Celtic’s naivety in Europe was exposed again

Once again in Europe, Celtic’s youthfulness and lack of guile was laid bare for all to see – and not just from the players.

The bizarre decision taken by Stuart Armstrong and Scott Allan in the dying minutes of the game to try and work the short corner which led to Ajax’s winning goal was perhaps outdone in terms of its naïvety by Ronny Deila’s childish response to a fairly reasonable (albeit cliché) question about what the future was for him and his team.

It is easy to read too much into heat-of-the-moment comments to the press in the immediate aftermath of a match – especially a match of such fine margins in which, as Deila rightly observed, foolish mistakes coupled with a bit of bad luck were decisive. But, after a more creditable performance than many he has overseen in Europe, the manager has risked undermining himself in the eyes of many onlookers with a petulant remark in his post-match interview.

The sources of his frustration can offer an argument in Deila’s defence. A young, relatively inexperienced Celtic team with a distinctly patched-together midfield played with spirit, vivacity and occasionally flair in a high-pressure game. Flung into a game they would not have started had three of Celtic’s senior midfielders not been unavailable, habitually attacking players in midfield such as Mackay-Steven, Rogic and McGregor – players who wouldn’t have featured regularly in Europe for the Hoops – worked hard in defence as well as attack against a talented visiting side.

It is worth mentioning that Ajax – as is usually the case – fielded a very young eleven as well and the substitute who scored the winner, Vaclav Cerny, was the youngest man on the pitch at just 18 years and 40 days old. Nonetheless, as we would expect of the Dutch side, they were technically adept opponents, enjoying long spells of possession albeit without offering too much for Craig Gordon to worry about in the home side’s goal. Overall, it was an impressive team performance from a slightly cobbled-together Celtic team.

So, one can see why the manager could be forgiven a loss of patience or a misguided comment. It was not Ronny Deila’s fault that Ajax managed to score from a woefully poorly orchestrated Celtic corner. It was not Ronny Deila’s fault that Leigh Griffiths had, in his own words a “shocking” performance and wasted a handful of good chances that would have seen a very different outcome. It was not Ronny Deila’s fault that Craig Gordon is one of several players whose form of last season seems a distant memory.

And yet, asking about where Celtic and the manager go from here seems utterly reasonable. Because, it wasn’t last night that Celtic really threw away their hopes of progression in the Europa League. It was losing leads against Ajax and Fenerbahce in the opening two games; it was two dismally meek performances against the lowest seeded team, Molde, which both ended in defeats. Having presided over a run of 10 games without a win in the continent’s second-tier competition, the manager is ill-advised to be dismissive of any question showing concern about the future.

Deila could have responded simply with a vague and placatory answer about the team “moving forwards”. He did speak of this – of course doing so in itself this was never likely to alleviate the pressure on him – but only after needlessly and rudely calling the question “stupid”. This can only increase the sense amongst onlookers that the naïvety demonstrated by the Celtic players in Europe is, all the more worryingly, a weakness shared by the manager.