Out of the competition but not out of place.
I will leave it to the brilliant ACSOM crew and my pals on the Huddle Breakdown to analyse what went well and what didn’t in the Allianz Arena tonight.
Save to say this much, Brendan 2.0 wanted to make an impact in Europe.
That’s a work in progress, but significant strides have been taken this season as the Hoops went toe to toe with a world-class ensemble on their own turf.
The new format suited Celtic, with four matches under the lights at Celtic Park.
In many ways, the Parkhead Club are now the Bayern Munich of Scotland.
Both clubs are expected to win their respective domestic leagues at the start of every season.
Even the most staunch stenographers in the Glasgow media are now acknowledging Celtic’s generational dominance.
The Champions League is where the club formed by Irish immigrants will find their peers in the future.
Sickening?
Yes.
However, the big picture is that Brendan’s bhoys are coming of age at the top table.
Every player turned up mot one failure
Outstanding performance every player played well
Season ticket Season!
I think in hindsight (which is always 20/20 btw) the Dortmund battering was a blessing in disguise for both Brendan and the side.
It was blatantly obvious to anyone who has a modicum of tactical nous that he / we had set up totally wrong for that game within 20 minutes of the start and it was even more obvious that unless we changed the approach quickly in game then we were on a hiding to nothing against them.
Brendan unfortunately went into that game with no Plan B in place and as a result stood on the sidelines unable to change it.
I think he took stock of that post match and decided that won’t be happening again in Europe.
The transformation in both him and our squad from that absolute thumping has been incredible.
Sometime a sore defeat can in fact be beneficial to a Club and a group of players as yer pride takes a pounding and yer ego is demolished.
The resulting campaign has been nothing short of brilliant given where we are financially and where the teams who have beaten us since currently stand.
Losing to Dortmund ,Villa and Bayern is not the end of the world but the manner in which we lost is.
Our reaction on the park to going behind in the subsequent two defeats has been in stark contrast to that capitulation v Dortmund.
We are finally holding our own and punching above our financial weight again at Europes top table and now it is down to those who control the Finances to back Brendan in not only solidifying our current position but bolstering it in the Summer by brining in better quality in the key positions he feels we are short in.
Kieran Tierney is a fantastic start to what is I hope a new benchmark of signings in the modern era.
I don’t know if Schlupp is a possibility (would require a hit on wages on his behalf) but if that also could be done then I think given his flexibility in terms of positions he can play (I’m thinking the DMF role ) then I hope it can be done.
If I had one disappointment over the two games it would be why did we wait until around the 70 minute mark at Paradise to have a proper go? If only…
Anyway, immensely proud of what Glasgow’s Green and White did last night. For a long while, Bayern Munich were shiting themselves.
Thoroughly great performance BUT could we have managed extra time with such a poor bench? We should have signed an experienced striker in the window or offered young Cummings a decent deal to stay. Idah is less mobile than a Burtons dummy and has a dreadful first touch and contributed nothing when he came on save for a defensive block. Glorious failure- but courage done bettering my opinion
Idah assisted pass to maida to khun , hardly nothing
Well said Oldjoe.
Broadly speaking, I find there are two categories of spectator – the majority being those who watch football and the minority being those who see football. I’d respectfully suggest that Jim may be in the former category.
I think all the deserved superlatives have been used up? Anyways we are immensely proud of all who were there . All our players playing like giants, brave and unafraid of this brilliant world class football club .i watched v. Kompany for the last 15 mins. And he looked afraid of the possibilities. Celtic reminded a lot of us, who had grown up under Big Jock and the LIONS, when the passing game was it. They were that good!
All involved were brilliant. Brendan,coaching staff, OUR BOYS and ALL OUR TRAVELLING SUPPORTERS. CHAPEAU ONE AND ALL.
An unquestionably heroic 90 minutes, nothing but pride and admiration felt today. Let there be no detractors as to what is being achieved here, in Scottish footballing terms it is seismic. I am gratfeful to the whole club and every supporter out there. The magic is back.
There can be no doubting the improvement in CL performances this season. If there is to be further improvement next year the following has to happen.
One…Qualification (obviously)
Two…Brendan at the helm
Three…Backing from the board
Four…Squad strengthening.
The players and the manager have shown that they are capable of competing at this level as opposed to making up the numbers and hoovering up the cash.
Next season will show if the board are willing to fully get behind them and continue the momentum. Well done to the management and the players. You made a lot of people immensely proud HH 💚
Phil would you agree a lot of the ucl money I’d already spent on bonuses for Board management and players? Fans often get too excited at topline figure
That information will be in the annual accounts.
Celtic is a listed company.
Don’t be ridiculous. £51m including date receipts and it’s going on bonuses. That’s just silly. As Phil said we’re listed on LSE it will be clear in the accounts come summer.
What level of the money do you think goes on player, manager, board bonuses?
We only lost one game away in Europe this year.
Two games lost. Aston Villa and dortmund.
Great performance but if you don’t take your chances you know what’s going to happen. And it did. Could have written the script – again.
Rodgers compromised as he did against Atalanta and he got it right tactically and motivationally. Superb performance from all the players on the pitch.
We have made a quantum leap from last season and even the Dortmund game in the group stage this season. Not the finished article by any means and Brendan was right to demand more quality in the summer to build on this, as the error of selling Kyogo without a replacement was maybe exposed tonight. Not going to gripe on a fantastic night for the Bhoys and the Celtic family everywhere though. Immense performance! Just hope the injury to Kühn and possibly Jota don’t keep them out of a tough away game against an improved Hibs. Well done lads. HH!
Transformational season in UCL. Tactically astute, huge improvement defensively and a world class keeper. Putting ball in back of the net remains the area of concern. Onwards and upwards 🍀🍀🍀.
Phil,
Anyone following this blog from day one won’t be surprised by current occurrences on “Planet football”
It’s hard to hide the money…
We have to back the manager now with 2 or 3 quality additions to his squad and hopefully tie him down on a new deal.
Brendan is absolutely pivotal to our club.
I’m really proud of the team, they gave their all. An excellent performance which could have gone either way. Hopefully we will use some of the £38 million to improve the team further and hopefully we can progress further next year.
I agree Bill. We ve raised the bar with our performances, but for next seasons Champions League campaign we need to maintain the momentum with increased investment to attract even better top players to the squad. HH.