Former Rangers striker turned pundit Kris Boyd believes this Celtic team is only ever just around the corner from a crisis.
The Bhoys have gone into the international break on the back of successive wins, beating Besiktas to keep their Europa League hopes alive and narrowly defeating Kilmarnock to remain four points ahead of Rangers at the top, albeit they have played a game more at this stage.
Going into this break feels like a momentary reprieve for the Bhoys, who went into the last break on the back of three straight defeats that had Martin O'Neill questioning his future.
But doubts linger from fans, and while O'Neill has not been helped by the quality of Celtic's summer transfer window, there are questions over how the veteran boss is managing this team. Those questions arrive after every sub-par performance or result, and it's why Boyd feels this Celtic team cannot shake the feeling of a crisis.
“Celtic have been a team where you’ve felt a crisis is always around the corner," he told the Daily Record. "You can’t knock the fact the are four points clear, though, yes, Rangers have a game in hand. It was like the crisis button was pressed after Falkirk.
“But they found a way to win against Besiktas and again at the weekend. I don’t think it was a great performance but it was three points and that’s all that mattered for Celtic right now. Martin will be delighted to get that one over the line and keep the wolves away from the door for now.
“Every fixture is difficult but Celtic are making harder work of the games than they should be. Rangers are the team who struggled at the start but are now on an unbeaten run. Celtic usually blow teams away at home but that’s not really been the case this season.
“Martin is probably where Derek (McInnes) was at the start of the season, trying to find a team he feels is capable of winning games comfortably. Derek was chopping and changing, Martin is doing that now. Martin has a striker who is under-performing (Kasper Hogh) and the wide players are not up to a level we’re used to seeing at Celtic in recent years. Martin is searching for a balance and he’s dealing with European football. He’ll be delighted with this break. It gives them a chance to reset before a difficult run.”
The Celtic Bhoys verdict
Unfortunately, Boyd is right about Celtic always feeling as though they are on the verge of a crisis this season. Every poor result is met with a feeling of panic, and while O'Neill has made mistakes this season, his calmness has been vital in the eye of the storm.
The issue likely stems from the civil war between the fans and the board, and that's not likely to be solved any time soon. I would, however, disagree on the Besiktas performance. That was a very good team, so it's one where you need to look below the surface to see that it was, in fact, a strong performance from the Hoops.
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