The concerns you and I have discussed for weeks were ruthlessly exposed at Ibrox yesterday. Sam Johnstone was blameless for the three goals, however, instead of inspiring confidence in his defence, the keeper looked the most nervous man on the field.
It was when trying to play out from the back four minutes into the game that Johnstone passed directly to an opponent inside his own box. From that moment, Celtic were more vulnerable in possession than out.
A month from now, Martin might have Yang and Jota to choose from on the left, both have a robustness in the challenge which Sebastian Tounekti does not possess. The winger looked forlorn. Seb, though, should not be singled out for criticism. Despite the forward talent they have, Celtic did not pose a genuine attacking threat in the game. The core problem is structural.
For getting on two years, you and I have discussed how opponents have figured out that if they man-to-man to press Celtic, they can cause real problems. The triangular passing into space that proved so effective previously, has gone. No one breaks the lines, beats a man in the middle of the park, or takes an opponent out of play.
As a consequence of this yesterday, Newco were able to pair-up out of possession and wait for one of Celtic’s ‘pass around the corner’ attempts offering an opportunity to intercept.
Colby Donovan did well, several solid challenges and Celtic’s best pass of the day, into Kasper Hogh, who stumbled. Liam Scales confirmed Martin made the correct decision selecting him in central defence, when he cleared a shot off the line after a latter goalkeeper aberration. We got nothing from the forwards but I feel the burden of responsibility lies elsewhere. Play failed before it reached them.
To be clear: Callum McGregor, Mika Baur and Benjamin Nygren is not an effective midfield. It lacks movement and physicality. Martin can deploy different faces on the wing and through the middle for this week’s games, but without fixing this core issue, we can expect more of the same.
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Who’s Scott Johnstone; a new signing ??
Gene
It sure was
Maybe a strong defensive mid would have helped – been lacking for years
KINGLUBO on 14th September 2026 12:05 pm
I’ve been wrong many times in my life, and could be wrong again, but I think Martin is simply Mr Motivator, that’s all, nothing more and Maloney & Co do the rest, as I say, my opinion only.
And one more thing, if they are not going to play CalMac in an advanced midfield role, then don’t play him, for his own sake.
I go on about Odin Holm, not sure of his fitness, but the guy from what I’ve seen has tonnes of dig and a solid defensive midfielder.
kingLUBO
Get Sinisalo back in goals now
Paul; you suggest Johnstone’s errant pass as the moment the game’s entire momentum shifted.
In wur other ‘big game disappointment’, it was Nygren’s “passus horribilus” that started the Lask loss.
What kind of richly assembled and handsomely rewarded team lets its collective heads drop due to a simple error? Given that you cite the Johnstone pass, and I raise you Nygren afore it, is the problem between the players ears and in their hearts rather than ‘structural’ ? Where’s Lenny’s psychologist when we need him ?
How many of our bhoys – Colby, Haissem or Liam aside – can channel some of that mongrel quality the huns often bring to these depressing Ibrox tussles ? Why can’t they learn from these repeat humiliations ?
If more of our bhoys could battle, we shirley wouldn’t need the mythical Wanyama type enforcer many still pine for. These are good players; better than FC Sevco’s.
It’s attitude and application that’s missing; and that’s purely mental.
MentalAsAnything CSC
Team set up and game plan down to the manager, whoever that is….
If they don’t change for next week then its dereliction of duty, a charge levelled at Brendan Rodgers many times on here.
Fresh wee rash of hun infiltrators this morning
HH
Fresh wee rash of heads not stuck in the sand more like…
The CEO didn’t give MON the number 6 he wanted, likewise the left back Sarrachi.
But allowing for that, MON has still failed monumentally to fix a problem every supporter has identified. McInnes is now a tactical genius and the Huns have ben rescued.
Martin’s comment about this being a “wake up call”….the Lask embarrassment and all of the many chances we have afforded our opponents were surely being noticed…….very worrying comment.
Credit where it’s due, Paul, you called this weeks ago: https://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/the-new-klopp-set-to-loom-over-celtic/
Midfield has been an issue for some time, although of course we did manage to get Luke McCowan onto an extended deal.
No proper DM or ball-carrier for years. Someone like Mahmic would have been an asset in testing their man-marking with his ability to run forward with the ball.
But we were never going to fix the 3-4 years of timid windows in one go.
Mr Magoo could see that midfield doesn’t work. It’s effectively a two man midfield, neither of whom can tackle, win a header or a second ball. Fine against Falkirk at home, not so much LASK or the huns away. That NOTHING was learned from LASK worries me greatly. I am less than confident the correct lessons will be learned from yesterday and we’ll persist with Maloney’s hopeless goal kick routine amongst other calamities. Expect MO’N and Maloney to double down on yesterday’s car crash of a midfield next weekend.
PS we could have had Saracchi but instead we have Lotomba. Why?
I can’t help wondering whether the talking-to given to Celtic players by the polis contributed to our “meek” performance. MON called it timely instead of saying it was the Huns who should be telling their supporters to behave. When have Celtic players ever provoked those sensitive souls at the Bigotdome?
Calmac’s advice to “stay calm” had the same effect. The advice from MON and Calmac should have been that the team that wants it more wins this fixture.
I wonder whether the Huns will be asked by the polis to be good wee boys at Celtic Park next weekend?
2 big games, twice bottled it.
I said after Lask, I don’t trust the management and I don’t trust those players.
Nothing has changed.
No physical presence and no tacklers.
You have to win the individual battles to win the war.
Oh, and you can single out Tounetki. He’s a shitebag!
Was talking of real huns ONIL,not non attending for years now telly shooters like you..
onenightinlisbon on 14th September 2026 12:17 pm
Fresh wee rash of heads not stuck in the sand more like…
You do not go near Celtic, how many years is that now?
Are you still boycotting?
Does telly shouting work?
Are attending Celtic fans still “part of the problem”?
Your words
ONIL you are the same greetin faced bassa,girn girn girn
As ever,regardless of yesterdays result.You will be popping out in Oz soon on the headteacher.
An Tearmann on 14th September 2026 12:36 pm
Sorry for not coming up to your high standards, but I, unlike yourself accept that all opinions are welcome on here.
I’m gonnae record myself shouting ‘FFS close him down , don’t let him shoot !’ and play it back during games .
Save me ending up hoarse after matches .
“A month from now, Martin might have Yang and Jota to choose from on the left, both have a robustness in the challenge which Sebastian Tounekti does not possess”
Yang has no greater skill set than Seb. He just works much harder
Jota’s first touch and awareness are so good he rarely concedes possession.
Only one of the two above can be realistically learned.
Or to borrow the rugby quote (again) ….
“Be the best at everything that requires no talent”
We all know ,except the management it seems , that the midfield is a serious problem ..
Yesterday I thought the biggest mistakes was changing the goalkeeper and playing Tounekti who is a absolute shitbag,HH
If only someone could have pointed out the fact that we were lacking in the middle of the park before the last 3 windows slammed shut.
Sheesh CSC
Paul 67,
A few points if I may :
If Lask wasn’t the wake up call then nothing will wake us up.
From four goals up our capitulation hemorrhaged just shy of £1 m per minute.
To be brutally blunt, Yesterday just showed lessons weren’t learnt. :-
Ill judged goalkeeper decision which has probably unsettled both keepers.
Why could our leaders not see what all fans could see that our midfield were being overrun.
When failures are so obvious. Why not change it nomatter the time on the clock.
We have the highest earner who cannot play 90 minutes. Opposition know this and plan accordingly.
How will we ever get a decent LB when we are already paying a fortune for the position. A double edged sword indeed.
A valued strikeforce who seem unable to strike on the ” bigger” stage.
We seem physically and mentally weak for an elavated occasion.
Possibly the scoreline flattered us yesterday, it was that bad. I cannot remember winning any 50 /50 balls.
The consolation I have it was a ” lesser” cup. This is not Hindsight as many of us have repeatedly stated that the League and European progress must be our priority.
Our mindset when outwith our comfort zone is highly questionable. Not fot the first time I call for some motivational psychological assistance.
I am not convinced that even if we had spent another £30 on players our mindset would differ. Even some of the world’s best players look ineffectual if the tactics are totally inept.
We are in an area I didn’t want us to be in regarding MON. Who at the club would have the balls to tell a living legend to consider his position, even if deemed necessary.?
Two very difficult games loom large. Let’s see if finally we have learned lessons.
HH.
What I wouldn’t give for an Ange type manager coaching this team . I remember in one of his first coaching sessions him telling the players (paraphrased) they should be switched on all the time no matter where the ball is or which side has it , be involved in the game ALL the time , if not you shouldn’t be on the pitch . Also him screaming at Stephen Welsh ” pass the F***king ball forward ,not back!” This team does not respond to passivity from the sidelines , instead they just follow suit .
Did the polis visit before LASK away?
It’s naw the cops. It’s no DM & an incoherent squad built by the same folk who gave us Wilfy Nonsense.
Waking up a Tim & being champions won’t make our midfield solid or give Seb courage.
Repetitive errors suggest systemic problems. Errors that some have been pointing out for some time now.
If it wasn’t for the fact we made a profit in the window i’d be utterly despondent. Priorities.
BABA 71
If it wasn’t for the fact we made a profit in the window i’d be utterly despondent. Priorities.
=====================================================
Love it !-))
Smiles have been few and far between since Sunday .
How many times did Scales trip over the ball yesterday,?
An Tearmann on 14th September 2026 12:36 pm
Sorry for not coming up to your high standards, but I, unlike yourself accept that all opinions are welcome on here.
You personify the opinion and asshole debate.
Your opinion is unchanged,girn,repeat
You still do not attend.You do not say how many years now your telly shoutins goin on? Yet as a standard setting telly shouter you think folk goin to see Celtic are part of the problem.
Celtic I go to see need support.They will get it.
Have a beer on Thurs,put the emptys in the bin,make sure telly’s insured.:-))
HH
I expected a very tough game yesterday. However, that performance was devastatingly bad.
Unlike LASK, I don’t see too many of our fans being willing to talk up Sevco as a good team…that’ll be difficult given what we’ve seen from them this season.
For me, we’ve been soundly beaten with systemic failures evident against two very average teams.
Like LASK, MoN was unable to stem the flow of the match or do anything of note to bring us into the game. He may as well have been sat on the kings road sipping a coffee for all the impact he had on the sideline.
I don’t think it’s possible to over state the danger our season is now in. If only it were as simple as changing the midfield line up – we’re all over the place. An incoherent mess.
Within the last two years I recall Atalanta away, Munich away, Zagreb away, Belgrade away, unbeaten in all those games. This team is nowhere near that level of performance.
We look a broken side. We can’t defend. We can’t press. Players look unfit.
I also expect this to get worse. Our fixture list significantly gets tougher over the next few weeks.
Our biggest miss yesterday was Ange Postecoglou. Just my opinion.
Three, that would be 3 things I have harked on about for years and still do cos they have not been solved, well No.1 has been from time to time.
1. Win the midfield win the game
2. We need a granny eating def midfielder
3. I STRONGLY disagreed with Mr Stein when he said that we need to score more than the oppo to take the referee out of the equation, we should have a level playing field, nothing more nothing less, that is down to the suits to facilitate this, they have, and all the others that have gone before them failed big time, it should be as simple as producing the dossier that Dr John told everyone we were in possession of and obviously add an updated one.
It should be that simple, but it would derail the OF so it will never happen, how sad that in 2026 we are at this juncture.
An Tearmann on 14th September 2026 1:38 pm
You know nothing about me yet try to lecture me.
No idea why you think you are in any position to comment about how “worthy” a supporter I am.
Just get off your high horse son…
fieldofdrams on 14th September 2026 1:46 pm
Our biggest miss yesterday was Ange Postecoglou. Just my opinion
100%, or someone in that mould.
kinglubo
Odin Holm had surgery during the summer and is back playing some football on loan (from us).
Suffered from both ‘Chronic Exertion Compartment Syndrome’ and ‘Popliteal Artery Entrapment System’ affecting both his calf muscles. restricted blood flow, increased pressure, localised swelling etc.
Might not the answer to the problems facing our midfield at the present time…..
A very tough watch yesterday. I switched off at 3-0, couldnt stand it and tbh we were lucky to get out at 3-0.
The folly of the MoN/Maloney appointment has been written all over our last 3 weeks but the selection and non tactics of yesterday was simply defies belief – did they think that Ragers at home with no away fans would sit back and let us have the ball and that our sand dancers were just the thing for the job in hand?
The dogs in the street knew they would come out all guns blazing and that we needed our fittest, strongest and most athletic players to start so the MoN/Maloney axis chose Tounekti and Nygren, I mean WTF?? Having said that we don’t have many fit, strong athletic types as we don’t have a sensible short/medium/long term recruitment strategy and on top of that we don’t have the Head of Football, Head of Recruitment to come up with and/or implement it.
As for tactics, we don’t have any unless “give it to the winger and hope he beats someone” is considered tactics? It is tragic – we are a one trick pony and when that doesn’t work we are in trouble.
Lets get this right – the football management team yesterday
1. Picked the wrong team
2. Picked the wrong tactics
3. Failed to see it wasn’t working and we were getting totally outplayed
4. Failed to change shape based on what was happening
5. Failed to make substitutes that had any impact on the game
Is any of that unfair?
All hail the Ragers and the genius that is DMc for going man for man at the back – a super risky formation and one that any attacker worth their salt should relish but you have to move, you can’t just stand there and allow yourself to be marked. Drop short and a team mate moves toward your spot and ball get played into the space you’ve just created. Runs lines out to in and in to out to move defenders around, take them into areas they not meant to be in and play the ball into the spaces your colleagues are running into. This is basic stuff and tbh players should recognize this and do it themselves but FFS if the management can’t see the issue and implement a change WTF are the doing?
The club is a mess and DD is responsible. Keeping Nicholson etc. in place is a joke and the fact they cannot get replacements speaks volumes about how the business is dominated by DD.
Having no high end football people working the direction and strategy is another warning sign that professional people will not work in those conditions.
The lack of a serious recruitment process for new football management having had months to do so was lazy and hugely unambitious but no surprise.
Failing to fill the very obvious gaps in the squad with the correct profile of player is again no surprise.
We did sign a few good attacking options and they will come good i’m sure but sadly will not be enough as we are very weak elsewhere unless we can win 5-4 every week…..
Yesterday was terrible but not a surprise – well not to people that have watched us for the past year….
Apathy setting in for me i’m afraid – would love to be a bit more opTIMistic but just can’t see it with this management and defence and middies we have available
I watched the extended highlights (21 minutes) at lunchtime.
Baur should be getting some acknowledgement. The bhoy was everywhere.
Check out this for example at 57 minutes: https://youtu.be/FSE-eeHaTWY?t=722
He’s on the 18 yard line when Fernandez clears the ball. Watch what he does next, and indeed, what others don’t.
Repeatedly in these highlights he’s the guy trying to make the difference when we’re out of possession.
Perhaps it’s a Baur-friendly edit, but I’m not seeing the same level of effort from others in the hoops.
Moisey17 on 14th September 2026 2:12 pm
Spot on.
Everyone knows why Daddy Desmond appointed Martin.
Martin referring to him as the “owner” speaks volumes as well.
Imagine Rodgers had come away with results like Lask and Sevco and responded with the comment “it’s a wake up call”….
Martin is a legend, he should have simply walked away at the end of last season and left the suits high and dry….