FORMER Celtic striker Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink reckons his old club will look to get over their Champions League frustration by taking it out on Inverness this weekend.
Captain Scott Brown has described Tuesday’s 7-0 thrashing by Barcelona in the Nou Camp as “unacceptable”, while winger Patrick Roberts also felt it was “embarrassing”.
Celtic return to action on Sunday when they travel north to face Caley Thistle and Vennegoor of Hesselink believes Brendan Rodgers’ men will be desperate to put that heavy loss behind them as quickly as possible.
Speaking after helping make the draw for tomorrow’s William Hill Ayr Gold Cup, the Dutchman said: “I think they will be angry. But the most beautiful thing about football is that you can recover so quickly. The best reaction is to win the next game and then it will be over. I think Celtic will be emphatic - and the manager will want that, too. They’ve had enough time to recover from the Barcelona game because they played on Tuesday and the next game is on Sunday.
“I think Scott Brown will have had harsh words with them after the other night. He is the most experienced player in the squad and showed it on Saturday against Rangers in a proper, good way. He’s the captain of that team and he will have got some of the young boys by the neck and told them it was unacceptable. That’s what the captain has to do, get their feet back on the ground and make sure they win against Inverness.”
Vennegoor of Hesselink revealed he had been pleasantly surprised when he tuned in to last weekend’s derby and saw how comfortable a win it was for Celtic. He added: “I was really surprised in a good way about how they played against Rangers on Saturday. They played proper football also and really good football. I really enjoyed watching them. I thought it would be closer and it wasn’t. Then you hoped maybe they would have a good result in Barcelona but unfortunately they couldn’t get one.
“I remember we played against Barcelona and lost 1-0 away. We didn’t touch the ball that night but because we only lost 1-0 people don’t talk about the fact we lost in Barcelona!”
The Dutchman also felt the reintroduction of a winter break into Scottish football could help Celtic’s aspirations of landing their first domestic treble for 16 years. He said: “The last time they won the treble was 2001 so that says it all. It’s not easy. Every year there are always big upsets when Rangers or Celtic are knocked out of the cup competitions by smaller clubs. But maybe the winter break will help because normally the season goes on and on and on. Maybe that will help Celtic’s bid for a treble.”
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