Celtic’s collapse against Dundee United was as damning as it was predictable.
Wilfried Nancy seemed to have gotten a tune out of his players in the first half, when the Hoops created enough chances to go three or four goals up.
But after the break when United pressed more aggressively, the Celtic players’ pitiful defending was symptomatic of a team that looks so fragile at the moment.
United manager Jim Goodwin spoke to Charlie Mulgrew about getting ‘at’ Celtic, clearly knowing smelling blood against Nancy’s team.
And midfielder Luca Stephenson’s comments from after the match are even more revealing on what the Tannadice side were thinking.
Who is the most important player in the Celtic squad?
Dundee United midfielder on Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic
22-year-old Stephenson is on loan from Liverpool, spending last season on loan at Goodwin’s side before featuring in a few friendlies for the Reds in the summer.
He later returned to United regardless, and has started every league game since.
READ MORE: Wille Collum’s baffling explanation for Hibs penalty decision vs Celtic as VAR audio released
He was one of a number of players who physically overwhelmed Celtic after the break, in what was a pretty hard watch.
And speaking to The Courier, Stephenson’s words on Nancy’s side were as frank as they were worrying.
He said: “We started brightly in that second half and that gave us a little bit of confidence.
“Our press was so good that they ended up just squeezing up the pitch and going long.
“When you do that to Celtic, you’ve got them in a place that they don’t want to be. We felt that. They haven’t got players on the pitch who want to go and contest aerial duels.
“They want to be a team of players. Be on the ball. That’s when we knew we had them a little bit. We had to dig in towards the end, but l think we’ve got to learn to enjoy that.
“We enjoyed it on Saturday against a good Motherwell team; being in a low block at times and defending the box to keep clean sheets.
“We maybe came away from that at the start of the season, but I think now we’re really starting to enjoy the defensive side of the game, which is always going to be a platform to win matches.”
It was Dundee United’s first win in almost two months.
What personnel changes should Wilfried Nancy make against Aberdeen?
What changes will Wilfried Nancy make for Celtic vs Aberdeen?
One of the likely reasons why Goodwin smelt blood at half-time was Celtic having just one centre-back on the pitch.
Nancy’s decision to drop Liam Scales left the team exposed in duels; he will surely learn from this and reinstate the Irishman for Sunday’s clash with Aberdeen.
Also on the bench at Tannadice was Arne Engels, who had started every game since Brendan Rodgers’ departure prior to Wednesday night.
But a more obvious change would surely be at right-wing-back – Ralston has not performed well as one of the three, and Colby Donovan is yet to start a game under Nancy.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
