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Celtic have done anything for their own prestige and confidence in the Champions League.
Now they simply have to translate it onto domestic form to guarantee an opportunity to build upon it. First thing’s first, let’s get the European stuff out of the way. Defeating Feyenoord was a huge deal. It’s not been a good campaign in terms of results and Celtic were getting all sorts fired at them about no wins in 15 games and no home success for 10 years in the group stages.
This MUST be fixed. It couldn’t go on like this and you have to give credit to the team for the way they got a result against the Dutch. Let’s not go crazy. It’s a pointless adjustment in terms of qualification and final position of the group. But let’s also not be rude and make sure we give credit where it belongs.
Too often, Celtic have looked weak and even a little scared in the last five games and have failed to take advantage of the smart moments in the games. I’d say it’s the least effective of their three home performances, but the way they did it. The recovery after squandering a late draw says a lot about their development.
During the closing stages of the matches against Lazio and Atletico Madrid at home, I felt that they were not decisive enough with the games absolutely close. This is not the case this week. Celtic took the blow of Feyenoord’s equaliser, regrouped, escaped and won it.
It’s a matter of mentality and that kind of thing stays with the players. You’ll do it the next time you’re faced with such a scenario. Celtic finished the organisation with 4 problems and it’s all a matter of context.
Manchester United were also given 4 numbers and came out. Newcastle ended up at the back of their segment and came out, it has to be said they had a horror organisation. Sevilla and Union Berlin finished at the back of their organization with fewer problems than Celtic. These clubs, especially the English pair, have spent absolute fortunes and it’s still not enough.
That’s not to say, as FC Copenhagen proved with their progression to the next stage, that it can’t be done, but it’s very tough. We know Celtic weren’t ready for this campaign, I’ve said it often enough and Brendan Rodgers has left no-one at the club in any doubt about what needs to happen next.
Players will need to be purchased. Good quality and experienced players. Not progression actors. The club already has them. They want the help of senior faces who have been around for a while. If they don’t sign them and sign them in January or early summer, Celtic will fall back into the same cycle next season that they were in and it’s not a scenario that I think Rodgers would have signed up for. Ready.
The club needs to deliver the right additions. Then he needs to deliver when he gets them. It’s the only way Celtic will go forward in Europe. Of course, right now, there is no guarantee the club will be in the group stages next season because the title race is well-and-truly on.
Celtic needed this win against Feyenoord as their performance in Kilmarnock six days ago was abject. As deficient as I’ve noticed for a long time. I said in this column a fortnight ago that the groups were squandering concern for the game. Celtic and Killie have just shown my theory.
Derek McInnes’ men sided with Rodgers in the second half and the undeniable fact is that my former team didn’t take charge of the situation. They stopped betting on their strengths, they were dominated, defeated, and defeated. It was incredibly troubling to them, and it had to be something unique.
Celtic have a five-game era before the mid-season close and they have to try and be perfect. If it does, with a game opposed to Rangers in its own patch in the sequence, you’ll have every chance of returning to Europe’s elite festival again.
The team has been eliminated in recent weeks and some of them will need to be recovered. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Daizen Maeda look set to play in today’s match against Hearts and players like Liel Abada and Reo Hatate are yet to return.
Rodgers is going to want them all because Celtic want to go one step further. Perhaps if it wasn’t for the demands of Europe in the second part of the season, this would happen anyway. But nothing can be taken for granted and the champions don’t want to keep cheering on the Rangers.
If Philippe Clement and his team, as he had hoped, beat Aberdeen and win the League Cup in Hampden, it will give them another big boost after their win against Real Betis. The Rangers will get a huge boost from this and give even more vigor to their attempt to outdo their former rivals.
Celtic can’t do what happens in the national stadium, but they can do their own business in the next key period. That win in Europe against Feyenoord showed that they still have enough reserves to get the job done and also gave them extra confidence in their ability. compete at the highest level.
But if they don’t achieve their best at home, they risk missing out on a chance to play again next season.