Stan Petrov Got It Totally Wrong In His Critique Of The Celtic Manager’s After Match Remarks.

I love Stan Petrov, and I think he’s been a major breath of fresh air in the commentary booth whenever I’ve heard him. But I profoundly, wholeheartedly, disagree with what he said in the aftermath of Brendan Rodgers’ interview after the game last night.

Let’s first look at Rodgers’ comments.

“We’re bitterly disappointed,” he said. “To concede late on like we did, it’s really harsh on us. But, there is learning there, you have to secure the ball in the game and if you’re not going to win it at that stage, you certainly can’t lose it. The players gave everything, we have the mentality, everything. I’m just disappointed for the players and supporters that we couldn’t get the result. It was a devastating way to lose a game because we deserved something from it, but we’ll analyse it and learn the lessons from it.”

It’s not for nothing he’s talked about lessons and learning. Apart from many of our players being in their early 20’s, for those who’ve been around the block in this competition only McGregor and Hart are what you would call regulars at this level. The rest aren’t even close to being called that. We had guys on that pitch last night – Scales, Yang, O’Riley, Johnston – who haven’t played at close to this level in their lives before coming to Celtic Park.

In the summer, Rodgers was clear that we needed an extra something in terms of players who have been here, seen it and done it before. Of that starting eleven only two players – McGregor and Hart – have played more than one Champions League campaign before this. I don’t know how anyone can claim, with a straight face, that Rodgers has this wrong.

But Petrov does, and here’s what he had to say about it.

“I strongly disagree with Brendan’s talking about development, this is the Champions League. What Champions League game, this is something you have to be ready for. This is what the club demands, and those players have played together long enough. Developing in those games? It doesn’t stand for me,” he said, in what sounds like a ridiculous rant.

Because first, Brendan didn’t mention development. He talked about experience. In fact, Brendan is the last guy on the planet who is going to sing the praises of “developing” players on this stage. He has done nothing, in fact, but state the opposite of that.

And having to be ready? Well that’s just plain stupid. Liam Scales, making his Champions League debut in Rotterdam, should automatically be ready for this level because he pulls on a Celtic strip? But for injuries that boy would be on the bench. Yang and Palma, both in their early 20’s experiencing this for the first time … they should be ready? In some Narnia fantasy land yeah, I’m sure they would be. But not in the real world we live in.

I daresay that I don’t have to talk about the idea that “these players have played together long enough” before other people are calling BS on that one. Some of these guys are in their first months at Celtic.

Others, like Scales, are pretty much only now in the team. This is Alastair Johnson’s first full campaign, his first ever in Europe.

So it’s absolutely cobblers Petrov is talking there.

And what’s more, I can demonstrate the utter stupidity of what he said last night simply by going over his previous statements, and not from that long ago either; try March this year, when talking about what Ange’s team would need going into this campaign.

“Last year was the first experience for a lot of the players in the team and for Ange too. He wanted to show everyone we have a style and that we want to play a certain way. You can see most of the games were lost at the end when the opposition probably had a little bit better quality and a bit more physicality. I believe that’s what Ange will address — making sure the team is prepared with the players first and then physically too, because they have it technically and with the style of play. They know what to do, it’s just finding the balance needed to get through the group stage.”

So, in March it was permissible for Ange’s team to have not done well in Europe because these players were still learning – dare I use the word “developing” – but he thinks that Rodgers saying similar about his own new faces is making excuses?

Petrov clearly outlined, as Brendan did all through the summer, what the club needed to do in response to last season’s travails, in order to do better this time.

But the club didn’t do it, and a s a result we went into this year’s competition markedly weaker in the starting eleven than we finished that one … and he’s blaming the manager for pointing out that some of the new guys need time?

Lagerbeikle and Holm in Rotterdam don’t get cut any slack?

He doesn’t want to cut Yang, or Palma, or Johnston or even Liam Scales any?

What is he doing here? Where is this crap coming from?

I suggest that he go back and read over what he said in March, and then I suggest that he listen to Rodgers comments from the summer and then again after Rotterdam because the manager has clearly identified lack of experience as a contributing factor, and he was saying that might be an issue before a ball was even kicked in this tournament.

And if that excuse was good enough for Ange Postecoglou – who is currently second in the Premiership with Spurs – it ought to be good enough for his successor.

Honest to God, criticism is fine when it’s reasonable and intelligent and thought through, but that was garbage last night from Petrov and I expect a whole better from him.

But hey, he’s new to this punditry game, so we won’t hold it against him.

We’ll put it down to inexperience and we’ll move on.