Celtic were beaten 7-0 by Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday night. Manu Fernandez
Manu Fernandez
ROY KEANE INSISTS that Celtic need to change their mindset following Tuesday’s 7-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League.
While the Republic of Ireland assistant manager, who finished his playing career at Celtic, accepts that a drubbing at the hands of a side of Barcelona’s calibre “can happen”, he questioned the level of Celtic’s ambition.
Advertisement
Keane was speaking last night in his role as a pundit on ITV. At the end of his rant, fellow pundit and former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon almost had to calm Keane down as he put a consoling arm around his shoulder.
In spite of Tuesday’s scoreline, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said there was “no embarrassment” in being defeated so comprehensively by a side like Barca.
https://www.facebook.com/ITVFootball/videos/10154041804543165
Keane said last night: “I’m scratching my head sometimes with managers. I know it’s difficult after a game and if you have an off-night in Barcelona you’re in big trouble. But on one hand we’re being told that Celtic are a great club, great traditions, great history… then they go and lose 7-0 to Barcelona and people almost say these things happen, it’s acceptable.”
When asked if Celtic — who have been Scottish champions for the past five seasons — need to reassess their ambitions, Keane said: “I think so. All I hear sometimes when people talk about Celtic is that it’s about winning the league, but they need to do a lot better in Europe. Easier said than done, of course, and this time around it’s obviously difficult with the group they’re in.
“But even in the qualifying games they were poor. They scraped through. They didn’t win any of their away games, I think. I think the whole mindset has to change and, particularly away from home, don’t accept being the whipping boys of Europe. It’s Celtic. Huge club, and they need to do a lot better.
“Even when they qualified for this group, the celebrations to me were way over the top. They scraped through. I thought they actually won the competition. People were hugging each other — the manager, the coaching staff, the players. They should be expecting to do well in this group.”
Keane had a spell at Celtic in 2006. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
Keane added: “I appreciate that it’s going to be tough, and this group is going to be different because, of course, Barcelona and obviously Manchester City. But throughout the last number of years when they’ve been involved in Europe they’ve struggled, and lesser teams than Celtic have done well in Europe.
“A lot of these players for Celtic are international players. It’s not Altrincham, it’s Celtic. They’ve got to do much better. I think again it’s a case of changing the mindset. I don’t necessarily mean the game against Barcelona, because that can happen. I’m on about the qualifying games where they were scraping through and celebrating like they won the bloody thing. Excuse my language.”
Roy Keane pulled no punches with his assessment of Celtic last night
ROY KEANE INSISTS that Celtic need to change their mindset following Tuesday’s 7-0 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the Champions League.
While the Republic of Ireland assistant manager, who finished his playing career at Celtic, accepts that a drubbing at the hands of a side of Barcelona’s calibre “can happen”, he questioned the level of Celtic’s ambition.
Keane was speaking last night in his role as a pundit on ITV. At the end of his rant, fellow pundit and former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon almost had to calm Keane down as he put a consoling arm around his shoulder.
In spite of Tuesday’s scoreline, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said there was “no embarrassment” in being defeated so comprehensively by a side like Barca.
https://www.facebook.com/ITVFootball/videos/10154041804543165
Keane said last night: “I’m scratching my head sometimes with managers. I know it’s difficult after a game and if you have an off-night in Barcelona you’re in big trouble. But on one hand we’re being told that Celtic are a great club, great traditions, great history… then they go and lose 7-0 to Barcelona and people almost say these things happen, it’s acceptable.”
When asked if Celtic — who have been Scottish champions for the past five seasons — need to reassess their ambitions, Keane said: “I think so. All I hear sometimes when people talk about Celtic is that it’s about winning the league, but they need to do a lot better in Europe. Easier said than done, of course, and this time around it’s obviously difficult with the group they’re in.
“But even in the qualifying games they were poor. They scraped through. They didn’t win any of their away games, I think. I think the whole mindset has to change and, particularly away from home, don’t accept being the whipping boys of Europe. It’s Celtic. Huge club, and they need to do a lot better.
“Even when they qualified for this group, the celebrations to me were way over the top. They scraped through. I thought they actually won the competition. People were hugging each other — the manager, the coaching staff, the players. They should be expecting to do well in this group.”
Keane added: “I appreciate that it’s going to be tough, and this group is going to be different because, of course, Barcelona and obviously Manchester City. But throughout the last number of years when they’ve been involved in Europe they’ve struggled, and lesser teams than Celtic have done well in Europe.
“A lot of these players for Celtic are international players. It’s not Altrincham, it’s Celtic. They’ve got to do much better. I think again it’s a case of changing the mindset. I don’t necessarily mean the game against Barcelona, because that can happen. I’m on about the qualifying games where they were scraping through and celebrating like they won the bloody thing. Excuse my language.”
Roy Keane: Guardiola is the special one, not Mourinho
No change for Ireland in Fifa rankings as Wales break into top 10 while Spain and Italy drop out
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Celtic Champions League Roy Keane