« LENNON’S MEN ARE HAUNTED BY THOSE SAME OLD FAILINGS

Celtic crash out with familiar lapses

JUST three days after again watching the European Cup lifted in Lisbon, Celtic were entitled to entertain romantic notions of at least making an appreciable impact in this season’s competition. This encounter, though, had all the spark of a wet weekend in Grimsby.

For all Neil Lennon’s side were clearly hampered by the absence of Odsonne Edouard, they ought to have had more than enough in reserve to defeat an Ferencvaros side that were decent but hardly dazzling.

Passive from the outset, Celtic seemed intent on doing this the hard way. Winded by the loss of an early goal, it took them long enough to find their composure only for it to desert them again.

For all Lennon’s men created sufficient chances to get the job done with something to spare, they were repeatedly wasteful and profligate in the final third.

Even when Ryan Christie levelled the affair six minutes after the break, the performance never threatened to rise above the mediocre.

With a defence toiling with the basics, they couldn’t shake an air of vulnerability. Ferencvaros sensed it too, hung in there and bided their time. For Lennon and his players, this was anything but a hard luck story.

The winning goal was a personal disaster for Hatem Abd Elhamed. The Israeli looked in complete control of the situation when he gifted Tokmac Nguen possession and what happened next — both immediately and in the wider context of the game — felt inevitable. Quite why Lennon’s players only truly turned up when they were up to their necks in it, only they could possibly explain. Hadn’t they done just that against Cluj a year ago and lived to regret it?

Although Ferencvaros’ days in the upper echelons of the European game are long gone, their re-emergence as a credible outfit scarcely needed stressing.

Yet, just like against the Romanians last year, Celtic started slowly. The manner in which the opening goal was lost was lamentable and set the tone for the much of the remainder of the first half; A half-cleared corner, a half-hearted attempt to shut down the danger allowing David Siger to lash the ball beyond the helpless Vasilis Barkas.

The Hungarians were not short on confidence before then but it further elevated them psychologically. Seemingly rattled, it took Lennon’s men until the midway point of the first half to get into their stride.

There were half chances for Ryan Christie, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Olivier Ntcham but you would have expected as much. The calmness when it mattered and the killer instinct just weren’t there.

To give Christie his dues, he kept showing in the right areas. He deserved the stroke of good fortune that saw him equalise six minutes after the break with the aid of a deflection.

It should have been the point at which the contest changed. Sure, Ntcham hit the bar but Celtic were often wasteful in possession and lacking in purpose when it mattered. You never sensed that they had their opponents where they wanted them.

And so, for a third successive season, ambitions of the Champions League have been headed off at the pass.

Whether Ferencvaros were matches for AEK Athens and Cluj isn’t really the point. Man for man, Celtic were better than them. Or at least they should have been. A home draw for a one-off tie was a gift from the football Gods. They will never forgive themselves for failing to take full advantage of it.

The difference with the previous two exits was that they came further into the competition. This is the earliest Celtic have gone out of the Champions League since the Artmedia Bratislava debacle in 2005.

Much will doubtless be made of the eerie atmosphere around the ground on a fittingly grim night.

But while it would be wrong to dispute the fact that home advantage is diminished as a consequence of there being no supporters, this was Celtic’s fifth such game this season. No such excuse can be offered in mitigation.

Although the loss of prestige from failing again to make it to the group stages is what will smart most in the coming days, the significance of losing a payday of between £30m and £40m may only be seen in the fullness of time.

For all Lennon said this week that his transfer plans weren’t predicated on progression, the chill wind caused by the pandemic has yet to be truly felt.

Given their excellent showing in the Europa League group stages last year, the secondary competition will provide some consolation. It will take some time before it feels that way, though.