Forget letting rip at the referee – let rip at the Celtic board who provided Oliver Sorensen and a clause in his deal that he must play in every Europa League fixture…

Last night, Martin O’Neill let rip at the referee, and the Daily Record seem to think that was the story.

It wasn’t.

Georgi Kabakov had a stinker, I’ll give you that.

He bottled a penalty on Callum Osmand, or at the very least a free kick, and he booked our manager for the crime of having an opinion.

But if you’re looking for somewhere to point your anger this morning, the man in the black shirt isn’t the place to start.

There’s a reason we never see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on a consistent level in Europe

And that reason has a name.

Oliver Sorensen.

Bhoycie told us on Wednesday night that part of Sorensen’s loan deal is that he features in every one of our Europa League fixtures.

That is his claim, and nobody at the club has confirmed it.

Now, I can’t show you the contract.

But I can show you what has happened on the pitch.

He has played in all of them.

And what has he produced in all of them?

Nothing.

Zero, zilch, nada.

Meanwhile, a player who has won the Champions League, a player who knows exactly what a night like last night demands, sits on the bench.

Make sense of that one if you can.

I’ve been trying since I woke up and I’m still no closer.

We were dire after Sorensen and Sebastian Tounekti came on

I’m not going to pretend that those two lost us the game on their own.

That would be unfair, and I’m trying to be fair this morning.

We had the lead through Mika Baur two minutes into the second half, against a middle of the road La Liga side who were nothing special.

Nothing special, and yet we retreated to the edge of our own box and waited for them to come.

They did.

Two goals in three minutes from Javi Rodriguez and our Europa League hopes were circling the drain.

But the substitutions of Sorensen and Tounekti put the tin hat on yet another abject European performance.

When you’re chasing a game, or protecting one, you need someone who can change it.

Neither of them did.

Neither of them looked like doing it either.

Osmand had to go off on the hour, which was a blow, and James Forrest did what he could.

But the bench is supposed to be where you find the answers.

Ours is where you find a clause.

Which brings us to the people who actually signed this

Make no mistake, this isn’t on O’Neill.

I can’t imagine a manager with his CV signing up to be told who goes in his team.

I don’t care what anybody says about him leading everything.

If Bhoycie is right and a loan player has to start every European game, then that decision was made in an office and not on a training pitch.

And in this club, offices are where the board sit.

So let’s hear it, Silent Mike.

Who thought it was a good idea to tie our hands in the one competition where we can’t afford to waste a single minute?

Who looked at that clause and said, yes, that’s fine, what’s the worst that could happen?

Because we now know what the worst looks like.

It looks like three Europa League games, three defeats, and a squad that, if the clause is real, is being told how to line up by a piece of paper.

Ferencvaros, Benfica and now Celta Vigo.

This isn’t a one off.

It’s the board doing what they always do.

Sort the balance sheet first, worry about the football second.

And the support pays for it, again, with our money and our time and our mood.

The Green Brigade went ahead with their boycott last night, and there were empty seats dotted all around Parkhead.

Of course the board will tell you that’s nothing to do with them.

But how do you persuade people to stump up for a campaign that is circling the drain?

You can’t, and the people in the directors’ box know it.

We can safely forget about progression in the Europa League

I’ll give O’Neill this, he was never going to wave the white flag in front of the cameras.

But let’s get real.

We need snookers to get out of this group.

We’ve lost three on the spin, and last night we threw away a lead against a side who were no more than neat and tidy.

Even Sam Johnstone looked timid when the second goal flew in, and Viljami Sinisalo was left watching it from the bench.

Judging by last night, it’s only going to get worse.

Especially if the Sorensen story turns out to be true.

You can’t build a European campaign when the starting eleven is partly decided before a ball is kicked.

You just can’t.

We’re going nowhere fast in Europe.

And the people who put us on that road are sitting in a directors’ box, watching the empty seats.

Keep your eyes on that clause…

Amateurs!

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