As expected, Efe Ambrose starts at central defence today alongside young O’Connell.
Whereas this would once have been a cause for a lot of severe wailing and general fury amongst the Celtic fans, today we greet the news with a weary resignation and understanding; this is what the manager has been reduced to. These are his only options.
Brendan has gone with a flat back four; I think that’s risky but anything he did was going to be today. He could have gone with three at the back, as I said in my last article, but that might have been riskier still. How we set up to play – whether we go for the early goal or sit back and hope not to concede one – might determine the tie.
No blame falls on the manager either way; he’s been forced to accept the lesser of two evils here and he’s made a choice based on what was available to hand. It’s a disgrace that he’s been put in this position, but this is life at Celtic and either he goes toe-to-toe with the bean counters to get what he wants and even needs or he accepts the limitations and lives with the inevitable results. I think I know what Brendan will chose to do.
I would be pretty despondent going into this game with a second rate manager. The board is gambling on Brendan being good enough to get us through and that’s what I’m pinning all my hopes on as well. I know he’s got the stuff to take us very far, very fast, and I hope to God he gets the level of support he deserves, but for now trust in him is paramount and I think I speak for most people when I say that I do. He’s the only reason I am remotely confident.
This isn’t his team yet. Whether he gets the resources to make it so remains to be seen, but he’s done with it the best he can on this occasion, and instead of the one man up front so loathed under Ronny and which would have made this a match for watching through the spaces in your fingers, or perhaps from behind the sofa itself, I believe we can navigate it successfully.
Which isn’t to say they’re not a good side, and one deep into its season.
Today’s team selection is as follows:
Starting 11 (442): Gordon, Lustig, Ambrose, O’Connell, Roberts, Armstrong, Brown, McGregor, Tierney, Dembele, Griffiths.
Subs: Subs: Fasan, Izaguirre, Janko, Bitton, Rogic, Forrest, Ciftci.