Premier Sports pundit Michael Stewart has urged the Celtic board in tackling key areas after we were held to a 1-1 draw against Midtjylland last night.
The Danes managed to eke out a draw in our UCL second qualifying round first-leg tie last night. In truth, it was anything but deserved.
Celtic dominated the vast majority of the match and had the better of the chances too. Midtjylland often found themselves over-powered in the middle of the park and, had it not been for Nir Bitton’s red and Vasilis Barkas’ blunder, the Hoops would surely have cruised to victory.
In the end, we had to settle for a draw, and Stewart believes it’s time for Celtic to sort out the errors that cost them dearly last season:
Michael Stewart view is one that will echo around the Celtic support
Unfortunately, Stewart is spot on here. Once again it was the same issues that plagued us last night.
Our failure to strengthen at centre-back was a glaring goal that the club should’ve achieved over the summer. That they failed to provide Postecoglou with the required body there is highly frustrating.
We were all willing to give Barkas a chance, but on reflection, a new number one should also have been on the agenda. It’s clear we can’t trust the Greek goalkeeper anymore and Postecoglou will surely be weighing up what to do in that position.
Celtic ended last night with a centre-back partnership of Stephen Welsh and Dane Murray. Credit to both – they were terrific given the circumstance. But it’s a sign of just how highly unprepared we were heading into the game.
The real stinger is that there is nothing we can do for the second leg either. Bitton is suspended meaning Murray and Welsh will likely partner each other again. Barkas will have to play given Scott Bain and Conor Hazard aren’t good enough. Our UEFA squad has been submitted and confirmed – there’s no amending it.
Celtic will have a chance to make changes to it should they get through this tie. But simply getting some higher-quality bodies through the door must be our main priority just now.
In other news: Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou frustrated with media’s “glass-half-empty” questions
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