A reality check on our European ambitions

As the curtain threatens to close on another disappointing campaign in Europe, let’s pause to consider in the cold light of day what Celtic should realistically hope to achieve in this arena against a backdrop of continuous domestic domination.

Before we start to bemoan the perceived lack of competition in the Scottish Premier League, let’s remind ourselves that Malmo and Molde each manages a modest player budget and competes in a domestic league not dissimilar to our own. So, it follows that on paper at least Celtic is more than capable of winning against this type of opponent, even allowing for the juxtaposition that exists between the Scottish and Scandinavian league schedules, which would render our opponents to have a more advanced level of match sharpness.

With that being said, the same excuse cannot be used in relation to Legia Warsaw or Maribor, both of whom Celtic lost to last season. With each growing season, it seems our path to the promised land of UEFA Champions League group stage qualification becomes ever more treacherous, compounded by the continued failure of our fellow Scottish Premier League teams to make their mark even at the entry levels of Europe.

Celtic by necessity is a selling club and this further impairs our ability to navigate the tricky waters of qualification as new recruits attempt to replace the irreplaceable in Denayer, Van Dijk and Wanyama. Neil Lennon and others estimated that it takes three years to build a team, yet every 12 months it removes a vital building block, even the foundation stone and still expects to succeed. Then when failure happens, we fans take the easy route and turn on the manager.

Celtic should target qualification for the Champions League as their primary objective, with getting out of the Europa League group our secondary aim in the event it fails in achieving the former. However, if it settles for the Europa League, it affects the long-term ambition of growing the club competitively and financially due to the absence of the guaranteed honey pot of riches on offer for being in the premier competition. Plus the obvious prestige of being truly ranked as a “big club” and a regular participant.

The reality check for us is that the club cannot sustain its current player recruitment strategy and expect to be a Champions League regular. All the evidence points to a gradual reduction in squad quality at the expense of a declining coefficient.

In spite of this, there still is little or no excuse for this Celtic team to have the indignity of bearing the worst non-winning streak since our entry into European competition in 1962. Our European ambitions are still very high, but our chances of achieving it are dwindling.