Paul Lambert has dug out Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers after his post-match comments following Sunday's Old Firm defeat, but he might have missed the point.
Celtic suddenly feel as though they are in a crisis despite still being top of the Premiership, and with their season still pretty much intact, albeit they are out of the Premier Sports Cup.
But there is serious cause for concern, with the Bhoys having lost their last three games consecutively, and two of those were Old Firm games that saw them put up little fight.
All of a sudden, Martin O'Neill, who came into this season as a hero based on what he had done at the club previously and what he managed last season, taking over as interim boss and winning a league and cup double, is attracting criticism.
There is now talk of O'Neill walking away from his job, and some have even suggested he could be sacked if form doesn't turn around. Although many are also pointing fingers at the players, especially given the lack of intensity and true effort we have seen from the team in the last couple of weeks.
After the last Rangers defeat, Carter-Vickers admitted the team lacked an identity, but he also threw his support behind O'Neill, suggesting that the identity issue is something he sees as the responsibility of the players, who need to define what they want to be in their approach to games.
What CCV said
The Celtic defender said: “I think it’s just an identity and an idea of how we want to be as a team.
And like I said, I’m not just talking about a shape, I’m not just talking about where players need to stand.
“I am talking about that, but I’m (also) talking about just everything as the whole – effort, positioning and just the way we want to be as a team.”
He then added: "All I can say is as players, we are behind the manager and behind the management team.
“I think what he achieved last year was unbelievable and as a playing group we are grateful to him for that, so we’re still behind him, and we’re going to do our best for him.”
Lambert fires back
In an interview with BBC Sport Scotland, Lambert hit back at Carter-Vickers over the comments, saying: "The players need to take responsibility. I watched the game and dear oh dear…
“That was cringeworthy, the stuff from Carter-Vickers. I thought ‘hang on, you’re not making a movie.
“Solve the problem yourselves. When something is not going right, you look to rectify it, you don’t look to a manager to say ‘do this or do that’. I thought that was bang out of order, coming from someone who’s been a decent player for Celtic.”
Lambert may be missing the point
This feels as though Lambert has picked up on the part of the quotes about where to stand and gone off on a rant, but that may be missing the point.
Carter-Vickers corrects himself a little because he seems to realise he has said it's not a tactical issue, and it obviously is to a degree.
But he is also making it clear that everyone needs to play a role in becoming a team with an identity, and he lists effort as point number one. He then throws his weight behind O'Neill, which Lambert may have missed.
That's not a player calling out his manager or throwing him under the bus. It's someone very fairly saying that everyone, including the manager and the players, needs to do their part, and that's a fair comment.
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