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THE REALITY IS
November 26th 2008 Another away defeat in the Champions League but more worryingly, another poor performance with too many players playing well below their best. This was one of those rare occasions where Celtic were not punching above their weight and were supposedly well capable of beating their opponents. The Celts outplayed Aalborg but you can outplay someone for evermore and it means nothing, the only thing that counts is goals. Samaras and Nakamura were guilty of failing to put the ball in the net and the game could and should have been wrapped up in the first half. In my opinion only Barry Robson and Scott McDonald can be excused, both played very well. McDonald has worked hard and really improved his game since he came to Celtic and he has become very handy at holding the ball up and winning free kicks. Shaun Maloney was brought on after 89 minutes and 14 seconds and just had enough time to fire in one fantastic ball across the face of goal which was missed by everyone. Had Maloney been on from the start it would have been at the expense of Robson so Gordon Strachan was probably justified in choosing Robson on the left as he was Celtic's best player by far. The reality is that Celtic have over achieved in the last couple of seasons and are simply not strong enough for the Champions League, much strengthening of the team is required before our next attempt at the competition which may or may not be next season. I am not sure who gets in next time, SPL winners only or runners-up too but if qualification for the group stage is required then we will really struggle to make it with the current squad. The Celts must try to win against Villarreal in the final group match to restore a bit of pride and earn the extra money and co-efficient point or whatever but the priority is still the SPL title. All that can be done for now is forget it and move on. NEXT.
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