Let’s be honest, we all fell for it. The Scottish Cup penalty win at Ibrox last week felt like a season-defining moment for Celtic fans.
Celtic’s win at Rangers had the kind of digging deep performance that wins trophies. But looking back at that 0-0 draw, the signs of the Bhoys’ 2-0 disaster at Tannadice weren’t just there, they were screaming at us.
The post-match chaos at Ibrox and the euphoria of knocking Rangers out of the Scottish Cup glossed over the fact that Martin O’Neill’s side were statistically pathetic. And all the warning signs were already there.
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The Ibrox Scottish Cup win that actually warned Celtic
The stats [BBC] from that day at Ibrox tell the real story of a Celtic team who are not only bereft of attacking intent, they were also forced to defend for their lives.
The Hoops were forced into 77 total clearances and had to scramble the ball off their own goal line three times.
While Celtic boasted a 90% tackle success rate, that’s a clear sign that O’Neill’s side allowed Rangers to dominate in a desperate, last-ditch survival act.
The biggest red flag? Zero shots on target in 120 minutes of football. Not one. At the time, Martin O’Neill fed us the line about ‘phenomenal courage’ and a ‘commendable rear-guard action.’
Of course, all that is true, however, it was bought because it’s easy to ignore a total lack of creativity when celebrating a win in Rangers’ backyard.
But being defensively dogged is a dangerous habit to rely on, especially when Celtic look like they have forgotten how to actually attack.
How Dundee United exposed Celtic’s Rangers myth
Fast forward to Tannadice, and Celtic’s luck finally ran out. Without the fallout of the Glasgow Derby to mask the cracks, the same toothless performance Hoops fans saw at Ibrox resulted in a gutless 2-0 defeat.
Dundee United didn’t just beat Celtic, they rattled off 19 shots against O’Neill’s team, the most anyone has managed against the Hoops all season.
The spirit O’Neill praised at Ibrox was nowhere to be found. Instead, we got the honest version of the truth after the final whistle:
“We had a lot of possession… but we couldn’t penetrate them, really. They got the goal and deserved to win. It’s a big blow.”
‘Couldn’t penetrate’ is the understatement of the season. Celtic haven’t looked like scoring for weeks, and the Ibrox result just acted as a massive distraction.
And now, with eight league defeats on the board, a record Celtic haven’t seen since the 90s, O’Neill’s side are five points off top spot and looking completely lost.
The warnings were there at Ibrox, we were just too busy celebrating to notice.
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