Our disappointment exiting the Champions League last
night was softened by what happened at Celtic Park three weeks ago. Of course in
the true Celtic mind and spirit, many of us trotted down to the bookies
yesterday to take advantage of some ridiculous bets on offer. Why, well because
that’s what we do when living with eternal hope. Me, well I had Celtic to win
2-1 (25/1), 3-1 (100/1) and 4-1 (125/1) okay £6 exited my pocket so I’m back to
the Lidl brand of Rice Krispies!
Just to get to the level of the last 16 in the
Champions League can take decades of years when building a team more or less
from scratch, indeed a last 16 that Manchester City have never dipped their
feet into with their gazillions of wealth! There is not a British team left in
after ourselves, Chelsea the holders didn’t even make to where we were, and
have a glance at Liverpool failing in the Europa Cup.
All clubs mentioned above have swathes of wealth. We
operate on pocket money compared to them. Its right at this point where we have
to be realistic at where our expectations begin to compete at this level of
Champions League football!
Neil Lennon moved in after Tony Mowbray, dismantled
his team with haste, did well enough in the Europa Cup last year, has now just
to be confirmed as lifting his 2nd SPL title and has taken us to
where we are today on the CL stage. That’s a good place to be. That’s also an
excellent place to be when re-building for the next round of Champions League
qualifiers beginning on July 16/17.
Yes Victor and Gary have no wish to sign longer
improved contracts at the Club. Fine. They’ve been great for us and we deserve
to take that extra profit on them - because as much as their own dedication has
brought them to a different level, so has the coaching and the CL stage Celtic
have provided for them along with the opportunity to mature at a big Club. Let’s
be clear here, it’s the SPL they’re wishing to leave. Leaving Celtic is part of
that. If Celtic were in the English Premiership they’d be fine staying with
Celtic.
Celtic’s recent model of scouring the world for
relatively unknown players has been a tremendous success. John Park is the man
who heads up that system, and although there have been a few disappointments,
the success have easily outweighed the ordinary.
What now for Neil Lennon? The last thing anyone should
think, even attempt to do with Neil is to take him for granted. Lennon is
Celtic through and through and also gets involved in other Celtic matters off
the park that other managers aren’t interested in. He doesn’t do the “We’ll take it on the chin and move on”
chat. No, if it matters to Celtic’s welfare, even although it’s outside his
remit of being a manager, his Celtic spirit takes over and involved he gets.
Doing that brings you extra grief, as does this country’s incessant want to
pillory him. That takes its toll and it’s not natural for anyone to be
constantly in an ‘under attack’ situation. Although he does handle it remarkably
well.
What I think would upset Neil the most is not being
backed with his team building plan and the type of player he wishes to bring in
to improve and strengthen the squad. That would be paramount to his thinking, because
believe it or not, banging your head off a brick wall is not what any manager
wishes to do on a regular basis. In saying that Neil is a very clever guy and
he realises the financial parameters that Celtic work within. Gone are the days
of £6m signings of Sutton, Hartson & Lennon himself.
I’m not despondent in anyway. We’ve punched above
our weight at CL level and it’s been an exciting journey of discovery. If the
Club are completely in tune with Neil’s ambitions for Celtic then we have
plenty to look forward to and more!
Your last paragraph sums it up Matt, a lot of progress made but more required if we are to enjoy those special European nights under the lights in the next few years. A few leaving but what sort of quality will come in? Tirnaog
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