Roy Keane: Celtic don’t belong in Europa League

Former Celtic midfielder Roy Keane has slammed the notion Celtic’s players were scared of Malmo and believes that the club should always be operating in the Champions League.

Keane, who is now the assistant manager to Martin O’Neill for the Republic of Ireland, had a brief spell at Celtic in 2006 after a historic career at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. The Irishman was also touted as a potential manager for the Hoops before Ronny Deila got the post.

The Hoops went down 4-3 on aggregate to Malmo after a dismal 2-0 defeat in Sweden, leaving Deila to claim that his players were “scared” of the occasion.

But Keane rejected the idea that they had anything to fear against Age Hareide’s side, according to the Daily Record.

Playing for a big club like Celtic, the players shouldn’t be afraid of anybody. It’s an honest assessment from the manager, but if he’s talking about the younger players, then he should look at some of the senior players who went missing.

They should have been helping their younger team-mates. Every player should take a look at themselves, not just the younger ones.

Despite the defeat, Deila’s men will now get the opportunity to ply their trade in the Europa League after drawing Ajax, Fenerbahce, and Molde in the group stage of Europe’s second competition.

However, even though the teams the Hoops drawn have a “big-name” feel to them, Keane doesn’t think the competition should be of any great honour to Celtic, instead stating that they should always be performing in the Champions League.

The Europa League is just a second prize for them. I always think a club like Celtic should be in the Champions League.

There was a massive moment in the encounter with Malmo when a Nir Bitton strike on the stroke of half-time was deemed to be a foul on Malmo goalkeeper Johan Wiland.

The goal would’ve put Celtic in control of the tie and forced Malmo to score again at 1-1, and Keane blasted the officials for missing such an obvious goal.

It was a shocking decision. That’s where the manager or the club need a bit of luck or the right decision.

It was a big, big call and obviously the wrong one. Over the last five or 10 years in Europe, Celtic have found it difficult away from home in terms of keeping the ball, so Tuesday’s result was a big blow for them.