SHAME GAME
Lennon insists Celtic only have themselves to blame after horror show shatters European dream
NEIL LENNON last night admitted Celtic had only themselves to blame after crashing out of the Champions League before the lucrative group stage once again.
Scotland’s champions suffered a shock 4-3 home defeat to CFR Cluj, losing 5-4 on aggregate in the third round of qualifying, and dropping into a Europa League play-off.
Despite spending £10million on defenders Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli in the summer, neither made Lennon’s starting line-up as Celtic looked to progress.
And, with Callum McGregor a surprise pick at left-back, the Parkhead side exited in the qualifiers for the fourth time in six years despite finding themselves in a winning position twice during a see-saw second half.
Blaming a passive first-half display rather than player recruitment for the exit, Lennon claimed Celtic shot themselves in the foot, admitting: ‘In the first half, we were so passive. No tempo, I don’t know where that came from.
‘We weren’t physical or aggressive enough. We certainly didn’t work hard enough to stop crosses or second balls.
‘All the nuts and bolts of the game
— you’ve got to earn the right to play. We went out and tried to play from the off. ‘We got a warning before the first goal, we didn’t stop a cross and they missed a header far post. You think that’s the warning but then we do the exact same thing again. ‘At half-time, we got after them a little bit and got the right response but we shot ourselves in the foot with the goals we conceded.’ Inevitably, focus will turn to the decision to play key midfielder McGregor at left-back after Lennon admitted new signing Bolingoli’s form had been ‘up and down’. ‘We wanted to get (Olivier) Ntcham into midfield because he’s been playing well,’ he said. ‘We wanted to have a couple of technicians on the field as well. Boli has been a bit up and down, but I don’t think the decision to play Callum there affected the result. ‘He set up the first goal for Jamesy (Forrest) and played very well. Ntcham had a fine game as well. ‘The overall disappointment for me is the way we approached the first half. ‘We were a goal down having really created nothing. ‘We hadn’t tested Cluj or played with any real home tempo. We really have to eradicate that. We have to stop the slow play and be a lot more aggressive with our play — and more purposeful with our passing going forward. We have really good forwardthinking players who want to hurt teams but we didn’t use them enough in the first half at all.’ Falling behind to Ciprian Deac’s opener in 27 minutes, the Parkhead side turned the game around with goals early in the second half from Forrest and Odsonne Edouard. A crazy handball from captain Scott Brown handed Cluj a leveller from the penalty spot before Ryan Christie made it 3-2 two minutes later. Sunk by two late goals — the fourth on 96 minutes as they chased a winner — the Premiership champions now drop into a Europa League play-off, most likely against
AIK Stockholm. ‘It’s hugely disappointing for us all as a collective,’ continued Lennon. ‘We have to accept the criticism which comes our way — whether it be from the media, our own supporters or elsewhere. ‘We need to regroup, qualify for the Europa League and make a strong claim in that. ‘We had the lead twice and gave it away. The first goal, you are thinking: “Wake-up call”. ‘The second one is an individual mistake. The third goal, we’ve got plenty of defenders back but we just let the guy run off us and get a shot away. We should have done better with the rebound. ‘The fourth goal is academic because we are just throwing everything at them to score again. We had enough chances to win the game but wasted 45 minutes tonight. ‘If we played anywhere near as well in the first half as we did in the second half, we would have been through.’ Lennon will now step up his efforts to secure reinforcements at left-back and right-back, but admits the failure to reach the group stage is likely to impact on his player budget. ‘Yes, I’m sure it will but that’s not at the forefront of my mind at the minute. We all wanted Champions League football and we have only ourselves to blame for not getting that. We’ve been loose and in important moments of the game we have switched off,’ he said. ‘The players are bitterly disappointed as they have missed out on a good opportunity. ‘We all have. It’s a collective responsibility.’ Cluj manager Dan Petrescu added: ‘It was a very nice game of football but not for the coaches. And not for Celtic fans. ‘I can’t believe this is the second time my team has scored four goals against a Scottish team, having done the same against Glasgow Rangers before. ‘All my players need congratulations. I told them they needed to play the game of their lives. ‘It is just unbelievable for us to win through. It’s one of the best results of my career, for sure.’