Some Of Wednesday’s Celtic Players Will Never Play Champions League Football Again.

Football is a harsh business. All professional sport is.

Nick Hornby, in Fever Pitch, described it as one of those places where you just can’t hide. There are, as he pointed out, terrible painters making a living as professional artists and dreadful writers making a living churning out books and articles, and people who can’t carry a tune on Top Of The Pops because all that stuff is subjective, all of it is subject to interpretation.

In sports, you either make it or you don’t. You’re either good enough or you get found out. His chapter on Gus Caesar is one of the most searing things I’ve ever read because it’s terrifying in its implications for everyone who ever believed they had talent and then had to put that to the test. If you’re not as good as you think you’re in for a Hell of a comedown.

There’s an element of luck in sports though.

Look at our boy wonder Liam Scales.

When I wrote my article on him, the one about the Trial By Fire, prior to the Ibrox game, it was a hopeful piece about how it was a day when heroes would be made, and reputations grow. It was a day for someone to step up and if you could do it on that day you might just have what it takes … and he’s never looked back from that afternoon.

But except for an injury crisis so severe that he made that team in the first place, as a last ditch stop-gap, we still might not know what we had because he’d almost certainly have been off out on loan instead of playing centre back in six Champions League matches.

Prior to Ibrox that would have been unthinkable. It would actually have been vaguely terrifying. But he is one of the few success stories here, and his emergence that of a genuine talent who looks like he can do big things. Don’t be surprised if he’s in the same spot when next season’s Champions League campaign kicks off. That no longer sounds crazy.

It’s not guaranteed. Not by any manner of means. But it’s at least possible, it’s at least in the cards. There are some other people who played in that game for whom that is certainly not the case. That was their last Champions League at Celtic. For some of them that is their last Champions League game ever. They will never again play on that stage.

Let’s start from the back. Will Joe Hart ever again play at this level? Probably not, but what a career he has had and if this is his final appearance what a magnificent way to say goodbye to that stage. He had a great night, the sort that rolled back the years to how he was in his prime. All that’s happened to that guy is he’s got older; I wish we’d got him two or three years earlier than we did, because we’d be talking about him as a true great.

Alastair Johnston will almost certainly be the right back for next season. Barring a major turnaround or a major disaster he’ll be the man. He’s only going to get better at this level, and his fantastic pass to O’Riley to set us on the way to the winner is only one part of it. He needs to bulk up so he can hold the ball better, but he’s got the future by the short ones. Ralston looks like he’s still a squad player and I’m not terribly bothered either way about that.

The central defence is incredibly hard to call, but I suspect neither Scales nor Welsh nor Lagerbielke have played their last Champions League game for Celtic. They will all be around or thereabouts. I cannot be as sure about Cameron Carter Vickers and Nawrocki, because the big lad is injury prone and we might entertain bids for him if we think he’s a depreciating asset. I love the guy, but we have to be thinking about this. Nawrocki? Who knows?

At left back, I suspect this will not be Greg Taylor’s last Champions League night but quite possibly his last one as a starter, barring injuries. We will almost certainly be looking for an upgrade on that side of the pitch, putting aggression and physicality at the top of our list of requirements. As far as his current backup goes, Bernabei is gone for sure having never ever looked at any point like the long-term answer to this thorny problem. Young Frame will definitely have a future here, but it’s way too early to throw him in a starting full back. Let him grow into it, and he might just do it.

Callum McGregor, you can take that to the bank. He’ll be here. Matt O’Riley can be in this midfield as long as he likes, and only a massive, massive transfer bid will shift him. He’ll almost certainly be here and he’ll be even better than he is right now. Iwata … difficult. Hard to say. He’ll be in the squad so I’d say you’ll see him in a Champions League match next season. Bernardo … that’s up in the air. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not blown away. David Turnbull? Your guess is as good as mine. From maintaining any sort of Scottish connection we’d do well to get him on a new deal and he scores goals for us … I don’t know is the answer. Hatate, yeah, he’ll be at Parkhead. Holm? Ha! No idea. It’s the area where the need for the Real Deal is still the most pressing.

Palma. For sure. Definitely. Forrest … I think if he does play in the Champions League again it will be for a cameo and a swansong. Mikey Johnston? No chance at all, no chance whatsoever, of seeing him play Champions League football for Celtic and maybe not ever again. Maeda and Abada I have little doubt will be here and will be performing on that stage. Yang will have to improve, massively. Tilio? I think he’s up against it already and is a big, big doubt.

The same applies to both Kyogo and Oh. They’ll be retained although in what order our strikers will be rated as first picks, second picks and backup will depend greatly on who we sign and what quality they show from January onwards.

I don’t see ten players next summer. No chance. We just can’t, it’s wasteful and stupid. We certainly didn’t need anywhere near that in the summer just past. If we’re sensible we’ll get shot of a few people in January, send a bunch out on loan and over the course between May and August there will be more going out than coming in … and a stronger squad at the end.

If the manager gets his way, but we’ll believe that when we see it.