Last night fell nicely into the category of coming between the disaster you feared and the triumph you hoped for. In that first half, it looked as if we might be headed for the first of those two possibilities.
Our play wasn’t at the sharp level we expect. The intent looked lacking, the passing was too slack, and the own goal was a result of… I don’t even know what. I thought we were far too timid. The own goal stemmed from that. It came from Nicholas Kühn getting the ball almost on the halfway line and going backwards with it. That’s the first time he’s done that this season, and he couldn’t have picked a worse moment for it.
At halftime, it very much felt like the footballing gods were rolling the dice against us. But, as usual, this is not a team that is going to roll over and die.
This is a Celtic side with more spirit, guts, and grit than any I’ve seen in a long time. That goes hand in hand with the quality. Rodgers has found a team of leaders. They may get spooked, but they do not get rattled. They do not fold. They fought back in the second half, and Daizen produced his moment of magic. I think we probably should have won the game.
It leaves us with eight points after five matches.
That in itself doesn’t sound like a very big number, but it’s two wins and two draws. If anyone had said we’d get two wins and two draws out of those first five games, I think it would have been greeted with some disbelief. There are three matches left. The club will now have a big fight on its hands to hit the 15 points I hoped for. Just four more points would give us 12, and we’d definitely get a playoff from that. But 14 may well be enough to give us a nice finish in the top 16, which would offer a better chance of an easier draw.
I say a better chance at an easier draw because this tournament is weird—if you haven’t noticed, it’s weird! Even with eight points, we’re still ahead of a lot of top teams. We’re expected to pick up more, and we could easily grab another six points. If we go to Villa and get a draw, that makes it seven points, and we could still finish on 15.
It’s all ifs and buts, and Zagreb will be a very hard game.
If we take a point from it, it’ll be more than a lot of people expect. I still think we’re in a pretty good position—a strong position, even—to push forward and qualify with 14 points. It may not be the victory we wanted last night, and many of us might feel a little down today at not having shown our full potential or won, but the players set themselves a target, just as many of our fans have done, and I think we’re well on course.
I’ll talk a little about the reaction of the players later, but for now, I just want to say that Brugges were a tough opponent. They were every bit as aggressive, physical, and technically skilled as I thought they would be. They’re clearly a decent side and capable of giving major teams a fright.
Although I thought we ought to have won, I think a draw, on reflection, is probably not an unfair result. The only reason we’re all feeling like this today is that we know we’re capable of more than we showed last night. We know we could, and probably should, be sitting on 10 points right now.
But I prefer to think of it in terms of evolution. It’s incredible how far we’ve come—to be sitting here five games into this group, with eight points in the bag, having lost only once, and lamenting that we don’t have 10 points. It shows how high the expectations are now. We believe we can beat these teams. Zagreb will be tough, but many of us still think we can win that. I’ll be a little disappointed if we don’t bring home at least a point.
We sometimes forget this is only Rodgers’ second season, and the first was a little hamstrung. This is his team now, and it has come a long way since the start of this campaign. We’re not close to seeing the best of Bernardo or Engels yet, so there’s a lot more to come from them. Once we’re a little further on in this project, that’s when the real impact will be clear. That’s when we’ll know exactly what we have on our hands.
We go into the next set of games feeling pretty good, I think.
We’re on course and ahead of schedule. It’s very pleasing to see where we’ve gotten to. As I said in a piece yesterday, I don’t think next season’s Champions League qualifiers are as scary a prospect now as we thought they might be. There’s no reason we can’t be back here on this stage with an even better team when the draw is made.
Whatever residual hangover or disappointment there might be from last night, the games are coming so thick and fast now that we can channel all that negative energy into the weekend’s match and then onto Aberdeen. The games are relentless, one on top of the other.
There’s no time for anyone to feel sorry for themselves or start second-guessing because the next challenge is just around the corner.
Despite last night, I am convinced this is the best Celtic side I’ve seen in years—one that is built to cope with the schedule and the high demands placed on it. You can’t even call last night a bad night; it was just an off-form one. Even then, we took a Champions League point and have left ourselves in a very good position. Something can be disappointing without being bad, and we’re only disappointed because previous performances and results have been so damn good. That, as far as I’m concerned, isn’t a bad place to be.
Agreed, we are still a work in progress and hopefully the best is yet to come. Our midfield last night looked quite pedestrian and Brugge strolled through us at times as if we were not there. Were our players off form on the night, or just not as good as we think they are? I’m not sure at this stage if Engels is the answer, there is just something missing, he has the ability but I question his commitment and attitude. Anyway as you say James, that is one game now to put on the back burner as we have more games coming up thick and fast and they should be our new priority.
Spot on Johnny….. Engels was totally missing last night…. he most certainly is not the answer…. He should be dropped for a long time… an empty jersey last night.
Hatate deserves criticism too, dreadful passer .
I think we were very fortunate to get a draw so happy with that but our midfield needs major surgery…. Mcowan and Bernardo in for Engels and Hatate in run up to cup final.
We took too long to get going and never really reached the heights. Brugges did well to track runs off the ball and we couldn’t get in a rhythm. They’re all hard games and Zagreb will be no different, only our best will do. I’d give Bernardo a start now, he looks in good form and deserves it.
The team did OK last night, they did not collapse after the first goal which we could do in the past. I cannot understand why Engels seems to be a stick on to play. He has to be given time to settle but right now he is miles off being a Celtic midfield player. Bernardo and McCowan must be pulling their hair out about losing a place to him.
@ Dan. Definitely mate. We saw the difference in the mid when Bernardo came on, the commitment was a lot more like it should’ve been. McCowan would’ve been the same. Give these boys more game time.
I thought a lot of our fans expected us just to show up and steamroll Brugge, so maybe a bit of arrogance there. The first Hal we never got going at all, Carter vickers made the mistake, but I’m not going to be too harsh on him, as he very rarely if ever makes mistakes, everybody has a bad day at the office on occasion. The second half we were much better, and on another day could have taken the three points, so I suppose there is a bit of disappointment there. We have three games left, Villa will be tough, as they are a good side, but I would fancy us taking three points off young boys, and I think we need an Atalanta performance to take anything in Croatia, but I feel we can do that. We will still make the playoffs.
I think realistically we are going to finish the league phase on 11/12 points. Young Boys is a must win, but as you said yesterday we can’t underestimate them. As much as we looked at our draw as favourable, I think a lot of those teams will have looked at us as a winnable game also.
Zagreb & Villa are very similar games where I think if either of those teams are on top form & we aren’t we will be punished but likewise neither are insurmountable teams where we are beaten before the whistle. A draw against both would be good results individually if not ideal for the overall campaign but when you look at some of the teams we are sitting above being seeded or not might not actually matter in trying to avoid tougher games.
Maybe we can win the next 3 & finish on 17 points but I think with the fixture congestion & the travel that will be too much for as you say this still in development team.
For the first time in years we look like we belong in this company. I’ve no doubt we would have lost that match last year and probably most years prior. It wasn’t the worst we have played in that first half, Brugge had done their homework and went on the front foot from the off. Many league clubs are now doing this. The difference was Brugge kept it up for the whole match, until maybe the last 10 minutes when we looked like we could sneak a win.
Rodgers is more than capable with this side and showed that in the second half with the right changes at the right time. Engels is getting criticism now, probably due to his price tag, but there is enough there to suggest he is going to work out. In saying that, I imagine he will be benched to allow Bernardo to come in for a run. Hatate often straddles between brilliance and frustration, sometimes in the same movement, but gives us a vision that others don’t. I also thought Kyogo ran his socks off last night and though he didn’t score kept their front line busy.
8 points in the toughest competition in Football after 5 games? Brilliant.
Totally agree with your sentiments, we would 100% have lost that in most previous seasons, and in all likelihood taken a bit of a doing in the process.
Agree on Engels, he has been poor recently but I have confidence he will come good. Same with Hatate, when he is free flowing he is our best player by a mile imo but he is inconsistent. It frustrates me but it also encourages me as it is potentially something that will allow us to retain his talents for longer as it may dissuade Prem sides. I like Bernardo & agree he needs a run in the team but it’s difficult to directly judge when he is coming into the game fresh, I think as James as referenced many times out midfield is in a great place with healthy competition I just think Rodgers should maybe rotate a little more than he has recenlty.
Kyogo is such a great work horse for us up front. Mingolet looked uncomfortable every time he received the ball & Kyogo generally forced him into long balls each time. Idah does add something else to us but if he is going to be a top striker for us he needs to improve his first touch & hold up play. He done well last night but still on occasion his first touch let him down & allowed Brugge to start a counter.
& as you say 8 points from 5 games in the Champions League. Who wouldn’t be delighted with that. I’m 95% sure we will be in the playoffs as a minimum which means European football until at least February
For all the bluster we barely seen a Quantum of Tzolis.
I’ll get my coat.
First half we let them boss and the mid especially. Passin was woeful at times and we looked short on commitment. Although will say, Brugge were the best passin and organised team in that half ah’ve seen at CP in a while. Looked really quick and dangerous breakin. Scary at times. Second half and especially with the introduction of Bernardo, we looked a different team and if there had been at least another 5 more mins added, we just might’ve won it imo. In the end a draw about right ah think.
Yes Bernado proved last night he should start ahead of Engels. I would have preferred McCowan coming on instead of Yang even in a wide position.
I think Valle was also an improvement on Taylor.
Good point picking out Valle, he immediately gave us a more attacking threat down the left. Taylor was playing too reserved. I suspect conscious of being left behind on pace by there counter attacks.
As a side note. If ye want tae see how desperate a mob can become, for somethin tae ‘cheer them up’ ! Have a look on the CELTIC social media posts and how the ibrox contingent are all over them, wettin their pants over CCV’s o.g. If my memory serves, didn’t one of their own dae exactly the same thing 1 or 2 seasons ago, when they were leathered in Europe away. Selective amnesia indeed. Shame that they’ll grasp at anythin for any wee crumb of comfort. That’s the nick they’re in. Just thought ah’d mention it.