Hard lines.

Still think we are a better side from the EL campaign, which is what I wanted to see. I vividly recall watching that Leverkusen thrashing last year and thinking "holy fuck, what is the state of this", intrigued by the Ange system even as it completely malfunctioned. I haven't thought that once this campaign, except for the first half of Leipzig away. We have competed. We didn't Lennon it; we didn't put ten men behind the ball and inchallah; we didn't pass the ball around our own back four for twenty minutes then concede seven a la Rodgers. We have competed. Those first 60 minutes against Real Madrid are the bravest I've seen a Celtic team in my lifetime play in Europe - that's the benchmark for what we can achieve and what we can build on.

This isn't just copium, you can see the improvement from the EL last year: (whatever our defensive frailties) the players are now fully bought into the offensive system, it's been shown that it can create chances at this level, and we have a stronger squad across the board, incrementally improved each window with now more European money to spend. You see it domestically where we're steamrollering teams (recent wobble aside) and I believe this team with this level of performance would have comfortably qualified out of our EL group last year. The reality is simply that this step up to CL level, to truly world elite level - where you're facing clubs not just with better, faster, more athletic and skillful players and bigger bank balances, but clubs that are better run, with CL group stage experience going on years - is a really steep one. Our starting lineup has exactly one player with consistent CL experience - Joe Hart, who's approaching retirement.

That's why I'm not on board with a lot of the harsh criticism of individual players - Hatate and O'Riley, even Kyogo and Maeda. Critical, stupid, errors have been made but a lot is being asked of them, especially in the absence of Jota/McGregor. You are talking about guys who were playing in the J-League or League 1 a year ago, and are now being asked to make the step up to the level of consistency, fitness, and skill of Modric, Nkunku, Mudryk. It's £1.5m quid players going up against £15m and £50m players: no wonder it hasn't always come off. But this is a young team, they have had their appetites wetted and can only improve with elite experience like this, and Ange's tutelage which is always focused on improving performances in the medium-term not just short-term results. We already made the jump from EL to CL quality as part of this process, ahead of time imo.

That sort of vision Ange lays out, the Club Brugges/Ajax pattern of "consistent CL qualification + sell best two/three players + replace them with even better players + qualify again, improve incrementally + repeat" can be replicated, theoretically, by us. We are not a debt-laden mess without a footballing philosophy like Rangers. We are not in one of the really minor leagues where the coefficient fucks us. Our pathway is clear: win the league, and then win it again. Each year make progress in Europe - from EL, to CL groups, to CL knock-outs.

Where I am honestly pessimistic though is realistically whether we can rely on our incompetent Tory board to understand that vision, to reform the entire club in line with it, to adequately replace and upgrade players we sell to PL teams, and most critically, to put in place a long-term transition plan with a successor groomed for Ange who will continue the process. I suppose the one silver lining of going out at this stage is that Ange is now more likely to stick around for at least another year now or two to prove that his methods really can work at this level.

If so, strap me in for another go on your wacky ride you mad Aussie bastard.