Parkhead seemed abitdead
EX-HITMAN’S VERDICT
running when thrown in to the Champions League.
That’s nonsense. It would be harsh in the extreme to criticise the manager’s recruitment on the back of one below-par performance when there were players missing.
He had decisions to make but if anything you could ask some serious questions about what head of recruitment Lee Congerton is bringing to the party given his reputation for talent spotting.
For me Celtic are not as strong this season with Patrick Roberts not around to offer that something different you need in the final third.
But there’s no bottomless money pit at Parkhead and if it came down to spending £5m on a top drawer centre-half or a back-up striker I know where my money would be going.
I’d be looking at the academy. It has been such a disappointment with all the money and resources chucked at it. Celtic are supposed to be a development club and yet the painful truth is they have a poor track record of producing their own.
Where are the players coming through? Apart from Kieran Tierney, where is the talent the manager can tap in to when needed?
In the past there was always someone coming through, a Mark Burchill, a Shaun Maloney or a Craig Beattie. Boys who could do a job.
Inevitably they’d move on but at least they were available.
I’ve heard good things about Jack Aitchison but he’s only 17 and the manager obviously feels he’s not ready.
It’s a poor state of affairs but it’s not going to change overnight. Rodgers will need to go with what he has got. For what it’s worth, I’d go with Scott Sinclair up front if Griffiths doesn’t make it.
Rodgers was unlucky to have both of his frontmen out the other night but you can’t say Celtic weren’t fortunate with the result.
If I was in that dressing room I’d feel we got away with one there. Rosenborg missed an absolute sitter and it was just as well Nicklaus Bendtner’s touch was miles out.
Celtic could have been punished but CELTIC were made to rue the absence of their big-hitting strikers against Rosenborg.
When Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths are on song they are key to Brendan Rodgers team’s form.
But Wednesday night wasn’t the first time the Hoops have had to reshuffle because one or both of the stars have been out of contention.
There have been more than a handful of occasions during last season and the early stages of this campaign when neither striker has been available.
Here’s the stats that highlight just how often the Hoops have had to do without Dembele, Griffiths – or both. Total games played: Games for which Dembele has been available: Squads Dembele has failed to make: Games for which Griffiths has been available: Squads Griffiths has failed to make: Games for which they have both been unavailable: 6
Cheri Burns 62 52 10 38 24 they are still in the tie and still in with a good chance next week. The clean sheet was vital and you’d fancy them scoring in Norway. It won’t be easy though. People looked at their result in the last round but Rosenborg did to Celtic what Dundalk did to them. They made it really awkward and they might play the same way in Trondheim. I remember seeing the relief on Rodgers’s face in Beer Sheva last season but Wednesday night is every bit as huge now. Celtic are staring down the barrel and striker or not they must find a way to get the job done. From Back Page do in Trondheim after the Norwegians claimed a deserved goalless draw in Glasgow that could have been even worse for the treble winners.
There was a huge empty section in the stadium after the Parkhead club handed the notorious fans’ group a two-match ban for repeated offences.
But the 30-year-old Icelandic international reckons the move backfired because he was amazed at how quiet the famous cauldron was.
Vilhjalmsson said: “The atmosphere surprised me. I thought it should have been a lot better. Maybe it was quiet because we played so well.
“The crowd would have thought Celtic would easily beat us but they didn’t succeed in doing so. Their fans started to get annoyed and turned on their own players.
“It will be better at our Lerkendal Stadium next week in terms of atmosphere. We have the best supporters in Scandinavia.
“It was a delicious feeling when their fans started shouting at their players.
“The tie is 50-50. Celtic will be better in a week’s time and they will have some players back.
“We are certainly not taking anything for granted.”
Meanwhile, Rosenborg ace Yann-Erik de Lanlay admitted he missed a golden chance to hand Celtic their first defeat since November when he shot over from pointblank range in the second half.
He said: “It was a great opportunity.
“I thought a defender was on top of me so I rushed it and hit it over the bar.
“I’ll need to make up for it by scoring next week now.
“Celtic are a very good football team but I did not feel they had any big chances or that they were particularly threatening.
“And that was because of us. At home we are a completely different team.
“We have our fans with us and have even more confidence there. So we are looking forward to it.”
who is going to come to Scotland and be happy to sit on the bench