“We lacked any desire”
It takes little exaggeration to dominate the headlines surrounding Celtic. A draw is a disaster, a defeat is a disaster. Consecutive league losses? A crisis.
In reality it is not. Still. Yes, with Celtic having lost to Kilmarnock and Hearts in seven days, Rangers are five points behind the reigning Scottish Premiership champions and have two games left.
But the Ibrox team will not play one of those games until after the winter break. Add to that the not-so-trivial matter of an Old Firm game before half-time and Celtic still have the opportunity to be in control of their own destiny.
However, Celtic fans, many of whom came away early from Saturday's defeat, are wondering why their team is in this position.
And manager Brendan Rodgers said he had to “apologize to the support” after Saturday's dismal 2-0 defeat to Hearts, adding: “I don't think I've ever had to do that in all my time here.”
“The performance today was nowhere near the level you would expect from a Celtic player and a Celtic team.”
It's fair to say that the hugely experienced Rodgers faces a very different challenge in his second spell at the club.
Between 2016 and early 2019, Celtic won seven domestic trophies in a row with Rodgers, lost just eight Premiership games (just one at home) and Aberdeen were their biggest rivals most of the time.
Celtic have dropped 12 points so far this season – three less than the whole of last season under Ange Postecoglou – and have now suffered consecutive league defeats for the first time since 2013.
Lack of “free football”
In recent weeks, the Northern Irishman has complained about a lack of consistency in Celtic's performances.
At St Johnstone, Rodgers expressed his anger at the first-half performance as Celtic turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 win. At Kilmarnock the opposite was the case as Celtic started well and took the lead in the second half only to score two goals.
After the defeat to Hearts, he admitted he was “not surprised” by Celtic’s cocky performance.
“There has to be cause for concern because they are not playing their usual free football,” former Scotland striker James McFadden told ` Scotland.
“They didn’t become a bad team overnight. There doesn't seem to be any sharp passes or movements, or even a willingness to run into ambush. Celtic always seem to be looking for the perfect opening and that's just not what's happening at the moment.
Celtic were out of action in Saturday's defeat to Hearts
“Real gap” between fans and board
Michael Stewart was there for Hearts' last win at Celtic Park in 2009 and actually scored the winning goal. He watched the game on Saturday and was impressed by the atmosphere in the stadium.
“There were a few people chatting to the board after the first goal,” he said on ` Sportsound. “Later the stewards wanted to calm the situation down, which only made the situation more agitated.
“Punters believe they should be allowed to express their opinions. In front of us, things were getting more and more heated as people got into arguments.”
“The big thing here was that it felt like a real divide between the punters and the upper class [board], and their guests. This comes down to the perception that the board has money but hasn’t spent it and needs to do a better job.”
Celtic have money despite their significant summer spending. The latest figures reported profits of over £40 million.
The club is expected to bring in new players in January – Rodgers has stressed the need for quality reinforcements while acknowledging the need to develop players.
Summer recruits fight for playing time
Summer signings Paulo Bernardo, Odin Holm, Yang Hyun-jun, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Marco Tilio and Gustaf Lagerbielke were rarely included, with the latter not even included in Saturday's squad despite appearing in the Champions League against Feyenoord during the week scored the winning goal.
Injuries haven't helped, with Liel Abada, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda – all stalwarts of the Postecoglou era – missing extended action.
Whatever form the lineup takes as it transitions from 2023 to 2024, Rodgers' message after Saturday's game was clear.
“For me it always starts against the ball and when it's so passive and you're not aggressive enough, for me that's always the desire and desire to win the game,” he said.
“This lack of consistency, mentality and desire is far from what this club demands. You sit there in the middle of December with 60,000 players and that's the way you perform. This is unacceptable.”
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