So it’s to game two in the Europa League after a disappointing opener last week against AC Milan where we definitely showed signs of life but ultimately got cuffed 3-1.
Tonight we are in the north of France to face a talented Lille OSC side.
In truth, they have no real significant European history to speak of but have been the champions of France on three occasions with the last time being as recent as 2010-2011.
Since then, of course, PSG have pretty much dominated the French footballing landscape though Lille have proven to a be a good side all the same with a runners-up finish in the league two years ago and a 4th placed finish in last seasons truncated campaign.
They played in the Champions League group stages last year but found it tough going suffering five losses and only picking up a solitary point in a group that included Chelsea, Valencia and Ajax.
This summer they spent big on striker Jonathan David who cost €30M from Belgian side Gent where he had scored 37 goals in 83 games though he’s hit a blank in nine games thus for his new club.
Of course, they were also heavily linked with Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos throughout the summer though nothing came of it but they did bring in veteran Turkish striker Burak Yılmaz who has an impressive 248 goals in 517 games mostly played in the top flight of his native land.
The 35-year-old has got off to a good start with four goals in eight appearances thus far.
New signings aside they successfully kept most of their squad intact with pacey winger Jonathan Bamba, Brazilain wide-man Luiz Araújo and a plethora of talented midfielders such as Jonathan Ikoné, former Bayern Munich man Renato Sanches, veteran Benjamin André and Turkish internationalist Yusuf Yazıcı all still there.
In goals, stopper Mike Maignan made his debut for the French national team this year and centre back José Fonte has 42 caps for Portugal.
We’ll also likely see young Croatian internationalist left-back Domagoj Bradarić who despite being only 20 already has three caps for his country.
No doubt a talented squad and under manager Christophe Galtier they are a well organized, energetic and effective unit.
So far this season they are unbeaten in eight league matches with five wins and three draws having scored fourteen and conceded only three which sees them sitting even with leaders PSG on 18 points.
Last week they kicked off their Europa League campaign with a 4-1 hammering of Sparta Prague in the Czech capital as attacking midfielder Yazıcı hit a hat-trick.
Needless to say, they are in great form and we probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to play them.
They haven’t actually lost a match since the 16th of February when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Marseille so any result tonight would be a huge feather in the cap.
We, of course, are in not such great nick having gone three games without a win though news that Odsonne Edouard and Nir Bitton could be returning to the fold in same shape or form is welcome though our manager has confirmed that at best Eddy will be making the bench.
I think it’s likely we’ll go with one up-front and will probably stick with the flat back four though who will get the nod to lead the line will be interesting.
If I was a betting man I’d say Neil Lennon will go with Ajeti and play Elyounoussi just off him in the hopes that the partnership that was so productive at Basel in the past reaps some dividends tonight.
We can but hope.
There’s no doubt that we’ll be under pressure and really need the midfield to have a good game as both big Kris Ajer and Shane Duffy will be on the receiving end again and both with Duffy, in particular, needing some protection right now.
This could be the stage for the big Irish internationalist to step up as he’ll be used to away games on the content where he’s had to absorb loads of pressure with his national team.
Off the pitch now and the finances dropped a few days ago.
They didn’t make for pleasant reading but considering the times we and everyone else are in they were never going to.
Truth be told it’s a minor miracle we somehow remained in the black with a £100,000 profit made.
Revenue fell by £13 million which is in no doubt linked to the fact the league season was curtailed by eight games plus two potential cup games as the Scottish Cup from last season remains to be resolved.
Not only was ticket, match day income and TV money lost but we also had to contribute to paying back money to TV partners from monies already paid.
There will have been a sharp decrease in advertising and corporate revenue as well.
In total revenue fell from £83 million to just above £70 million and there’s no doubt the Tierney transfer income helped keep it respectful though we also spent heavily on players too.
We still have just over £18 million in the bank which is going to come in handy when you consider that revenues will drop significantly again this season.
Just imagine though how bad it would be if we were spending heavily on players whilst not actually selling any with no cash at the bank and a dependency on soft loans from shareholders with the share values themselves being continuously diluted?
How bad would that be?
Just as well that’s not us.
In the coming months, I think we’ll be seeing some pretty eye-watering results posted not just by Scottish clubs but from sides all over the continent and it’s safe to say anyone who has spent recklessly in the past will see the chickens coming home to roost soon enough.
It’s just basic mathematics.
Down south clubs outside of the top tier entering administration will become ten a penny as they simply can’t survive without live gates and match day incomes and those aren’t coming back anytime soon.
For now, at least our house is in order but it’s safe to say we are entering a new era where spending will have to be curtailed and brutal economic realities will hit the fiscally irresponsible hard and fast.
....Always A Tim! 