Celtic: A Champions League Team In Transition

A year ago at around this period of the year, Celtic fans were looking forward to the knockout round of the Champions League, something that no one thought we could achieve given the group we were in. Celtic managed to achieve two unthinkable results so far in the group, an away win at Moscow ending their long run of losses in group stage European football, and a legendary win at home to Barcelona, and in the end finishing on 10 points €“ a record high for us in the modern Champions League. However, things are much different now €“ we are out of the group after 3 consecutive losses to Ajax, Milan and Barcelona, finishing fourth in a similar group of death to last year's. Celtic's loss of crucial first-team players in the summer, in particular Gary Hooper, has been the main talking point in the media and with Celtic fans. Teemu Pukki, when he first signed, was dubbed "The New Hooper" by most of the media, and fans have since experienced a very depleted set of performances by the player €“ not what everyone was expecting. If one was to ask me whether I agreed with many fans' concerns about Celtic's attacking prowess about month or two ago, I would have said no. I thought that was a little rushed at the time. Now though, it is clear to see that the team needs a more 'instant hit' when it comes to bringing strikers in, just like Hooper was. The fact that Kris Commons, a midfielder, is our top scorer this season only validates this. Let's hope the manager can find the missing piece up front and the board are willing to splash the cash needed. Another huge loss (probably the biggest loss) for our team was losing Victor Wanyama. The whole team was basically engineered around him and Scott Brown. He was so effective at winning the ball in a 50-50 scenario in the center of midfield that players had already began making their runs before his challenges commenced. Losing Wanyama was like losing a vertebrae €“ I couldn't help thinking how much we missed him in the 3-0 home loss to Milan. The space that Milan received in midfield on the counter was frightening, yet a perfect situation for a Wanyama-type player, who is brilliant at stabilising those types of attacks. The only player we have so far successfully replaced is Kelvin Wilson. Virgil Van-Dyke has quickly developed into the solid defender we wanted him to be, also providing the occasional attacking brilliance as shown in by his recent goal against St. Johnstone. He is quickly becoming a fan-favourite.

In a way, we have a developing replacement for Wanyama in Nir Biton. Although Celtic fans have not seen too much of him, his display in the 7-0 cup win at Hearts is still very memorable for me, and he played in the exact same role as Wanyama. He was central to stabalising attacks from Hearts and offering effective attacking passes. If I were Lennon, I would give Biton the same chance he gave Wanyama €“ give him regular starts and the team could start to build their attacks around him in confidence of his potential solidarity. This is a team that, as Lennon says, is in transition. In my view they still need the time to gel again. I'd like to ask any Celtic fans reading this, or any other fans for that matter, what do you think is the way forward to present a better challenge to the Champions League next season? Should we spend big in this transfer window to try and find the missing link up front again? If so, who do you think we need? Or do you think this could only maintain the slow nature of the 'team gelling' process? I look forward to reading your ideas/concerns. Hopefully the next Champions League Campaign will be as enjoyable to watch as last season's, but please UEFA...stop giving us Barcelona, I think they've sussed us out now!