Player ratings in the German media work quite differently to elsewhere, and Celtic have been on the wrong end of them at various points over the past decade or so.
Whilst most ratings are out of 10, or sometimes 5, Bild use the German school grading system. 1 means very good, 2 is good, 3 is average, 4 is passable but still lacking, 5 is deficient and 6 is insufficient.
A 6 is the lowest possible grade and, taking it back to the school grades, it means that not only were things not up to standard, but there was even a failure to understand the basics.
Following Celtic’s 7-1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in October, the judgement was damning.
Greg Taylor started as a left-back and got the worst rating of 6, indicating there was a ‘failure to understand basics’ of the game.
Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kühn, Arne Engels, Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Alistair Johnston were rated 5. Manager Brendan Rodgers was also rated 5.
Well, things are very different this morning.
Wednesday’s edition of Bild is full of praise for Celtic after they beat RB Leipzig 3-1.
Nicolas-Gerrit Kühn was given 1, the best possible mark… as was Brendan Rodgers. Kasper Schmeichel, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Callum McGregor and Reo Hatate all got 2.
This version of Celtic is being celebrated in Germany, and it feels a long way away from the beginning of October.
