JOHN GREECHAN: CELTIC ARE DUMPED... AND IT’S ALL THEIR OWN FAULT
THERE are undoubtedly players in this Celtic squad who would look entirely at home strutting their stuff alongside football’s beautiful people in the Champions League proper.
But the threadbare spots in Neil Lennon’s team, the holes in the workday clothes donned in the hope of seeing off obdurate but hardly world-class opponents, should serve as a reminder that the group stage — or even the play-offs, as it turns out — is no place for any outfit not quite up to snuff.
In shipping four goals at home to CFR Cluj, Celtic were like some staggering punter turning up at the swankiest of formal affairs without an invitation, dressed in a pair of manky jeans, mismatched trainers and a sweatstained T-shirt with the words ‘Van Halen ’83 Tour’ just about visible beneath the worst watermarks.
In the circumstances, no set of self-respecting bouncers — be they a pair of upscale Max and Paddy types or Dan Petrescu’s dogged and determined battlers — would be swayed by any argument.
And nobody, absolutely nobody, could put forward a strong case for Celtic in this particular instance.
Blame for failure to reach even the play-off round of Europe’s elite competition? There will be plenty of that to go round.
Let’s start with some of those on the park. Let’s begin with the captain. Scott Brown. What the hell were you thinking?
There are penalty concessions that you can just about excuse. Last-ditch acts of desperation needed to avoid a certain goal.
Then there is the kind of brain freeze that appeared to grip the Celtic skipper, a veteran of so many high-pressure situations, as he stuck out his hand to give Cluj hope they hadn’t really earned.
Could Scott Bain have done better with the visitors’ third? It’s a question worth asking.
And the overall frailty of the entire unit, their inability to hold on to first a 2-1 and then a 3-2 lead on the night, demonstrates the perils of trying to orchestrate a grand European adventure with a side lacking in key areas.
It is only right that Celtic fans should question the board — again — following yet another disappointing late summer.
There’s always been this sense that the Hoops hierarchy were waiting to see how this match panned out before committing to spend the Kieran Tierney cash. That, if the boys somehow got past this one, they’d give Lennon the money needed.
He’d made it clear that his shopping list had already been drawn up, with several key positions — among them another left-back — still to be filled. So there will be recriminations from punters who will ask, understandably, why the targets weren’t landed in time for such a crucial second leg.
Lennon doesn’t escape all blame, though. He left two of his actual signings — including the £3million left-back who started and stunk up the place in Romania — on the bench last night. And saw Callum McGregor — playing out of position — exposed for the first goal.
Whoever sanctioned the signing of Boli Bolingoli, Celtic fans will have to hope that he’s not involved in locating the actual first-choice left-back.
And, however bad the new guy was in the first leg, Lennon’s decision to deploy McGregor away from his usual central midfield position definitely weakened the home side last night.
Ultimately, as good as they looked going forward, Celtic just weren’t strong enough — mentally as much as physically — to get the job done. That knowledge will hurt Lennon most of all. And it should give everyone at the club pause for thought.
Every summer now, and quite possibly for the foreseeable future, the big early-season question surrounds how far Celtic might venture in Europe. And how big they should dare to dream.
There’s a simple answer to one of those annual talking points, at least. The champions of Scotland must always — without exception or excuse — be fixated on representing the country in the Champions League.
Yes, we know that UEFA haven’t made it easy. Level playing field? This one is so badly tilted against teams from Europe’s smaller markets that soon they’ll need not only climbing gear, but rocket-powered jet packs, to reach the group stage.
If Celtic aren’t the ideal sort of aspiring Champions League club, though, who is? And if they’re not a Champions League club, what are they? We’ll find out soon enough.
Demotion to the Europa League will come with a significant drop in available cash. They’ve lost a lot of money that could have widened the gap between themselves and their domestic challengers.
Now Lennon must wonder if he’ll see even a fraction of the budget that might have been available had they won last night. It’s a question their nearest rivals will be asking, too.
The chance to grace the biggest stage has gone. Celtic had best keep those work clothes on for a bit. And stick a patch or two on the most badly-worn areas of concern.