Disappointed to be honest, and not just by the fact we lost to a soft penalty with two minutes to go. I genuinely thought Udinese were there for the taking and we should have beat them.
After scoring an early goal we should of went gung ho after a second because defending a one goal lead would not be considered our strongest point. Most Celtic fans would have taken the draw before the game though and there are some positives to be taken from it.
We scored a penalty, had solid performances from Victor Wanyama and Mohamed Bangura and we dictated the first half against a very good Serie A team.
One thing that annoyed me yesterday in the pre match build up and the reports of the game afterwards was how under strength and inexperienced Udinese were.
The BBC match report went as far as stating that Udinese had seven players aged 23 or under. That is fair enough I suppose, but most neutral fans reading these reports will think Celtic drew a game they should have won.
Guess how many players aged 23 and under we had playing for us? Seven. Also Adam Matthews, Bangura and Wanyama had a total of six starts between them, is that considered experienced?
I am certain there is not one Celtic fan out there who would have predicted our starting lineup last night, so how can the media go on about Udinese not fielding their strongest lineup yet not mention us doing the same.
This is what I am most disappointed with, why did we not play our strongest side? You could make a case for Matthews now being our starting right back, he looks better every game but why give Bangura his first start and Wanyama his second? Why Zaluska in nets?
Now if this was the line-up against Ross County last week I could understand. That is the type of game to bleed the new players and give fringe players a run, but to do it in the Europa League that we fought tooth and nail to get into raises a few eyebrows.
Surely this is a game you play your most experienced players available, rather than a team of players that have hardly any game time playing together and with two of our best players playing out of position, Ledley and Ki. It is a good thing the team played well, if they got beat comfortably there would be even more question marks on Neil Lennon’s managerial ability and more fans turning against him.
I am equal parts happy with the performance, disappointed with the result. A win and we could still look to get out of this group, now we need four points from our Stade Rennes games to stand a chance. After two games we have only one point but we have shown glimpses of not being entirely out of our depth. Let’s smash Hearts at the weekend to cheer us up.
Anyone happy with our performances so far? Anyone think we should be doing better?
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A bit of a pointlessly hypothetical argument. It’s a good job Wanyama and Bangura played well because if they hadn’t Lennon shouldn’t have picked them.
One might call it an understrength team, another might look at it as an attempt at finding a team stronger than our decidedly dodgy (supposed) full strength side. In some respects it worked but we still don’t have a winning mentality and the buck has to stop with the manager for this one. Udinese decided to turn up for the second half and we struggled after that.
And I know it’s early days but i’m not convinced by Bangura. Normally you see some glimpses of something, pace, skill, pradatory instinct. I’ve yet to ascertain what he’s going to offer and his second touch appears to be a tackle at times. Wanyama did look the part though. And Zaluska was in goals because Foster is rotten. I suggested when Lennon was pursuing him that his signing might be his undoing – he has yet to impress when the chips are down. Thankfully he is still only on loan so hopefully Lennon is beginning to see that he is Newcastle’s third string for a good reason.
Any chance of signing the Udinese keeper?
Unlucky , great performance by their keeper and a rotten penalty decision . My only gripe is Samaras he offers us nothing so why does NL persist with him , he came on last night a just give the ball away or fell over ..I could do that
I’m frankly amazed at the criticism of lennys team choice, the choice of playing zaluska over forster has jus seemed the most obvious thing to do since I 1st seen lurch pull on gloves for Celtic, he makes mistake after mistake and frankly we can’t afford that in Europe!
Secondly his decision to drop Sammy to the bench couldn’t have made me happier my only problem was pulling him off that bench to watch him obliviously run into players after holding onto the ball for god knows how many touches to many!
Penny could possibly be on to a winner with that team we jus need to give him a chance before blasting his team selection!
Hail hail!!
The reason Lenny will get sacked, will because of Samaras!
You wouldn’t be gurnin if we won 1-0. Zaluska deserved a shot because Forster is pure tripe. He made a few good saves and looked tidy. Wanayama had a great game too.
No one is gurnin about the result it is about a player who is useless ,If we were 7 up and Samaras came on for the last five minutes , yes i would still be gurnin because this man should not be wearing a Celtic jersey or have we made a shrinking one just to fit him.
Not of the opinion that FF is any better a keeper than Zaluska. Your argument is confusing and contradictory. Not your best. Wanyama had a good game. Who do you suggest should have played instead of him. Ditto Bangura.
Ok Brian, let’s say that arguably on paper that was our best team available. Zaluska, Matthews, Wanyama and Bangura have no playing time between them. How can you expect them to gell? Fair play to all four of them as they all played well but this is a European football game. It should be treated like an old firm game in my opinion. Would that team have started against Rangers?
Now I’m not raging, I was happy with the performance and I don’t think if you had a different line out we would have won. I was a bit annoyed that everyone mentions poor under strength Udinese, it seems the media are belittling us. I am disappointed with the result, I would have loved to send the arrogant Italians home with nothing.
Still believe we are good enough to take something from this group but it means doing something away from home which has to happen sometime.
Hail Hail!!