Celtic are being widely questioned after their defeat against Dundee.
Whilst no one ever expected Brendan Rodgers’ side to lose – Dundee hadn’t beaten Celtic at Dens Park in 37 years – the performance itself wasn’t hugely out of line with what fans have been seeing.
A failure to qualify for the Champions League with a disastrous defeat against Kairat Almaty highlighted the side’s struggles in breaking teams down.
Jota, Alistair Johnston and Daizen Maeda will all return from injury, but the side’s struggles without them is indicative of a lack of depth.
And for one Scottish journalist who covers the club closely, it is the worst Celtic team since the Tony Mowbray era.
Stephen McGowan says Celtic team is the worst since the Tony Mowbray era
The Hoops are five points behind Hearts at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, and face Derek McInnes’ side at Tynecastle on Sunday.
Celtic face a Europa League tie before that, at home to Sturm Graz on Thursday.
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Going into the two crucial matches, the side’s form is damning, as Stephen McGowan pointed out on the Press Box podcast.
He said: “This, for me, is the worst Celtic team since Tony Mowbray’s tenure. If you were being really uncharitable, you would go back to the 1990s.
“I know that a lot of Celtic fans rubbish that, because they feel that the 1990s was the absolute nadir of the club, and I get that. But there is an absolute paucity in terms of their attacking efforts.
“In the last five games, they’ve now suffered two defeats. They’ve had two draws, they’ve only won one. The one who won came from an injury-time winner at home against Motherwell in what was a pretty unconvincing performance.
“That’s the sixth time this season that they’ve failed to score. I mean, the record the premiership now reads is 11 goals in eight games. I mean, Hearts, Ips, Dundee United and Motherwell have all scored more goals in the league than Celtic after eight games.
“You know, as I was getting ready this morning, there was this point where Ian Crocker on Sky said that Celtic had 94% possession and no shots on target. And this is what they are. They’re a team who keep the ball and pass it from side to side and go back the way.
“And they keep possession for possession’s sake. And they very rarely test the opposition goalkeeper.”
Celtic’s upcoming fixtures
With six Europa League fixtures remaining, Celtic will roughly need 11 more points to secure qualification.
Given the difficulty of upcoming fixtures against Roma, Bologna and Feyenoord, a win in the Sturm Graz fixture feels essential.
And after the top-of-the-table clash with Hearts, there is the small matter of a Glasgow Derby in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final, against Danny Rohl’s side.
Immediately after that is a trip to central Denmark to face Midtyjlland. A lot on the side’s plate until the next international break.
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