CELTIC’S performance at Ibrox veered between incomprehensible and excruciating.
It was virtually impossible to fathom what was going on as the champions unravelled so spectacularly and inexplicably against injury-ravaged and toiling opponents who had dropped five points in their previous two league outings.
In the midst of landslide of queries in the fall-out of a disturbing exhibition, one thing is abundantly clear. If anyone representing Celtic in Govan yesterday is disillusioned to the extent they believe that level of obligation is acceptable then they are wasting their time at Parkhead.
This was an intolerable, inexcusable and insulting show to anyone with an affiliation to Celtic.
Too many players failed to stand up to be counted. It appeared that more than a few went in search of their own little pocket of anonymity to keep their heads beneath the parapet when the bullets were flying.
It’s well-nigh impossible to review the display and give anyone passmarks. Kasper Schmeichel couldn’t have done too much to prevent the goals, but alarmingly the keeper elected to punch far too often when it looked as though he could have held the ball to take the pressure off the guys in front of him.
Cameron Carter-Vickers was solid, as usual, but even the dependable defensive rock fell asleep at the crucial second goal when he allowed Robin Propper to get away from him to stab in the rebound from a Nico Raskin header following a near-post delivery from Vaclav Cerny’s right-wing corner-kick.
FREE HEADER…unmarked Nico Raskin gets in before Daizen Maeda to flash an effort at goal. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Robin Propper look on.
ON THE MOVE…Propper eases away from Carter-Vickers as Raskin’s header rebounds from Adam Idah and Kasper Schmeichel.
GOING IN…Carter-Vickers is slow to react as Propper thumps in the Ibrox club’s second goal.
Raskin has the stature of a pygmy in a packed penalty box, but he was allowed a free header smack in front of goal to trigger the opening for his colleague who was equally unattended at the backpost with the visitors’ defence in disarray.
Worryingly, the hosts won another corner-kick on the same wing shortly afterwards. Once again, it was swung in at pace by Cerny and, absurdly, Raskin was again allowed space before the ball was smuggled round the post by Adam Idah with the home contingent screaming for a penalty-kick.
The home players hollered and howled all afternoon for anything and everything. It was almost as though they were in sync and had all dutifully turned up for choir practice that morning.
There is a distinct lack of class around the place and that is mirrored in their charmless manager Philippe Clement. Ill-advisably, the Belgian shrieked for the expulsion of Alistair Johnston following a mid-air coming-together with Ianis Hagi, a performer who rarely awaits an invite to embrace the turf.
TOUCHLINE APPEAL…Philippe Clement looks to referee after Alistair Johnston’s clash with Ianis Hagi.
GETTING THE ELBOW…Clement demonstrates what he thinks of the Celt’s challenge.
Down went the Romanian as though mortally wounded and, ludicrously, on raced the Ibrox medics to make sure the player didn’t require mouth-to-mouth rescuscitation.
While he went through his dying swan act, Clement was throwing his arms around as he stood on the touchline re-enacting the movements of someone who had just utilised an elbow in an illegal fashion.
Thankfully, neither referee Don Robertson nor VAR assistant Nick Walsh bought the Hollywood histrionics of Hagi and there was no card of any colour for the Canadian.
Celtic may well have been within their rights to demand an explanation from the SFA after Nicolas Kuhn was hit flush of the face with a flailing arm from left-back Jefte. Blood spurting from the German’s snoot conclusively proved there had been contact on this occasion and the Brazilian was booked.
It was obviously deemed reckless, but others could argue it was dangerous.
WALLOP…Nicolas Kuhn gets a sore one from Jefte.
Naturally enough, though, there are other considerations that demand Celtic’s full attention at the moment.
How could a team that had gone six Premiership games without conceding a goal suddenly leak three in one match?
How could a team which had conceded a mere 10 goals in their previous 22 domestic games chuck three into their net in one outing?
How can a team that is struggling to score goals against anyone stuff six behind Schmeichel in two back-to-back meetings?
There is a lot for Brendan Rodgers to ponder as he re-examines the horror show in Govan.
It would be far too easy to take a scattergun to criticism of the players who had been fairly exemplary on the home front in 2024 and had, of course, delivered the three domestic trophies up for grabs.
Johnston and Kuhn normally dovetail well on the right flank, but on this occasion it looked as though they had just been introduced a handful of minutes before the kick-off.
The game passed by Greg Taylor and also his 64th-minute replacement, Alex Valle.
No-one can question the commitment of Liam Scales, but his composure is a different matter.
FRUSTRATION…Brendan Rodgers watches his Celtic team unravel at Ibrox.
The tactics of Clement in the last two derby confrontations have been fairly basic. Carter-Vickers and Scales are allowed to bring the ball out of defence and their passes are pounced upon by the Rangers midfielders who are primed to surge forward in unison at the precise moment the ball is intercepted.
That happened way too often at Hampden and Ibrox and, of course, the vital opening goal in the sixth minute came after a sloppy pass from Scales.
It was the first of few from the player and I had to wonder why Rodgers paid £6million to Sheffield United for Auston Trusty on deadline day to leave him sitting on the bench on this occasion. It was clear the earnest Republic of Ireland international could not find an acceptable range of passing with any sort of precision.
Trusty had played in the first-half of the Premier Sports League Cup Final against Rangers before being hooked to make way for Scales. Some work is required in this position or Celtic will be in a permanent state of flux when moves break down in the middle of the park.
Reo Hatate’s shift was a mixture of awful and atrocious and the Japanese ace’s perplexing continuous gifting of possession aided Celtic’s opponents without them having to work for the ball.
Paulo Bernardo was uncomfortable with Raskin, Hagi and Mo Diomande snapping around his heels during his time on the park.
Daizen Maeda looked lively for all of two minutes before deciding to reward himelf with the rest of the day off. The normally-reliable flanker was so innocuous in this game that left-sided Ridvan Yilmaz, playing as a makeshift right-back, was allowed to gallop forward to put pressure on Schmeichel.
Outrageously, the Turkish defender had six shots at the Celtic goal while Rodgers’ men had a mere one on target all day. That was the effort from Hatate on the stroke of half-time when he attempted a first-time volley from the edge of the box.
Unfortunately, he hit the ball into the ground to take the sting out of the attempt and stand-in No.1 Liam Kelly, a bang average keeper at best, was allowed to save.
GREEN FOR GO…Kasper Schmeichel dives to his left to push away a drive from Ridvan Yilmaz.
Kuhn lost the ball on countless occasions and did little to help his midfield or defence while Kyogo Furuhashi’s touch was out. That was demonstrated with a fresh-air swipe at Maeda’s only telling cross from the left inside two minutes and again just moments later when he was slow to react to a cunning McGregor delivery from the right.
As luck would have it, the only time the little striker got his angles and cohesion spot on saw him control and flick the ball over Kelly into the net in the 53rd minute only to be ruled quite correctly offside.
Anyone whisked away on a cloud of euphoria and delirium thinking the Premiership silverware is leaving the Parkhead trophy cabinet any time soon should be ready for a bump when reality sets in.
One section of Glasgow can enjoy bragging rights for the time being. It won’t mean a jot come May when the trophy is bedecked in green-and-white ribbons for the fourth year in succession.
That fact, though, should not disguise the requirement in an overhaul in the manager’s thinking in strategies in these particular encounters.
Plan A didn’t work yesterday and it wasn’t overly convincing at Hampden, either, when it went to expertise from the penalty spot – scoring and saving – to bring home the League Cup.
Over to you, Brendan.
ALEX GORDON
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