Celtic's current struggles have been analysed by former players Chris Sutton and Pat Bonner, who have questioned the quality of the current squad.
The Bhoys are battling critics again after suffering their sixth defeat of the season on Sunday, losing to Falkirk. Celtic are still top of the Premiership, but they have very little chance of progressing in the Europa League, and they bowed out of the Premier Sports Cup in their second game.
Martin O'Neill has come under pressure, but it's also very clear that this side is not good enough in terms of actual quality. That stems from a rather awful summer transfer window that lacked any kind of clear strategy.
“The midfield is really vulnerable, but it’s not just in the midfield,” former striker Sutton said on Sky Sports. “The goalkeeping situation is a mess. Sam Johnstone doesn’t really excite and inspire me, and I think he’s going to be safe.
“You’ve got Liam Scales dribbling out from the back thinking he’s Baresi – he’s not. They lack in midfield athletically and physically.
“Then you sign two strikers, but you can’t play them together. Why not? Because you can’t play 4-4-2 because the midfielders aren’t athletic enough to do that and he doesn’t want to play a back three.
“Martin needs to be forthright in how he wants to play and stick to one thing. It’s a lottery waiting for the Celtic team, who knows what team Martin is going to pick?"
Former Hoops goalkeeper Bonner is also unconvinced by the current Celtic team, and he handed out plenty of credit to Falkirk afer their strong performance against his old club, which saw goalkeeper Scott Bain - a former Hoops himself - produce a number of top saves.
“It was a terrific display from Falkirk defensively," Bonn said on the BBC. “They had much more penetration than Celtic, who just go from side to side. Scott Bain was unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I counted eight saves he made. Falkirk deserved it.
“They’ve got a terrific young team. John McGlynn has done a great job with them. But there are big question marks over whether or not these players are good enough for Celtic.”
That final statement certainly doesn't apply to everyone in this Celtic squad, but it does arguably apply to too many of them. It has been clear since the start of the summer that this squad was not strong enough, especially in the midfield.
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