Ange Postecoglou’s facial expressions rarely give much away but there was no denying the deflation felt after the defeat from Bodo Glimt last night.Â
Of course the tie isn’t over and it is only half time but no-one at Celtic had any inkling about what was coming in the club’s first ever tie in the Europa Conference.Â
Sure, back in the autumn Bodo had hammered Roma 6-1 but Jose Mourinho’s side had other priorities and Celtic had started 2022 with eight domestic wins to turn a six point deficit into a precious lead in the SPFL.Â
And then reality kicked in. Bodo joined Sparta Prague, Ferencvaros, Copenhagen and Cluj as club’s using Celtic Park as a backdrop for celebrations.Â
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Despite the brave face that Postecoglou put on about the performance Celtic weren’t victims of a smash and grab operation. Bodo scored in the fifth and 81st minutes and at least matched Celtic in-between times.Â
They had the belief in the way that they played, a format that tested Celtic and highlighted the weaknesses of a side that is very easy on the eye going forward. Less so when asked to defend.Â
Often it is said that you learn more in defeat, last night there were plenty of lessons for Postecoglou to take on board.Â
When oh when is Ange going to learn that Greg Taylor is a huge weak link in defence . He is too slow, weak and doesn’t get forward enough for our style of play. A quality left back should be a priority in the summer ( maybe the Bodo Glint guy ). He should also consider a strong defensive midfielder to break up play.
Sick of this , we will learn from this garbage. We don’t learn from it, we are hopeless in Europe, have been for seasons now. A mean our biggest rivals, for want of a better word have had a stunning result in Germany, they seem to be a lot better than us in Europe, why is this.
My concern now is, they will be on the crest of a wave from that result, with massive confidence going forward, and rightly so, it was an unbelievable result.
My only saving grace, is it’s Dundee we are playing at home on Sunday, but the momentum we had, has taken a blip, and been returned to our rivals. Celtic were atrocious last night, and all this about bodo being an excellent team, they aren’t, if they were they would be in the Champions League, or even the Europa, but they arn’t.
Shocking performance, taylor is kilmarnock standard ! Very poor performance.