Celtic’s Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a lacklustre display saw them draw a blank against Kairat Almaty.
The night was most notable for disgruntlement in the stands, which was centred not only on the poor display on the pitch, but chiefly on the club’s board, who got both barrels for their lack of activity in the transfer market.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Celtic were hoping to take a handsome lead on the long trek to Kazakhstan next week, but instead, they will have to go to Central Asia and do something they have yet to manage there – win – if they are to reach the promised land of the Champions League.
This was the nightmare scenario that everyone but the club’s custodians seemed to think possible, as the famed Celtic Park European atmosphere gave way to an admonishment, loud and clear, of those who hold the purse strings.
Here are the talking points from Celtic Park…
Sluggish Celts run out of ideas
These nights don’t usually need much to set them alight, and as the teams emerged there was the customary crackling atmosphere, which then cranked up a notch further still as the Champions League anthem was drowned out by the din all around an expectant Celtic Park.
And then, well, it all rather died a death. The cheers from the stands were replaced first by murmurs of discontent, and then full-throated and persistent encouragement for the Celtic players to get their fingers out after a hugely sluggish start.
That feeling wasn’t helped when the visitors had the ball in the net, albeit from an offside position. But it was exacerbated chiefly by the slow (bordering on ponderous) build-up from the hosts, and then very little by way of a threat to Alexandr Zarutskiy’s goal when they did eventually get to the final third.
And as the anxiety levels rose, it all became rather forced. Final passes were overhit out of play, crosses went flying over heads, and Celtic looked like a team short on ideas as to how to create a chance worthy of the name.
All of which wouldn’t have pleased manager Brendan Rodgers, even if it rather backed up a point he has been making repeatedly for months now…
Board firmly in the firing line
Since the end of January right up to the pre-match press conference for this game, the Celtic manager has been telling anyone who would listen that his attacking line had to be bolstered after the departure of Kyogo Furuhashi, a need that was only heightened by the long-term injury to Jota and the sale of Nicolas Kuhn.
It seems though that the boardroom doesn’t have a Celtic TV subscription. The club’s inaction in this transfer window to date is baffling, and their willingness to go into these games with only one third of a frontline who is likely to remain there when the squad is complete is criminal.
James Forrest always gives his all, but he is now 34 and not the threat he once was. And striker Adam Idah, well, we’ll get to him shortly.
As the game ticked past the hour and their team still toiled, chants of ‘sack the board’ rang around Celtic Park.
If their dallying leads to Celtic missing out on the riches of the Champions League proper, for many fans, it will be unforgivable.
Idah's confidence looks shot
It was absolutely no surprise to see the big striker being hooked at the interval after a first half where his main contribution seemed to be attracting the ire of his manager, as well as the majority of the crowd.
It is hard not to feel a pang of sympathy for the Irishman. He looks bereft of confidence, and the service to him in the opening 45 minutes was abysmal.
Still, he knows this is an unforgiving environment, and he hardly helped his own cause with his lack of movement and tendency to be caught on his heels whenever the ball did come in his general direction.
That Rodgers had to bring on a winger in Hyunjun Yang and shuffle Daizen Maeda through the middle again was another demonstration of just how bizarrely threadbare Celtic are in the attacking areas, even if the move did spark something of an improvement.
Even Maeda though looks out of sorts, blowing a golden chance in stoppage time with a weak finish.
Celtic have need for speed
For all that Rodgers and the fans would be right to point to the lack of signings being the driving force behind a poor performance, particularly in attacking areas, the manager had expressed his confidence that he had enough in the building to get through this tie, if not compete in the league phase of the competition.
Another reason for their bluntness though was a lack of zip and speed in their play. Too often, there was an extra touch, or an extra pass. Very often, that pass was backwards.
It made Celtic easy to defend against, with Kairat able to shuffle into their shape and sit deep, safe in the knowledge that there would be a lot of build up play with very little at the end of it.
Rodgers identified this as an issue early in his second reign at the club, and it looks like he may need to give his men a shake once again.
Alistair Johnston injury fear
What Celtic absolutely did not need was an injury to one of their key men, but such was the way of the night that it was exactly what they indeed did get.
Football fans the world over know that when a player goes down with nary another soul nearby that it is rarely good news, and as their right back Johnston collapsed to the turf clutching his hamstring, the pained face of the Canadian was mirrored in the home dugout and all around the stadium.
The chances of seeing him in Kazakhstan, or indeed, even the game at Ibrox at the end of the month, seem remote.
