This needs to be an aberration, worry is that it will become Celtic’s new norm

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The Celtic Star

·3 de octubre de 2025

This needs to be an aberration, worry is that it will become Celtic’s new norm

Self-made disaster. Chapter…who knows, I’ve started to lose count…

Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel fails to stop a shot from distance Ricardo Horta of SC Braga who scores to give Braga a 0-1 lead. Celtic v Braga, UEFA Europa League, Group Stage, Celtic Park, 02 October 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO Shutterstock

This felt like a fork-in-the-road game before kick off, by the end, it had a feel of the Covid season. And all of it came against a Braga side who were no great shakes in defence or in attack, yet whose pressing scattered Celtic’s players like wheelie bins in a storm, landing them in positions they should never have been near.

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To borrow the manager’s phrase from the transfer window, we manufactured our own stress.

Positionally, Celtic were bullied by an opposition midfield who seemed to have more space than the Hubble telescope. Just ask Ricardo Horta. For the opener, he was so alone he might have had Al Green going through his head.

Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic and Bragas Gustaf Lagerbielke during the UEFA Europa League match, round 2 of 8 between Celtic FC and S.C. Braga at Celtic Park, on 2nd October 2025. Photo Mark Runacles IMAGO/ Anadolu Agency

His strike from over 30 yards hung in the air as long as any boardroom silence, while Kasper Schmeichel flailed like an octogenarian trialling ice skating as a new hobby. It was a fine effort, yes, but made possible only by Celtic’s complete absence of pressure, and a goalkeeper who appeared allergic to leather. Despite a promising start, we were behind and chasing shadows.

By the time the second half kicked off Brendan Rodgers had changed formation, an admission he had lost control of the midfield. The adjustment gave Celtic another body in the middle of the park and the flicker of creativity, but it also allowed Braga to counter against a defence suddenly asked to operate as a back three. They looked like they’d received 15 minutes of rushed instructions at the interval rather than any meaningful pre-match preparation.

Dane Murray’s clearance is deflected past Kasper Schmeichel during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The second goal summed the night up. Young Dane Murray’s clearance cannoned straight into Gabri Martínez and rebounded into the net, the tin lid on a comedy of errors.

The officiating did Celtic no favours either. Iheanacho’s ‘equaliser’ was ruled out for handball in the build-up, already a poor decision, but compounded by VAR, who, unable to find a single replay angle to back the referee, inexplicably upheld the call. Would it have made a difference? Maybe.

Maybe Braga would have stepped up. Maybe Celtic would have finally stirred. But we’ll never know, because the opportunity was taken away.

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Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal, which was later ruled out during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Aside from that, Celtic created little. Tierney’s back-post header forced a smart save, and Tounekti’s curler allowed the Braga keeper to showboat, but both were isolated moments in a performance with more huff and puff than last night’s wind. In truth, we got what we deserved, nothing at all. Had this happened in Portugal, reasons might have been found. At Celtic Park, there are only excuses.

If there were positives, they were few. Tounekti deserves credit, as does Saracchi, and the relationship between those two could yet bear fruit. The change of formation was at least understandable.

READ THIS…“It’s my responsibility. I need to somehow find the solutions,” Brendan Rodgers

Colby Donovan in action during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

With time, the right personnel, and actual training ground work, it might even be viable. But with two games a week until February, and an international break that will see half the squad disappear, that somehow feels unlikely.

The bigger picture however is this defeat lies as much in the boardroom as on the pitch.

Rodgers and his players will carry their share of blame, and deservedly so, but the real weight falls on an executive which has overseen the systematic downsizing of our attack. If you set out to sabotage a forward line, you could hardly do better.

The Celtic Fans Collective meets the Executive on Monday. If the board thought it would be tough before last night, they’ll be scouring for excuses to postpone now. Because this match was Celtic’s so-called recruitment ‘strategy’ in microcosm.

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Celtic line-up prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The defence has carried us so far this season, but when they faltered here, there was nothing else. There is no functioning attack yet, the midfield looked as likely to end up in an empty seat in the stands as their assigned position on the pitch, and when the subs come on, the opposition know that if they’re ahead, or even level, the minimum they’ll likely leave with is a point.

January is not likely to save us either. A manager in the last months of his contract, a board trying hard to edge him out the door, and the same tired faces in charge of recruitment almost guarantee inertia. To strengthen would mean giving Rodgers players, and that appears the last thing the board intends. Rodgers is now effectively a caretaker manager until the end of the season, if indeed he lasts that long.

READ THIS…Post-Match Interview – Sebastian Tounekti speaks to The Celtic Star

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, looks on prior to the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

From a team who could take Bayern all the way, to being schooled by a Braga team who might have sacked their own manager had they lost, such is their domestic form. And yet, not long ago Celtic had appeared to be making progress. Out of possession we were improving. Our counter-pressing was beginning to look cohesive again. It felt like we were only waiting for relationships to form in attack. Instead, last night felt like those foundations were built on sand.

It could prove to be a bad night, a step back before a few more forward. But it felt like more than that. It felt chaotic. Our manager was out-thought by a coach who probably spent his flight to Glasgow tidying his CV and scouring the classifieds. A defence we had relied on, been grateful for, couldn’t maintain their levels. Going into this match, we were hoping for threads to knit. Instead, we unravelled. And optimism has now been replaced by fear.

READ THIS…Time to take Kasper Schmeichel out of the firing line

Ricardo Horta of Sporting Braga celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD2 match between Celtic FC and SC Braga at Celtic Park on October 02, 2025.(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

We need this to be an aberration. The real worry is it will become the new normal. What a fall from grace, from a team and a manager that gave us the Champions League play-off just a few short months ago.

Niall J

Two things can be true at the same time. Our board are incompetent and have mis managed the running of the football operations of the club. Our manager is also not getting the best out of the players he has available. Brendan has to turn this around soon. HH
– viernes, 3 de octubre de 2025

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