OPINION
There was not a lot of pride to be taken for the Celtic players after their disappointing Europa League defeat to Valencia in midweek – and for his first appearance in Europe, Scott Bain did not cover himself in glory.
It was a sloppy performance from Brendan Rodgers’ men who were the architects of their own downfall, the Spaniards capitalising on the Hoops’ mistakes time and again at Parkhead – the home crowd lucky to see their team slip to just a two goal defeat.
As mentioned, the man between the sticks should be disappointed with his display, even if he was not to blame for the two goals, with the plan of playing out from the back clearly not in the best interests of the 27-year-old, who lacked the desired quality to make it a success.
Speaking after the game, Bain was brutally honest about his performance and admitted he lacked the speed of thought to carry out the instructions of Brendan Rodgers.
Speaking to the Daily Record, he said: “I will be able to grow from it and I hope to learn from it. The pace of the game for example – it is a lot quicker so when I get the ball it’s about getting it out quickly and making the right decisions.
“We can be slightly better in terms of getting into positions and wanting the ball a bit more. My learning is also about situations when, if we can’t get into position quickly enough, to go a bit longer on it. That’s something I’ll take from the game on Thursday night.
“Does it mean sacrificing principles? No. We always have permission to go slightly longer if it’s on. We played out from the back well but just got a bit sloppy at the end of the first half.”
Now these sort of admissions would be understandable for a young goalkeeper without much experience of playing in the first team but this is Bain we are talking about – a 27-year-old Scotland international with 118 appearances in the Premiership.
Is he really suggesting that he needs to learn how to play the ball out from the back faster? If that is the case, what on earth is he doing lining up for Celtic right now?
He clearly does not believe he has what it takes to carry out Rodgers’ demands right now and there can be no learning curve for someone who should be performing at the top of their game.
The old adage goes that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks and if Bain has not developed his methods by now, he is hardly going to change – meaning that his admission is simply him digging his own grave at Parkhead.