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Why we should hold fire with the salutations for Celtic in the Champions League, writes GARY KEOWN
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02:00 GMT 26 Jan 2025, updated 02:00 GMT 26 Jan 2025
By GARY KEOWN
PLUS: Why Jack Butland will be rueful over flirtation from Nottingham Forest
Click here to visit the Scotland home page for the latest news and sport
Technically, it could be argued that Celtic are in the Champions League knockouts.
And there are certainly plenty advancing that argument in the breathless aftermath of their skin-of-the-teeth one-goal win against the worst team in the competition.
It’s just not true, though, is it? They’re in a play-off to get to the knockout rounds. The knockout rounds proper, that is.
And amid the stampede to have Sainthood bestowed upon Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor nominated to be the next First Minister, perhaps that ought to be remembered.
Celtic have done well to secure a place in the top 24 of the new-look league system. There is no question they have made progress in Europe this season — although, given the club’s previous reputation as a punchbag for the continent’s flotsam and jetsam, the only way was up, to be perfectly frank.
The job’s not done yet, though. Getting to this stage, particularly given the run of fixtures that came out of the hat for Celtic, feels more like shooting par than moving mountains.
Rodgers was thrilled to progress but must be aware his side had a favourable run of fixtures
Rodgers was thrilled to progress but must be aware his side had a favourable run of fixtures
Adam Idah roars in delight as Celtic finally make the breakthrough against Young Boys
Adam Idah roars in delight as Celtic finally make the breakthrough against Young Boys
Kasper Schmeichel was forced to make a number of crucial stops to keep Young Boys at bay
Kasper Schmeichel was forced to make a number of crucial stops to keep Young Boys at bay
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For this campaign to be a real success — a real exercise in planting the flag after years of being manacled in a cave to be kicked around by the likes of Sparta Prague’s reserve team and Maribor — they need to go one step further and be back mixing it with the elite. Mixing it in the games that really, really matter.
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This not an attempt to be harsh. It is not an attempt to belittle what this Celtic side have achieved.
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Rodgers has surely fulfilled all his Key Performance Indicators by taking the club to this point and banking the extra £6.5million prize money that making it to the play-off round guaranteed.
The 3-1 win over RB Leipzig on Matchday Four was the kind of signature victory the manager needed. Yes, the Germans have proved to be complete also-rans in the tournament — sitting in 30th place with three measly points — but they were riding high in the Bundesliga at the time and the quality and intensity of Celtic’s performance cannot be downplayed. They were outstanding.
The backs-to-the-wall 0-0 draw at Atalanta — third in Serie A and still harbouring title hopes — showed another side of the manager and his players, too. It showed they can dig in and defend when need be. It showed they can slip into siege mentality rather than being hamstrung by some silly, gung-ho, attack-at-all-costs philosophy. That is now, officially, the sole preserve of Ange Postecoglou.
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As for the rest of it? Hmmmm. Slovan Bratislava, swatted aside on opening night, are, to put it mildly, dugmeat — marooned at the bottom on nil points along with Young Boys.
The 7-1 loss in Dortmund was a catastrophe, made to look all the worse by BVB’s form since. Head coach Nuri Sahin, of course, was binned earlier in the week with the club 10th in the Bundesliga and on their worst run of form in nearly 20 years.
The home draw with Club Brugge? A major result, considering they were outplayed by some distance in the first half.
McGregor’s face says it all as the Celtic skipper reflects on the 7-1 thumping in Dortmund
McGregor’s face says it all as the Celtic skipper reflects on the 7-1 thumping in Dortmund
Liam Scales’ dogged defensive shift summed up a stubborn Celtic display away to Atalanta
Liam Scales’ dogged defensive shift summed up a stubborn Celtic display away to Atalanta
The goalless draw at Dinamo Zagreb, meanwhile, was like watching paint dry and last Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Young Boys, eked out thanks to a freakish own goal late on, will hardly have sent shockwaves around the planet.
The Swiss were hopeless. Yet, it took a terrific double save from Kasper Schmeichel plus another decent stop late on to keep the train on the tracks.
With five minutes to play, the scoreline goalless and Paris Saint-Germain having come back from the dead to beat Manchester City, Celtic were about to let the whole kit and caboodle slip through their fingers.
Yes, the team has been looking tired of late. Yes, the authorities really ought to do more to help teams participating in UEFA competition rather than hindering them with a needless winter schedule.
But Celtic really tooled up for Europe in the summer with £25m being spent on Arne Engels, Adam Idah and Auston Trusty alone.
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Kieran Tierney is on his way back this month. As is Jota. And there will no doubt be a new multi-million centre-forward entering the ranks, too, following the £10m sale of Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes.
And, let it be said, what a stupendous deal that is for a 30-year-old who was agitating for an exit and whose best days look to be behind him.
The squad going into next month’s play-off round will be stronger again. A bit of luck in the draw will be required, of course, but Rodgers has the benefit of the domestic title race being done and dusted. He has the opportunity to get new signings up to speed and manage the game time of others whose legs are feeling the strain.
Young Boys, who introduced former Rangers flop Cedric Itten up front, were pretty rank rotten
Young Boys, who introduced former Rangers flop Cedric Itten up front, were pretty rank rotten
People have been falling over themselves to lavish praise on Celtic this week. You’d think they’d landed a space probe on Saturn given the eagerness to scatter rose petals in their path for seeing off a team languishing ninth out of 12 in the Swiss Super League.
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The truth is, though, that getting to this point should always have been viewed as a realistic ambition.
The points have come from unexpected places over the course of the journey, but is it really such a huge surprise they are still alive in the competition ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Aston Villa?
No one is trying to play down what has happened here. No one is using Europe to beat Celtic over the head with a stick, as Rodgers claimed everyone wants to do just a matter of months ago.
This is more about setting the club’s sights where they ought to be and where they should have been for a long time.
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Make the last 16 for the first time in 12 years — not the play-off round or the last 24 — and every question ever asked about the wisdom of Rodgers and Celtic joining forces again for another spin on the merry-go-round will have been answered. In technicolour.
Forest must fill Butland with regret
What a sliding doors moment Nottingham Forest’s bid of £5million or so for Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland last January is starting to appear.
The Ibrox club could have banked a reasonable, if not exactly blockbusting, profit on a free transfer to aid their evident financial issues and the player could have been competing at the top of the English Premier League during a fairytale campaign under manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Instead, he’s sitting in a position where he sold the jerseys against Celtic in a Scottish Cup final and has just punched the ball into his own net in a European game at Old Trafford before letting a last-gasp winner through his legs.
Jack Butland has not had much to smile about at Rangers of late, with recent injury and errors
Jack Butland has not had much to smile about at Rangers of late, with recent injury and errors
The Englishman’s aberration against Manchester United is one he will want to forget quickly
The Englishman’s aberration against Manchester United is one he will want to forget quickly
Butland must rue not becoming part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest team
Butland must rue not becoming part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest team
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Manager Philippe Clement has said so many silly things during his tenure at Rangers that you lose track of it all, but one particularly unfathomable one was the assertion in summer that everyone was up for sale other than Butland. He could not leave at any price.
Butland must also question his own wisdom in saying ‘no’ to Forest via his agent. Back then, he spoke of there being so much more for him to achieve in Glasgow.
If only he knew then what he knows now — that there’s no money in the coffers and his manager is telling the world that this is a long-term project about bringing through young players and avoiding another liquidation event instead of winning actual trophies.
Not exactly what a soon-to-be 32-year-old who recently held hopes of an England recall requires.
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For all concerned, the moral of the story seems clear. When you operate in Scotland, you can’t afford to turn your nose up at decent offers. You strike — or, rather, cash in — while the iron is hot. Players and clubs.
Kettlewell has dug a huge hole for himself
For those of us at McDiarmid Park last weekend for Motherwell’s Scottish Cup loss to St Johnstone, the hostility of the travelling support towards their team and manager Stuart Kettlewell brought on a sharp intake of breath.
Kettlewell had a wee dig back afterwards when pointing out his players have even been getting grief when they’re winning and went further during the week when polishing off the old chestnut about refusing to countenance the views of anyone who hasn’t managed or played the game.
Stuart Kettlewell hit out at Motherwell fans… but would do well to remember they run the club
Stuart Kettlewell hit out at Motherwell fans… but would do well to remember they run the club
Listen, he can do what he likes. This is now way beyond having a go at the guy for dismissing the people who pay his wages.
At Motherwell, famously fan-owned, they effectively run the club. Ergo, Kettlewell has dug one heck of a hole for himself here, all right.
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And when results really do go on the slide, he’s going to find plenty happy to bury him in it.
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