Elena Sadiku revealed in a pre-match press conference that Celtic FC Women have held a meeting because of their recent form. Before their win at the weekend against Motherwell, the title holders had managed just two points from the previous 15 available, which had seen them drop to fifth in the Scottish Women's Premier League.
The win at the weekend saw them climb up to fourth. But even that is nowhere near good enough. Sadiku said it herself that if they wanted to retain their title, they would need to win every single game, and that included the one against Hibs.
Speaking ahead of the game against Motherwell, Sadiku had said on their form:
"It’s going to start on Sunday. We had a meeting today, just saying this has not been good enough.
“This is not Celtic, and it is not close enough to Celtic standards. Our training today (Friday) was really good.
“The intensity good, and the quality was really good. We all know that it isn’t good enough and we want to change that very fast."
Pressure has been increasingly mounting on the Celtic boss, but she seems determined to turn their form around. Thankfully, she delivered on her promise with a win against Motherwell.
Sadiku remains optimistic despite worrying form
In recent years, the SWPL race has gone down to the final day, with Celtic usually being involved. Now, with the Celts sitting eight points off top-of-the-table Hibernian, supporters may have to accept that the title will not be retained.
Sadiku stands by that her players know what she is asking them to do as well, as she said:
"The players all know the patterns, they know exactly what to do because they did that today during the session without us coaching.
“It’s about doing it in training and in games. That needs to be their responsibility in terms of making sure we do the right thing on the pitch during games.
"I’m very confident that this is something we will fix on Sunday, because it hasn’t been good enough."
Sadiku also spoke a bit about her budget going into next season and the support she has been getting from the Celtic board. She said:
"I've talked about what needs to change in terms of the structure around me. The investment in terms of what I can do with the squad.
"I came here as a head coach and now I'm more of a manager. I think that is something that we need to look at in terms of my role.
"The most important thing is that I need to make sure that the playing squad is as strong as possible. If I need to cut it to make sure I bring other players in, then that's something I'm looking at right now. Looking at if I don't have more budget, do I need to do something with the staff as well - it's all about trying to make sure that we get [the most] out of next season's squad.
"I feel like we've had the quality in terms of the depth, it's more about having a spine. I think I need to focus more on that for next season."
Sadiku also touched on the fact that the club knows exactly what she needs to succeed, explaining that they have told her that they will support her. The coach added:
"The club knows what I need to make sure we are successful and I've said that.
"So far, they've told me they're going to support me in that so hopefully that's what we'll see when players are coming in and going out.
"That's the most important thing for me because the club knows that it's been very hard, in terms of how much I've done, not only on the pitch, but outside of it. And I need help.
"That's something that the club has said, that they're going to support me, and I hope to believe that that is exactly what is going to happen."
Questions have been raised about Sadiku's place at the club recently as well. It remains to be seen whether she will hold her position as Celtic Women head coach beyond this season, which has been a disappointment so far, no matter which way you look at it.