Pat Bonner went on a furious half time rant as Celtic trailed Rangers 2-0 after Martin O’Neill’s side were ‘out-muscled’ by the Ibrox club.
Celtic eventually drew with Rangers 2-2, but it took an almighty second-half comeback to salvage a precious Scottish Premiership point.
However, during the half-time break, Bonner did not hold back as he set his sights on four players he said were simply not good enough, including former Arsenal man Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Did Celtic just save their season with a second half comeback vs Rangers? Give us your thoughts in the comments 👇
WHAT. A. COMEBACK.
Bonner said on BBC Radio Scotland, “I hate to say it. Celtic have been out-fought, out-muscled, especially in the middle of the pitch, outplayed at times.
“And that first 12 minutes, Celtic were really on the back foot. And of course, an unbelievable goal, you’ve got to say. But there was other chances.
“And I just think that there’s players out there at the moment that just cannot play it in this fixture. You know, Oxlade-Chamberlain, we talk all about his qualities and all that, but the game is just by passing him.
“He just doesn’t know that this game, you’ve got to work really, really hard, first and foremost. Run around, and then the quality comes to the fore, and he’s hoping that his quality will put him into the game.”
Bonner calls out Celtic trio Hyunjun Yang, Daizen Maeda and Junior Adamu
As the first-half passed Celtic by, Bonner took aim at Hyunjun Yang, Japan winger Daizen Maeda and new January signing Junior Adamu for their inept performances.
Bonner raged, “Sorry, you’ve got to do the other part. The other two, Yang and Maeda, nothing. Adamu, really from nothing up front.
“Maeda, I am not surprised [he had the fewest touches]. And when he did get a touch, then there was a great moment, I think, after 15 minutes, when Yang won the ball and he played forward to Maeda and his touch was awful.
What can Celtic do to help Daizen Maeda get back to his best?
“The crossing from Maeda was awful also when he was in a great position down the left hand side. Those are details that you know, if you haven’t got the ball, there’s games where you don’t have a lot of possession, but then when you do, you’ve got to be spot on. They are not spot on.”
Bonner was fuming, and so were the vast majority of Celtic fans. The fact that a draw was salvaged really was quite something and gives the supporters hope for the rest of the season.
Because if Celtic can fight back from a two-goal deficit inside the Ibrox cauldron, then this team should surely be capable of beating the rest of the other teams in the league.
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