Oh Celtic, what a chance blown!
And Man United, what a bad time to lose to a cup game!
Celtic and Manchester United’s defeats to Maribor and Milton Keynes last evening are both important watermarks for the clubs in question and they have brought up harsh lessons that both clubs need to heed.
For Celtic, the lesson to be learned is that scraping by on a bare minimum of spending and constantly selling their best players is a business model no longer compatible with any success outside of their domestic league.
Celtic were handed an amazing second chance after Legia Warsaw made a mess of some simple paperwork. They had a chance to secure a place in the Champions League Group Stages for the third season in a row. However, their performance against Maribor was simply awful. They showed no character, no heart and looked just plain toothless against a side that they should have been able to eliminate.
Not only did Celtic have the luxury of an away goal to rest on, but they were also playing the game at Celtic Park, something they hadn’t been able to do in the home leg against Legia as a result of the commonwealth games. All evidence pointed to them getting a 1-0 or 2-0 win on the night, while an animated home crowd cheered them on with vociferous zeal. But in fact, it was the exact opposite.
The Celtic home support, so often their secret weapon on big European nights, seemed nervy and flat. They tried at points in the match, but they just couldn’t get any real sustained pressure on the Maribor team. Once Maribor got their winning goal, the crowd practically fell silent. They weren’t angry, they weren’t defiant, they were simply broken by the experience. Their team had played a sloppy game that had lacked any bite or insistence. Celtic never looked like getting the goal that would have really put Maribor’s backs to the wall. The Celtic support, usually so loud and so reliable in such a circumstance, were simply not a factor in this contest.
You could argue they must shoulder some of the blame, but I mostly feel sympathy for them. Football crowds in most cases are reactive organisms. I have often said that the crowd at Goodison Park is a reactive one and not a proactive one. Many other crowds are similar. No matter how jazzed you are for a game, no matter how “up for it” you feel, if your team then goes out and enters a limp and uninspiring performance, it’s going to be hard to get yourself into it.
Celtic will win the Scottish League this year, they just will. Over the course of a full season, none of the other teams will be able to amass enough points to topple them. Celtic may have lost to Caley Thistle at the weekend, but that was an aberration. They fielded a weakened squad who still could have won the game by 3 or 4 goals had the rub of the green gone their way. Over the course of a domestic league season, they will have enough to win the title.
That will be all they win with the current squad though. I don’t expect Celtic to win either of the domestic cups and I don’t expect them to advance very far in The Europa League. The squad they have is strong enough to win a League because Leagues allow for margin of error. You can lose a few games here or there and still lift the League Title in May. Cups though are one off events and I can easily seeing Celtic slip up in the Cup Competitions, just as they have in previous seasons.
This may be one of the worst Celtic sides since the early 90’s, and at least those squads had some heart and fire to them. This Celtic team are a bunch of emotional damp squibs who seem to find it impossible to rise to the big occasions. Two seasons ago under Neil Lennon, that simply wasn’t the case. This Celtic team is a long way from the one that valiantly reached the Champions League knock out round on route to a League and Cup Double.
Yes, players have left but something else has left this Celtic side and that is their fighting spirit. They seem to crumple under any pressure. They might be able to sink teams in their domestic league most weeks, but how much pressure is on them to really do so? Teams go to Celtic Park now and treat the game as an act of damage control. They know that the real important games are against the other ten sides in the league. Draw them in a Cup though, and to the opposing team the match essentially becomes the Final, and this Celtic side have proven that they just don’t have the minerals to withstand that sort of environment.
What do the club do from here? Having no Champions League football, and also none of the 20 Million windfall that further advance in that tournament would have provided, will no doubt force Celtic even deeper into their current state of relative stagnation.
The board need to spend, that much is clear. They need to bring in one or two name players with experience of winning more than just the domestic league. They need players who can perform in the big games. They need to strengthen the squad so that it can compete in Europe and has some steel to it. This is nothing that hardcore Celtic fans haven’t been saying for years.
Yes, financial stability is important. But there is a difference between conservative spending and being downright stingy. The Celtic Board have crossed that line. They have refused to spend to the point that it has now been to clubs detriment. Celtic could have netted a sizeable chunk of much needed change if they’d spent BEFORE they started the qualifying matches. Now that they are out, more players will probably leave and it’ll be harder to get decent replacements to fill the holes in the squad. The Celtic Board have essentially gone to sea in a sieve. They’ve not so much rested on their laurels as grounded them to paste with their buttocks. They shoulder the majority of the blame here, even more so than the players or the supporters. They have fallen asleep at the wheel and have now tasted the bitter consequences.
What of Ronny Deila? I hope that he isn’t scapegoated for this result, though it would be churlish to decry him to be blameless, especially after pointing the finger at the players, supporters and board. He did his best to make Chicken Salad from you know what, but his tactics have hardly enthused, a spectacular destruction of Dundee United aside. He is still new to the job and he clearly has his hands tied in regards to finance. That being said, he must surely have known this when he signed his contract? People will now claim that he is not big enough for the job, but I think anyone would have struggled to get into the Group Stages with this Celtic team. It would have taken a Herculean Effort for even Neil Lennon to get this side through, and that’s probably why he decided it was time to go while he still had somewhat of a legacy to protect.
Deila should keep his job. To sack him over this would be terribly unfair. The full blame for this does not rest solely on his shoulders. I can’t really even blame the supporters. Yes, the atmosphere wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen for a European Night at Celtic Park, but can you really blame them? It’s hard to be enthused when what you’re subjected to is so dour and miserable.
Louis Van Gaal should also keep his job and I am generally worried for humanity that some people are suggesting he get the sack after only 3 competitive games.
Man United's performance last night was not a good one. Milton Keynes were vastly superior in all areas and they deserved their victory, even at such handsome a margin as it ended up being. They were excellent value for their 4-0 victory.
United looked flaccid and seemingly had no answer whatsoever for what MK were throwing at them. All four goals could have been prevented, classy and enjoyable as some of them were, and United deserved to be cast out of The Milk Cup at the very first hurdle.
Van Gaal needs to sign more players desperately. The usual counterpoint to that argument is "Well, Ferguson won the League with essentially this team. Why is so much change needed?"
People who make that argument are completely ignoring the amazing chain of consequence and madness that led to Ferguson's thirteenth title. Both Man City and Chelsea were completely off their game during the 12/13 season. Roberto Mancini somehow contrived to snatch a Premier League Title from the jaws of unemployment the previous season, which had allowed him to limp on as manager despite clearly showing that he just didn't have the right personality to manage at that level for a prolonged period of time. Had City cleaned out some of the squad and brought in a new manager after that incredible title win, they would have been in a much better position to challenge United for the title. As it was, Mancini did what he was want to do and City finished way off the pace and runners up in the FA Cup Final before Mancini was finally taken out back and mercifully put out of his misery.
Chelsea had decided to try something new and had brought in Andre Villas-Boas to clean out the dead wood and start anew. That worked about as well as you'd expect with a locker room full of such gargantuan ego's as Chelsea had at the time and Chelsea also found themselves well off the pace in the title hunt. Arsenal's challenge eventually collapsed because, well, Arsenal, and the end result was that United gleefully romped on to another Title.
So yes, a large part of this existing Man United side did win a League Title, but it took the perfect storm of madness and instability for them to do so. In a season where everyone was losing their heads, Alex Ferguson kept his and instilled a killer instinct in his squad that allowed them to be "best of the worst".
It's over a year later now and the previous sides have got their act together. Chelsea and City have both found their feet, and Liverpool and Everton have also strengthened significantly along with recruiting new managers. Where as everyone else has progressed, Manchester United have stood still. And so now we find ourselves in a situation where United could once again find themselves out of the top 4 when the season ends while Chelsea, City, Arsenal and Liverpool fight over the Title.
This defeat highlighted the situation that United are in. Yes, it was a team partially made up of young players but there were also enough veterans involved in the match that United should be worried. Fresh faces and new blood is needed if United are going to be in the mix this year.
There is still plenty of time of course. Van Gaal is a notorious slow starter when it comes to taking managerial posts. He struggled in the early days as Bayern Munich manager but once he found his feet his Bayern team swept all aside who got in their way. Patience really is the key here. Van Gaal has already said he needs at least a year to turn things around. I actually believe him.
United fans will be angry at another transitional season, but that isn't Van Gaal's fault. It was the United board who decided to take the gamble on David Moyes rather than bringing in a man of Van Gaal's pedigree right away. Had Van Gaal picked up things last August, the transitional period would have likely only last one year. Now it will last a minimum of two and could even be longer if he gets the chop after just one season in the hot seat.
Louis Van Gaal can be a successful Manchester United manager. He has had success at some of the world's most renowned and respected clubs. He has proven in the past that he can turn underperforming clubs around.
Man United are struggling, that much is clear, but they will need to be patient. Things are going to get worse before they get better. They just will. Alex Ferguson's shadow still very much hangs over this club and the success has coloured supporters minds. United fans no longer hope, they expect. That expectation might make this season a somewhat unpleasant one for them.
I still believe United can finish in the top 4. It is not beyond all reason that they can hit form at the right time, just as happened with Van Gaal at other sides he has managed, and challenge for a Champions League spot. I think the league might just be out of their grasp, but if they finish fourth this season and first the next, I don't think the supporters will mind.
Thanks for reading
Peace Out
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