Auston Trusty has discussed the anger levels in the Celtic dressing room following the 1-1 draw with Club Brugge.
The point keeps Celtic on course for a place in the Round of 16 Play Off but after exciting wins over Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig there was a feeling of let-down that the winning run came to a halt
The morning after taking a point from the Belgian champions when so many players were short of their best has to be a sign of progress following a 10 year run without a home win to celebrate in the Champions League.
Trusty is unscarred by that run, which only ended 11 months ago in a dead rubber against Feyenoord, and told the Daily Record about the blunt conversations that were held after the match:.
I’ve been in locker rooms when you get away from this kind of game and guys are excited, but you go back in the locker room tonight and see guys angry and really, really upset and that shows a lot of the character that’s in the team.
We weren’t happy with how we played in the first half, but we thought that we should have won this game and it was a real opportunity for us, not just to get one point but to get three points. Obviously, you take the point, but it’s good to see that guys are angry going into the locker room and sitting there just quiet.
Brendan Rodgers described the first half performance as passive, after the break the tempo was raised but wasn’t close to the standards set earlier in this season’s competition.
None of the players matched the performance levels that they showed against Leipzig with the introduction of Paulo Bernardo and Alex Valle in the 59th minute behind the equaliser and improved showing.
Celtic face Ross County, Aberdeen and Hibs domestically but thoughts are now drifting towards Croaria Zagreb on December 10 as a new European adventure unfolds for Trusty and his team-mates with the performance and result against RB Leipzig the benchmark.
Ever stop to think that the opposition might have something to do with it ?…In my opinion their players were technically and physically better than us and we should be happy enough with the point we got…Oh and I still say we fanny about too much at the back….Onwards and upwards.
It was 2 points dropped and lucky to get a chance to equalise. Defensively, we are still vulnerable and CCVs achilles heel is indecision and lack of imagination on the ball. The own goal was bad, though not just CCV at fault. Atalanta is the benchmark, at least as much as Leipzig, because the defence is where games are won.
Point was a fair result, Brugge didn’t deserve to lose that game. Ccv shouldve just cleared his lines but the big man he gets a pass as he never normally makes mistakes. Taylor was awful again as expected in euro games. Engels needing dropped for Bernardo he’s been completely of the boil for a while now
My thoughts exactly TN – they were well drilled and coached and very disciplined in their play. They clearly had done their homework on Celtic, they kept a very tight rein on Nicolas Kuhn and their big captain “sat” on Calum all night long to stop him from dictating our play. I was impressed by them but as you say onwards and upwards. Better a point than none at all.
Cheers HCA…Hail hail.