Embarrassing: Five lessons Celtic must learn from LASK disaster

Austria collapse must be catalyst for real change

A couple of days have now passed since Celtic completely collapsed against LASK, in what will go down as one of the most embarrassing days in the club’s history.

The players and management cannot simply dust themselves down and go again. Lessons have to be learnt to stop this cycle from repeating itself.

Here are five lessons we think Celtic must learn after their Champions League Playoff defeat to LASK.

1. Certain players in the current squad cannot be relied upon

If Celtic want to rebuild then they have to learn from the fundamental mistakes the club is making. They cannot keep going into these big games with players who aren’t good enough to play for Celtic. The club needs to sign players good enough for Scotland and European football at the same time. Those in charge must re-evaluate what it is to be a Celtic player. The likes of McCowan, Ralston, Murray, Tounetki and others are simply not Celtic class. As harsh as that sounds, we must revamp the squad to have genuine quality in each position. The players coming off the bench are as important as the ones starting the games if we want to progress. Genuine squad depth and competition for places is needed in every position.

2. Callum McGregor cannot play no.6 for Celtic in Europe

Callum has been a fantastic servant to Celtic and still has plenty to offer the team moving forward. He has been an outstanding player and remains capable of contributing significantly to this team. However, the club need to seriously consider whether he is the best option for the no.6 position long term. What happened in LASK has to be a wake up call.

Yes he has the ability to dictate play and get the ball moving, but Tuesday night showed us he no longer has the legs needed for that position. Too many times their forwards were able to step into his area and get a shot away. Celtic need a physical, athletic type in the base of midfield who can break up play and get around the pitch. McGregor is fine domestically. I’m talking about for European games. O’Neill should seriously consider pushing McGregor one up into the no8 role Hatate previously occupied. Have him involved further up the field instead of trying to protect the midfield like Scott Brown would. McGregor still has a lot of quality to offer but it shouldn’t be in that holding role moving forward. Especially in the big European games.

3. Celtic need another goalkeeper

This is something we already knew before the game, but it was confirmed Tuesday night. Celtic desperately need another goalkeeper through the door before the end of the transfer window. Sinisalo could have done better with a few of the goals from distance on Tuesday and needs real competition. Whether he is to remain the No.1 moving forward this season remains to be seen. Either way, Celtic need a quality goalkeeper that’s capable of challenging for the jersey this season. Two capable, quality goalkeepers are needed for the long season ahead.

4. Stop treating Høgh like a traditional target man

This is something Celtic need to learn quickly. Kasper Høgh is not a traditional target man. The team will not keep possession by sending long balls for him to control. From what I’ve seen, the Danish striker comes alive in behind teams, however he can also contribute by coming deep and getting involved in play during the build up, like he did away to Kilmarnock. At no point has he looked comfortable trying to win headers or hold the ball up, it just doesn’t seem his or our natural game. Nothing would stick for him against LASK and it was the same against Dundee in the season opener at Celtic Park. It looks like you will get the best out of the new signing by allowing him to come deep and get involved in the build up before spinning off behind the defence. Which will be challenging with how many teams sit in. We must learn from how he operated at Bodo and work to his strengths this season.

5. Celtic’s strategy with Hassan makes no sense

This is the biggest lesson the club needs to learn from the farce that was Tuesday night. We need to start bringing in players well in advance of the Champions League play-offs. Players need time to settle and learn how to play with their team mates before the biggest games of the year. The fact that we are bringing in key signings just before or after these games is crazy. A forward thinking club would sign players in January or even last summer for this season’s Champions League.

For Celtic to have a £9 million winger come through the door days before these games and not be in a position to contribute is staggering.The situation with Hassan highlights everything that is wrong with Celtic’s transfer strategy. We know when the qualifiers are every season. Where is the long-term planning? Players need to be identified and in the door early, ready to contribute to our biggest and most lucrative games of the season.

Celtic must analyse failings and act

Celtic must learn real lessons from Tuesday night’s collapse and make the changes needed to ensure we never go six out of six qualifiers without winning again. Fundamentally the strategy does not work. Staying ahead of Rangers is not success for the majority of the fan base. The sooner the club realise it needs fundamental change in how it operates the better.

All views expressed on Celtic DNA are personal opinions and are for commentary and discussion purposes only