EMBARRASSING, pathetic, shocking, numb – all valid words to describe the disgraceful Celtic performance that took place in Linz on Tuesday evening.
Let’s cast our minds back to last week. I predicted that Arne Engels not being replaced and sold days before the tie left a glaringly obvious gap in the midfield to anyone with a working set of eyes, as the Austrian champions sliced through Celtic numerous times at Parkhead.
I’d be lying if I said that the 3-0 scoreline from Parkhead did not leave some fear in my heart, but when Callum McGregor’s strike hit the net on Tuesday, I was scrambling to find my passport.
Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, oh what about Paris Saint-Germain?
How about another helping of European heartbreak, and a dollop of embarrassment to go along side it.
I'm something of a stat guru. It’s just always been a fascination of mine and statistics, most of the time, go hand in hand with the reality – it’s less of a prediction and more of an expectation. So, when I read that Celtic had a 97 per cent chance of progression, did I take it as gospel? Absolutely not. You see any normal club would already pre-empt and spend the Champions League prize money, but no, not Celtic, they’d rather chance it and take the big gamble.
As much as I would love to sit and rant about the pathetic Celtic board once again, chancing and failing by their pre-emptive refusal to bring in a Celtic squad ready to go and compete into another Champions League play-off, I mean Tony Ralston, Dane Murray, Luke McCowan – they are all part of the problem at Celtic Football Club.
It is true that the board had their part to play, but throwing away a four-goal lead with less than a half of the football tie to play is down-right mismanagement and an embarrassing way to exit.
The game itself was like watching a horror film, you could see the tension unfolding and you knew the scare was coming, but you watch in hope that the team survives and that is exactly what did not happen when Benjamin Nygren decided to keep his assists form up only by playing it to the wrong shirt.
Once that chance was dispatched and LASK Linz had their tails up, it was only going one way.
The question is where do we go now?
Martin O’Neill came in last season and restored the feel-good factor after the same European failure to Kairat Almaty and rescued a disaster of a season.
But this result is far worse, and to be honest, if it was not the Celtic legend in the dugout, then we’d be questioning his tenure.
The transfer window will no doubt be a dry and dull ending, and all the buzz and good faith restored now lingers on the final days of the transfer window.
Don’t let four signings fool you, the whole squad is lacking, and Celtic are still £10 million in profit after sales this summer. Interesting it will be to see this ‘rebuild’ in its final few weeks.
You’d be a mug to think this team is ready for the Conference League let alone the Europa. Any hope of a good season relies on the business done between now and September 2.
