This Celtic side is the most exciting we’ve seen in domestic football in a long, long time and that fills me with enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of this league campaign.
The start we made did not surprise me.
It was what Ange promised when he took over, a team that played blistering football and which would only get better as it developed its style.
A few mishaps aside, we can see that we are fast becoming that side. We will soon be back to our freewheeling high-scoring best. Domestically, at least, I feel nothing but optimism.
What surprised me was the obvious strides we’ve taken in Europe.
We look a much better outfit this season than we did in the last campaign on the European stage.
The team looked comfortable against Madrid until we lost our way after conceding the goal. Against the Donetsk team, in Warsaw, I thought we were exceptional. But we didn’t win.
I am frustrated because of that result, and the frustration grows out of the performance. If we’d been bad a 1-1 draw would have felt like a great result. But that we were so brilliant is what turns it into an opportunity lost, and two points slipped away.
This team is good enough to be on this stage.
We have two massive games against the Germans in which to prove it, and I absolutely believe that we can do so. Ange has made a believer out of me because he himself is 100% convinced of it.
After the weekend, he exhorted this team to rise to that level and meet these expectations. It is time, he said, for this team to leave its mark on the continent and he would not have challenged them so if he did not believe they were capable.
You can see that they are. You can see what this team can produce when on their game. The question is, will we raise it to that level or will this team become the subject of the hard-luck stories and what might have beens?
Because they can be so, so much more. It will soon be time to prove it.
Celtic need to start, making there good passage of play in games count. We should really be on 3 points the now, we completely dominated shakhtar. The game won’t be easy in Germany offcourse, but I think we should be looking to start winning these games now. I’m going to madrid, 6 nights in Benidorm, and an almost 300 mile train trip on the Wednesday, but it’s worth it. I’m hoping at that point we are at least in the Europa league. I think Celtic should be looking to win our next 3 games, yes y’all order, but it’s not mission impossible as far as I’m concerned. CCV is a big miss for us at the moment, but this is we’re the other guys have to stand up and be counted. Celtic should be looking to take the game to the Germans tomorrow night. HH.
Our recent dip in form, coupled with the loss of CCV, is very likely to result in defeat tomorrow night. That’s a realistic opinion rather than a pessimistic one.
The current squad do not yet have the tactical nous to emerge from a difficult venue unscathed.
I reckon Ange meant that 1st team squad would also become consistent at it. We are far from that yet. However, inconsistency is a double-edged sword so it can easily go from lacklustre back to mutt’s nuts. We will miss CCV, though not sure his absence has been definitely 100% confirmed, just that he missed training.
We make and miss too many chances. We are capable though, but we are also a work in progress, and I have to stop myself getting too carried away after a few good performances. I just hope we turn up, if we do, we have a chance, if we have a chance, we need to take it