Artmedia 5-0 Celtic

Last updated : 28 July 2005 By Kevin Smith
Celtic's Champions League dream for this season looks to be in tatters, after a humiliating 5-0 defeat away to Artmedia Brataslava last night gave us little hope of progressing into the third qualifying round.

The return leg at Celtic Park on Tuesday now looks to be mission impossible, with Celtic needing to score six goals and concede none. This coming from a team who have only netted two goals in their last five games.

Last night's result will go down as one of the worst in the club's history. Artmedia are an unheard-of side and they embarrassed us by scoring five past us and losing none.

It is hard to put your finger on who to actually blame. The buck will obviously stop at Gordon Strachan but you need to look at the 'big' players we have heard so much about: Lennon, Thompson, Hartson etc. Where were they last night? Also, the new players do not seem to know exactly who they are playing for, and need to learn this fast.

Our defence is an absolute shambles. Balde and Varga are still playing as though they have never met each other, and Mo Camara, despite showing promise in pre-season, looked like he has never played football in his life.

If we are to turn this one over, it will be classed as one of the greatest comebacks in history. But until the tie is over, we should not give it up just yet. With a packed Celtic Park we can blow this team away before a ball is kicked. An offensive Celtic side should start the game and an early goal could kick us off. It is not impossible, but will, of course, be extremely difficult.

Our morale has taken a bad blow and the players need to get a grip of themselves and pick it up before the SPL season starts on Saturday. If last night's performance is anything to go by, we are in for a long, hard season.