Former Celtic boss Davie Hay hasn’t held back on criticising the Hoops for their last performance against Rangers.
He has described their efforts in the 1-0 loss at Ibrox in December as ‘rotten’. As a result, he expects much better in Sunday’s clash between the teams at Celtic Park.
“Celtic were rotten that day” Hay told the Evening Times.
“Lacklustre performance”
“It was one of the most lacklustre performances in recent memory from Celtic, certainly in a domestic context, but I fully expect that it will be a different Celtic who turn up on Sunday.”
Hay is correct to point out that Celtic were very poor that day. Indeed, it was probably one of the worst domestic performances under former boss Brendan Rodgers.
Mitigating circumstances
But it should be pointed out that there were mitigating circumstances that day. Injury problems meant that the Hoops’ best midfielder Callum McGregor played at left-back. Mikey Johnston also played up-front, a role that didn’t suit him.
These mistakes are unlikely to be repeated by interim manager Neil Lennon on Sunday. As well as making up for the previous performance, Lennon knows that a win for the Hoops is vital if he is to be named permanent Celtic boss.
Celtic have answered almost all the questions that have been asked of the team since the defeat to Rangers. Now it is time to step up and prove that the loss was a one-off.
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