Celtic's Collapse in Austria: A Deep Indictment

Celtic’s collapse in Austria was more than a bad night. It was an indictment.

A four-goal aggregate lead, shredded. A 5-1 defeat by LASK, and with it the Champions League dream, gone. Europa League instead. And a chorus of former Celtic figures lining up to say the same thing: this was not a Martin O’Neill team in anything but name.

“Those players were hiding”

Stiliyan Petrov, who knows O’Neill’s standards as well as anyone from their days together at Celtic and Aston Villa, did not sugar-coat what he had seen.

“You have to stand up and be counted, show character, be able to deal with the pressure,” he said on Amazon Prime. “Those players were hiding.

“When they had to take responsibility with the ball, they didn’t take it. They were losing the ball very easily. LASK were better in second balls, more aggressive. They wanted it more.”

That was the recurring theme: desire. Celtic, a club built on imposing itself, shrank.

“Celtic try to dominate games and be in control. But there was nothing there,” Petrov continued. “They couldn’t take the sting out the game, they couldn’t slow the game down.

“Sometimes you need big players to do that. You need players to control that, control the team. You have to stand up, be brave and be strong.

“You have to run more, you have to close people down, you have to make decisions on the pitch, important decisions and important moments that make the difference. Those decisions were not there.”

Lennon questions physical and mental strength

Neil Lennon, another former Celtic captain and manager, honed in on something even more basic: fitness and physicality.

“Physically they weren’t up to it, running power they weren’t up to it,” said the Dunfermline manager. “LASK were the better team and they wanted it more, and that’s not something you can say about a Martin O’Neill team very often.”

The image that stuck with Lennon was not a goal, but bodies failing.

“Second half I saw three or four players go down with cramp. It’s only 65-70 minutes into the game. That’s a worry for me.

“It could be a physical thing, it could be a psychological thing. For me it’s a sign of not being strong. They looked exhausted at times.”

A Champions League play-off, a season-shaping night, and Celtic players cramping before the final stretch. For Lennon, that cut deep.

Brown points to a thin bench

Scott Brown, who captained Celtic through countless European nights, turned the spotlight on the squad itself. When O’Neill turned to his bench across the 120 minutes – Liam Scales, Anthony Ralston, Dane Murray, Luke McCowan, Reo Hatate and Sebastian Tounekti all introduced – Brown saw a glaring gap in quality.

“I don’t think the subs made any impact on the game,” he told BBC Radio Scotland. “You want something from them – running power, a bit of calmness on the ball – and we didn’t get that.

“They are bringing players in that are actually in the starting 11 but it shows you, on that bench, they need better quality players to come on.”

The message was blunt. This isn’t just about attitude on the night. It’s about recruitment, depth, and what Celtic have – or haven’t – built for this level.

Schmeichel warns of “huge ramifications”

Kasper Schmeichel, who lived last season’s play-off disappointment in goal for Celtic, knows the emotional crater such a defeat can leave. Watching from the studio this time, he did not downplay the consequences.

“This is going to have huge ramifications,” he said on Amazon Prime. “The Champions League is unique and the Europa League doesn’t have the same prestige. It impacts players’ lives and particularly the players that maybe we were looking to sign, that could have an impact on it.

“I know it’s going to be a really, really hard reaction towards the players, towards the management.

“It’s going to be a monumental task for them to motivate themselves and to get the fans back on side. Because you saw at the end, it wasn’t pleasant scenes. And we saw what happened last season, it’s not pleasant. And it’s not pleasant to be a player in that environment either.”

The financial hit matters. The recruitment implications matter. But Schmeichel’s focus was on the human side: how this group drags itself off the canvas with an angry support watching.

O’Neill: “That’s my team and that’s my responsibility”

For Martin O’Neill, a man who has taken Celtic through more than 300 games and some of the club’s most storied European nights, this one cut as deep as almost anything.

“I would say absolutely, yes,” the 74-year-old said when asked if it ranked among his most painful nights. “I’d put it down before the disappointment of losing the Uefa Cup final in 2003, but it’s so, so disappointing.”

The sting came from how avoidable it felt.

“We should have been out of sight by half-time. We scored a goal, which was great, we missed two great, great opportunities. And then we give them a lifeline just before half-time and then one just after it. And they come roaring back.

“And obviously we conceded, from our viewpoint, not good goals at all. But that’s my team and that’s my responsibility.”

Asked directly if his squad was strong enough, O’Neill chose his moment to draw a line.

“These are tough games. And it might only be a Champions League qualifying game, but it felt like a Champions League game. I thought they were a fine side. But that doesn’t matter. We should have been able to have seen it through. And we didn’t do. Talking about the squad, that’s for another day.”

The inquest on personnel can wait. The accountability, he made clear, cannot.

McGregor: “We got what we deserved”

If the manager carried the weight, the captain did not hide from it either. Callum McGregor’s assessment was as stark as any from the pundits.

“We got what we deserved,” he told Amazon Prime. “I thought we were so passive. All night. We actually looked scared to go and win the game, and when you are 3-0 up it’s psychological.

“To be honest I didn’t think we were that good in the first leg either. We scored at good times and kind of got away with it. You go 3-0 and you think you’ve got a real chance but when you play like that you can’t have any excuse whatsoever.

“We have to suck it up, apologise to the supporters and the club because there is no way that we should lose that game … Now you’ll see what kind of characters are in there.”

That is where Celtic stand now. No Champions League, a bruised dressing room, a furious fanbase, and a squad whose depth and desire have been publicly questioned by some of the club’s biggest modern figures.

The next time this team walks out, Europe will feel a little smaller, the stakes a little sharper. Now, as McGregor said, we find out who in that dressing room actually belongs on nights like these.