Michael Stewart hasn’t held back with his criticism of Celtic after today’s defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
The derby blow has left the Bhoys a massive 19 points behind at the top of the table.
Fans are again pondering the long-term direction of the club.
There’s a growing feeling that changes need to be made at every level for Celtic to move forward as a modern force.
Like many of us Celtic fans, Stewart actually felt today was one of the team’s better performances of the season.
However, glaring problems came to the fore again.
The BBC and Celtic TV pundit said on Twitter: “Best performance from Celtic for a while but their deficiencies have been exploited and Rangers now go from strength to strength at the top of the table stretching their lead.
“They’re the top team in the country and thoroughly deserving of their current position.
“Having watched the red card incident a good few times now, I think Bobby Madden gets it right. But it’s a perfect example of Celtic weaknesses being exploited. Bitton, not a centre half.
“Too many structurally poor decisions have been made at the club which has resulted in makeshift decisions on the park. All of this has resulted in Celtic finding themselves too far behind in the league.”
Celtic structural issues
My colleague Euan Davidson wrote earlier about some of the long-term changes that the club could make over the coming months and years.
None of it easy. Celtic can’t make changes overnight that guarantee success.
However, putting in adequate long-term building blocks focused on recruitment, youth development, and European football will best utilise our resources.
Expensive loan signings like Shane Duffy and Mohamed Elyounoussi, neither of whom are regularly starting, stretch our ability to plan for the future adequately.
If every signing is a stop-gap, it leads to bad situations like Nir Bitton being deployed as a first-choice centre-half.
That’s what Stewart is getting at there and, while the criticism is harsh, I’d have to agree.
In other news, Neil Lennon has provided a transfer update and more detail on Christopher Jullien’s injury.
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