In the cold light of day, last night’s spanking by PSG was embarrassing.
Dress it up as much as you want. I’m not.
To lose seven goals in any game at any level is basically a “red neck” to use the Glasgow parlance.
Although others may define embarrassment as losing to a team from Luxembourg over two legs.
But let’s face it; we were never going to compete at this level and we knew this before a ball was kicked in anger. There’s been an air of acceptance in the lead up to this fixture. The best most people were hoping was to keep it “acceptable”. Our defending at times was amateur and possession wise we blew it again.
Sadly and realistically; we’re here only for the money and not the glory.
Should we have gotten anything out of the game then that would have been a huge bonus, of course.
In the year that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Celtic’s momentous glory in Europe it came down finishing third in a four horse race and parachuting into the Europa League. That is now the goal for us and we’re more than on our way to achieving that target.
To put some perspective on where we’re at look at the likes of teams with less points than with good European pedigrees.
Anderlecht, Feyenoord, Monaco and Borussia Dortmund are on fewer points than us.
I’m sure they’ll be welcoming the coin too as none of them are likely to win the Champions League again.
To have European football after Christmas would be great – I think this is the real test of progress.
We’re likely to be playing teams of the same ilk.
It may seem like a lack of ambition but in the big bad world of football business that’s the grim reality. I’ve said it before – we can bemoan the riches of clubs like Barcelona, PSG, Chelsea, Man City et al but we’re afforded that luxury in Scotland and the £30m should see us dominating our domestic game for years to come.
What’s not to like?
Anyone who suffered the pain of Rangers dominance in the 90s will not want to let go of this feeling.
It’s karma for the crap we had to put up with.
Rangers are an absolute basket case and Aberdeen has the propensity to self-implode just as they are getting to the climax. This is being realistic though some may argue it’s arrogant. It’s not. It’s the realistic view of where we’re at with the Scottish game and if we continue to qualify then our crown in unlikely to slip.
People might think this is the easy option for the Hoops but canny Celtic has grown organically down to good financial management and the Champions League is proof positive of this. To pull in 30 Million nicker this year for qualifying and playing in the Group Stages is down to hard work and at times a little bit of luck.
I know Brendan got a little bit prickly with the remark about playing seven in defence but he knows the market he deals in.
Chris Sutton has laboured the point about bringing in a decent centre half – how much is this going to cost? If you go into the market in England, a Championship defender will be priced at £10m plus. We need to find another Van Dijk as in part, I agree with Sutton.
We do need a decent back if we’re going for glory in the Europa League, possibly a pairing. January’s transfer window will tell all about Celtic’s real ambitions. As much as I revel in our domestic dominance, a good crack at Europe in 2018 would make up for last night.
Gavin McCann is a Celtic blogger and a realist.