Celtic were soul-crushingly poor yesterday. Everyone needs to do better.

  After the disaster Celtic experienced in losing two games to Hearts and then another against Roma under a brand-new manager, they were bac...

 

After the disaster Celtic experienced in losing two games to Hearts and then another against Roma under a brand-new manager, they were back at Hampden with a chance to lift the Premier Sports Cup. As I said beforehand, this was a must-win game.

As I keep saying, when you play for something tangible, the hunger to win grows. You press harder, you create chances, and you score goals. What worries me is that this is not the Celtic squad I remember from last season.

That is genuinely scary.

The Boys in green and white should simply go for it, dominate, and win. Creating chances is not enough. They have to push harder and shine on this pitch. What we saw instead was a much lower level of football, with nothing to admire. Why are The Hoops giving fans so much grief these days? Why can they not simply deliver goals and win games?

We conceded right away. That required us to fight back. There was a brief moment after Reo Hatate scored the equalising goal in the 22nd minute, when Celtic spread their wings. The team pressed harder and created several excellent chances. Belief seemed to kick in and the game started to flow. At half-time, I hoped this would lead to more goals and that the first trophy of the season would end up in Celtic’s hands.

One game kept coming back to me during the game: last season’s Premier Sports Cup match against Sevco. That game was fierce, with both sides scoring and trading blows, before Celtic eventually won on penalties under Brendan Rodgers. What a night I had. I celebrated because after overcoming several hurdles, The Hoops found a way.

That was what I hoped for yesterday. We never did find a way.

Instead, the second half was poor and painfully slow. Celtic failed to create chances and did not finish anything with conviction. Once again, they suffered defensively and allowed a second goal. Why did Celtic allow that?

And then came a third goal. At that point, it was over.

Where was the defence? Why were Celtic so poor defensively and equally ineffective going forward in the second half? When St Mirren scored their second and third goals, our defenders seemed absent, static, or completely lost. I have to be honest: defensively and in midfield, Celtic look like they are in a very dark place right now.

At half-time, I genuinely believed we would win. That hope slowly faded as the second half unfolded with no urgency and no goals. Three games in, this was the worst performance under Wilfried Nancy so far, and it completed a miserable run of defeats against Hearts, Roma, and now St Mirren.

What is Nancy’s problem? I think he is trying to implement a style while overestimating the current level of the squad. The way he wants to play demands tactical intelligence, flexibility, and sharp decision-making. Right now, this group simply does not have enough of any of that. I feel sorry for Nancy because he is trying to introduce new ideas while dealing with mounting pressure at the same time.

What happens next for him is a difficult question. I still believe in this man. Gordon Strachan lost several games early in his Celtic tenure. Ange Postecoglou also made a poor start before transforming Celtic into champions. Ange achieved that by improving the squad, bringing in players like Maeda, Kyogo, and others. I hope Nancy is given the chance to strengthen the team in January in the same way.

But the biggest culprit in all of this is the Celtic board.

Because of them, Rodgers resigned. Because of them, the squad remains short of quality. They refused to work with the previous manager, even when he identified clear weaknesses and demanded improvements. Their arrogance has left Celtic exposed. Watching them sit smugly in the directors’ box while the club suffers is infuriating.

I say this with a heavy heart, but Celtic deserved to lose 3–1 to St Mirren. Congratulations to the Paisley club for an excellent day on and off the pitch. There was nothing to admire about our performance. Everything went wrong. This team urgently needs fresh defenders, midfielders, and attackers. I hope those at the very top are listening.

As for Nancy, this will be another brutal week with a heavy run of fixtures. Despite everything, I still believe in him and in Celtic. I believe this team can still respond. But something has to change, and it has to change quickly.