Charlie Mulgrew believes some of Celtic's senior players will not be fully bought into the current playing style. The Bhoys went into the break on the back of consecutive wins, and their season remains broadly on track, even if it isn't living up to dominant years gone by.
The Hoops are four points clear of Rangers at the top having played a game more, while they can likely progress in the Europa League if they can bag a return of six or seven points from their last four games. They are out of the Premier Sports Cup, but the Scottish Cup remains on the table, of course.
All is not well, howeverm and there are significant concerns over how Celtic are playing. The club knew they were sacrificing playing style for results when they hired Martin O'Neill, but fans are regularly asking whether it is worth it, given the time could potentially be used to build a more expansive way of playing.
We have seen some players question the style, including Cameron Carter-Vickers, who previously asked for more of a script, while Callum McGregor also added concern about the defensive system.
Speaking on the Breakdown podcast, former Hoops star Mulgrew claimed some of the senior players at the club will not be fully on board. He said: “I wouldn’t say he’s lost the changing room, because that would indicate that all the players are done with the manager, and I don’t think that’s the case.
"But naturally, when you lose games, and you don’t have good performances, and you’ve won five games out of 12, you start to question things.
“There’s a group of players there, Callum McGregor, Cameron Carter-Vickers, James Forrest and others, that have worked under Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers, who are completely clear on how they wanted to see the team play, how they wanted to press, how they wanted to play in possession, what it looked like, very tactical-minded coaches, who are very clear.”
Mulgrew added that he is a fan of O'Neill, but there is a reality to his style of play. He added:
“Martin O’Neill isn’t that guy. I don’t think he’s a tactical manager.
“Of course he sees the game in certain ways, but I don’t think, in terms of modern tactics, that’s how he looks at the game. So I think naturally when you’re not winning games, players go, ‘oh, this is how Brendan Rodgers used to do it’. No doubt about it, Martin O’Neill, at the core of him, he’s a winner. He knows what it takes to get a team over the line. But tactically, they don’t look completely aligned.”
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