There comes a point where the talking has to stop.
Celtic now have two massive games in the space of four days. Ferencváros at Celtic Park in the Europa League on Thursday, followed by the Ibrox side at home in the Premiership on Sunday.
By the time we leave Celtic Park on Sunday afternoon, I think we’re going to know considerably more about this Celtic team.
We’re also going to know a bit more about the recruitment Celtic carried out this summer.
I’ve banged that particular drum for months, so I’m not going to suddenly put the sticks away because Celtic seem to some to have eventually started spending significant money on a couple of players.
In fairness, they did spend. We saw fees that Celtic haven’t traditionally paid regularly across one window, not that that’d be a diffcult task.
There were players brought in who, on paper at least, should improve the starting XI.
But spending money was never the finish line for me.
Recruiting the right players was.
Building a team capable of of dealing with the moments when everything isn’t going Celtic’s way was.
Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Ibrox was alarming because the Ibrox side didn’t exactly reinvent football to beat us. They came flying out of the traps, pressed Celtic high, made it physical and won their individual battles.
That was enough to completely knock Celtic out of their stride.
Once that happened, we played within ourselves.
There was no real response.
No personality.
No resilience.
Celtic just folded.
That’s why, as much as it pains me to admit it, I can understand exactly what Chris Sutton meant when he described Celtic this season as potentially being “flat-track bullies”.
Speaking on the Record Celtic podcast, Sutton made the point that Celtic have enough quality to get away with certain things against teams where we have clearly superior players. The problem comes when Celtic meet somebody capable of properly challenging them.
LASK presented Celtic with serious adversity in Europe and somehow a 4-0 aggregate advantage disappeared as Celtic crashed out of Champions League qualifying.
Then came Ibrox.
The Ibrox side pressed us, bullied us physically and Celtic were swept aside 3-0.
Two major examinations.
Two failures.
That’s not me being dramatic. Even Callum McGregor essentially acknowledged the same thing afterwards.
His assessment was brutal.
“You saw a team and you saw a team of individuals.”
He went even further, saying Celtic had players wanting to play when they had possession but not necessarily willing to do the running without it.
“You can’t defend with six players, it’s impossible.”
Most importantly, McGregor acknowledged Celtic had lost the big game against LASK and then another at Ibrox, saying: “It’s not acceptable.”
He’s absolutely right.
You certainly can’t behave like that in Europe.
Ferencváros will have watched Ibrox. Their coaching staff won’t need to be Pep Guardiola to recognise what made Celtic uncomfortable.
Get after us.
Press high.
Make the opening exchanges physical.
Don’t let Celtic settle into the game.
The biggest question for me is what happens if Thursday doesn’t start the way we want it to.
What happens if Ferencváros score first or even put us under similar pressure early as was the case on Sunday?
Do we see a team with backbone that digs in, fights its way back into the match and finds a solution?
Or do the heads go down again?
That’s the part I find worrying.
Great teams aren’t great because everything always goes perfectly for them.
They’re great because when something goes wrong, they respond.
Celtic have to start showing that resilience and ability to cope with adversity.
Martin O’Neill has spoken this week about determination, character and the need for his players to feel the pain of defeat. Talent, in his view, isn’t enough without the desire and work-rate to accompany it.
Fine.
Now show us.
The atmosphere on Thursday might not exactly be the Celtic Park European atmosphere we’re accustomed to either.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see 30,000 or 35,000 inside the stadium, with green seats everywhere.
You could be forgiven for looking around and wondering what has happened to those famous European nights.
But the players need to get over that.
Their wages don’t change because there are empty seats.
Their responsibilities don’t change.
Celtic are playing European football at home and need to be up and at it from the first whistle.
More importantly, Thursday can set the tone for Sunday.
And for me, Sunday is the biggest of these three games: Rangers away in the cup, Ferencváros in Europe and Rangers at home in the league.
This one matters most.
There are three Premiership points at stake.
There’s an opportunity to increase the gap over Rangers and immediately answer what happened at Ibrox.
Celtic cannot go into that game having lost two major matches on the bounce.
That’s why Thursday suddenly carries more weight than simply being the opening night of the Europa League.
It is about stopping a pattern before it becomes part of this team’s identity.
And it’s also why I’ll be watching some of the summer signings particularly closely.
Does Oliver Sørensen get an opportunity in midfield? I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start.
Scott Brown has already highlighted Celtic’s lack of physical presence since Arne Engels departed and suggested Sørensen could potentially provide some of what has been missing.
Will Shim get his opportunity through the middle tomorrow night?
Does Lotomba come in and show what he can offer at left-back to keep KT fresh for Sunday?
Could Viljami Sinisalo return in goal?
After Sunday, there should be positions up for grabs.
Nobody who performed badly at Ibrox should simply assume the shirt belongs to them.
But that brings us back to recruitment.
Are the alternatives at Martin O’Neill’s disposal actually good enough?
That’s what I’ve questioned all summer.
I’ve never argued that Celtic haven’t signed players. I’ve questioned whether they built the squad properly, whether they moved quickly enough and whether the players brought in have genuinely raised the level required for Celtic’s biggest matches.
We can all sit and quote transfer fees.
£11 million here. £7 million there. £6 million somewhere else.
Lovely.
Transfer fees don’t win games.
Good footballers operating as a proper team do.
Celtic spent money this summer. Now the recruitment has to start proving itself when Celtic aren’t playing a side we’re expected to roll over.
Sutton’s “flat-track bullies” description should sting.
McGregor calling Celtic a “team of individuals” should sting even more.
The best way to answer both isn’t another interview.
It’s not a social-media graphi or another conversation about how talented the squad supposedly is.
Winning football matches when there’s genuine pressure attached to them is the aim.
Ferencváros first.
Then Rangers.
Two massive games.
Four days.
A squad assembled after months of debate about recruitment.
Players with points to prove.
A manager with decisions to make.
And a Celtic team that desperately needs to demonstrate it possesses some backbone when somebody punches back.
By Sunday evening, I suspect we’re going to have considerably fewer questions about this Celtic team.
Whether we like the answers is entirely up to them.
Excellent article as always Bhoycie. Whether we win the next two or not, I mentioned before, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us recruit another first team coach. Someone with experience in coaching various systems because Maloney and Fozzy are clearly cemented into Rodgersball and we don’t have the players for that any more. Tactics and strategy can’t make players run or up their efforts but players played in their proper positions will. Duran, for example, must be so pissed off at being constantly moved around the front three. He is clearly our biggest goal threat so play him where he is best suited and work backwards from there.
Shim isn’t in the european squad,,which is another joke from O’Neil
Shim is in the Euro squad.