SOMETHING’S NOT RIGHT AT CELTIC, BUT WHAT IS IT?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Yesterday’s defeat to St. Johnstone was a poor result, taken in isolation.
However, looking at the wider picture it points to a concerning overall decline in Celtic’s standards over the past couple of months.
Something just isn’t right with the team right now, and there’s a number of factors that could be in play. But what are they, and how do we fix them?
Slow Start and Laborious Performance Catches Celtic Out Yet Again
Now, as much as the media will, I’m sure, do their level best to try and spin this into a club-wide crisis (cracked club crests on the back pages and all that), we are nowhere near that stage yet.
We’ve lost a few games and badly underperformed in others, even when we’ve eventually won. Thankfully, our closest challengers have, for the most part, been just as bad, or worse.
That can’t go on forever though, especially if, as we’ve been getting told for months now, major investment at Ibrox is supposedly imminent.
Whatever the issues are at Celtic, we need to get them sorted now before it has a serious impact on our competitive edge.
The league title remains a formality, but the cup is by no means guaranteed, and the Champions League Qualifiers at the start of next season are my biggest worry right now.
So, what is going wrong?
I personally think it’s a number of issues at play. So, let’s try to break them down one by one.
Some players’ minds appear to be elsewhere.
I don’t want to question players’ professionalism or commitment, but often if a player intends to leave, even at a subconscious level, he may switch off and not hit the same performance levels he did previously.
Indicators seem to suggest this may be the case with Nicholas Kuhn. Up until Christmas, I would have said he was a player of the year contender. Now, I’m not even sure he deserves a starting place.
His ability is undeniable, and as I said, I don’t think he’s intentionally not giving his all on the park. However, speculation has been rife that he’s away in the summer, and current form seems to point towards that speculation unsettling the player.
The sad reality is for Kuhn though, unless he can recapture that early season form, which led to the subsequent transfer speculation in the first place, he’s not going to get the move to a bigger league that he wants.
As much as I hate to say it, I see something similar in Cameron Carter-Vickers.
His form has also dipped considerably of late, and I have to wonder, is it because he’s thinking of moving on. Again, this is total speculation on my part.
There is nothing from the player or his representatives to suggest he’s unhappy, I’m just going by what I see on the park.
Beyond transfer speculation, is this simply a case of arrogance and hubris on Celtic’s part?
We’ve known pretty much since January that the league was a foregone conclusion, and yet we still haven’t been able to get it over the line.
Brendan Rodgers said as much in his post-match comments yesterday. He was visibly angry as he discussed the attitude and application shown by the players yesterday.
Expect a few squad rotations ahead of the next game.
Of course, the manager himself cannot escape scrutiny either.
Look, Brendan Rodgers is an elite level manager, and his trophy record at Celtic speaks for itself.
Additionally, this season he also restored some European pride to the Celtic support with a hugely encouraging Champions League campaign.
But games like yesterday do leave me wondering. Does the manager have a “Plan B” for when teams like St Johnstone nick an early goal and then just slam the defensive barn door shut?
Our two most convincing wins recently, against Hearts in the league and Hibs in the Cup share a common denominator.
Both those teams came out and had a go at Celtic. This made for a more entertaining game to watch, but it also made it much easier for Celtic to play to our strengths, get in behind their defences and score a few goals.
We need to revaluate our tactics. Rangers have beaten us twice now by being nothing more than solid and physical.
St Johnstone achieved something similar yesterday.
It’s only a matter of time until every team in the league starts approaching Celtic this way. We need to be ready and we need to adapt for that possibility.
We will still be champions within a matter of days, but the players, the manager and the board need to act on these early warning signs, before next season brings a real crisis to Celtic.