Well there you go.
\nOne moment youre full of optimism and next moment youre watching Celtic getting played off the park in wee triangles throughout the so called depleted Borussia side whilst our only triangle was Gordon – Toure – Broon – Gordon.<\/p>\n
At half time the scoreline was 0-0 and every fan was sighing in relief while shrugging in frustration. Our only chance had been a poor finish attempt from Scott Sinclair from a truly sublime pass from Tom Rogic. That was it for the first half and in fact, that was it for the whole Celtic game. The attempts on the opponents goals were rare, rushed, weak or from distance without any hope.<\/p>\n
The opponents meanwhile pushed, harried and stretched our side continuously and as if that wasnt enough, they got handed 2 goals on a plate courtesy of Kolo Toure, a failure to anticipate the 2nd ball, Craig Gordons bowly legs and a severe lack of pace at the back.<\/p>\n
Loads of questions can be posed after this dressing down, but the main one is can the side and management shake it off in time for Sundays semi final at Hampden.<\/p>\n
Ratings<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n Gordon – 6<\/strong> Tierney – 6<\/strong> Erik – 8<\/strong> Toure – 6<\/strong> Lustig – 6<\/strong> Broonie – 6<\/strong> Bitton – 5<\/strong> Rogic – 5<\/strong> Forrest – 6<\/strong> Sinclair – 3<\/strong> Dembele – 4<\/strong> Subs Roberts – 5<\/strong> Griffiths – 4<\/strong> Manager Borussia were faster in thought and on feet and this was a harsh reality check to anyone connected to our club BUT SHOULD NOT have been a surprise to the Manager. The side we put out looked, unsurprisingly, like a side that hadnt played together for weeks and were simply run over by clever and speedy opponents. I know folk will say “but the first half ended 0-0 and we gifted them their goals” but that just denial in my opinion.<\/p>\n We were never in this game and the managers decision to play 4 forward minded players in front of midfield and defensive centres both devoid of pace, was a mistake. I can accept Rodgers went out to win the game but his side were struggling throughout and we all know ending the first half level was a mixture of luck, last ditch tackles and Craig Gordon saves. There was next to nothing going forward and we didnt see the so called “variations in play” that have been heralded this season. Brendan also got praise for his subs against Man City but this time it seemed more “in hope” than “In strategy” and the whole night had that sense of “Who is doing what?” about it?<\/p>\n Lessons need to be learnt and questions need answered – The next will be how to bring some defensive balance to a forward heavy Celtic side when up against quality opposition outside the SPFL.<\/p>\n The future questions will include who will fill the role of the robust central midfielder that we so sorely need, it isnt Bitton or Broony who seems destined for stepping back as time progresses.<\/p>\n Brendan has his work to do and its going to be interesting seeing the decisions he makes over the immediate days and weeks.<\/p>\n Fans – 5<\/strong> Well there you go. One moment youre full of optimism and next moment youre watching Celtic getting played off the park in wee triangles throughout…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/etims.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Celtic-vs-Monchengladbach-Match-Preview-Prediction-UEFA-Champions-League-Group-C-19th-October-2016.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2J7If-2CL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10091"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10091"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10101,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10091\/revisions\/10101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/etims.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSome good saves but the first goal flew through the keepers legs at his near post which should never happen. Distribution wasnt the best and this was actually a game where we needed a “sweeper keeper” as Broony should have been receiving the ball at the centre circle, not having to bring it out from 12 yards.<\/p>\n
\nNot a great game and questions still being asked on the Tierney – Sinclair partnership for defensive duties, especially at CL or Europe level. The young defender got forward a few times and attempted to get into the game but it just never really happened.<\/p>\n
\nOur best player. Kept it solid and simple and was even bringing it out in the second half when pushed to the left of a 3 with Broony and Toure. Took some string challenges and was always in the battle. Leading contender for the next Captain.<\/p>\n
\nWho would be a football player? One half youre making amazing sliding tackles to save a colleagues embarrassment and then come the second 45, youre gifting 2 goals away and looking like an utter chump. Kolo has did well for us but given the reality after this result, his time on the bench as Jozo back-up and on the training ground as a mentor \u00a0looks more likely from now on\u00a0than any immediate chance of redemption.<\/p>\n
\nLike Tierney, found himself restricted for getting forward and spent most of the game trying to identify which of the Borussia players rushing towards him to pick up. Does have a decent partnership with Forrest these days but those large gaps are still a worry on the right hand side.<\/p>\n
\nSome will say he had a great game, always combatting and trying to be on the ball. Sadly this wasnt totally by design though and more often than not Broony was chasing shadows or losing possession to hungrier younger opponents. Ended up back in the back 3 to bring the ball out but when that removes your driving force from midfield its a little self defeating at times.<\/p>\n
\nPlayed one great reverse pass which had fans applauding but almost every other touch on the ball resulted in a groan from fans before he was subbed. The ball would either go back, side or to an opponent and one shot at goal eneded up more like a pass to the corner flag. Bitton does not get the time needed to play his style of game at this level and any Brendan future CL side isnt likely to include such passengers.<\/p>\n
\nPut the ball on a plate for Scott Sinclair to blast over and had some nice dribbles in between large periods of invisibility before being subbed in second half. Any hope of a Broony – Bitton – Rogic triangle or a Rogic – Sinclair – Dembele triangle soon disappeared with a pressing Borussia playing high up the park and refusing Celtic’s ball players any space for dribbles, turns and 1-2s.<\/p>\n
\nUp and down the right hand side and given a lot of ground to cover which some of the fans around me didnt seem to appreciate. Had some nice runs and got a good cross in in the first half but was a fruitless task and was replaced for Roberts in second half.<\/p>\n
\nAwful and should have been subbed. The shot high and over should have been converted or at least tested the keeper and sadly that was the only memorable touch of Sinclair in the whole game. It was one of those terrible nights where the forwards touch was poor, he ran into dead end, he didnt cover back and when in possession, it was lost weakly and meekly. Really needs to take ownership much much more and he and Dembele need to work a lot harder on an actual partnership if they want it to be Brendans first choice and it was non existant tonight.<\/p>\n
\nCould easily have been subbed given the poor impact Dembele made in this game. Moussa’s touch was poor, his attempts at fancy footwork went nowhere and he wasnt even able to get on the end of Craig Gordons punts when needed. Will hope to bounce back at Hampden but may not get the chance if Brendan goes with Griffiths.<\/p>\n
\nMcGregor 5<\/strong>
\nCame on and immediately gave the side some impetus in same spirit that Armstrong did recently. Sadly no end result was possible but the effort was appreciated by the fans who wee crying out for such drive<\/p>\n
\nA brilliant run almost carved out a goal that would have made for a great final few minutes but the winger needs more time to make a true impact and might be hoping for start soon to unleash his dribbling talent.<\/p>\n
\nCame on in second half to play in a position that doesnt suit him and surprisingly did nothing of any notice at all. Will be chomping at the bit to get a start on Sunday. Likely to have to start on the bench but with every game, Brendan has a growing dilemma on how to fit Dembele, Sinclair and Griffiths up top.<\/p>\n
\nRodgers – 4<\/strong>
\nThis week we had Brendans answering questions on finishing 3rd and playing in Europe after Xmas. He should know better than to get drawn into looking further than the next game only. The only item Brendan should have ate, drunk and slept for the last week or so was how to handle and defeat our CL opponents. On the evidence of this game, the management failed to do their job properly.<\/p>\n
\nThe first question is does Jozo come in for Toure now on so our future defensive partnership get more CL time together.<\/p>\n
\nIts all a learning curve for everyone including the fans who were heavily subdued tonight. We seemed to be in shock when in fact we had just allowed ourselves to be seduced by a communial over-hype that hid the true reality behind that Man City result. In that game the early goal helped our good but limited side find an extra yard with a baying crowd behind them. This time however, we watched in silence as a slow dull Celtic ambled sideways and back and the only sound we managed were sighs of disappointment after a rousing introduction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"