The morning after Celtic’s 1-0 defeat to Lincoln Red Imps the pain and anger had barely decreased.
Hopes of a new era under Brendan Rodgers were put on hold as the main culprits of Ronny Deila’s reign got the new manager off to the worst possible start.
Watching Wales and Iceland over perform during Euro 2016 was pleasing for neutrals, watching Celtic crash to Lincoln Red Imps was disastrous for Celtic fans.
Efe Ambrose, Scott Brown and Nir Bitton were the main culprits according to twitter with forgiveness in short supply following the defeat in Gibraltar.
The state of the pitch at the Victoria Stadium was a factor, the heat al;so contributed but there was no getting away from the failings of the players.
Plus I’ve never seen a more cowardly, disinterested performance from a Celtic player than Bittons last night – shocking
— Pol MacFhionnghaile (@mcginleybhoy) July 13, 2016
A few facts about Lincoln Red Imps, who beat Celtic yesterday. pic.twitter.com/MSvetA9i42
— tim dove (@dovet1975) July 13, 2016
Brendan Rodgers could have selected 11 names at random from the Celtic season ticket list and they would have won this game with ease.
— Tam Selleck (@TamSelleckCSC) July 12, 2016
Morning all. Despite last night’s Celtic result I actually slept well. No Efe Ambrose nightmares.
— Queen Haggerty (@AngelaHaggerty) July 13, 2016
@celticfc hope your Listening to news platforms sticking the boot in today if the manager thinks that was not a RIDDY then have a word
— mcláughlinson (@johnfm15) July 13, 2016
Expect BR 2 b ruthless in his decision making this morning, Its been laid bare. We need transformation not continuation. Get the duds out.
— Katrina (@LiveLoveCeltic) July 13, 2016
As early as the tenth minute when Ambrose was booked there was a feeling of deja-vu about the performance.
The lack of chances being created was also a concern while few agreed with the decision to put Leigh Griffiths on the right of Moussa Dembele.
As the game developed so the old failings returned. Under Deila when Celtic lost a goal there was rarely a reaction- Lincoln could have scored twice immediately after Lee Cascairo scored the only goal of the game.
Substitutes Stuart Armstrong and James Forrest barely made an impact while questions were asked about Patrick Roberts remaining on the bench.
When Nadir Ciftci was thrown on it was difficult to see the difference between the managerial changeover.
Sure Leigh Griffiths hit the bar twice but for the thousands of fans that turned up to welcome the arrival of Rodgers last night’s defeat was a reminder of the scale of the job required.
Gordon Strachan recovered from Artmedia, will Rodgers shake off Lincoln Red Imps or will their name haunt Rodgers in the same way as Legia Warsaw and Maribor haunted Deila?