Celtic Fan View: Pittodrie win little consolation for Euro exit

There are a few certainties in the life of a Celtic fan. One is suffering a shambolic European exit. Another is getting one over on Derek McInnes’ Aberdeen. It just so happens that the Hoops faithful experienced both this week.

In last week’s column I pointed out that beating Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 at Parkhead and following that up with a stalemate against St Johnstone summed up the season in many ways. Flashes of brilliance but inconsistency is hampering the momentum of this side. This week the results were turned on their head; an embarrassing defeat in Europe before a win at Pittodrie in difficult circumstances.

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Ultimately the result at the end of the week was the same, inconsistency that’s left many supporters bitterly disappointed. After playing Zenit off the park last week, the hope was to carry that form into the second leg. There was certainly nothing to fear about the Russian outfit based on their showing at Parkhead.

The performance in midweek, however, was nothing short of pathetic. But it’s something that we’ve seen all too often from Celtic teams throughout the years. They made an average Zenit side look a lot more accomplished than they actually are.

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The whole team started slowly, which culminated in an early goal conceded, while there was far too many individual errors. The Bhoys couldn’t even do the basics properly as they let Zenit dominate them completely. And the defending and goalkeeping was far too soft to be competitive in Europe.

It was a total capitulation when the pressure was on and it was a definitive end to what’s been a poor European campaign. After appearing in the Champions League for the first time in three years last term, it was hoped there would be significant progression this year. The Hoops may have achieved European football beyond the winter but this campaign featured worse displays.

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Brendan Rodgers put the defeat in St Petersburg down to inexperience. He’s therefore got to take a massive portion of the blame for signing players who are simply not ready to compete at this level. Throughout the season, the Northern Irishman struggled to manage domestic fixtures with the exploits on the European front which has disrupted the team’s rhythm.

The performance was much better against Aberdeen in very difficult conditions. On a pitch that resembled a mud bath, the champions looked vulnerable, but did what they failed to do in midweek, which was battle through the tough periods. Considering they also went down to 10 men and that fatigue must have kicked in during the latter stages, this wasn’t easy by any means and they deserve credit for seeing the game through.

It was a 10th consecutive win over the Dons but it’s little consolation. A lot of fans truly believed Rodgers could mastermind a run to the latter stages of the Europa League, but they were massively let down. After seeing how Zenit played at Celtic Park, the Bhoys should have put up a better fight in Russia. Rodgers now faces a rare yet major test; bouncing back from this and starting the process of major improvement for European football next season.