Celtic Players
There is a time to look back at a defeat, and there is a time to draw a line under it and get on with the business of being Celtic.
After that bloody 3–0 defeat to the Ibrox mob, I know exactly where I stand. I am still angry, still disappointed and still trying to understand how the champions of Scotland produced such a disjointed, fractured performance in a game that demanded so much more.
But the next two games are about making sure that defeat does not become the story of our season. Two games, both at Celtic Park, give us the opportunity to put things back on track. And, for God’s sake, Celtic, please learn the lessons first.
I am not interested in pretending that Sunday did not happen.
Celtic were nowhere near the level expected of us, and there is no point dressing that up in green and white ribbons. But I also refuse to allow one awful afternoon to define everything that Celtic are.
We have seen this team produce attacking football, score goals, show character and put together a run of results that reminded us why we are champions. We have seen new signings arrive with fresh energy and players who understand what it means to wear that famous shirt.
The season has not suddenly disappeared because of one defeat.
What matters now is what Celtic do with it.
A defeat can become a wound that refuses to heal, or it can become the foundation that makes a team stronger. We can continue fearing the worst, but we can also support the team and hope they turn it.
I want Martin O’Neill and his coaching staff to look at that performance with cold, honest eyes and ask the questions that need to be asked.
Why were Celtic so disconnected? Why did the midfield struggle to impose itself? Why did the team look so vulnerable when the game became intense, and why did we fail to respond when the Ibrox mob gained control?
Most importantly, what are we going to change? Because if the answer is simply “we need to play better”, then I am sorry, but that is not enough.
The Europa League opener against Ferencvaros at Celtic Park tonight gives Celtic an immediate opportunity to respond. A European victory will not magically erase the Ibrox defeat, but a strong performance from a team that looks organised, determined and hungry would give us something to build on.
I want Celtic to play with purpose from the first whistle. I want the midfield to take responsibility and the defence to look like a unit rather than a collection of players trying to solve problems individually. The attacking players need to move with confidence, and the whole team needs to understand exactly what it is trying to do.
Ferencvaros will not be coming to Celtic Park to admire the scenery. They will have their own plans, strengths and ideas about how to hurt us. Celtic must be ready for that, because the real question is whether we have learned anything from what has already happened.
That is what I will be watching for. Have O’Neill and his coaches taken the lessons from Sunday and used them to shape the team? Have they adjusted the tactics and given the players a better platform? Do we look more balanced and connected?
I have already said that I would not like to see a 4–3–3 used yet again, because I believe Celtic need to find another way of giving the midfield more control and the attacking players more freedom.
The current 4–3–3 is a fucking mess. The players seem unsure of their roles, the distances between them are wrong and the team lacks the intensity required to make it work.
But the formation itself is not a magic answer. Whatever shape we use, I want a Celtic side that presses together, defends together, attacks together and, when necessary, suffers together. That is what champions do.
If the coaching staff believe another formation is the right answer, then so be it. I am not married to a number on a tactics board. I am married to the idea of Celtic playing football that reflects the quality, ambition and mentality expected of this club.
We cannot simply repeat the same approach and hope that the result will be different. And whatever we learn against Ferencvaros will matter again on Sunday, when the Ibrox mob come to Celtic Park.
I know what some people will say: we should not be thinking about that game yet, Ferencvaros must come first and the players need to focus on one match at a time. Of course they do. But I am a Celtic supporter, and I am not going to pretend that the second meeting does not matter.
It matters enormously. We do not need to turn it into some kind of revenge mission, but we do need to show that last Sunday was not the true measure of this team.
Playing in front of our own supporters gives us an opportunity to restore some of the confidence that was shaken at Ibrox.
Celtic Park is our home, our Paradise, the place where the green and white Lion of Celtic Park should be roaring. It is where the players should feel the energy of the faithful and the opposition should feel the pressure. I want the players to use that support, knowing that we are behind them but that we expect more than excuses and empty words.
I am not asking for perfection. Football does not offer it, and I am not foolish enough to demand it. But I am asking for standards, a clear identity and the ability to respond when things go wrong.
The Ibrox defeat exposed weaknesses. Let us acknowledge them, work on them and make sure that the next time Celtic face that kind of pressure, the team is better prepared to deal with it. Because the season is not going to wait for us.
The Europa League is here, the domestic campaign is moving quickly and there is no time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves.
There is certainly no time for the coaching staff to ignore what happened. I want proper work on the training ground, tactical adjustments that make sense and players who understand what went wrong and what they must do differently.
So here is my English teacher verdict: Celtic have two opportunities to make a painful weekend the starting point for improvement. Ferencvaros is the first test; the Ibrox game is the second. Both will tell us something about the character of this team and the work of the people coaching it.
But I will not be satisfied with two wins alone if the performances show that Celtic have learned nothing. I want to see progress: a team that has taken the lessons from Sunday and become more organised, more resilient and more difficult to play against. That is what the champions of Scotland should be.
Put the weekend behind us, Celtic. Get the next two results and give us something to celebrate. But do not you dare forget what happened at Ibrox.
Learn the lessons, draw the proper conclusions and change what needs to be changed. Then, for God’s sake, show us the real champions of Scotland that I know are hidden somewhere inside this team.
Celtic, just do it for me. Do it for the rest of the faithful fans, for the green and white and for Paradise. Come on, the Boys. It’s high time to put things right!
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