Some are suggesting that Martin O’Neill should rotate his XI for Celtic’s trip to VfB Stuttgart on Thursday evening in the Europa League because of the Rangers clash at the weekend.
When you add to the fact that Celtic are 4-1 behind from the first leg, it makes more logical sense to make sweeping changes in Germany and keep the stronger players fresh for Rangers.
For James McFadden, from what the ‘expectations’ were of the champions of Scotland in August to where they are now, he finds their whole situation ‘quite remarkable.’
Celtic have declined and declined since the summer; they have had three different managers, yet the same rubbish keeps getting dished out on the pitch.
Should Martin O’Neill field a rotated side vs Stuttgart to focus on the Rangers game?
What would you do?
James McFadden stunned by Celtic’s situation ahead of Rangers tie
Every Glasgow derby is huge, must-win, the biggest game of the season. Call it what you will.
But given the nature of the Premiership title race this season, the fact that Celtic were beaten by Hibernian last time out, and they are already six points behind the Premiership leaders Hearts, albeit they have a game in hand.
McFadden thinks this Rangers clash is a ‘must-win’ for the Hoops, as he agreed with the suggestion that this three-way title race will become two if things go wrong.
Speaking on Sky Sports Football, McFadden even joked about Chris Sutton offering to help and fix the broken relationship between the Celtic fans and the board.
It’s crazy to think that, this time last season, Celtic were pushing for the Treble, and they only missed out on that by a kick of a football against Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.
Yet, fast forward to the present, and Celtic are at serious risk of going trophyless this season.
“I know there is still a long way to go because of how competitive it is,” said McFadden.
“The nature of the split means teams will drop points. There is no getting away from it. This is a really poor moment for Celtic to be in.
“Given the expectation at the start of the season. It’s quite remarkable that they find themselves in this position, going into a game (against Rangers), I know when you play these games against your rivals, they are must-win.
“But in the bigger picture, you feel that it’s a must-win, in terms of trying to go and retain the title. It’s absolutely huge for them. I just can’t believe they are where they are.”
McFadden then joked and started laughing: “I think they need to get the man who has offered to put up his services to sort it all out, Chris Sutton. He’s the man.”
Kris Boyd: “He’s the man to get everybody back on side.”
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