13 Sep 2017 12:46:10
Now that the dust has settled on last night I still feel a tinge of embarrassment and frustration. Obviously perspective shows that we were up against the financial might of Qatar but the manner of the performance disappointed me more than the result. I think BR is one of the best managers our club has ever had but he has now overseen two of our worst ever European results in successive seasons. Maybe there has to come a point where your philosophy takes a back seat for a game or two rather than playing into our opponent's hands? I'm sure the team will learn from this and our main games will be Anderlecht but I'd like to see us shore things up a bit more against the big guns in future. It's not pretty but it's worked in the past.
13 Sep 2017 13:57:12
Kev they were superb. Having daid that i sgree we should have done much better. The Lustig move to centre half is not the answer. It would not have mattered wjo played we would still get beaten by them but looking forward to Anderlecht or even a europa team our defence is not upto it. Griff was never supported. When we broke forward thefe was no support. We gave tbe ball away etc. In my opinion we sre no better than last season. So here is the worry. This team will not significantly improve with current personell. we spent £4 mill on a partner for Brown who gave tne ball away more than anyone. So even buying 5 or 6 £4mill players will not get us anywhere in Europe. In my opinion we have hit the European brick wall. I don't think we will get 3rd place. Dissapointed but alarm bells went after the 4-3 defeat in the final qualifying game. can't see where we go.
13 Sep 2017 14:28:18
I don't think that we can buy the sort of player that can bridge the gap, the sort of player who would make a difference are way out of our price range even allowing for the money we earn from qualifying.
We are in a situation where we really have to use our wealth to remain dominant at home and hope for the occasional better draw.
It's not nice getting thumped like that, but our main aim has to be to qualify, after that we need to get tore into these teams and put them off their game, we just haven't got the ability to go toe to toe with them.
Unless the rules change and the money gets shared out more evenly we will always be at this level, we just need to be a lot more streetwise against these teams and don't let ourselves get cut open so easily.
13 Sep 2017 14:33:50
I am afraid after last night the gulf between us and the top sides in the champions league is scary. I know that the celtic board and BR were talking about getting to the last 16. I am afraid that's never going to happen as the gap will only get bigger. It will only get harder for us and more of these night could happen. We simple don't have the quality to compete even near some of these clubs. The club's like ours that are in pot four and some in pot three are simple making up the numbers. I feel sorry for the players and BR as when u spend 4-5 million only and are expected to try an compete with a team that can spend €350 - 400 million on two players there is only going to be one result. I know even if we spent 20 million they are still miles better. It's just a fact that we can't compete at this level and it has become two league system with those who have all the millions and those who don't.
13 Sep 2017 15:01:14
There is a lot of sense being talked on this site. Gerry and oscar you are spot on. No one is demanding a new manager or £20mill spent. We all realise the financial gap is so so big £50mill won't get us a European trophy. We are where we ste and we need to accept our place which as kevbhoy says maybe is to dominate in SPL and use the CL funds to ensure that we do and see what happens over the next 5 years re European leagues and see if an opportunity falls out of that.
{Ed007's Note - A lot of the support have unrealistic expectations imo, Johnny. There's nothing wrong with that and I've been as guilty as anyone over the years but it's their reaction I find strange. Realistically what did people expect last night? I wasn't embarrassed to get beaten by PSG but I was disappointed with the scoreline, I don't know what the board, manager, players or support could have done to make any difference last night. PSG will beat teams better than us and will probably score more as well.
It's a lesson learnt and the players and manager will have learnt a lot from last night, it's time to put it to bed and move on.}
13 Sep 2017 15:15:28
This "the gap", is all codswallop, the gap had nothing to do with all the misplaced passes, the gap had nothing to do with Celtic playing badly, and that's what it was it was a bad day at the office, it was an off day, PSG were made to look better than they are, and their confidence grew as Celtics ineptitude became more widespread, Bayern will bring them down to earth, I expect the game in Paris to be a lot closer, and will probably put some money on an away win,
{Ed007's Note - That's a different game from the one I watched then. PSG done to us what we do to Scottish teams. They dominated us, outmanoeuvred and outplayed us all over the park.
Do all of Scottish teams just have a bad day at the office when they play us too?}
13 Sep 2017 16:05:44
Spot on ed was saying that to a pal that's how scottish teams and there fans feel when they play us.
{Ed007's Note - Sometimes you just need to accept things for what they are.}
13 Sep 2017 16:29:43
Biggest embarrassment last night for me was the wee turd that ran on the pitch even he never landed a blow for crying out loud
My biggest hope last night was that PSG had failed to gel / click with the new signing's bedding so to speak
After ten minutes I knew we were watching something special and chasing ghosts
We always seem to land the team that has just won it or are going to win it
People talking rightly so about our competition well Partick Thistle can't compete with Forest Green for wages so where will that leave us in five years our league is not appealing and Sky and even BT know they can pick us up for cheap as chips despite having great viewing figures
Unless the best of the Euro leagues like the dutch, Belgians etc who probably get rubbish league money too come up with an idea for a pan-euro league and we get invited
Ask yourself one honest question are we going to get closer or is the gap going to get wider? I know what one I plump for and in current systems / formats its not changing any time soon IMO (Y)
13 Sep 2017 16:33:53
So the misplaced passes were because.?
{Ed007's Note - The PSG players were getting in the way.}
13 Sep 2017 17:13:42
Well I was only watching on the radio.
{Ed007's Note - I hate admitting it mate but they really did destroy us - the last team I seen being THAT outplayed was Astana at CP!}
13 Sep 2017 18:13:26
The misplaced passes were because psg were shutting down quick and putting us under pressure in possession. well that's how i saw it.
13 Sep 2017 18:26:45
Funnily enough ed the last team I actually saw at Celtic park tear us apart like that was PSG.
It was late 80s maybe with Rai in their team we cudnt touch them that night either don't know if anyone remembers exactly when it was.
{Ed007's Note - That was in 95 mate and the away leg was my first time going to Europe following Celtic. That PSG team had reached a European semi-final in each of the previous three years, do you know Stephane Mahe played for PSG at the time, along with Djorkaeff and Patrice Loko who turned out to be loco!}
13 Sep 2017 18:34:24
Ah aindoh an off day. We were playing against the best front three in world football at the minute. I know you are annoyed at the result like all of us are but they are miles ahead us. 29% possession tells it all at home. There are times where you just have to admit that we can't compete against teams like these and the money's they have to spend. Once they lost the ball they when to win it back ASAP. And we don't have the players of quality to keep the ball for long spells when under that pressure. The gap is just so big between the top sides and us.
13 Sep 2017 19:03:21
I bow to your superior kmowledge ed, but wtf how did we get trounced with Mahe in their team lol.
To be fair he was decent and he set up Sutton for the 6th in a famous victory lol.
{Ed007's Note - From memory of reading about it over the years, not from being there, Mahe played the whole game in Paris but didn't last long in the home tie. I can't remember if he was hooked or injured though, probably injured. PSG won the CWC that year too so Mahe has a European medal in his closet - there's a quiz question in there.
Away Leg:
Home Leg:
13 Sep 2017 19:06:53
I think 3-0 was flattering them, never mind 5-0. We gave a better account of ourselves in the second half by all accounts. We must face the grim reality that the gap will continue to get bigger as long as states/ Sky fund some teams.
I think PSG will turn over far better teams than us this year, however I think the Bayern/ Madrids of this world will pump them. Which in turn makes me fear Bayern even more!
13 Sep 2017 21:59:55
Maybe I should watch a replay, but I can't be bothered, but it's the use of the phrase "misplaced passes", they used on the radio commentary, that is a lot different than getting shut down, I pictured passes going astray, or the wrong pass being made, or putting a team mate under pressure by giving the pass at the wrong time, by saying they were shutting us down fast and putting the passer under pressure, it makes them look good, where in reality the pass was hasty, hurried, panicky, and that's maybe what it really was, and that's because we played badly, I say again Celtic made them look a better team than they really are, I hope Moussa is fit for the Paris game, and I would play LG, in Roberts position, and I think we could get a result.
{Ed007's Note - You can't judge it on what you heard people on the radio said, behave yourself, until you've seen it yourself you're only taking their word for it while telling the rest of us we're wrong. If you didn't see it you can't really comment just to troll the site and be your usual negative self.}
13 Sep 2017 22:15:38
You said it yourself the psg players were getting in the way, now think about that, have a good long hard think about that.
{Ed007's Note - I'm not arguing a point with someone that listened to a game on the radio. You're basing your opinion on second hand information who were like you taking great pleasure in us getting the run around and everyone else is basing their's on what they saw. Have a good long hard think about that.}
13 Sep 2017 22:36:21
No, but you said the PSG players were getting in the way, not meaning to criticise you or anything, Ed, but that makes me think, the Celtic players were wanting to get rid of the ball pronto and taking unnecessary risks, because in their heads they were playing these superstars, but you are right, I will desist, is a bit stupid me arguing with you when I didn't even see the game, I will shut up.
13 Sep 2017 22:43:13
Spot on Ed just take it on the chin learn from it and move on. It highlited the point regarding a Centre half tho. Awe well Boyata Sviatchenko and Dembele will soon be back.
13 Sep 2017 22:53:25
For me it was 80% psg being on top form and 20% us being poor, that said i never expected a win but hoped we would have ran them closer, we have came ti almost expect to do well at home in the cl no matter who we play and admittedly have had some superb results against great teams over the years but them last night is possibly the best and certainly most expensive concentration of players in one team we have ever faced and as some have said previously we should probably have been set out to contain as much as possible even five at the back as our best chance would have been a goaless draw, gordon not realy ag fault lst night but progression for me will require a new gk and ch asap, 🇮🇪✌ï¸.
13 Sep 2017 23:17:14
Aindoh i think that PSG were better than the Barcelona team that took 7 off us last season. don't think Celtic have progressed much compared to last year but very difficult to tell as you just don't know how good PSG really are. Last night they looked wonderful. It could have been 7 or 8 nill. We just don't have the players to compete at that level. Dissapointed with the result but as Ed says, what do we expect. In truth we were hoping for a miracle but this shows just how far behind we are and no manager is going to dramatically change that.