CELTIC FANS can be a hard bunch to please. We’re probably the only fans in the world that fret about beating FC Astana but almost expect us to go to a place like Munich and get a result.
Of course, we didn’t do ourselves justice last night and even though Bayern were far superior we could have offered more and there’s no shame in pointing that out. However, some of the hyperbole, singling players out and damning the team for their performance is a bridge too far for this Celtic supporter.
We all want the best for Celtic and we’re always seeking a team who can compete with Europe’s elite on 1/50th of the budget – the reality is it’s becoming harder.
To compete with either Bayern or PSG was a big ask and so far we’ve failed even to give either a fright. We have gone to Belgium and took three points from Anderlecht, a result that puts us in the driving seat for a Europa League place; Brendan Rodgers admitting their goal this season is to have European football beyond Christmas, and we’re currently on course to deliver.
To anyone still giving Celtic a hard time about last night, just take a look at Bayern’s recent home exploits in the Champions League and tell us we should be ‘ashamed’.
You blow your own argument out of the water in line 4, ‘of course we did not do ourselves justice’. that is all those not singing from the same hymn sheet as the, ‘everything is OK we are only here to make up the numbers’ crowd are asking. Funny how all of our ‘achievements are trumpeted yet we earn them against teams that are as far away from us financially as we are from Bayern. Yet we never mention that our games should be a forgone conclusion and they should be happy making up the numbers and should never expect to get a result. 5 Years ago we had a freak result against Barca, but during that game every Celtic player chased every single ball, the effort was gargantuan and it was needed to get a result. the current team know they need to do the same but they are not doing it. That is what the supporters are asking for. the performance of the club, manager and players in this tournament is not good enough. Knowing full well that we had two injured CBs the club tried to sign a 20 year old South African with no European football experience and at first he was a prospect but then he unbelievably became the first choice CB (an unnecessary risk). As it turned out he is not fit for purpose any way. It is almost as if the club are setting the ball rolling with a relatively new attitude at the club. We should now be called ‘plucky wee Celtic’ with the noisy supporters here for your entertainment. We are only making up the numbers so just run all over the top of us. No wonder they all love Celtic. Three points in the bag 6,000 tickets sold. This is what is pathetic. We have Celtic sites this morning which don’t mention football, just the supporters. top notch deflection. The manager is not untouchable. He is to blame for much of this disaster as his tactics are just wrong. His fellow professionals have slaughtered him this morning for being naive and learning nothing and he deserves it. Why was Gamboa in the team? What has happened to Ralston? Why does lustig continue to get a game in Europe and at CB. And as for Ntcham? Brendan has worked his mesmerism on the supporters because this guy looks out of his depth against Dundee never mind Bayern. This campaign will be saved because Anderlecht are worse than us. In fact the three bottom teams in the competition are Celtic, Anderlecht and Maribor. Napoleon said better a lucky general than a talented one and Rodgers has landed lucky with Anderlecht. Remember Rodgers could not cut it with Liverpool in the CL and does not look as if he will at Celtic. He has played 9 games lost 5 (while shipping over 20 goals and scoring none) drawn 3 and won 1 against a woeful, dispirited , defeated team. We don’t need to ignore this and make out that there is nothing we can do about it because it has to be better than last night and almost every other CL game in the past three competitions we have been involved in. And back-slapping each other and talking about card displays and sing-songs is running from the truth.
Ooft, yeah we dont very good in CL games, but its not a bad thing that we express how good the supporters are even when we lose because its no good just looking at what we done wrong, what does that do for morale
John, you said it yourself,the win against Barcelona was a freak result,it was and we will get the odd great result against the “big money” teams.Like
Qualification each season for the C.L should be seen as a chance to maybe get through to the knock- out stages and for the club to generate some cash.Like it or not we are a Europa League team and a run hopefully akin to the run to Seville,will ensue
Supporters need to accept that we just cant’ match up to the big boys on the pitch just as the teams in Scotland can’t compete with us.It is all relative but some supporters can’t see it and just expect us to win, even when up against far superior line-ups.
The fans who sang their hearts out, just as the Green Brigade do at every home game showcase for me what true Celtic fans are.Those fans are not as you say “running from the truth” they are merely accepting where we are in terms of competing in Europe.
They epitomise the line “we don’t care if we win LOSE or draw,what the hell do we care ” but too many fans expect too much and have come to expect us to win every time.
I see what you’re saying about players chasing every ball against Barcelona 5 years ago and it got us a result but that tactic often results in chasing shadows and getting a real humping exactly what happened against Barcelona ( 7-0 )last season
We have been unlucky to draw two big hitters in our group in the last few C.L. campaigns.
The three draws we did get were against superior lie-ups M.City(twice) and B.M.G three great results and the 5 defeats Barca x2 PSG Bayern and B.M.G three mega rich clubs and B.M.G who despite not being one of richest clubs still play in a more competitive league.
Brendan Rogers is not Jock Stein,but he WILL deliver ten in a row and maybe even a positive run in the Europa League.
Obviously John you don’t know much about celtic ralston is injured he has just had a pre planned operation. Players gave everything so u are very wrong there, weren’t good enough but still gave everything. Tactics were naive but that’s Brenda’s way and he won’t change it, so we have to back him and go with it.
John, you don’t half do some moaning! 3rd was always going to success for us in this group. Look at their results against teams with a far bigger budget and playing in far better leagues. If we finish with 6 points most of us will be delightef! Unlike you
Hu hen you see those results wee done not to bad they are a great time byer so is celtic though ??
I will love celtic to I die fuck the politics glasgow is green and white
There’s nothing to be ashamed about from last night, but there’s plenty to be critical about.
Ntcham has been awful, and isn’t showing any signs of improvement. His passing is getting worse, and he doesn’t get stuck in.
Roberts is trying too had. Was holding onto the ball too long, but that could be down to lack of support.
Armstrong was invisible, as he has been much of this season.
Callum McGregor was outstanding last season, and I don’t rhino it takes a enuis to work out why our midfield isn’t the same when he’s not there.
Ntcham and Armstrong should be benched, and McGregor and Rogic should be given more starts.
Rodgers needs to consider who we are playing and accept that we can’t always play his style. Against sides like this, we are going to have to defend in numbers. I felt we were too adventurous last night.
I’d be happy with 5-5-0 in places like this and steal a 0-0 like Scottish teams try to do to us, and get great credit from the media when they pull it off.
What’s wrong with you people.your not Celtic supporters huns the lot of you.If you were supporters of the club,you would know we are fighting above our weight every time we play in Europe.There’s nothing wrong with the team,if we were in the top league and getting the money they get,you would see better quality as of now we cant compete with the big boys for that very reason.You talk about BR being a duff manager get a grip we are lucky to have him his hands are tied because of the league we play in.He cant go out and pay 20 mill for a player in today’s market the way things are going a 20 mill player wont bring success,so we just have to go with what we have get used to it and bringing the club down,if you find that hard to do,go and give your support to the huns.Now there’s a team with real problems.
Everybody has accepted we cannot match the big boys, in fact most have embraced the ‘plucky wee celtic’ mantle only too readily. That is not the issue. the planning and preparation have been woeful. to fail to sign players to cope with any challenge in the CL is criminal especially with the money Celtic have made recently. And before the usual nonsense well we can’t spend the huge fees on players, we know this but they can afford to shell out on a Centre back, if they can afford to pay 3.5 million for Simunovic, who is a liability due to injuries and 4.5 million of Ntcham who is a prospect who is proving not to be worth it. I never expected Celtic to get anything last night and if they try to come over the half way line at ‘Fortress Parkhead’ (no wins in three years in Europe) they will lose 6. Celtic were penny pinching in the summer and failed the support by not making the team as strong as it could be for this competition. To me that says that the management have chucked it and are happy as Larry getting money they never spend for participation. celtic will get a big green ribbon for showing up like some fat kid at school sports day. And that infuriates me. these results were in the post in June when the club refused to invest enough to play these games. Sure we might get beat but it would not be the capitulation it has been if proper investment had been made. Europe is the be all and end all for celtic. Scotland is worthless, although many supporters seem to think we have actually achieved something by beating the dregs put in front of us in Scotland. Yet they say well getting gubbed 4, 5 and 6 nothing is not bad as they have more money than us. the difference between us and Hamilton is greater than the difference between us and Bayern. Therefore we play against teams who, according to the logic being applied, we should take 4, 5 and 6 off of every week. And yet we don’t. So we have achieved nothing by winning 6,7 28 in a row because we play garbage. We cannot have it both ways. If it is not in Europe it is not worth watching as far as Celtic goes, and we are not making the progress we should with the funds available. the mentality in the board room is not right . The old ways are still in place.
I personally thought that Ntcham was our best player last night, certainly in the 2nd half. He kept it simple, held the ball and passed it to the nearest Celtic player…who then lost possession by playing a ludicrous pass. Haven’t looked at the stats, but I’d be very surprised if anyone in that team had a better passing accuracy than Ntcham? He isn’t a dynamic box-to-box midfielder and he isn’t a midfielder who breaks up play. I think he was bought because we don’t have a midfielder who does what he does. Ntcham keeps things ticking over, playing the pass and keeping possession…exactly what we need in Europe. He spent a lot of last night chasing after wayward passes from other Celtic players…..not his game at all.
As for the spending and competing against the ‘bigger’ Chmp Lge opponents. A couple of things: 1. Enjoy it. Next season I believe we’re in round 1 of qualifiers. It will become increasingly more difficult to get into the Group Stages over the next few years. 2. We have to budget in order to exist. Operational costs are higher than they ever were. If we’re given 10 million to spend on players that also includes his wages for the duration of his contract too. New pitches, Lennoxtown, Celtic village etc etc all operational costs too.
I think it lies in the coaching. Brendan talks a lot about developing players. Hopefully, the Tierney’s and Ralston’s are the tip of the iceberg. Brendan is bedding in more and more of these young players. Far more than some of his ‘esteemed’ predecessors. O’Neill, for instance, left us up the creek without a paddle. Brendan will leave us in a far healthier position than when he came. That’s what matters to me.
European football will self implode at this current rate. PSG, Chelsea and Man City are just Gretna on steroids. If anything happens to their ‘sugar daddys’ then we’ll see how long they last at the top table.
Would you want a Saudi prince in charge at Celtic? I know that I’d rather drink bleach than see that happen.
HH
HH All Billy Coyle,Yes u might be right and all thr other things said Look at 50yrs ago 11 Scpttish players who PLAYED & WIN Against the very Best of the world football ,So it’s been done and wee CELTIC will do it again soo wee need to change players when it is Time wee Celtic hold on to players to long Injuries just an Excuse after All all players train together so no excuses.the joe public have got to learn more than one job in there pla ce of work look at some player they can only kick with 1 FOOT so what is the training they suppose to be does Br not see this & make them use there bad foot i wi ll leave it there HH All hh ktf
Christ, I wonder what this forum will be like we actually have a bad team. What a bunch of greetin’ faced bastards there are on here.
Its all about money.
I don’t believe for a moment that our players are crap and aren’t doing there best in every game they play. They can’t suddenly turn from being a big fish in little pond and go out and suddenly be big fish in a big.
We buy the best we can afford. How fans can expect us to be able to buy players with big price tickets remember with a big price you have to pay wages. We spent most of the summer trying to buy Paddy Roberts and we couldn’t afford him, remember he is valued at £11 million plus. We couldn’t pay him the same wages as Man City do. Celtic only pay half his wages while he is on loan.
So will someone tell me what players who aren’t playing for Celtic and are above SPL level and has Champions League experience that we can afford. We don’t want Bosmans that nobody else wants. We don’t have to buy every player just because he has had a couple of good games against in the league. There are fans wanting us to buy McGinn from HIbs, is he going to be good enough to take us forward in the CL.
We have go out and buy 20 year olds who we hope will make the grade. We have players (mostly youngsters) who get slated. Some players when they join a club can take a season or two to get up to speed with their team mates, a new country, language difficulties and new surroundings. Think about that before you slate players.
think fans who can’t support us when we lose to go f themself look at value look at rankings yeah you can have a good game of ball and win celtic done well and in that I mean u don’t see away teams going out attacking also note whats celtic away recited in European football or top player in all time transfer is 7 million and i dont think there one player on Bayern that cost 7 million cause there all above it but Gordon needs to catch the ball could of cost us 2 goals by punching to a Bayern player but i think he player a striker and the rest played well be great to see is beat Bayern a home anything can happen at paradise but fans most keep backing rodgers he a top manger and he showing us that