to view Celtic right now? They’ve just been knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by a bang average Midtjylland team.”
It’s hard to argue with a lot of this – Celtic have already dropped three points in the opening day of the league season and with reinforcements not being secured at a fast enough rate – the club is on all sorts of trouble at the moment.
It’s going to be uncomfortable for Celtic fans but this is a long term project now and any hope of a quick fix is evaporating very quickly.
Celtic head to the Czech Republic next where they look to get their first win under the new manager against a side not many of us know a lot about but you can be sure it will be no walk in the park.
Kris forgot to say. ‘Celtic should have rebuilt after St Brendan left’ And now look at the dregs, of the belated title party of May 2020. Anyone out there lend a hand clearing up? As the morning after you look, feel and play like shi7e.