Those most at fault for failing to beat Kairat are our Celtic players

Blame goes to the Celtic Board, the manager and our players 

As my colleagues have rightly pointed out in some of the articles already published today on The Celtic Star, the Celtic Board aren’t the only ones to blame in this epic failure, with Brendan Rodgers and the players having to rightfully face the wrath of the Celtic fans over their pitiful performance in Kazakhstan too.

I have read enough today about the board and the manager and their part in this disaster, and over the next couple of days I will certainly be writing a few articles focusing on them, but for now I want to look at the people probably most at fault for not beating a team who honestly are on about the same level as Scottish Premiership teams we face week in week out – our players.

Shoddy recruitment this summer has been completely unacceptable 

We can scrutinise our shoddy recruitment so far this summer and the reasons for it all we like but at the end of the day those players who took to the pitch last night should have been more than capable of taking care of Kairat Almaty. I honestly don’t think any of them deserve pass marks but personally I think a few of our big name players have been escaping most of the criticism being directed at the squad, not just last night but this season so far.

I have to say it drives me mad hearing fellow Celtic fans constantly single out certain players for criticism, while others seem to escape flak after poor performances. We know the players who constantly get berated. Liam Scales. Anthony Ralston. Adam Idah. Admittedly sometimes their performances are below par (in Idah’s case it’s regularly) but sometimes they are just made the scapegoat while others are as bad if not worse.

Scales is probably the one who receives most criticism and while I have said for a long time we could be doing with an upgrade at left centre back, Scales is miles off being the worst offender in our squad. In fact I would go as far as saying he’s been out best defender so far this season. Although limited players, at least you get 100% every time from the likes of Scales and Ralston, more than what can be said for some of their more talented colleagues.

Cameron Carter-Vickers seems to escape criticism 

One player who often seems to escape criticism is Cameron Carter-Vickers. Personally I think he has been shocking this season, yet it never seems to get mentioned. I feel like his performance levels have slowly declined over the past year, some of which I was putting down to him carrying an injury but this season he’s supposedly back to full health yet he looks to have lost another half yard of pace, and that’s being polite.

At times he looks like he’s towing the Titanic behind him. Not only that but his concentration levels have been suspect too. In almost every game lately he’s been having a lapse of concentration that has almost cost us dearly. I actually text a friend last night saying CCV is giving me Efe Ambrose vibes and although it was said as a joke, there was a lot of truth behind it too.

Kieran Tierney has failed to impress 

Another player who has failed to impress me so far this season has been Kieran Tierney. As I write this I know I will face a backlash as Kieran is a huge fan favourite but so far he hasn’t gelled well in this Celtic team. I was delighted to see him return to the club but in all honesty I thought he would have been an absolute standout in this team but he’s been far from it.

Celtic missing a full back playing that ‘inverted’ role

Defensively he’s done well and is definitely an upgrade on Greg Taylor in that department but going forward I genuinely believe Greg offered more. I doesn’t help that Daizen Maeda has been played on the left wing so often as I think him and Kieran’s game are far too similar and they struggle to work in tandem together. Both hug the touchline and try to whip balls into the box and it just looks a mess, truth be told. It’s also shocking how one footed he is, almost never turning inside where he would have to use his right foot, and it certainly looks like Celtic are missing a full back playing that ‘inverted’ role.

Where art thou, Reo?

At the end of last season we were constantly told that if Reo Hatate hadn’t been injured and played in the Scottish Cup Final we would have beaten Aberdeen. The evidence last night said otherwise, against a team who set up to frustrate just as Aberdeen had done back in May. He was definitely one we were looking at to provide that bit of quality in the final third, that moment of magic to break the Kazakhs down but in reality he offered nothing. In fact I felt the often vilified Arne Engels offered more in that regards when he came on, although his set play deliveries really let him down.

Callum McGregor has been a shadow of his former self

There are others in the team who aren’t producing the goods so far this season but getting away with it. Callum McGregor has been a shadow of his former self. Maeda looks back to the player who frustrated us during his early days at Celtic Park and his miss last night near the end of the 90 minutes really was unforgivable. When you actually look at our squad overall it seems like most players have regressed this season. The only player I can think of that looked to be maintaining his high standards was Alastair Johnston, who is now unfortunately injured.

The rest need to start finding their form

The rest need to start finding their form, and last night should be the wake up call needed to make them realise that you need to do more than just turn up to beat the opposition. If not, then opportunities should be handed to the likes of young Donovan and Murray, who both looked better than some of regular starters after they came on last night. With the Champions League now gone, maybe now’s the perfect time to blood in a few of our own young talents, while at the same time giving some of our ‘star’ players a not so subtle hint that they are far from irreplaceable.

Conall McGinty