Celtic v Besiktas – Pressure Mounts on Pointless Hoops

Tonight sees Celtic back in European action, with a home clash against Turkish side Besiktas awaiting the Scottish Champions who will be looking to get their first points on the Europa League board.

The pressure is well and truly on Martin O’Neill and his players after they lost their first three fixtures in European football’s secondary competition, even more so in the wake of Sunday’s defeat at Falkirk, and the home draw against Dundee United last midweek.

Since then we’ve become something of ‘whipping boys’ if European football, with our once proud home record which was once a crumb of comfort now nothing but a distant memory. Even some Celtic supporters are regarding the 5/4 odds available in Besiktas this evening a being ‘free money’.

We’ve already suffered home defeats to Stuttgart, Ferencvaros, and Celta Vigo in this calendar year, as well as heavy away losses to LASK and Benfica, so we need to achieve a positive result against a decent Besiktas side if we want to try and rectify that record.

It won’t be easy though, especially with the way we’ve been performing recently mainly in our leaky defence.

The Turkish side boast an array of attacking talent such as Serbian international Dušan Vlahović, Belgian international Leandro Trossard, and a man we know well Oh Hyeon-gyu, so our much maligned defence will be tested to the fullest once again this evening.

Besiktas know that a win this evening will take them up to ten points and will leave them knocking on the door or qualification. For Celtic a fourth successive defeat will make any hope of qualification unlikely and will also further damage our fading prestige as a European club of note.

We need to be one hundred percent focused and committed if we want to earn a positive result that most will render impossible due to our recent form.

With a decent crowd behind us we have a great advantage, but it’s all down to the players on the park to earn a result that will win us back some much needed pride and respected on the European stage.

There a re still a few thousand seats available, you would have thought that these would have been snapped up but the 10,000 supposedly on the season ticket waiting list.

It’s been a petty much a joyless experience going to Celtic Park this season, aside from the thrashing of Hearts and the false hope of beating LASK 3-0 in the Champions League qualifier. Celtic need to put on a show for the supporters who have stood by the team but patience is wearing thin.

Apathy and anger away round the corner and the best way to scare them both off is to get the three points this evening. Celtic are the outsiders so optimists may see their chance to collect a few quid in winning by betting on the Hoops. Most though probably are more realistic and will keep their cash in their pockets.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy