IT WAS seven. It could have been ten.
It was most certainly embarrassing.
Brendan Rodgers is at risk of being labelled delusional if he genuinely believed the tactics and formation that saw off St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Saturday evening could have provided a similar dividend against Borussia Dortmund in the Westfalenstadion last night.
It is all very commendable to hear the Celtic manager say that his players will “not camp in and wait” while attempting to perform against Europe’s elite. Laudable and admirable for those among us who crave thrills and spills with every adventure.
Unfortunately, it’s also a reasonable exercise in shooting yourself in the foot. And that is something the team chief’s line-ups have achieved with alarming and painful regularity in the past.
Battered in Barcelona.
Pulverised in Paris.
Mauled in Madrid.
Demolished in Dortmund.
And don’t forget a 5-0 pummelling at Parkhead by Paris Saint-Germain back in September 2017, a mortifying reverse that still stands as Celtic’s heaviest-ever home loss in European competition.
DON’T LOOK NOW…Brendan Rodgers can’t hide his frustration.
Last night was the manager’s fiftieth game in charge of the team in Europe.
The record shows 18 wins, 23 defeats and nine draws. The goals against column makes for depressing reading; EIGHTY-SIX efforts have flown past a variety of keepers into the Celtic net.
Am I alone, dear reader, in my belief something is not adding up?
Look, I’ve been watching Celtic for six decades – and I’ve got the grey hair to prove it – and I can remember some teams who would have had difficulty seeing off Millport Amateurs.
I am well aware I have been privileged to watch an adventurous, entertaining collection of gifted footballers who have won 41 trophies in this century.
It’s a far cry from the days I stood under the rusting corrugated iron roof of The Jungle and watched characters performing in the green and white hooped jersey who would have had difficulty getting into my old school team.
Predictably, the displays of the individuals on show last night are being picked apart with reputations shredded on the evidence of what they produced – or didn’t, as the case may be – against a tier 1 club.
Without joining in the frenzy to judge each and everyone of those who represented the club on this humbling occasion, I would say that our best performer was Kasper Schmeichel.
EXPOSED…Kasper Schmeichel shows his frustration at the lack of cover at the back.
The Dane may not have been utterly blameless, but I counted three top-class saves after the interval as the unit in front of him disintegrated under sustained pressure.
An extra body in the vicinity of the back lot might have helped. Brendan, though, is committed to a team plan that can often expose his last line of defence.
Maybe, just maybe, the gaffer could nick an idea from his legendary predecessor, Jock Stein. He was the innovate gentleman who turned things on their head when he arrived in March 1965.
He built a team based on the refreshing outlook of attack. Tommy Gemmell’s goal record, outwith penalty-kicks, tells you all you need to know when you consider he was a left-back in an era where players in his position were rarely expected to cross the halfway line.
And yet Big Jock sacrificed his audacious and daring approach to ensure success for his team. That came on an April afternoon in the Czechoslovakian capital in 1967 when Celtic played Dukla Prague in the European Cup semi-final.
The team had won 3-1 in the first leg at Parkhead and for once in his managerial career The Boss, as he was known to all his players, decided to dispense with his usual mantra.
THE END IS NIGH…Brendan Rodgers has a word with skipper Callum McGregor as Yang Hyun-jun replaces Nicolas Kuhn in the 63rd minute in Dortmund.
Jock designed a blanket defence strategy that left Stevie Chalmers in enemy territory on his own with wide players Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Lennox deployed to aid Jim Craig and the aforementioned Gemmell.
Willie Wallace, scorer of two goals in Glasgow, was detailed to shadow the opposition’s most influential figure, former European Player of the Year Josef Masopust. The Celt was so successful in his quest to nullify the threat of a midfield mastermind that the Dukla skipper refused to shake hands with his 90-minute companion at full-time.
Not that Willie was overly perturbed. The unusual tactics from his manager, aided by an astonishing reflex save from Ronnie Simpson early in proceedings, propelled Celtic towards a goalless draw and a place in the showpiece occasion in Lisbon on May 25.
We all know what happened that sunlit evening in the Portuguese capital.
On the journey home from Prague, Jock Stein apologised to his players for his startling reversal of tactics. He insisted he would never again ask his team to perform in such a negative manner.
The manager proved to be a man of his word.
However, the somersault in his thinking on that occasion proved he could be flexible and adaptable to certain situations.
And if it’s good enough for Big Jock…
ALEX GORDON
