Celtic beat Falkirk 2-1, but was that performance really enough?

Celtic beat Falkirk 2-1 at Celtic Park. Three points, another league victory, three wins from three in the Scottish Premiership and Camilo Duran with another brilliant performance and two goals to his name. Job done, right?

Well, yes. But also, no.

I am going to be honest here because I don’t want to dress everything up in green and white simply because Celtic won. Celtic did what Celtic had to do. They won the game, took another three points and responded to that absolutely catastrophic European night against LASK with a victory. For that, I am pleased.

But was the performance good enough? Did Celtic show everything they could? Did I see that hunger, that aggression, that strength, that absolute refusal to accept anything less than victory? Did I see the champions’ mentality?

Honestly? No.

This is where my instincts start screaming at me again, because I don’t want Celtic to become a club which is satisfied with being good enough in Scotland. I don’t want Celtic to look like champions at Celtic Park and then somehow transform into something completely different the moment we cross the border.

I want more. I expect more. After everything that happened against LASK, I think we are perfectly entitled to demand more.

Still, three points, and thank God for that. Let me start with the positives because I am not going to be ridiculous. Celtic won, and that matters. After the psychological and sporting disaster of throwing away a four-goal aggregate advantage against LASK and crashing out of the Champions League, Celtic desperately needed to get back onto the pitch and win a football match. They did that.

Camilo Duran was magnificent again. Two goals, two moments of quality and two more reminders of why I have been so excited about this player since he arrived. The first came after only four minutes and the second before the half-hour mark, giving Celtic the 2-0 lead which ultimately won the game.

Duran is quickly becoming one of the biggest positives in this Celtic team, and I absolutely love seeing that. I want players who want the ball, who attack defenders and who smell danger and think, “I am going to score here.”

Duran has shown that instinct. He has shown hunger, personality and, perhaps most importantly, he looks like a player who believes he belongs here.

So, Camilo, take a bow. You did your job and helped Celtic avoid what could easily have become another incredibly frustrating afternoon.

But Celtic as a team? That is where I am still not entirely convinced.

Beating Falkirk keeps us going domestically. But is that really the limit this board is reaching for? We looked a much lesser team when the subs came on.

This is the question I cannot get out of my head; is there really forward motion here? We know we can dominate domestically. Absolutely. We have done it for years. Celtic are the biggest force in Scottish football. We know how this works.

Celtic go into most domestic matches expecting to win because we have the better squad, the bigger resources, the bigger stadium, the bigger support and an expectation that three points are not a bonus but the minimum requirement.

Yesterday, Celtic got those three points.

But here is my problem: Europe doesn’t care about any of that.

Europe doesn’t care how many league titles Celtic have won. It doesn’t care how intimidating Celtic Park can be, or that 60,000 supporters can make Paradise shake. Europe asks a completely different question: can you compete here?

Can you survive when the opposition has better players? Can you play away from home? Can you deal with pressure, defend properly and manage a game? Can you show mentality when everything starts going wrong? Can you kill a tie when you have the opportunity instead of panicking and disintegrating?

Can you remain calm? Can you play football with courage rather than fear? That is exactly where Celtic have failed us far too often.

I don’t want Celtic to be a big fish in a tiny pond. I want Celtic to be capable of swimming in the ocean. We need major surgery if that’s going to happen.

Of course, we must conquer here in Scotland, yes, but more and more Celtic fans want us to go beyond Scotland. We want European nights that actually mean something, and we want Celtic to walk into stadiums across the continent without looking like frightened tourists who have accidentally wandered into somebody else’s Champions League match.

I want the Celtic shirt to mean something again outside Glasgow because Celtic should be capable of more. That is why the LASK disaster hurts so much. It isn’t simply about losing a football match or missing out on Champions League money. It is about mentality, standards and what Celtic thinks it is.

If we are genuinely a club which wants to compete at the highest level, throwing away a four-goal advantage simply cannot be normal. It cannot be brushed aside, and it cannot be followed by a domestic victory and then forgotten.

That is why I watched Celtic against Falkirk differently. I wasn’t simply watching the result. I was watching for signs that Celtic had learned something, that something had changed and that the players had that fire in their bellies.

I saw some of it. I didn’t see enough.

Falkirk improved considerably after the break and pulled one back through Colby Donovan’s own goal in the 72nd minute. Celtic ultimately held on, but the second half was nothing like the commanding response I wanted to see after what happened in Austria.

Celtic, don’t confuse winning with progress This is probably the most important thing I want to say: winning is not automatically progress.

Sometimes winning simply means you did what you were supposed to do. Yesterday, Celtic were supposed to beat Falkirk at Celtic Park. They did.

Excellent. Three points secured. But don’t tell me that because Celtic won 2-1 everything is suddenly fine. It isn’t.

I am not interested in pretending. I am not interested in putting a pretty green ribbon around Celtic’s problems. I want them fixed. Because the real test isn’t whether Celtic can beat Falkirk at Paradise. The real test is whether Celtic can take the right mentality into European football and carry it away from Glasgow.

I return to Camilo Duran because, despite all my criticism, there are things which give me genuine hope. This boy has arrived and he is showing something. He is scoring goals, taking responsibility and becoming decisive.

Yesterday’s double took him to five goals already this season.

I want more players like that. I want players who don’t need Celtic Park to give them courage. I want players who bring their own courage with them. That is what European football requires.

You cannot depend on 60,000 Celtic supporters to rescue you every time. You cannot depend on Paradise. At some point, the players have to carry Celtic inside them.

That is the difference. So, was Celtic good enough?

Good enough to beat Falkirk? Yes. Good enough to satisfy me completely? No. Good enough to make me forget LASK? Absolutely not.

Celtic secured the three points, Duran was the hero and the league campaign remains perfect after three matches. Domestically, the start is exactly what it should be.

I will happily take that.

But I refuse to lower my standards simply because we won.

Paradise is our home. It should not be our limit. I want Celtic to conquer Glasgow, then Scotland, then Europe. Yes, perhaps I am dreaming, but why shouldn’t I? Why shouldn’t Celtic supporters demand more? Why shouldn’t we expect this club to have ambition beyond winning another Scottish Premiership title?

Yesterday Celtic did what they had to do. They won, Camilo Duran gave us the goals and the three points are safely in the bag. But I am looking beyond the table. I am looking beyond Celtic Park. I am looking beyond Paradise.

Because my question hasn’t changed: Celtic, what do you want to be?

I know what I want. I certainly don’t want Celtic to spend another season being kings of Scotland and strugglers in Europe. I want the real Celtic back. The Celtic with hunger, strength, courage and that bloody champions’ mentality.

Yesterday, I saw glimpses of it. But I am still waiting to see the whole thing. We all are.

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