Tonight brings another European highlight for VfB: the away match at Celtic Park in Glasgow. Christopher from the blog and podcast The Cynic tells us how things are currently going for the Scottish champions.
With the Red Stripe: Hello Christopher and thank you for taking time for our questions. With sunday’s late win at Kilmarnock and Rangers’ win against hearts, Celtic are just three points behind the top spot with one game in hand. What is stopping you from winning the fifth Premiership title in a row?
Christopher: At this moment, the Scottish Premiership title race is wide open and it’s really anyone’s to win. Celtic are on a good run of victories domestically, but the performances haven’t matched. There is a long way to go with the split on the horizon, and it feels like Celtic, Rangers and Hearts will all drop points. To answer your question, the only thing stopping Celtic winning our fifth Premiership in a row…….is Celtic.
This season didn’t go as planned for a long time, though. Martin O’Neill is the third permanent manager this season after Brendan Rogers was sacked in Oktober and Wilfried Nancy lasted only a month. What were the reasons for that?
Most of the blame lays squarely at the door of the men in the Celtic boardroom. They have fallen asleep at the wheel and have guided Celtic into disaster. The club is run very poorly, which is evident from how poorly we do business in the transfer market. When Brendan Rodgers left, the board blamed him for all of Celtic’s problems. They then appointed Wilfried Nancy and put him in charge at the worst possible time, which led to poor results and upheaval at the club. They then sacked him and took no accountability for it. Ultimately, it’s all down to a lack of planning, structure, support and vision from the people in charge of the football club.
O’Neill has led the club back towards the top of the league — what is he doing better than his predecessors and maybe better than in his time as an interim manager from October until December?
When Martin O’Neill was appointed in October, no one knew how long he would be in the manager’s seat. It was a week to week, game to game appointment until the new manager was appointed. In that regard, Martin O’Neill and his management team were looking at the next game as potentially their last. When O’Neill was appointed the second time round, we had confirmation that he was there for the rest of the season. He’s a fantastic man manger and has simplified the game on the pitch. Celtic are more direct and want to get the ball in the opposition box as quickly as possible. He reverted to a formation the squad is comfortable with and the focus is more substance over style.
Incidentally, O’Neill was also in charge when Celtic and Stuttgart met for the first and only time in a European competition: In the 2002-03 UEFA cup, Celtic advanced to the quarter finals after winning 3–1 at Parkhead and losing 2–3 in Stuttgart. Celtic went on the its first European cup final since 1970 where they lost to Porto. What is O’Neill’s standing at Celtic that they would bring him back as a manager after almost twenty years?
Martin O’Neill is a Celtic legend. He restored Celtic’s stature in European competition and laid the foundation for success long after he had gone. He raised the standard and expectations at the club and lead us to a European final. He had us competing with elite teams on a regular basis and created a domestic behemoth, that brought incredible success in Scotland. He is only second to Jock Stein on the list of Celtic’s greatest ever managers.
As I said, the 2003 UEFA Cup final was the first European final since losing to Feyenoord in 1970 and only the third in the clubs’s history including the legendary Lisbon Lions of 1967. How important is that season — and maybe the games against VfB — for the collective memory of fans?
The 2002/03 season is one in which Celtic won nothing but it’s still one of the best seasons I’ve ever had supporting Celtic. To get to a European Final and for it to go to extra time, after twice coming from behind, against the team that would win the Champions League the next season, shows just how good that Celtic side were. The tie against Stuttgart was one of the best in the run to the final. Celtic would play both games without our greatest ever contemporary striker, Henrik Larsson, and would still score 5 goals against a fantastic Stuttgart side. Kevin Kuranyi scored a superb goal at Celtic Park and the late rally in Stuttgart made it nervous towards the end but it’s one of the best away nights I can remember.
I read somewhere that Celtic hasn’t progressed past playoff rounds or the first round after the group stage for years so I looked it up and indeed: It was in 03–04, when you reached the UEFA cup quarter finals. Why is that and how important is success in European competition for Celtic fans, especially in light of the dominance in domestic competitions?
It comes down to the ambition of the Celtic board. The club is run in such a way that the men in charge are happy with domestic success and do not see the need to try and push the club forward on a European level. This has seen Celtic Park go from a cauldron of intimidation and fear for the opposition to a venue that opposition clubs seem to thrive in. Last season we performed well in the Champions League for the first time in several years but this season we couldn’t defeat a poor Kairat team in the qualifiers, which ais all due to the board members not spending money to strengthen the team. It’s a real shame that there is a generation of Celtic fans that have never seen the club perform well in a knockout tie in European competition.
On more trip down memory lane: One player that played for both clubs is Andreas Hinkel, part of the first generation of “Junge Wilde” (Young wild ones) that beat famously beat Manchester United in 2003. How is he remembered at Parkhead?
Andy Hinkel is remembered very fondly at Celtic Park and is someone that performed well in his time here. He was hampered by injuries but overall, he is someone that fans took to very well.
Back to the present: What formation is O’Neill playing and where do you see the team’s strengths and weaknesses at the moment?
Celtic under Martin O’Neill play in a 4–3‑3 formation. We play a very direct style, with a lot of our play down the wide areas. We cross the ball into the box as often as we can, and we tend to rely on our wide players to create opportunities. Our main weakness is defensively, we struggle with set pieces and 1 v 1s, we can be caught in transition which is an ongoing concern.
Celtic signed Junior Adamu from Freiburg and Tomás Cvancara from Gladbach as well as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the winter although the latter is not eligible to play against us. Apart from the new arrivals, who should we look out for during these two games?
Celtic’s form this season has been patchy at best but there are players within the side that have shown over the years that they can perform at this level. The Captain, Callum McGregor, is a driving force in a midfield that has struggled recently. Kieran Tierney has shown flashes of his former level recently and can be an asset in build-up play, as can Araujo at right back who has been excellent since he came in in January. Maeda is one of the fastest players you will see and works very hard off the ball and Nygren maybe doesn’t to a lot on or off the ball in games, but he scores a lot of goals.
Who will be missing from the squad on Thursday and maybe even for the return leg?
Arne Engels is the only player that has been playing recently that will be unavailable. He is injured and won’t be back till late March. Ihenacho has played in the Europa League but has featured very little under Martin O’Neill, so it’s a coin toss to see if he makes the bench.
What did Celtic fans think of playing against Stuttgart in the playoffs?
A very difficult draw against a very good footballing side. It feels more like a Champions League tie than Europa League. If Celtic were in better shape, we would relish testing ourselves against a side like Stuttgart but with how the club are at the moment, there’s a slight concern the tie could get away from us.
For those of us who weren’t in Glasgow almost exactly 23 years ago and have never been to Paradise: What awaits us in your stadium?
Unfortunately, the club has banned our main ultras section, the Green Brigade from the stadium. Another baffling decision by the board in a season of baffling decisions. Also, a lot of the supporters are boycotting the Europa League games as a protest for how the club is being run and the lack of investment, so the Stuttgart fans are unlikely to see vintage Celtic Park.
Even though it’s still February, many Stuttgart Fans will use the trip to visit the city as well. Do you have any insider tips what to see and do in Glasgow?
Glasgow is a cracking city for food and drinking, as well as culture. Theres too many places to mention but if they want a few pints before the game there are plenty of pubs on the way to Celtic Park.
Finally: Your prediction for starting eleven and the two games?
Predicting a Celtic side for each game is a difficult one due to how often the manager changes certain positions but if I had to predict I’d say:
Schmeichel
Araujo
Scales
Trusty
Tierney
McGregor
Nygren
Hatate
Maeda
Čvančara
Tounekti
I reckon Celtic will nick it by a goal in Glasgow and draw in Stuttgart.
Picture: © Stu Forster/Getty Images