It’s easy enough to throw the toys out of the pram after Hearts got a rare win at Celtic Park, the first since 2009 when Tony Mowbray was in the Celtic dugout.
The Celtic support made their feelings clear with the old ‘sack the board’ resurfacing and that seemed appropriate enough because that chant from the early 1990s was reminiscent of the football that we were playing back then when we had nothing at all in the bank.
These days we’ve got £70m plus and have just secured another £34m from finishing bottom of the Champions League group for the second season in a row.
The Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell, whose son heads up recruitment on behalf of the club, was also told to ‘get to Falkirk’ by the support and Brendan Rodgers can think himself lucky that he was excused, for now anyway.
Chris Sutton writing in his newspaper column this morning stated that Rodgers needed to be perfect from today until the winter break and that’s already up in smoke.
The first half performance today was abysmal as the two Johnstons went neck and neck for the worst performance of the season accolade, with Mikey just edging it as he draws a line under his own Celtic career. He risks taking the manager down with him as Rodgers continues to pick him.
David Turnbull hasn’t signed a new deal apparently due to concern over game-time. Best for all parties to call it a day now David, with a January move. Turnbull at least had an effort on target as a shell-shocked Celtic looked to recover a two goal deficit.
Kyogo hardly touched the ball in that first half where Luis Palma was in poor form but looked much better than Mikey Johnson.
And Greg Taylor continued to regress from the performer we enjoyed watching under the former manager.
Young Mitchel Frame could have been given a start today, instead he never even made the squad.
Kyogo had a great chance early in the second half but failed to make the vital connection with the goal at his mercy. That was as good as it got as the halftime subs Ralston, Maeda and Oh tried their best to raise heads and form but to no avail. It was painful to watch.
Bernabei replaced Palma before Taylor was put out of his misery being replaced by James Forrest who did more than the other three wingers put together.
The small away support lapped it up, they ask if this was a library, chanted about Celtic Boys Club, sang Cheerio and even did the Huddle.
Stewards were moved to the back centre of the front stand – just below the directors box as Kevin Clancy added on just four minutes.
But by then most Celtic supporters had gone and the boos for the halftime whistle were repeated by those still there to do it.
Celtic have gifted the advantage to theRangers in the title race throwing away six points in a week and losing a league match at home for the first time since the Covid season.
Earlier in the day the Celtic support chanted “stand up for the Green Brigade” but not everyone did, maybe a split down the middle on that one.
We have lost our identity as a team, playing inferior players and others out of form and/or confidence.
The first half at St Johnstone, the second half at Rugby Park and the 94 miserable minutes today add up to a huge cause for concern.
The club has the funds to sort this out in January but there has to be a willingness to do so. Before that Brendan Rodgers has to find a way to win every game up to and including St Mirren on 2nd January 2024.
And both the Green Brigade and the club ie both parties- need to bang heads together this week and thrash out an agreement that puts that issue to bed.
Today we put at risk our place in the richest Champions League tournament of all time. This has to be a wake-up call for everyone from the under-fire Chairman to the out-in-the-cold Green Brigade representatives.
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