It’s been a nightmare week for Scottish clubs in Europe, but are they out of their depth or should we demand more?
DAVID McCARTHY: Yes, they are out of their depth and yes, we should demand more. We should demand that they compete better than they have, that’s for sure. If our clubs are going to meekly accept that qualification is enough, it’s an insult to supporters who are paying top whack to see their teams getting skelped.
MARK PIRIE: It’s obviously a massive step up to the Champions League, but you would expect a bit more from our clubs than conceding seven at home. It’s not just the defeats but the manner of the trouncings that have been dished out that have well and truly burst every Scottish football fans’ bubble. The financial gap is clear, but you would expect our sides to be more competitive.
MICHAEL GANNON: It’s a bit of both. Taking on the likes of Liverpool and Fiorentina is never a fair fight for our sides but we can’t accept hammerings as the norm. Smaller nations than ours put up more of a fight and we should expect more from our teams. We can’t shrug at being cannon fodder.
Gio van Bronckhorst gave his side the silent treatment after the Liverpool lashing but how does he quieten down the noise from fans over his future?
DAVID: By winning football matches, starting tomorrow and by re-establishing an identity for a team that has completely lost the one they had.
MARK: Winning, and winning a lot. That starts with Motherwell. A Europa League playoff spot looks to be out of reach but positive results against Napoli and Ajax to round off the Champions League campaign would help his case.
MICHAEL: He’s up against it now and only a strong run of wins will start to win back some of the doubters. He needs to be in the fight at the top and he can’t afford another Old Firm beating. There’s a real apathy at Ibrox right now and he needs to light some kind of spark.
What do you make of Ange Postecoglou’s claim his Celtic side are not far off from being competitive in the Champions League playing his way?
DAVID: I see where he’s coming from. They are creating chances and if Kyogo and Co had taken them, they could have got a result against Leipzig. But he has to tweak it a bit because teams now know that if they keep Celtic out for an hour, they’ll fade.
MARK: Celtic have let countless chances to find the net in Europe pass them by, and if they take just a couple of them the group looks very different. Despite a major disappointment against Leipzig in midweek they don’t look too far off from some big results.
MICHAEL: He might have a point. Celtic are already competing. It’s about doing it for 90 minutes and having the belief to stick the ball in the net at that level. The amount of sitters they have missed in the four games is ridiculous. Celtic will always concede against good teams playing this way but they should have scored a fair few as well.
Hearts can still qualify but should Robbie Neilson now focus on sorting out the domestic form?
DAVID: No, they have to go out and try to beat Rigas next week and then take the confidence from that into the domestic game. One feeds off the other.
MARK: Yes. Europe has proven to be a bit of a disappointment as well as a distraction for the Hearts fans. If they can claim third spot again the Conference League results can be viewed as a building block.
MICHAEL: Neilson needs to be careful. Europe has been bruising but the domestic form hasn’t been great this season. The trip to Pittodrie tomorrow is treacherous but Europe can never be an inconvenience. Hearts need to leather the Latvians and at least put up a fight in Turkey. There’s a long way to go in Scotland.
READ NEXT
