They’ve not cracked it- Sutton nails it over Celtic’s day of misery
Soccer Football - Champions League - Group H - Celtic v Real Madrid - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - September 6, 2022 Celtic's Callum McGregor with teammates look dejected after the match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Chris Sutton summed up Celtic’s day in one perfectly delivered tweet. It just didn’t seem like we were watching the champions today with that strip confirming the feeling.
Six changes were made to the side that drew away to Shakhtar Donetsk but those that retained their places were barely recognisable.
Anyone attempting to pick a Celtic Man of the Match will have a near impossible task.
Lots of changes for Celtic today and maybe too many key players left out. Not the same without CCV, Jota, Hatate and missed McGregor’s speed of passing in the pivot role early on… sometimes a result like this isn’t a bad thing to let the players know they’ve not cracked it !
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) September 18, 2022
Nothing worked. St Mirren defended in depth, snapped down on Celtic as they advanced forcing the ball sideways and back with no real conviction.
The usual combinations and movement just didn’t happen, two substitutions at half time made little difference with St Mirren doubling their lead early in the second half with a header that would probably have been ruled out in a Champions League tie using VAR.
There is never a good time for a defeat but going into an international break there is 13 long days to stew on today’s result and performance before the chance to pick things up against Motherwell.