Just when you thought Celtic were out…
Article by e-Celtic's Tom ShanahanClick here to follow e-Celtic on Twitter!
Ronny Deila unfortunately failed his first major test as Celtic manager. The two performances against Legia Warsaw were far from what is expected of a Celtic team. Deila called for a ‘Celtic heart’ performance in the 2nd leg however, he got the exact opposite. The team lacked hunger, desire, creativity, pace, power, guile, courage and anything else you can think of.
Deila will rightly be criticised for those performances however, when the car crash is truly examined the verdict should be that the manager has been left with a team dead on its feet and in desperate need of surgery.
Before the tie with Legia I felt Celtic had enough quality to see them past the Polish champions, I was clearly mistaken. Where Celtic looked slow and lethargic, Legia looked full of pace and energy. Too many times in the tie Celtic were out fought and were unable to stamp their authority over Legia. Quite frankly this Celtic team looked like a punch drunk boxer who had had one too many fights.
Just as Celtic were preparing for the Europa League draw incredible news broke. Celtic had been reinstated to play Slovenian champions NK Maribor in the Champions League play-off round.
Legia Warsaw had fielded a player who should have been suspended, Bartosz Bereszyński, as a substitute with four minutes to go in the 2-0 victory at Murrayfield. UEFA rules state any side found guilty of fielding a suspended player are to forfeit the match in question. After a meeting of the governing body on Friday morning, Celtic were awarded the second leg 3-0, levelling the aggregate score in the tie to 4-4 and allowing Ronny Deila's side to progress on away goals.
If ever the Celtic board needed a sign from the football Gods this is it. Now is the time for the Celtic board to back their new manager with sufficient funds in order to make the Champions League dream become reality this season.
Neil Lennon performed miracles reaching the Champions League group stages last season whilst losing the likes of Kelvin Wilson, Victor Wanyama and Gary Hooper. With Virgil Van Dijk originally being a replacement for Efe Ambrose it is arguable that Celtic did not replace any of the departing stars. Throw into the mix the departures of Joe Ledley and Georgios Samaras and the injury to Scott Brown and the squad is in desperate need of quality.
There has been a serious lack of quality signings over the last 18 months and this has got to be laid at the door of the Celtic board and Peter Lawwell. Out of recent signings only Van Dijk looks capable of performing at the highest level. Pukki, Boerrigter, Balde, Biton, Johansen and Griffiths were the other signings Celtic made last season. They have all had mixed success so far in their Celtic careers however, none have looked completely convincing.
With Celtic having less than two weeks until the first leg tie in Slovenia it is vital that Deila is allowed to make the signings he requires.
It is clearly evident Celtic have a severe lack of movement, pace and power when going forward. This has to be the priority in the transfer market.
Far too many attacks are broken down as players fail to threaten the opponent’s goal with confidence and aggression.
Since the departure of Hooper, Celtic have been searching for a striker capable of scoring on a regular basis. It is maybe unrealistic to expect Deila to find this replacement before the 20th August although if he does qualification into the group stages will become a distinct possibility.
No matter how many signings are made before the tie with Maribor it is imperative that the fans get behind the team. Frustration at the Celtic board for the lack transfer activity, as well as the team for the performances against Legia is understandable. However, we have all been given an unlikely opportunity to make amends. It is vital the fans play their part and give Deila and the team their full support.
If the Celtic board, management, players and fans do what is required Celtic Park can look forward to party’s in the Champions League once again.
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Once again the supporters are asked to carry the team across the line, yep there has been one almighty reprieve, one we didnt deserve, but it is time that the suits that run our club are held responsible and get their fingers out, the squad needs strengthening with quality additions not 2m chancers. Celtic fans are no mugs and if signings are not forthcoming the gates for league matches will drop dramatically. We need to stop feeling smug about winning the league for the foreseable future and provide some decent investment in quality players to establish ourselves in europe. Last season was unacceptable and as Fergus Mccann once said "we must be seen to be contenders" .......well we are waiting.
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