Ange Postecoglou may have made seven changes to his Celtic team this afternoon, but the performance against Hibs was every bit as laboured as in Norway.
The Bhoys missed the chance to put serious pressure on Rangers before they play later this afternoon, dropping points against Shaun Maloney’s side in a disappointing 0-0 draw.
There’s a good chance the Ibrox side peg our lead in the Scottish Premiership back to one point with a home match against Motherwell.
But enough about them – what went wrong today and what do we need going forward?
Here are our three big talking points after a difficult afternoon…
Celtic’s big midfield problem
A lot of fingers will be pointed at individuals in this Celtic team after a performance like that. The truth is though our entire midfield unit isn’t functioning in the way we need.
Players who have stood out on occasion this season, Tom Rogic and Reo Hatate, haven’t been working well together. Matt O’Riley didn’t make much of an impact when he came on either, although was probably more effective than the Australian.
Something’s going wrong with the balance there that Ange Postecoglou needs to find an answer for. Whether it’s giving Callum McGregor more attacking responsibility or trying something new with Yosuke Ideguchi, the manager has to address it.
This is the most important part of our team. It’s what links the dual threats of both flanks together and right now it’s pretty turgid stuff.
It feels like Celtic are coasting
In fairness to the team, domestic results have been excellent for a while. This is the first time we haven’t won a game in the league or cup for over two months, with 10 matches passing in that time.
However, if we’re honest with ourselves performances have been poor since the 4-0 result away to Motherwell. Even though we beat Aberdeen and Dundee, they weren’t exactly comfortable wins.
Everyone at Celtic preaches focus, but it really feels like we’ve lost a bit of that in recent weeks and Postecoglou has to find the reaction out of his players.
If we continue to play like this in the final 10 matches of the league season, it’s going to be a tough watch. We need to find our swagger again and quickly.
Where’s that intensity we’ve enjoyed so much this season? It’s not good enough right now.
Celtic can’t drop more points before Ibrox
Celtic play St Mirren, Livingston and Ross County before a trip to Ibrox next month, with a Scottish Cup clash against Dundee United also on the cards.
We undoubtedly need all nine points going into the Rangers game. That would at least see us top going into that one.
The home games against St Mirren and Ross County SHOULD be comfortable with the right application. That match away to Livingston is looking dangerous though and it comes in just a week’s time.
If we’re not up for the battle there then you have to worry about what else is left on the schedule.
It’s another pivotal few weeks ahead with no room for error now.
In other news, Giorgos Giakoumakis set to make instant Celtic return after missing Hibs clash.
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