Ferencvaros have warned us. Celtic’s coaching team better heed that.

Last night, there was one of those moments that makes you sit up, put down your coffee and think, “For God’s sake, really?” That was my first thought when I read that Ferencvaros has briefed the media about how they intend to approach tomorrow’s game.

“Are you actually giving us your own blueprint?” I thought.

Well, yes. And no. In fact, it’s a warning … and it’s the best one we’re going to get.

Our opponents have told us they know where our weaknesses are. They have looked at the way we play, identified the spaces, the habits and the vulnerabilities, and now they are coming to Paradise with a plan.

And I have to say, I find that both worrying and, in a strange way, useful. It worrying because we know LASK identified them and the Ibrox club identified them and every other rival can see them too. But that surely means our own management team can as well.

If I were marking Celtic’s recent performances, I would not be writing, “Good effort, but perhaps a little more work is needed.” No. I would be writing in large red letters across the page: “The structure is not working. The connection between the parts is missing. Reassessment required immediately.”

I am not saying that because I enjoy criticising Celtic. I am saying it because I want Celtic to win football matches. I want the Bhoys in green and white to go into Europe with a champion’s mentality, not with a system that every opponent can read like an open book. And Ferencvaros have just told us they have been reading.

I find it almost extraordinary that we are at a point where an opponent can speak so openly about Celtic’s weaknesses, as if they either don’t expect us to fix our problems or because they don’t believe that we can.

Of course, every team analyses its next opponent. That is football. But when you hear that Ferencvaros believe they know where Celtic can be hurt, I cannot help thinking: then what are we doing to make sure those weaknesses are no longer there tomorrow night?

Because I do not want Celtic to walk into this match with the same predictable patterns, the same disjointed movement and the same tactical uncertainty we have seen haunt us already. I want to see a team that has been working behind closed doors. A team that has looked at the footage, looked at the mistakes and said, “Right. Enough. We are not doing this again.” That is what I expect from a club of Celtic’s stature.

And if Celtic lose heavily to Ferencvaros, I honestly believe there will be no hiding place for the coaching staff.

Not because one defeat should automatically decide anyone’s future, but because this is not just about losing a football match. It is about whether Celtic have learned anything from the matches that have already exposed the same problems.

We have seen what happens when Celtic play this way.

We saw it against the Ibrox mob. We saw it against LASK in the Champions League qualifying campaign. And I am sorry, but I cannot simply look at those performances and say, “Well, perhaps it was just one of those days.” No. I see a pattern.

If I were in the coaching room at Celtic Park, I would be asking some very direct questions. What is the plan when the opposition presses us? What is the plan when they cut off the passing lanes? What is the plan when our midfield is overrun? What is the plan when our wide players are isolated?

And, most importantly, what is the plan when the opponent has already worked out exactly how we want to play? Because this is where I believe Celtic need to be much more intelligent. We cannot simply keep doing the same thing and hope that the next opponent will be less prepared than the previous one.

I want Celtic to prepare a secret plan behind closed doors. I want the coaching staff to change the tactics, change the coaching approach and, if necessary, change the formation.

For me, the 4-3-3 is something Celtic should seriously consider ditching. I am not saying that there is a magic formula that will suddenly solve every problem. But I do believe Celtic need to find a structure that gives the team balance, width, midfield control and, crucially, connections between the players.

Because right now, too often, I look at Celtic and feel that the parts are not working together. The defence is one thing. The midfield is another. The attack is another. And somewhere in between, the football becomes disconnected. That is not how a team with a champion’s mentality should look.

I keep coming back to the LASK defeat because I think it tells us something important. Another European night. Another opportunity to show that Celtic had learned, adapted and grown. But instead, I saw complete collapse, and what worries me is not that night but the before it and after it. In the run-up to the game, in spite of a 3-0 loss in the first leg, the LASK manager was totally confident of going through. We were that easy to read.

The Ibrox manager exploited exactly the same gaps on Sunday. Now yet another club is telling us straight, “We know how we’re going to beat you.” And if we persist with the same style and system, I have no doubt at all that they will.

I am not interested in pretending that everything is fine because Celtic are still capable of beating domestic opponents. Of course we can beat teams. We are Celtic. We have quality. We have talented players. We have players who can produce moments of brilliance.

But European football is different and we can really get hurt there. It exposes you. It asks whether your midfield can control the game, whether your defence can withstand pressure, whether your attack can create chances against a well-organised opponent and whether your coaching staff can respond when the first plan is not working.

And that is why it matters so much. Ferencvaros are not coming to Paradise to admire the green and white. They are coming to exploit the gaps they’ve told us they see. So, I want Celtic to make sure those weaknesses are no longer there.

If Celtic continue playing in the same way, every single rival will know how to beat us. They will know where to press. They will know which spaces to attack. They will know how to isolate our players and how to disrupt our rhythm.

And Celtic cannot allow that to happen.

We are the champions of Scotland. We are a club that should be growing in power, not becoming easier to read. We should be developing a style of football that opponents fear, not one they can dissect before the first whistle.

I want the Bhoys to be unpredictable. I want them to be able to change the tempo, change the shape, change the point of attack. I want Celtic to have more than one way of winning a football match. That is what separates a good team from a truly dangerous one. And I believe Celtic have the players to do it.

But players need a structure. They need a plan. They need to know where their teammates are going to be. They need to trust that when they make a run, someone will see it; when they press, someone will cover them; when they lose the ball, the team will react together. At the moment, I am not convinced that we are seeing enough of that.

So here is my verdict, and I am going to be blunt.

Celtic cannot afford another performance that looks like the Ibrox defeat or the LASK loss. Not if we want to be taken seriously in Europe. Not if we want to build a team with a champion’s mentality. Not if we want to show that last season’s success was the beginning of something bigger, rather than a chapter we are now struggling to follow.

I want the coaching staff to be brave. I want them to look at the formation. I want them to look at the tactics. I want them to look at the way the midfield is functioning, the way the attack is connecting and the way the team reacts when the opposition puts us under pressure. And if that means changing the system, then change it.

If that means changing the coaching approach, then change it.

Because the worst thing Celtic can do now is continue to be this predictable.

Ferencvaros have given us the warning. They have told us where they think they can hurt us. If those gaps remain on Thursday night there is no blaming the players or anyone else; this will be on the coaching team.

I want Celtic to take that blueprint, study it, tear it up and write a new one. One that says: “You may know what our weaknesses were, but you will not know what they are.”

That is the Celtic I want to see on Thursday.

It is the Celtic I will be demanding from the first whistle.

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