Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner has destroyed the performance of Neil Lennon’s team tonight, speaking live on BBC Radio Scotland.
It’s another difficult night for the club and the supporters, with a weak Sparta Prague side showing up the Scottish champions in Glasgow.
They won 4-1 and it was the defence of the Bhoys that caught the attention of supporters.
It simply wasn’t good enough again and, save for the semi-final against Aberdeen, we have been conceding goals at an alarming rate in recent weeks.
Bonner was furious on BBC Sportsound, exclaiming in the wake of the second goal: “Oh my word. It’s schoolboy, it’s like training ground defending when there is no competition.”
At half-time, he said, live on Radio Scotland (20:58): “Celtic have lost two goals against Rangers, two goals against Lille from a great commanding position, lost three goals against Aberdeen away, three goals against AC Milan and two goals here tonight, all within the space of a few weeks. It’s quite incredible.
“Defending starts for me seconds after you lose the ball, it starts from the front, working hard.
“It’s not something new for this group of players, they’ve done it in the past. There’s something wrong mentally from this group that they’re not putting in that kind of performance.”
Praise for the team’s defending wouldn’t follow in the second half either as the Czech visitors added two more after Celtic threatened to play themselves back into the game.
It’s a dire state of affairs and unless Lennon sorts this part of Celtic’s game out, our season is going to unravel.
Bonner is right too, it’s not just the defensive line itself that is causing concern. The structure and effort of the midfield is non-existent at times.
All we can hope for is serious, serious improvement for the visit to Motherwell on Sunday.
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