Lack of challenge affecting Celtic’s late season form

The Celtic Star

·8 April 2025

Lack of challenge affecting Celtic’s late season form

I wrote an article on The Celtic Star after the recent Glasgow Derby defending the Celtic players and manager after a poor showing at Celtic Park which saw Barry Ferguson lead his side to all three points in a game that the majority of us thought Celtic would win comfortably…

Hamza Igamane of theRangers scores his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

After yet another defeat, this time to bottom of the table St Johnstone, I feel like I have to come out and defend them once again as some of the stuff I have read since Sunday is as bad, if not worse, than the reaction that followed the defeat against theRangers.

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Sunday’s defeat was unacceptable

Now to start off I want to state that I think Sunday’s defeat was unacceptable. It’s been over two decades since Celtic have lost to a team currently sitting bottom of the league so I can totally understand the backlash from the fans afterwards. Anyone who manages or plays for Celtic has to understand that standards at the club are exceedingly high and the fans expect the team to maintain these standards over the course of a season. This recent run which has included three league defeats in six games is quite frankly not good enough.

Daniels Balodis of St Johnstone celebrates with team mates after scoring to give St Johnstone a 1-0 lead. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, l, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025: Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

I’m not going to make excuses for the team

I’m not going to make excuses for the team but I can honestly say it doesn’t take a genius to work out what has happened. These three defeats have all come since we cruelly exited the Champions League in the dying seconds against European heavyweights Bayern Munich. Celtic were excellent this season in Europe’s elite tournament. Their performance helped put the club back amongst the continent’s elite and restore a lot of pride after years of under-achievement on that stage.

Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025. Stuart Wallace . Photo IMAGO/Shutterstock

If the season had of ended there and then we would all be cooing about this team and how much we are evolving under Brendan Rodgers. It didn’t however, as we still have a League title and a Scottish Cup needing to be wrapped up. We have undoubtedly gone through a bit of a sticky patch since then but I feel for the whole season to be judged by a few games is unfair on both the manager and the players. Are they currently underperforming? Yes they are, but has it actually impacted the success of this season? Well, so far no it hasn’t and that’s the point I’m trying to make.

Celtic are still on course for a treble

Celtic are still on course for a treble. We still hold a 13 point lead in the league and only an absolute off the scale disaster will stop us from retaining our crown. Our European adventure is over but we can only look back and be proud of our achievements this season in the Champions League. Although we all expect the team to be firing on all cylinders week after week I can understand why our standards have slipped. It’s because there isn’t another club in Scotland challenging us.

Jason Holt (on a booking) of St Johnstone challenges Reo Hatate of Celtic. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

Subconsciously they have taken their foot off the pedal

Does anybody believe that if theRangers were neck and neck with us in the title race we would be losing games like this? History will show that when this manager and these players are in the heat of a battle they don’t blink. They have the medals to prove it. What has happened is when they exited the Champions League subconsciously they have taken their foot off the pedal. Only in the league might I add, somewhere were they can afford to have an off day due to the lead they have worked hard in achieving.

Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates after scoring to give them a 2-0 lead Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Gas Scottish Cup, Quarter Final, Celtic Park, – 09 March 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

Celtic recently beat Hibs 2-0 in the Scottish Cup – a game we absolutely dominated

In the Scottish Cup however we recently beat Hibs 2-0 in a game we absolutely dominated and restricted the opposition to one shot the whole game. This of course came shortly after losing to them in the league. I have absolutely no doubt we will comfortably dispatch St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup Semi Final, once again just a couple of weeks after getting defeated by them in the league. Do I think this is acceptable? No I don’t as I think playing for Celtic dictates that you should be giving absolutely everything anytime you pull the hoops on but at the same time I can certainly understand it.

Look at what’s happened to Liverpool

On the same day down in England we saw a similar situation with league leaders Liverpool, who also hold a large points advantage in the title race. They have also exited Europe and recently got beat in the League Cup final and now only have the league to play for. They fell to a surprising defeat at Fulham, and I think this would be due to the reasons why Celtic are faltering also. Subconsciously it is just harder to get up for a challenge when you feel like the title is already in the bag.

Jeffrey Schlupp of Celtic tackled by Daniels Balodis of St Johnstone. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Football, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace, IMAGO/Shutterstock

The Celtic players have hardly laid down their tools as some have suggested

The Celtic players have hardly laid down their tools as some have suggested. There were definitely some poor performances on Sunday but I couldn’t pick out any players who looked like they weren’t trying. To me it was just that they were too comfortable and this comes from that huge points cushion we have. Look at St Johnstone. You could tell they are fighting for their lives in the league. After other results not going their way on Saturday the three points to them were vital, and it showed.

Play fringe players in the run-in

Personally I think the best way to remedy this going forward is to give more game time to players on the fringes in the league run in. I thought we looked much livelier in the second half on Sunday once our subs started coming on.The likes of Luke McCowan, Paulo Bernardo, Yang, James Forrest, Anthony Ralston etc will be begging for a chance to prove their worth over the next few weeks.

They will not only be eyeing the chance at perhaps playing their way into the starting line up for a potential treble clinching match at Hampden but will also be trying to impress the manager enough to make sure they remain in his plans for next season.

St Johnstone goalkeeper Andy Fisher saves a close range shot from Luke McCowan of Celtic. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, , McDiarmid Park, 06 April 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

Our regular starters have done themselves proud this season but if their hunger has wained even slightly in the run of the mill league matches then others should be given an opportunity to impress.

A few good performances from some of our reserves will surely be enough to shake our regulars out of their comfort zone. The thought of losing their place in the team on a more regular basis might be exactly what they need.

Conall McGinty

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