Martin O'Neill thinks Celtic were taught yet another lesson on Thursday night, but how much lessons are they going to need?
The Bhoys were beaten 3-1 by Ferencvaros in their Europa League opener, rallying back to 1-1 only to concede and go behind two minutes later. Celtic were nowhere near as poor as they were in the Rangers or LASK games, but they weren't brave enough with the ball, while their visitors attacked with purpose and reaped the rewards.
Speaking after the game, Celtic boss Martin O'Neill said his men were 'taught a lesson', a description he has repeatedly used when things have not gone well for his team this season.
"Well, we’re naturally disappointed getting beaten," said O'Neill. "We started off very, very brightly. We had a number of balls that were flashed across the goal and no one there to put the ball in the net for us.
"Their first attempt, proper attempt, really, on goal yielded a goal for them. We came back into the game, got the equaliser just before half-time and then conceded a really poor goal.
"We’re hit on the break for the third goal. While we had a number of balls flashed across the box, even in the last 20 minutes, we didn’t get there to the front post a number of times that could’ve kept it alive and we’re beaten in the game.
"It’s a huge frustration, obviously, but it’s also psychologically quite damning as well. It’s not the start we wanted. We have seven games in which to try and get some points on the board. Really need to concentrate now on Sunday (against Rangers).
"Tonight was, I think, a European lesson for us in many aspects. We’ll get ourselves together. We need to re-energise ourselves as much as anything else.
"When we have decent possession of the ball, just don’t give it away. But also I think taking a few risks as well too – risks in the proper areas of the field."
Celtic need to mature at a quicker rate
The problem with all these lessons being learned is that they should have been learned last season. There hasn't been all that much turnover in this Celtic team, other than a few talented exits. The core of the group remains the same, and last season, they won the league but struggled in Europe, albeit they did get through to the next stage of the Europa League.
This season, even with the recruitment shortfalls, needs to be geared towards progress, but it just feels the same, albeit with some better early season form in the Premiership. The Bhoys may even be worse in Europe so far, and it just feels as though the team is too long in the tooth to still have to learn they lessons. They must learn to avouid them.
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