Aiden McGeady wants to see Celtic step up their game, but like many pundits, he is looking past the limitations of this squad.
The Bhoys have gone into the break on the back of consecutive wins, beating Besiktas in the Europa League to keep their dream of progressing alive, and then narrowly defeating Kilmarnock, which ensured Celtic remained four points clear at the top of the league, albeit with Rangers having a game in hand.
Those wins have ensured some relief for this Celtic side after going into the last break on the back of three straight defeats, triggering a crisis situation.
But there is still concern about how this team is playing and their obvious limitations that have been regularly exposed against better sides this season.
“The way Celtic have been playing has probably been the way for the last 10 years or so, you stay slightly ahead of Rangers, be slightly better, and you win the league," McGeady told Celts Are Here.
“That pretty much is the theory, and it’s true. But this season I think we’ve got a stronger Rangers. It will be between Celtic and Rangers.
“Will Celtic have enough to stay ahead of Rangers? At the minute it’s a bit of a mirror image of the end of last season where performances aren’t great, but you’re scraping wins.”
He added: "You do want to see a change in the style of play and be more dominant in games, which hasn’t been the case recently. Even against Kilmarnock, the team won 1-0, but Kilmarnock could have come away with a draw.
“We’re only a third of the way into the season, so it’s still very early, but if you were just looking at the league table, it looks fine. You’re still in Europe and you could still qualify for the last-16 in the Europa League. But when you’re actually watching the games every week, the performances have to change.”
This Celtic has a clear ceiling
We have seen a lot of calls for Celtic to play a different way, a more expansive. Now, part of the frustration is because Martin O'Neill doesn't have any intention of having his side play that way.
But there is also a reality to why O'Neill finds himself in charge. This board has not invested effectively, and they need someone who will account for that with a basic style of play. Quite frankly, this team can barely manage the basic style of play against the better sides, so what makes people think they can play 3-5-2 and go toe-to-toe with good teams?
Celtic just don't have that kind of ability in this team , so they have a manager who gets them to play within a system that protects their downside, and that's not going to change this season.
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