Danny Murphy has defended Celtic’s Champions League run which has seen them finish bottom of Group E.
As of this moment, Celtic are on one point and if another defeat follows against Feyenoord for the final group match, then it really will be a disastrous end to proceedings.
Whilst some sympathise with the Bhoys because of the gulf in finances between the likes of those in Italy, Spain and England, well, that sympathy only stretches so far for Simon Jordan.
The former Crystal Palace owner thinks the Scottish Premiership champions should be competing far better than a team like Feyenoord because he feels their finances are similar, as he told talkSPORT.
But he was shut down by former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy who told him that ‘the Dutch system is better than the Scottish system’, in terms of bringing through players.
As a result, he feels ‘you can’t just look at the finances’ when comparing Celtic with Feyenoord.
Given that the Dutch side are in a country that is able to produce ‘much better players’, Danny Murphy thinks it means ‘you don’t have to buy-in players’
That’s why he was keen to defend Celtic in this season’s Champions League when criticism was thrown their way on talkSPORT.
Celtic and Feyenoord in the Champions League
“The home games, they were competitive, I must say,” said Murphy. “I watched two of them and they did well.
“When I am saying ‘competitive’, I am saying ‘they are in the games’, in terms of chances and going toe-for-toe – they were in the games and even at Lazio, they had a couple of chances.
“You are talking about Feyenoord, who they have only played once and you are talking about two equal clubs in finance. But if you are talking about comparing the financial capabilities or income of Feyenoord and Celtic, arguably, if Feyenoord played Celtic five times at home and five times away, you would probably get equal results. You are talking about a one-off game where Feyenoord got something against Lazio.
“Let me finish the argument, Feyenoord should, and I think always will, probably have a better side than Celtic because you are looking at a country that produces much better young players from a much bigger pool of talent, so you don’t have to buy-in players, you are bringing them through the system.
“What I am telling you is that the Dutch system is better than the Scottish system. It has got bigger numbers and better players to choose from. You can’t then compare the finances. What the Dutch league and youth system does is create a bigger number of quality footballers than the Scottish system. That’s because there are more numbers, better coaches, more money put into etc… You can’t just look at the finances.”
Celtic have to look at themselves
No-one is expecting Celtic to progress to the knockout stages, in fact, if the team did that then it would be a massive overachievement.
But fans want to see more competitiveness when it comes to pushing for that third spot.
The moments were there this season, especially on home soil, but as Alan Brazil and Ally McCoist mentioned, Celtic shot themselves in the foot.
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