David Turnbull has worryingly stated that not one Celtic player spoke in the dressing-room at full-time after yesterday’s shambolic 2-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox.
The Celtic fans were let down by their team once again as a flurry of second-half opportunities evaded their team. Added to that, the same old defensive frailties cropped up once again to knock us out of the Scottish Cup and leave us trophyless for the first time in 11 years.
There’s been a massive lack of leadership at this football club this season both on and off the pitch. And when it comes to the former, it looks as though yesterday’s post-match dressing-room atmosphere summed it up.
Turnbull, who was hardly the worst at Ibrox, has come out and explained how quiet things were from the players at full-time. Instead, it was left to interim boss John Kennedy to do all the talking.
“It was pretty quiet”
As quoted by the Daily Record, Turnbull said: “It’s tough to take after all the success we’ve had, to have that this season. It [dressing room] was pretty quiet. The players weren’t really saying much, we let Kendo do the talking. Obviously we were all gutted.
“I feel we have been performing well as a team over the past however long it’s been. But it’s about being clinical and we’ve not been that. It’s been like that in a good few games this season. We created a lot of chances but it’s about taking them at the end of the day.
“Since the start of the season, or since I’ve been in especially, it feels like we’ve created plenty but not taken as many as we should have. I’m not sure what needs to change. We go into each game looking to win and getting some form until the end of the season and then pushing on and we’ll see what happens next season.”
David Turnbull remark is concerning; where are the Celtic leaders?
That dressing room should’ve been absolutely fizzing come full-time. It should’ve been packed with emotion and players ready to give their verdict on what they produced.
Yes, you can say they’re gutted. And because of that there was a massive level of deflation around the place. But if anything is symbolic of the lack of fire in this Celtic team, it’s that response to this game.
Celtic had one more opportunity to provide their supporters with something to remember fondly this season. It should’ve been the sole focus on their minds ever since the draw was made a fortnight ago. Losing it in such poor fashion should’ve had the bigger personalities in the squad piling it on in the dressing-room.
Yes, Celtic will likely have an inquest at Lennoxtown today. They’ll almost certainly watch the game back and players will chip in with their own opinions on what went wrong and what went well. But why wasn’t there any anger or fire in the dressing-room come full-time?
The fact is too many of these Celtic players are far too nice. Perhaps afraid to upset their teammates or call others out. But that’s what you have to do in football when things don’t go your way and players are underperforming.
That it was left for Kennedy to say everything doesn’t help. He needs the players’ input, and going into their shells sums up the lack of fight on the park this season.
In other news, Chris Sutton has made an over-the-top Eddie Howe suggestion.
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