ALISTAIR JOHNSTON was in no mood to search for excuses after suffering his first derby defeat in 11 outings.
The Canadian international right-back suffered in the general melee of a team that failed to respond to the basic tactics of spirited opponents who rampaged to a 3-0 victory at Ibrox.
Johnston, like his team-mates, was way off the pace and his usual precision in passing was missing as the champions lost their way in a contest where they rarely competed in the manner expected of the nation’s dominant team.
Brendan Rodgers’ men were all too easily brushed aside and conceded the midfield early in the match with captain Callum McGregor left with too much to cope with as he was left bereft of support.
It was an eye-opening x-certificate display from the visitors who appeared to take stage-fright in the midst of a toxic atmosphere.
HEADS I WIN…Alistair Johnston comes out on top on this occasion as he clears from Ianis Hagi.
The Hoops went into the match with a 14-point advantage which may have psychologically worked against them and there can be no argument this was a bizarrely tame showing from a team heading for their fourth successive title.
Johnston reflected on a dreadful way to kick off 2025 and said: “I don’t think complacency is the word. They punished us and, unfortunately, we couldn’t find a way to get to grips with the game.
“You can see the passion in the guys’ eyes, but it wasn’t our day, we need to take our medicine and understand that as much as we want to perfect every day, we weren’t on this occasion.
“We were miles from our standard, unfortunately, and that comes down to us. That’s the frustrating thing. We couldn’t find a way to do the simple things in terms of the physicality of winning duels.
“I don’t think that we were at the races at all.
“I’m not 100 percent sure where that performance came from, to be honest. We didn’t start the game well, they got an early goal and then we struggled a little bit just to get out of our own way in a couple of instances, completing simple passes and breaking through their press.
LOST IN THOUGHT…Brendan Rodgers watches Celtic toil at Ibrox.
“In a match like this that has the quality and the emotion behind it, it can go one way pretty quickly and we obviously got caught on the wrong end of it.
“Now we have to kick on. This could be a massive thing that we can use as motivation to remind ourselves that there’s a long way to go.”
Johnston, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “Losing isn’t something that we’re used to and that’s a good sign obviously, but it’s a great reminder that football isn’t played on paper, it’s played on that pitch.
“If you don’t show up then any team can beat you.
“It’s just something we’re going to have to take on the chin and move on from, but it was a frustrated group. The points advantage isn’t something we’ve been thinking about going into this match.
“We’re just taking it day by day, match by match. We know that more than anything else it comes down to performances for us and that wasn’t anywhere near our level.
“When we play to our level then things tend to take care of themselves.”
FACE OF DESPAIR…Callum McGregor can’t hide his disappointment.
With reasonable understatement the defender added: “I can imagine our supporters are very disappointed. It’s up to us to instantly rebound and show that we’re not going to dwell on this.
“That’s one of the benefits of this crazy period. It’s a tough one, but we’re grown men. What we showed on this occasion wasn’t good enough, but we have plenty of opportunities in the near future to right our wrongs.
“It’s one of the matches in which you don’t want that to happen and that comes down to us as a group not putting in that effort from the get-go.
“But it’s a busy period and we’ve got to put this behind us and get ready for Sunday because the games come thick and fast.”
Celtic will host St Mirren at the weekend as they attempt to get back on track as swiftly as possible.
There are more than a few reputations that need to be restored in the eyes of the champions’ followers.
