Celtic earned a creditable draw and therefore champions League progression in Trondheim last night.

Sure, as a game it had its moments , such as Craig Gordons excellent save from a goal bound header, but that was about it.

Rosenberg proved they are more than a decent side, and can count themselves unlucky that for a second succesive season they have faced a better one at this stage of the competition.

Celtic went away from home and kept a clean sheet.

Again.

The media couldn’t hide their disappointment..

Celtic grind out draw against Rosenborg to progress in Champions League

(BT Sport)

Fair enough, you could see it that way I suppose..but pundit Tam MacManus saw it diferently..

Tam McManus Retweeted Stíofán Ag

Rosenborg 0, Celtic 0 (aggregate 1-3): Celtic progress in Champions League after enduring torrid night in Norway

It was tense, it was even perhaps a little edgy now and again, but torrid ?

Rosenberg and Celtic had one shot on goal each.

Thats not torrid. In fact, a neutral would argue it was dull.

But there are no neutrals in the Scottish sports media. Or journalists , come to think of it.

Prior to the match, there was a real fear that Scott Brown would miss the game when it was claimed he was a major doubt. Brown certainly looked off the pace, but his mere presence can inspire the others.

It seems it did.

Celtic weren’t as tenacious as in the first leg, more resilient than perhaps anything else, but despite claims that a “decent team will pump Celtic ” later in the competition, Celtic are halfway to the group stages, after four difficult games.

And Rosenberg are more than a decent team, whatever anyone tells you. Far better than anyone we’ll come up against in Scotland.

Brendan Rodgers, who made a few more of his strange substitutions last night, was clearly happy with the way things turned out, and singled out a couple of players for praise..

We have achieved our objective. This was a different type of game to last week.

‘I thought Rosenborg played very well in the first-half knowing they needed to come out and take the initiative. We couldn’t quite build the game as well as we’d have liked.

‘But I was very pleased with how we defended – it was great resilience and mentality out there. We changed things slightly in the second half to gain more control and I felt we took the sting out of the game.

‘In the last 20 minutes we had to deal with a lot of direct balls into the box and I was very pleased with our two young centre halves. They both stood up to everything asked of them. 

When you are under pressure there are questions asked of you. But I felt Jack Hendry in the second half was excellent. He won some great headers and was really dominant.

‘Kris Ajer too was very impressive. We also had Cristian Gamboa in the side and I thought he did very well too.’ 

…..tonight is about the guys who have done the job for us over two legs against a good side.

‘In this round, the next round and hopefully the next round after that, the level of opposition is going to be strong. We have beaten a good side.’

On paper, the defence looked weak.

On the pitch, it proved to be much stronger.

As to whether or not it will be strong enough for the next round, where AEK Athens lie in wait, we’ll see next week, but i think we can be reasonably confident. There’s now a momentum behind the team, and it should carry us through the AEK tie, and hopefully the one after that as well.

By the way, they’ve already started.

Its not pronounced Iyek.

It’s not a word, its an abbreviation.

AEK Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ AEK [ˈaek]; Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikί Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, “Athletic Union of Constantinople”), also known as AEK, is a Greek football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, a suburb of Athens, Greece. The club is commonly known in European competitions as AEK Athens FC. 

Is PSV pronounced like the noise that eminates from one’s bottom when one is in polite company, and wishes  to blame the dog ?

Again, it cannot be too difficult to hold down a job in the Scottish media….

We’ll worry about them next week.

The draw for round four is on Monday, and it doesn’t look that bad, if you ask me…

Surely the this level of competition would be too early in their careers for Young Boys-and if they’ve school the following day we should be alright.

When all is said and done, the manager has an excellent record in these qualifiers…

In other news, reports in the Netherlands suggest that a deal for this guy is almost done..

Elmo Lieftink of Willem II, who we mentioned a while back on these pages is cheap, adaptable and available.

Sounds like our man.

There are tales tittling about that Jason Denaayer is on his way back, and Dedryck Boyata might even sign a new deal.

But as yet, they aren’t coming from anyone who would know.

Again from Inside the SPFL, there comes an astonishing fact..

today, something a little different, from the Follow Follow forum.

Fill in the blanks as you see fit..

Fill in the blanks to this sentence: “If it wasn’t for __________, we wouldn’t have __________”

Their answers, as you can see here, might help you..

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