Alcatraz Loyal
Well-Known Member
By the time George Tucudean scored in the 97th minute, fans were already streaming out of Celtic Park. The switch flicked from exasperated to irate.
Neil Lennon's side had fancied their chances in the return leg of their Champions League qualifier after securing a 1-1 draw in Cluj, but a porous defence allowed the Romanian champions to score three times. That is always likely to result in elimination, and while Odsonne Edouard's goal gave Celtic 13 minutes of hope, they were already crashing out on away goals as the exits filled during stoppage time and Tucudean - the top scorer in Romania last season - ended all hopes with his late, late goal.
A former Celtic trialist, Tucudean has an incredible back story. That won't have comforted those streaming out into Glasgow's East End though.
But what material effect does this have for the Scottish champions?
Well, it essentially wipes out the financial gain from selling star left-back Kieran Tierney for a start. There was a time when Celtic could almost wait until they knew whether they'd be in the Champions League group stage, receiving their lucrative television rights cheque, before selling big players but in losing Tierney and now Uefa's cash cow, they have become an unintended victim of the Premier League's peculiar insistence on ending the transfer window before the rest of Europe.
As an aside, there is a growing feeling in the English top flight that this peculiar arrangement will be reversed before long. Most of the top coaches in the division are against it and, in private, there are almost no coaches in the division at all who would fight its corner should the decision get revisited.
But back to Celtic, who now have a season ahead where a domestic title race is their only concern. There might even be one this season, given last year's nine-point gap was as narrow a margin as we've seen since... Rangers were Rangers.
Steven Gerrard has obviously brought the club back to some semblance of on-field respectability and their recruitment looks to have improved. The financial gap with Celtic, though still significant, will narrow slightly with the latter failing to reach those all-important group stages.
With Neil Lennon almost universally considered a downgrade from Brendan Rodgers, there are ways to talk yourself into the idea of a proper Old Firm title race this year and that is the least Scottish football needs.
Rangers must win a trophy this year but Celtic, smarting from a continental exit, must win the league. It feels like something has got to break.
We'll be watching intently
Tucudean has had 2 operations on his heart this year.
Neil Lennon's side had fancied their chances in the return leg of their Champions League qualifier after securing a 1-1 draw in Cluj, but a porous defence allowed the Romanian champions to score three times. That is always likely to result in elimination, and while Odsonne Edouard's goal gave Celtic 13 minutes of hope, they were already crashing out on away goals as the exits filled during stoppage time and Tucudean - the top scorer in Romania last season - ended all hopes with his late, late goal.
A former Celtic trialist, Tucudean has an incredible back story. That won't have comforted those streaming out into Glasgow's East End though.
But what material effect does this have for the Scottish champions?
Well, it essentially wipes out the financial gain from selling star left-back Kieran Tierney for a start. There was a time when Celtic could almost wait until they knew whether they'd be in the Champions League group stage, receiving their lucrative television rights cheque, before selling big players but in losing Tierney and now Uefa's cash cow, they have become an unintended victim of the Premier League's peculiar insistence on ending the transfer window before the rest of Europe.
As an aside, there is a growing feeling in the English top flight that this peculiar arrangement will be reversed before long. Most of the top coaches in the division are against it and, in private, there are almost no coaches in the division at all who would fight its corner should the decision get revisited.
But back to Celtic, who now have a season ahead where a domestic title race is their only concern. There might even be one this season, given last year's nine-point gap was as narrow a margin as we've seen since... Rangers were Rangers.
Steven Gerrard has obviously brought the club back to some semblance of on-field respectability and their recruitment looks to have improved. The financial gap with Celtic, though still significant, will narrow slightly with the latter failing to reach those all-important group stages.
With Neil Lennon almost universally considered a downgrade from Brendan Rodgers, there are ways to talk yourself into the idea of a proper Old Firm title race this year and that is the least Scottish football needs.
Rangers must win a trophy this year but Celtic, smarting from a continental exit, must win the league. It feels like something has got to break.
We'll be watching intently
Tucudean has had 2 operations on his heart this year.