IN A city noted for its diverse choice of amusements, Tony Mowbray cut a startlingly subdued figure yesterday on the eve of a match which could end Celtic's European ambitions for the season or else resuscitate them. The Celtic manager reflected the dismal November conditions as he sat in a hotel on the bank of the Aussenalster Lake and weighed up his options for tonight's clash with SV Hamburg.
The refrain 'must-win game' continued to taunt him, a rather less joyous sound than the Beatles songs which once echoed down the Reeperbahn. While he did not use the phrase himself, he pointed out that he has never gone into a football match with an
y other intention than to gain victory. But there was a weariness in his demeanour, an unmistakable gloom.
It could perhaps be traced to his tetchy off-the-record briefing on Friday with journalists, though his mood cannot have been improved by being forced to travel to Germany without the injured trio of Artur Boruc, Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney. During this dialogue at the end of last week Mowbray vowed to pull up the drawbridge following what he perceived to be unfair coverage of his initial few months in charge. Given his previously hospitable bearing at Hibernian, and even West Bromwich Albion, it has been a surprisingly quick breakdown in communications. Undoubtedly, however, relations have not been helped by Celtic's record of just one win from seven matches in Europe this season. Criticism has been unavoidable.
The run has deposited Mowbray here in Hamburg on a mission that is plain enough. His side need three points from a side recently described by one German coach as "the best in the Bundesliga". It is an assignment no team in Europe would welcome. Celtic, though, have already triumphed in such intense circumstances this season, and in the equally hostile venue of Moscow.
Back on-the-record yesterday in Hamburg, Mowbray lived up to his promise of being less open with reporters, although it was a far from worthless exercise. Nothing could be without value when it involves the thoughtful Celtic manager, and he tackled the issues which others might have bristled at. He rejected any notion that the heat was on him personally as Celtic seek to salvage a bitterly disappointing European campaign in the German port city.
"Philosophical I would suggest is the word (to describe how I am feeling]," he said. "I understand the games we have played in and how they have panned out. We could easily be sitting here on six or seven points. We know we have only one. We have to accept that. That is a statistic which can't be twisted or bent, it's there in your face. But we will try and have four by tomorrow night."
His mood was not helped by the conversation turning to a recently released Uefa statistic which reveals Celtic to have had only 13 shots on target in three Europa Cup matches. It is the least of any club competing in the tournament, and highlights what needs to be rectified. Although their failures in central defence has been the topic of many post-match assessments, Celtic have struck just five times in seven matches in Europe this season. Mowbray, though, prefers to look at the bigger picture.
"I'm not interested to be honest," he said. "Someone told me on the flight coming over that Juventus have scored three goals in their four matches (in the Champions League] and have got eight points. It is all about the result, really. If we'd won all three games with just three shots you'd all be sitting here all happy."
It is a clearly helpful time to have his record signing available to him again, although Marc- Antoine Fortune did not mark himself out as an assassin in his initial five appearances before succumbing to a knee injury. He came on as substitute during the second-half of Saturday's 3-0 win over Kilmarnock, and offered glimpses of much more to come. His goal tally currently stands at two, but his ball retention skills could encourage Mowbray to hand him a first start since August tonight in the HSH Nordbank Arena.
"He's been working hard in training in the last two weeks," said Mowbray. "You don't get over your injury the next day. You train hard and try and build up to it. I would not have brought him here if I didn't think he could play some part of the match. The decision is whether we start him and bring him off or whether we put him on the bench and then bring him on. We'll make that decision tomorrow.
"But he's been out for nine weeks," the manager continued. "He's not a robot – he's a human being. I am sure he would like to be up to 100 per cent at this moment, but he's not. I think we saw at the weekend some of the talent he possesses and his ability to hold up the ball and spin away from people is very evident. I am looking forward to getting that back on the pitch on a regular basis."
Mowbray seems set to go with a system which, ostensibly at least, sees the employment of a lone striker, although Aiden McGeady will offer able support to either Fortune, Georgios Samaras or Scott McDonald. Marc Crosas looks set to start in midfield, alongside Landry N'Guemo. "We know that possession of the ball in Europe is important," explained Mowbray. "If we keep giving the ball back to quality footballers then they will find the avenues to hurt you."
"When you look at their (Hamburg's] record they score more goals than anyone else in their league but they also concede a few," he added. "You set up your team to either be attack-minded or you set up your team to be very defensive and try and nick a 0-1."
Either way, it seems, Mowbray can sense the prospect of an unlikely victory. There may yet be something in this hedonist's paradise to bring a smile to the manager's face.
