After the little kick about that some countries national teams were having over in Brazil, we finally got back to the important stuff on Tueday with Celtic in the Champions League.
While the reaction to the performance, from our fans, was mixed, I feel confident that we are capable of getting through to the next round. I doubt there will be many fans who watched that game who are now thinking that we might struggle against the Icelandic side.
They had one or two little half chances but, while still being respectful to them, they are nowhere near our level which I think is a good thing as going to watch Celtic in Murrayfield isn’t a particularly appealing thought. As much as I enjoy spending time in Edinburgh, Celtic Park is where I want to watch our ‘home’ games.
On the other hand, it’s nice to know that our stadium is recognised as one the best around which is why it’s being used for the upcoming commonwealth games.
So on to the game itself, it was really 1-0 going on 4-0 at least. We hit the woodwork several times and missed a few chances that a sharper team may have scored.
At this stage of the season, I’d be much more concerned if we weren’t creating chances rather than the fact we are missing them. I’m sure that Ronny Deila will feel the same.
I reckon that next week will just give us an excuse for a wee day out. There’s plenty of pubs near to Haymarket and on the way along to Murrayfield and we might even get a go on the famous Edinburgh trams.
As far as the team are concerned, I’m sure I speak for most when I say that I’m pleased that young Callum McGregor was on the pitch and getting his name on the score sheet. Especially when you take into account the fact that he was a player who was out on loan last year. In the past, I wrote a blog about how going on loan seemed to mean the end of your Celtic career under Neil Lennon.
Perhaps things will change but who knows what the change will be? I made a point of not watching the pre season games this year. The main reason is that they’re just training games. I don’t care what players get up to on a normal training session so I don’t place much importance on pre season games either.
The down side to this is that I really don’t yet know what to expect from the new manager. I’ve no real idea on what his preferred formation, style of play etc is. What I do know is that he seems to talk well and, from the qualifier, they seem be looking at maintaining possession while always looking to move the ball forward – that will do for me.
After this round, assuming we do get through, we will be met with a tougher test so it’s really up to the players to keep improving their game and to build themselves up to being ‘match fit’.
One last thing that I noted was our managers comments on how it’s unfair that we have to play qualifiers for the Champions League. I fully agree with that, not only because it’s Celtic but because it makes the name of the tournament sound a bit daft.
I know that the tournament is all about money and I suppose renaming it the ‘rich teams from the richest leagues league’ instead of the Champions League might not have the same appeal to it.
Either way, it’s where we want to see our team competing and where a club of size should be competing.
A last point on the Champions League, if we are good enough to be able to compete in the group stages, then we really shouldn’t have any issues getting through the qualifiers.