Pundit blasts seven Celtic players for Glasgow Derby defeat

The former Celtic player turned pundit has blasted seven players for their performance against the Rangers in a disastrous 2-0 defeat at home.

Celtic’s performance on Saturday can only be described as ‘disastrous’. Not only did the Hoops not seem like winning the game at any point, they did not even appear to be trying to do so for most of the game. And that was without doubt the saddest part of the display.

Down by two goals, the Hoops seemed happy enough to pass it around the back and punt it forward from time to time hoping that someone gets on the end of it. It was just slow and uninventive football that should not be played by a club like Celtic.

While Kris Commons has become infamous in recent years for his comments about Celtic, he always had the penchant for turning up against the Rangers during his playing days and knows a thing or two about the tie. And his comments do make a sense this time around.

Writing in his column in the Daily Mail and as transcribed by The Scottish Sun, he said:

"“They haven’t got going this season. Even when they’ve got their strongest starting XI, they are not free-flowing or looking like scoring many goals.“Without Christie, Forrest and Edouard they were probably always going to struggle up front. But with the amount of money spent, you’d still think they would have enough to put in a performance.“Mohamed Elyounoussi looked like a rabbit in the headlights. Albian Ajeti looked way off the pace and Patryk Klimala didn’t look like he’d every played football before.“As for Vasilias Barkas in goal…Can he make one save in a big game? He doesn’t save enough shots, has no presence and doesn’t shout.“But it wasn’t just the new recruits who were culpable. The midfield three – Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and Olivier Ntcham – are all very good footballers. But is it the right blend?“Where’s the flair player who can produce something out of nothing? Connor Goldson must have gone through about three cigars in the game.“It was just so easy. There was nobody running in behind the back four to stretch them. No one coming to feet to show, no one looking to take the ball on the half turn and make defence-splitting passes.“Fans or no fans, as a Celtic player, you’ve got to look at that Rangers shirt and feel something stir inside you. Yet, I’ve rarely seen either team win a derby so easily.“Rangers’ game-management was superb. They were just so comfortable.”"

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To be fair, the entire team seemed to be having a bad day at the office. There’s not one player who had a standout performance. Fingers can be raised towards the defenders for the two goals that they conceded.

Neil Lennon has to go back to the drawing board after that performance. His tactics, whatever they are, are clearly not working this season. There is enough individual talent in this team to get them out of a muddle on most days, but that will not happen against the top teams. The Rangers were not even great themselves on the day and managed to walk out with a comfortable win in a Glasgow Derby!

At no point in this season have Celtic looked at their best. Perhaps it is all the new players who have failed to gel together in a short span of time. Or just a lack of form. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed quick if Neil Lennon wants to remain the manager.