So many positives. So, so many. From Kyogo’s first Champions League goal to our ability to open up really good sides and create a barrowload of chances. Too often at this level our defensive frailties have been a problem, but worse is our inability to get in behind top teams and give them headaches.
That was not an issue tonight, and that is incredibly pleasing.
It’s time to have a discussion about Liam Scales. A full, comprehensive one. Because I love this guy.
Yang and Palma. Both excellent. Both growing into their roles. Another six months and these guys will be ready.
But none of it matters. None of it matters at all. The club’s failings have again come to the fore.
It’s not that we’ve looked out of place at this level because we haven’t.
That’s what makes the zero points from the first two games worse, worse by far.
We got near it. We were excellent against Feyenoord until a free kick and some madness from two of our players self-detonated us. Tonight, we got sucker punched. The hard luck story is all that’s left.
Apportioning blame is easy and I have no problem doing it.
We have a board that in its wisdom didn’t even make an effort to get us ready for this.
They gave the manager mainly project players, and that’s cost us.
The fact that this has come down to small margins enhances a failure that should hang around their necks like a badge of shame. It’s too late for this campaign. This campaign might well have ended tonight.
I thought we needed a minimum of one point from these first two games, and we’ve got none. Yeah, we could have won it had Palma’s goal stood but that we’re on the end of another Champions League sickener is made worse, not easier.
Knowing that and knowing that those in the stand who’ve shown lower case ambition have helped deliver it … I’m gutted by that.
I said to get anything we’d need to be 100% all night long. Switching off for a second is all it has taken, and at the worst possible second. I cannot fault the manager. I cannot fault the players.
We were more than up to that job tonight, and all we’ve lacked is that bit of quality to turn that into a win.
It’s all well and good saying that you can see where this team is headed, and you can, but my unshakeable view is that a fraction of ambition at the top of the club would have better prepared us for Rotterdam and what we watched here tonight.
And that tiny fraction is all it would have taken.
These people have a cheek to strut and preen with big grins on their faces when the men in the dugout get performances out on the pitch from players who shouldn’t have it in them.
We’ve seen this team come on in leaps and bounds these past few years; they believe that triumph belongs to them, but that’s their sheer arrogance on display because once again we’re seeing a clear-cut demonstration that this is all about the man in the dugout and the players on the pitch; they raised themselves up tonight. They punched above their weight.
The people above them are kidding themselves to think that they are in some way responsible for all of our successes. Tonight they should reflect on why we’ve once again come up short on the European stage.
That is not the fault of those who pushed themselves to the limit tonight, both on the pitch and the side of it.
Our Champions League record under these people is shameful.
Look back at the records of all the men who have sat in the dugout and what is the common denominator? A strategy that ties their hands, people content just to have us here, who under-resource the manager and hope that he can work miracles.
Incredibly tonight he almost did. We were a hair from three points. We’ve taken none.
Fine margins, yeah … if they didn’t keep us so many steps behind who knows how many of these games we’d win?
We’re going nowhere at this level until they do.
Very naive, it’s not Motherwell. A draw is no bad result as this result just gives bampots in the media a Big stick to beat us with and they only need a twig. Still Hail Hail
is there 1 celtic fan alive tonight that isn’t surprised how the match ended…..????
i really don’t know why phillips was substituted for ccv….to bring the guy back after such a long lay-off, in a match that important….really??
liam scales was immense….but, again, the left back position caused us problems…tho’ wee greg did come onto a good game…
the bastards in the suits, sitting in the directors box, are the reason for celtic fc’s pathetic, embarrassingly regular performances in europe….no-one else.
celtic fc have achieved what they set out for, fair play to them….the riches of the champions league group stages…..aren’t we just brilliant !!!
FAIL FAIL !!
i think you said james, that you refused to buy tickets for the matches…you are sooooo right…if only the 59,000 tic fans did the same….because then, and only then, will lawwell and co. take notice…hit the bastards in their oh so fuking deep pockets….
I commented before I read your article and for that I apologise James. Everything that you have written is spot on, failure from above is the BIGGEST PROBLEM WE FACE.
When are we going to get a keeper. 1st Lazio goal comes from a cross into the 6 yard box, JH is clear to come and collect it, he doesn’t and is too slow to save the header. 2nd goal , he can’t react quick enough.
At the start of the summer window we needed a challenger to Hart, an upgrade at LB and a different type of striker. Then Jota left and getting a winger of equal quality became important.
We might, in time, find we have replaced Jota… But time is not something we had if we wanted to make an impact in Europe.
Last night we would have won comfortably if we had a more agile keeper of similar quality to Hart (love the guy, but time waits for no man and he should be mentoring his replacement now), a better LB, even to challenge and push Taylor, a more productive winger, and a GG esque striker to bully a defence and toe poke or head a goal.
That’s on the board. As it is every season with us and Europe.
Frankly, I’m surprised our team has played as well as they have considering the inexperience. That’s on Rodgers.
Though, bringing on CCV was stupid, risky and probably cost us a draw.
A good few very good performances tonight, Scales is immense and O’Riley is now looking class. Rodgers tactics were spot on, but not trying to be negative, I did think he made an error putting Carter Vickers on against players that sharp after weeks out injured. Think he needed at least one full league game under his belt first. Cost us in the end but no blame should be directed at the player. This team looks like they will continue to improve but too late for the CL. Wish the board had the guts and passion of the players and coaching staff
Taxis for Lawwells
Shameful signings by Ange in 2nd season. Abdilgaard Haksabanovic Kwon Yang Oh none of them good enough. Alistair Johnston refuses to defend. 20 yards ahead of Pedro when he scores. Not even in hisnown penalty box
Very good performance but not sure what game you were watching if you thought Yang was excellent?
Almost every move that came to him broke down and his decision making was extremely poor all night. I thought BR would hook him at HT he was that poor.
The referee made some shocking decisions (all in Lazio favour) most notably the absolutely obvious high boot against O’ Riley and the booking to Phillips. Lazio defenders allowed numerous fouls before yellow cards.
The VAR decision to completely ignore the forearm smash in the first half and seemingly not even check a very tight looking offside for the winning goal were also dubious to say the least.
One thing which will maybe be overlooked is that Joe Hart was outstanding. No real chance with either goal. He looked calm with the ball at his feet and made some solid saves.
On a side note, if a goal is disallowed after review by VAR, how the hell does the yellow card for celebrating it still stand???
The yellow card offence was committed, regardless of the goal decision. Had he punched someone to celebrate it would still be a red. Not sure there’s any merit at all in your question there.
You’re right about the missed red(s) for Lazio though. I thought the ref generally had a higher threshold for punishing them than us. Perhaps it’s my inbuilt paranoia, but I don’t think teams from smaller/poorer leagues get a fair crack these days–from various quarters.
I guess my thinking is that if the goal is reviewed and pulled back for offside then play would stop at that point. It re starts with a free kick for offside. The goal is wiped out and i would say the yellow card for celebrating it should be wiped out.
On a seperate note, this taking your shirt off when you score stuff is madness in European games. We have seen how ridiculous some of the decisions certain refs make so why give yourself an instant yellow card? You are then walking a tightrope and just one baffling decision from a referee away from a sending off.
Maybe its my inbuilt paranoia also, but i just got a sense all game that their was a slight bias towards the team from the ‘big’ league.
If we don’t sign ucl players we won’t win ucl games , simples
Gutted, but not surprised. The self-destruct button gets pressed again, right on cue. For too many years now, the equation for our CL opponents has been “against the top teams, to win we need to create and take our chances; but against Celtic, we’ve a second option – convert the one (guaranteed) or possibly two complete stuff-up ‘own goals’ they serve us up”. Think Simunovic and any number of similar naive defensive catastrophes akin to CCV’s tonight.
The grey brigade are happy to squirrel away the money from this year on year and are not in the least bothered how it turns out results wise
1 win in the last 23 tells you everything you need to know.
If we were getting beat by the heavyweights then ok but these are average teams who Im sure are not full of “projects” like we are.
4 games to go and much pain still to come Im afraid.
* re post from another thread*
James. Sending this while watching the game and I’ve been studying one player intently tonight, who I want to say isn’t quite cutting it at champions level despite numerous attempts. While I’ve made my feelings clear previously on Greg Taylor and his limitations at champions league level, who again showed his vulnerability, the player I want to highlight is Rio Hatate.
I’m sure I’ll ruffle a few feathers here with my opinion but it needs to be said. He kept getting caught in possession tonight much the same as he did in the Feyenoord game and this ridiculous dropping deep towards the back 4 he does where again he gets caught on the ball and puts the defence under severe pressure. His passing tonight also was mostly wayward and woeful.
He had one good game against Real last season and that’s because they stood off him and gave him time to play the ball because he was never really a threat to them. I’ve come to the conclusion he looks better than he is at SPL level because that really is, like Taylor is his level.
And the final whistle has just gone and I feel for the Bhoys as they worked manfully tonight and tried their best, Scales (again) Maeda (again) Yang to name a few, but yet again we show our soft underbelly and are undone. The only consolation is that we take this as a Brendan Rodgers work in progress. Well done tonight Bhoys. God bless
*Addendum*
Just wanted to also say James glad your giving a big shout out to Scales. The boy is a wonderful asset to us. Another great game tonight. No nonsense traditional defending. Just what we need. I did say he would turn out to be a gem this season and he’d have a belter of a game against pretendgers FC which would hopefully propel him into the national team. He must be nearly there now?
I also thought too we needed at least a point tonight. But is everyone else like me kicking yourself a little as there a real possibility we could have been sitting on at least 4 points just now!?
Spot on about Hatate. I said last season 4/5 games , he can’t find anyone in a Celtic strip, 4/5 games he looks world class and a lot of bang average games in between. Just not consistent enough
You made a lot of fair points James, definitely the boards fault for not trying to get a higher class of player,but otherwise it’s the same ,same old story,hard luck fought valiantly,ran their hearts out and still got beat,it’s like a neverending bad fairy tale with Celtic in Europe, when was the last time any one felt confident about Celtic getting a result in Europe apart from the odd minnow teams but as soon as our opponents get a bit more quality we almost always fail,I think the last time we done anything decent was under Martin o Neill and wee Gordon Strachan got some good results but the last 10 years it’s like deja vu every time in Europe.
As I said at this stage last season, spend just enough to win the league and if we qualify for
UCL it’s a bonus. It’s obvious the fans don’t count,
give us your money, keep quiet, we’ll do what we want and stuff you. Going for 100 million in the
bank and keeping the dividend up seems to be the aim, ooh and sitting in comfort in the directors box smiling down ( or laughing even) at the life blood below. “ Let them eat cake” springs to mind.
We are weaker than last season and with no champions league level players brought in for this season and with the loss of Jota then the last 2 results were predictable.
We aren’t trying to compete in the competition, and with 72 million sitting in the bank then the board are responsible
I honestly think The Europa League is the level in Europe for Scotland’s Champions Celtic to progress as The Champions League is rigged against us financially for sure…
However I think Brendan could give the groups a good crack next year with a decent draw and having a full season and another two transfer windows before then –
That is of course if the board play ball in these next two transfer windows !
Many Celtic players are naive, but that’s what you get playing in scottish football.
Taylor goes awol from defence, Hatate & Scales were constantly covering for him, a left back with height is urgently required.
Celtic team is very small & easily beaten in the air.
Maeda is best on the left, so we weaken 2 positions from the start with Yang who seriously lacks experience on the left and Maeda on the right.
Use the players in best position.
All our signings lack experience, so very few know how to play containing football.
1 up and we still go gung ho, tighten up to pull the opposition out and break fast, but still keep the defence tight.
It’s simple to do but we don’t have that type of clever player.
Signing projects is ok for some domestic games, European football is beyond the calibre of player we have.
Taylor is the biggest liability in the team, he works hard but is always out of position and loses the ball easily.
Peter Lawell should not be anywhere near the club after his 10 in a row disaster, him and junior will take celtic back the way, just to fill their own pockets with profit from the club, the fans put the money in, these guys have shares but spend not one penny on Celtic, they just take out.
Back to domestic football, but if The Rangers were organised we could be the team on the end of the jokes.
I thought Iwata, the last time he was substituted, brought some real energy we sorely lacked today, even after Kyogo’s goal. Honestly feel terrible for the poor lad, because we’re certainly not making up for it otherwise the way McGregor, Hatate are wasted solely providing for that build up play on either wing, the incisive, vertical pass/run ahead of the box in that middle to final third nonexistent, as is our presence in midfield, seeing as we piss the ball away either diagonally or behind among our midfield and defense beneath the slightest amount of pressure; the last thirty minutes are especially emblematic of that, how the crowd wails in added time to drive forward while we continue to pass back on time simply not left.
Our tactics/creativity in front of goal with Rogers have regressed; whatever success found among the likes of McGregor, Hatate, Kyogo, O’Riley is in spite of himself and the course of management generally, not for them. When our attack barely excels in the rinse and repeat motion of building from the back, passing tentatively to midfield then the wing for the labored cross, overlapping run, or slight deviation before goal, then no wonder we lost 2-1 at home – we are exhausting in our predictability. Lazio were incredibly poor besides; their Serie A position attests to that, regardless of the intention the media had in acknowledging it. Lazio were awful not only by their standards, but that of European football, as well as our own.
The board deserves to be lambasted for how horrendous the summer transfer window went, complacent to secure domestic trophies and not invest in experience, but to not allott a portion of said blame onto Rogers for today’s result is an incredible mistake. The quality is there with McGregor, Kyogo, less so management.
The refereeing can fuck off too. How Hatate can be socked square in the eyesocket, visibly bleeding, and the perpetrator not receive a yellow, let alone red, is absolutely absurd, as is the player not booked for tossing Kyogo to the dirt before he can even touch the ball on the breakaway; the filth who socked Hatate had even glanced to see him beside him right before lashing. I swear Celtic and Liverpool are comrades in being shafted not only by their respective leagues, but any competition they happen to find themselves within any day of the week; Cameron Carter-Vickers could be a contestant on Jeopardy and somehow still be screwed over in the process.
Scales is tremendous, although I can’t help but feel his growth, alongside Lagerbielke and others alike are being stunted by Rogers trite, decade old approach to the modern game. We had every right to lose at Motherwell the way Celtic played those first 80 minutes, and it’s a miracle O’Riley and Luis came through. We weren’t so fortunate this time.
Celtic are likely out of Europe before Christmas.
So it goes.
Your on the money Ada. Was just about to write those same exact words. I best put the tinfoil on so you can’t see my brain.
Keep up the work good man yersel
Totally agree James, the board seem content to get us to the CL groups and reap the financial rewards without spending money on quality players to give us a fighting chance. We are never going to win the CL and every Celtic fan knows it and our players do a decent job but to even get out of a group you need better players in key positions. My one criticism of tonight’s performance is we don’t seem to have learned anything as we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot where ball retention in defence is concerned Hatate is an empty shirt and Mgreggor needs an aggressive ball winner in there with him. Another Scott Brown.
Surprised Philips was hooked last night if anyone it should have been Taylor. His first half performance was very poor misplaced passes, out of position, he was all over the shop and the 2nd half wasn’t much better. Hatate needs to influence the game much more and at the moment at this level, it’s not happening. Kyogo apart from his sublime finish was easily contained by the Lazio defence and in general I think Celtic lacked physicality & creativity. Riley the star man and best player on park …I’m sure Lawell is counting the profits from his sale already.
Celtic are 4 experienced players away from a competitive side at champions league level. Two full backs and a hard tackling ball winning midfielder that can play a bit plus a proven striker at this level. But our board will never invest the money will they ? It seems to me they are happy to reach the group stages and that’s it. Shame on them