As Edouard tucked in the second goal to put Celtic 2-0 up in the San Siro, I knew even then we wouldn’t hold onto the lead. I was hoping for a draw but was expecting nothing if I am brutally honest. This might sound like a hindsight moment so I am just going to have to ask you to take my word for it. I would also suspect that I am not the only Celtic fan that felt like this, so for now I will have to offer that as my opinion, but I suspect that when I post this, most will agree.
Inept defending has cost us dearly this season. From Lille, Aberdeen, Milan at home, Rangers, both Sparta fixtures and Ross County the evidence has been there for all to see. Up until the the League Cup exit you could at least see some fight in the team. To come back at Aberdeen and Hibs to snatch a point, to score two goals in injury time against St Johnstone and even to go two up against Lille you could at least say that the time was still fighting for results. Up until last night.
This current Celtic team have given up. Bereft of confidence, out of ideas and surrendering a two goal again in Europe for the second time, for me, speaks volumes. Their is no guts for the fight here. The team don’t want to fight for their manager, they don’t want to fight for themselves but at the very least, if reports are true that they were “shocked” at Sunday nights demonstration, they don’t even want to fight for the fans.
These players MUST realise that fans have shelled out hundreds, many of them thousands, of pounds for season tickets for games they will not get to see. The fans shelled out good money in faith that the team will do their damnedest to fight for the title. Who could have predicted that only do they not have the guts to fight for that record title win, but they don’t have the guts for the fight for any competition at the moment.
Never did I think I would see a gutless team wear that jersey. Never did I think I would hear myself say that.
As Jock Stein once famously quoted “The Celtic jersey does not shrink to fit inferior players”. This current team is going a long way to prove him wrong.