Lincoln Red Imps 1-0 Celtic: Brendan Rodgers says 'no embarrassment' in defeat
Last updated on .From the section Football
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said there is "no embarrassment" in losing 1-0 to Gibraltar part-timers Lincoln Red Imps in his first competitive game in charge of the Scottish giants.
A goal from police officer Lee Casciaro in Tuesday's Champions League qualifier condemned Celtic to arguably their worst ever defeat.
The Imps also included a fireman, a customs officer and a taxi driver.
"I'm not really [shocked]. I know these results can happen," said Rodgers.
"We stay calm. We need a performance next week."
- Rodgers' Celtic lose to semi-pro side from Gibraltar
- 'I scored against Celtic'
- Celtic's defeat as it happened
- 'One Red Imps player was driving a taxi a few hours before the game'
Celtic will welcome the champions of Gibraltar to Glasgow next Wednesday for the second leg of their second qualifying round tie.
Rodgers feels he saw enough from the Scottish champions to believe they will still get through.
"We dominated and had enough chances, but sometimes it can happen like that... one ball up the pitch and they're in," said the former Liverpool manager.
"You let the local team have their night, we press on, another week's training and be better for it.
"We've given ourselves a bit of work to do, but there's no panic. It's a two-legged affair and our objective is to get through."
Rodgers said fans should stay calm, adding: "I always felt this qualification phase would be based on the second legs at home and we'll need their support."
'If miracles can happen, we will knock Celtic out'
Before the match, Lincoln Red Imps captain Roy Chipolina claimed beating Celtic - who won the European Cup in 1967 - would be European football's biggest shock.
The customs officer saw no reason to revise that option in the aftermath.
"When you look at the history of both clubs, nothing has changed," he said.
"Celtic are still a massive club and they are still favourites in the tie, but I don't think anyone expected us to be going over to Glasgow with a 1-0 lead.
"We will be going over there more confident than we thought and, if miracles can happen again, we will knock Celtic out of the Champions League."
Goalscorer Lee Casciaro, said his side benefited from the artificial pitch, weather conditions and that they have been training for almost two months.
"The manager set us up to get them on the counter attack. It was really, really a dream for us, to score and win 1-0 against the mighty Celtic.
"Just walking out and have Celtic supporters singing You'll Never Walk Alone, and it's a historic pitch, we have to enjoy ourselves this doesn't happen very often for us. We've only been in Uefa last three years."
Analysis
Liam McLeod, BBC Scotland commentator
"Celtic's reputation has taken a battering. One of their worst results ever? I would say it's the worst result ever. This has probably superseded anything that has gone before. It is that bad for the club, it's that bad for this team and I think Brendan Rodgers realises the size of the task he now has here.
"It's inexplicable to think that Celtic are having to come back from a deficit in the second leg of a Champions League qualifier against a side from the overseas British territory of Gibraltar. It's quite incredible."
Who are Lincoln Red Imps? | |
---|---|
Founded in 1978, a friend of the owner was from Lincoln - hence the name | Jamie Bosio joined Canterbury City on loan from Red Imps last season. They play in the Southern Counties East Football League - level 9-10 of English football |
Their home ground, the Victoria Stadium, is used by every team in the league and also hosts the Gibraltar Music Festival | They have five professional footballers, including former Portsmouth midfielder Liam Walker |
The Red Imps grew out of a youth side linked to the Gibraltar police in 1978 and rose to the top flight by 1984 | There are two sets of siblings at the club, with three Casciaro brothers - Lee, Kyle and Ryan - as well as Chipolina brothers - Joseph and Kenneth |
They thought it couldn't get worse than these...
- MTK Budapest 4-0 Celtic, 1963-64: Celtic had a healthy 3-0 first-leg lead in their European semi-final but Karoly Sandor, returning after a five-month absence, helped his side to a 4-0 victory.
- SW Innsbruck 3-0 Celtic, 1977-78: A late strike from Tommy Burns had Celtic going into the second leg 2-1 up, before the Austrian side took control. Celtic were reduced to 10 men by the end of the game after Andy Lynch was dismissed.
- Neuchatel Xamax 5-1 Celtic, 1991-92: Four goals from Egyptian striker Hossam Hassan, including three inside the first 55 minutes for the Swiss side, saw Celtic suffer what was, at the time, their heaviest European defeat.
- Legia Warsaw 4-1 Celtic, 2014-15: Miroslav Radovic's scored twice, and Celtic had Efe Ambrose sent off. Celtic were handed a reprieve when their opponents were disqualified for fielding a suspended player, but the Scottish side still lost to Maribor in the play-offs.
Worst Celtic debuts
- Gordon Strachan had a dreadful start to his four-year tenure in 2005, as Celtic lost 5-0 in the Champions League qualifiers to Slovakian side Artmedia Bratislava.
- There wasn't much joy for Roy Keane when he made his debut as a Celtic player in 2005. Playing in the third round of the Scottish Cup, the Parkhead side were beaten 2-1 by second-tier Clyde.
- Henrik Larsson's Celtic debut was an unhappy one, too. After making a £650,000 move from Feyenoord in 1997, his mistake led to a Hibs goal in his first game before he scored an own goal on his European debut.
What the papers said
Speaking to the Gibraltar Chronicle before the game, Lincoln captain Chipolina, a customs officer, said it was hard to have a full-time job and play football.
"We have found it very difficult - all of us have our day jobs," Lincoln director Ian Payas told the paper. "If we would have had an away game it would have been easier for us."
Sympathy on Twitter? No chance...
Naturally, social media users had plenty of fun, with a spoof profile of Lincoln Red Imps doing the rounds claiming the club had "an average home crowd of 28".
It was also pointed out the population of Gibraltar is 30,000 - Celtic Park holds 60,832 people.
Comments
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How about a headline celebrating Gibraltar's win BBC?
After all Gibraltar is part of the United Kingdom.....
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They'll need them later on in the tournament when they come across the big clubs.
The result would still be a sore one but at least you'd get a sense he understands what just happened.
Oh my word.
If that was non-embarrasment, I hope Celtic fans never have to find out what embsrrassment looks like in Rodgers' world.
I'm mildly astonished the words "outstanding" and "character" didn't feature in his assesment of their performance.
Even if we turn this around last night is as bad as it gets. The most worrying aspect of this for me is not the resul it's that there is
"no embarrassment "
Even the most inept PR person would have said 'Brendan, put your hands up high on this one, call it the off match of all off matches and whatever you do, don't say that you're not embarrassed, for that will make you and the team look twenty times more ridiculous'.
Here's hoping Celtic go out. Vile club with vile fans in a vile league in a vile country. Let Scotland have independece, they may as well have nothing"
Nah, think we will stick around for a while and suck more money out of Westminster. Just keep that cash flowing North. You know the drill, my main road needs re-paved, suggest you dig deep to pay for it.
Apparently, they are a small club from Glasgow in Scotland.