“Well, we’re not going to beat Bayern Munich anyway.” Can somebody tell me when this was EVER an acceptable attitude at Celtic??
Eric Knott 
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Celtic is a club that has been built on a winning mentality, right?
Correct me if I’m wrong in making that statement?
But it appears to me that this mentality has been altered slightly of late.
And it’s been done in a similar way to how the pigs altered their mentality in George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
With regard to the winning mentality this club is steeped in, a new more sinister mentality is seeping down through the club.
All matches are winnable, but some matches are not as winnable as others.
And because some matches are not as winnable as others, then they don’t count.
No point in bothering.
No point in bothering to prepare for those kinds of games by strengthening our squad.
Like the upcoming Bayern Munich tie.
No, better to weaken our squad beforehand, because we just aren’t capable of winning games involving a team like that anyway.
Throw the towel in now.
That then spares us any upset afterwards if we lose.
Expect nothing, anything after that is a bonus.
Is this the Celtic way?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a realist and I understand that we have a daunting task ahead of us next Wednesday night.
However, I do believe that if everything clicks, this home tie is a winnable game.
Last night gave us a glimpse of our capabilities.
Yes, yes, I know, Dundee are a far cry from Bayern Munich, but I’m referring to the level of our finishing last night.
The way that we took our chances.
If we get chances like that next Wednesday night, then we’ll take them, because we have the players who are capable of finishing them.
Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of defeatist comments on my blogs.
People saying we can’t compete with a side like Bayern Munich.
What do we expect?
We were never going to get any further than this.
That we aren’t even in the same stratosphere as them.
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but not so long ago we did compete with a team from the same stratosphere as them.
Not only did we compete with them, we taught them a footballing lesson that night.
Red Bull Leipzig sit just three places below Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Do you think that Brendan Rodgers doesn’t think our home leg against Bayern is a winnable game?
If he didn’t think that, then why bother being a football coach at all?
Yet everybody, including our board, seem to think this tie is a foregone conclusion.
I would say think again.
I would say remember that on the night, it’s still eleven Celtic men playing eleven Munich men.
They are human beings.
Not machines.
And humans tap into their emotions, whether they be good or bad.
Celtic Park is going to be an emotionally charged cauldron next Wednesday night.
One side will feed off that, and there’s a very distinct chance the other might wilt underneath it.
If Celtic play to the level they did against RB Leipzig, then make no mistake, this is without doubt a very winnable game.
Those of you thinking it’s a foregone conclusion, think again.
That is not a Celtic mentality.
We have the ability to give ourselves a fighting chance in this tie next Wednesday night.
We saw what Felipe Jota now brings to the team last night.
That is an edge we did not have against RB Leipzig.
No doubt, Daizen Maeda will be missed.
But Jota on the left, and Kuhn on the right?
If both of those guys put in the kind of shift they’re capable of, then anything is possible.
Jota is capable of putting a precision ball right onto Adam Idah’s head, Nicolas Kuhn is capable of unleashing shots like we saw last night, and against RB Leipzig.
Nicolas Kuhn will also be itching to show Bayern Munich what they missed out on.
As a result, he will take it up another level.
Reo Hatate is coming into form at exactly the time we need him to.
Once defence splitting ball from him could make all the difference.
This is no foregone conclusion.
Those who think it is should hang their heads in shame.
You know who you are, and you know who I’m referring to.
That is not the Celtic way.
It never was, and it never will be.
I’ll leave you with two things Jock Stein said in his time, both are applicable to next Wednesday night:
“It is up to us, to everyone at Celtic Park, to build our own legends. We don’t want to live with history, to be compared with legends from the past. We must make new legends.”
“I think it is important to win a match, but I think what is even more important is the manner in which you win.”
We need to make new legends next Wednesday night.
And we must do it in a manner that is befitting our club.
EVERY game we play is winnable!
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Hopefully we put up a good show over both legs, but if not loosing a large amount of goals who takes the blame ? All the rags will blame Brendan as he is the man in charge of the players and he will be left to answer their questions, but the people who should answer it are our board who let him down, and as usual hide away.
Maybe if you had the background information on the transfer window you would have a truer reflection of what actually happend. I suggest to check for the actual facts before you write your next blog
Tbh,Eric,not one of my celtic supporting mates thinks we are gonna get beat.
To man,we are all of the opinion that we do indeed have a daunting task but also we have enough talent in our squad to do some serious damage if our footballing stars align.
Make no mistake, it could be a long night for us all but our bhoys can win ANY game, against ANY opposition on ANY given occasion !
In spite of the self harm inflicted upon the strength of the squad in the last transfer window we can, as we showed against Dundee last night, play some dazzling stuff.
Our players just need to continue to believe that their experiences in this year’s competition gives them the confidence to compete with Bayern on Wednesday night.
However, even if we prevail over the two legs it won’t move the mindset of this repressive boardroom we have.
We could get to the final and…………..well,ANYTHING is possible,COYBIG,HH.
Eric,
You have spent the last month moaning about weakening the squad and how we have forfeited any chance of progress.
Eh,the rest of haven’t.
Why your sudden change of tact like some of your colleagues.
Could it be that you have realised that Brendan is not as pissed off with the board as you suspected he might be.
Daviebhoys comments above nail it for me.
And who should we hv bought to g straight into our team . Everything from you ppl is blame the board .
tommythecommy
Daviebhoy I would be interested to know the facts you know that the rest of us don’t?
Do I note some positivity in this article? I’ve had to read it again, and I’m convinced there is! Even supportive too! This is more like it (even with the little digs). Like I said in a previous comment, one that wasn’t deleted, all I’m concerned about is the 1st leg, missing Maeda. He’s an absolute terrorist and now a real goal threat in the CL. We are weakened without him for sure, because no one does what he does so effectively. Yes, he’s had his mishaps in CL games too but not one player has been perfect in the CL arena this season. But we have shown we have improved collectively and held our nerve better since the Dortmund game. Bayern have power and pace but despite their might, they have had tight scorelines in the CL. If we keep the tie at least level for the 2nd leg it’ll make for a great finale, a lead would be phenomenal – but just keeping it alive for the 2nd leg and you never know. It might just be another magical European moment. Looking forward to it, the lads have worked hard to get there.
Sorry Eric
What you are stating in your headline is sensationalism & is factionalism.
Eg:
1:Celtic v Ajax 3-0 down second leg.
We all knew that we would not be able to progress but that night we showed we were never going to just accept we were not capable of playing a style of football that would be worrisome to an opposition.
2: The night Neil Lennon sent us out without a striker away from home to a team we should have expected to defeat very comfortably, we knew we were doomed.
Understanding the reality is not the issue here the issue is not letting the issue affect the outcome.
Eg: 1981 Against Real full of optimism Pre game hopping to get a lead to take away with us, got a two goal lead to take away to Spain.
Realising that that entire night we were ripped apart by a player who had as much class as anyone else I had ever seen at that time Laurie Cunningham,
including (Jinky, Cruyff, Best,Eusebio, Baxter)
Most fans left talking about how we were going to see another team in a final, myself I left definitely worried about the goal George McCluskey got chopped off and thinking about the difference it would have made.
Too this day I still believe that if it stood we would have won the big ears again.
So my point is understanding the reality of the situation is not the issue (otherwise we would not have won in Lisbon) the issue is dealing with the problem and then proceeding to attempt to make it happen, to fail is acceptable not to attempt to allow a solution is not.
After the John mcginn fiasco you would think we would have learned our lesson never understood why we can’t just show a little more ambition and try and press home our advantage
Lets get real.Enough of the dreaming and hoping.Celtic have it all to do.Bayern Munich at this time of year are very very strong and get stronger the further into a season and always hit top gear at the important time of the season.They play their best football in important games and they have hopes of winning the champions league,not just praying to get to next round or get lucky.They play to win any match.
Celtic are hoping just to get lucky,try reach a semi final,lets be honest they cannot win a champions league.Bayerns quality,experience and know how makes them red hot favs against Celtic.All Celtic can try do is defend the whole game,hope for a break and pray for a goal.By then Bayern may well already have finished the game.
Im sure Bayern will respect Celtic because of how they done against leipzig but lets get real,if Bayern up a gear its game over for Celtic.Bayern have the luxury of home game 2nd leg so a draw would do them but thats not how Bayern play,they play to win even if only up 1 goal they look for more.
If Celtic bring their best ever performance perhaps they can draw the game,i cannot see Bayern losing either leg.If Celtic score first what then? They will eat so much pressure i cant see them out of their half for the rest if the game.
Goodluck Celtic,luck will be needed,a red card a penalty or something to upset the German Giants.For Real
Bloggers… Don’t people ever get sick of them. Telling us what We should think. What We should do. Always moaning if the club not doing what They want. Live with it like the rest of us and let the Board the Manager and Team do there jobs and we’ll do ours and SUPPORT them.
Just a reminder to yhe negatives, Feyenoord 3 Bayern Munich 0
Bayern Munich 0 Aston Villa 1.
Not impossible😀
Can’t help but think that a few of the comments above are boardbots!!
Celtic can beat any team at Paradise.
I’m not a celtic fan ,but I agree with what you say 100% ,good luck ,get stuck in tae them
Be a Celtic fan ,support the team no matter what ?if we win ,great,if we lose it’s to a great team,so what.
Celtic. was formed to help the poor,fitba has changed since 67 ,then we played for the Sport, 11 guys fae Glesga set about Europe once,who knows maybe,just maybe we can show Europe we are growing again.
If not at fitba we are in our heritage .
H.H. The Celts are here,and there,were is the others.
Skint again,and desperate.
James