THE cold light of day has not yet appeared to offer an consolation and neither has any dust settled on Celtic’s exit from the Champions League.
Supporters have not calmed down. Little reason if any has been uncovered. They hurt and will continue to do so for a few weeks and more.
FC Cluj, the champions of Romania, scored four goals at Celtic Park. Fair play to them and good luck. But they are hardly PSG. This was Celtic's worst result in over three years.
It was an awful defeat and here we look at who would have got the least amount of sleep.
IT WAS A BAD NIGHT FOR
Neil Lennon
The team was wrong, although he might argue in private it was forced upon him, and decisions made during the game were a puzzle.
The debate over playing Celtic’s best midfielder, Callum McGregor, at left-back even in an emergency should have ended last December when Brendan Rodgers did so at Ibrox.
READ MORE: Celtic miss out on whopping £15.25m over Cluj Champions League failure
Boli Bolingoli cost £3million and wasn’t good enough or ready, maybe both, to play in such a vital match. But why no Johnny Hayes? Okay, he’s not Kieran Tierney but the Irishman is steady enough and has done fine there in the past without being brilliant.
McGregor almost gave away a penalty early on and was beaten in the air more than once because that’s not him, and yet the manager claimed the left side of the team wasn’t why Celtic lost. Hmm.
Lennon said he wanted Ntcham in the team which is why McGregor was moved but how will that make a player wanted by Leicester City feel? He’s hardly put a foot wrong for two seasons and it’s him who moves to accommodate a team-mate who until recently hadn't contributed all year.
Ntcham played well but was taken off when Scott Brown was the one toiling. Leigh Griffiths should have been put on at 3-3. Lennon faces a few weeks of intense scrutiny.
Peter Lawwell
It’s easy to blame the board and, rightly or wrongly, Lawwell who is seen to make every decision within the club.
Celtic have no debt, a bank account stuffed with cash and are a money-making machine. They lost to a team who it has been worked out that cost less than the Celtic squad if you add in the other 13 clubs in their domestic league.
What the fans think, and this is a lot of them, is that the board are happy to make profit while the team “downsizes” to use a favourite word of the moment. Me, I don’t think that’s the case, but there is a strong argument to say that more money should have been spent over the past two years on a better standard of player.
READ MORE: Who should carry the can as blame game kicks off in wake of Celtic Champions League exit?
Rodgers felt that. Lennon does too, as do many of the players, some of which left and partly for this reason. Celtic need to strengthen. Lawwell could do with coming out in public to back the manager and explain what is happening.
The chief executive can’t just be seen when things are good.
Christopher Jullien
If a club has paid a sizeable amount of money for you but by the time the domestic season has begun you’re not deemed ready to play in what up until then was the biggest game, something is wrong.
Julien may come good but that he wasn’t trusted against Cluj, hardly a European superpower, says a lot about his the impression the Frenchman has made so far.
It’s up to the player to make sure he is fit and sharp. He’s getting big money to be the team’s defensive lead, not as an unused substitute.
Scott Bain
This will seem harsh as the goalkeeper has been superb since getting into the team but Craig Gordon will start against Dunfermline in the Betfred Cup and that might be him back in the team.
Bain was at fault for Liam Donnelly’s goal at For Park and he ought to have done better when Bilel Omrani's got the third goal for Cluj when he parried the ball instead of pushing it away.
He looked unsure of himself, he came for crosses when he should have stayed put. Lennon has a big call to make.
IT WAS A GOOD NIGHT – HONEST – FOR
Celtic’s attacking players
Four goals over two legs, three at home in a 45-minute spell, really ought to do it.
READ MORE: Neil Lennon: Champions League exit could affect my ability to strengthen Celtic squad
Odsonne Edouard was superb, James Forrest continued his run of important goals, Ryan Christie got another and Griffiths, on too late, was sharp and might have got a chance had he five more minutes with which to work with.
What must the front players thought as the ball was lost in midfield time and again which allowed Cluj to attack with runs no tracked and crosses not blocked out.
Edouard is beginning to look like the player Rodgers said he would be. The lad is a star.
European agents
For those who represent players who would fall into Celtic’s wanted category, it has become a sellers’ market.
Any target can ask for more, as can their club, because they will know Celtic are desperate and don’t have the Champions League as an enticement.
Lennon's phone would have been buzzing on Wednesday morning.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel