adminCeltic suffered a 1-0 defeat to fierce rivals Rangers on Sunday, and Martin O’Neill has since indicated that he will consider whether to continue in his role as manager.
The performance certainly left plenty to be desired, with the visitors dominating the key attacking statistics.
Although the Hoops remain at the summit of the Scottish Premiership table after winning their first six matches, back-to-back defeats against Rangers were always likely to create pressure, while the 5-4 aggregate defeat to LASK Linz has added further complications to O’Neill’s situation.
With hindsight, stepping down after securing the league title and Scottish Cup last season could have been a suitable conclusion to the 74-year-old’s spell at Parkhead, and club officials are now beginning to run out of patience.
Inconsistency has become a major concern, as the Glasgow giants had maintained a flawless league record before Sunday’s setback, but struggled in several disappointing European results, including a 3-1 home defeat to Ferencvaros on Thursday night.
O’Neill’s position could now be under pressure, but Chris Sutton has argued that Celtic’s problems run deeper, suggesting Dermot Desmond may need to address another area before making any rushed decision over the manager’s future.
Chris Sutton criticises Celtic’s recruitment after Rangers defeat
Responding to a call for Celtic to dismiss O’Neill on X, Sutton said: “That’s fine but any management team taking over a midfield which has no legs, running power and physicality will struggle against a half decent team. Maybe change the recruitment team first…”
The pundit was also highly critical of his former side’s overall display and claimed Rangers should have won by a bigger margin, saying: “Celtic lucky to lose 1-0. Top of the league still but very worrying. Celtic looked like a team thrown together. Very lightweight, no physicality in the middle of the park but we knew that. Rangers knew their next pass, Celtic didn’t… every proper test this season miles off it…”
Callum McGregor and Mika Baur formed O’Neill’s midfield partnership and registered ten tackles between them, but neither managed to make an attacking impact, with both players failing to record a shot or create a big chance.
Sutton was especially concerned by the shortage of energy in the centre of the pitch, while the Celtic manager has acknowledged that he is missing Arne Engels following the midfielder’s summer transfer to West Ham United, saying: “He’s been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you.
“He’s been a loss in terms of that running power he can give you.
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