John Hartson was surprised by Celtic’s defeat at Ibrox but has put the result in context as hysteria breaks out all around.
Led by Sky Sports claiming the summer bragging rights for the Ibrox clubs it seems to some than the season flipped on the back of 90 minutes after the SPFL title had been decided.
Without five first team regulars the true depth of the Celtic squad was exposed with a 3-0 Derby defeat a sore one for fans to take just days after the title celebrations at Tynecastle.
In the meaningful matches Celtic showed that they have what it takes but especially in defence there are clearly areas of concern that need strengthened.
Picking up on his appearance on Go Radio, Football Scotland reports Hartson saying:
Was I surprised? A little bit, I think all the Celtic supporters were. I think Celtic were a bit passive. I think the team has taken a bit of criticism from the manager.
I wasn’t happy with the second goal, I just felt that nobody really showed a desire to go and compete with John Souttar and that’s unlike Celtic as they normally defend set-pieces very well.
Carter-Vickers in that position probably takes a bit more of a command of the back four and standards in terms of going to header the ball out in dangerous areas.
Rangers made it very difficult for Celtic, I have to say. But I thought Celtic were very passive on the day. I think what you’ve got to remember as well is that when Celtic took to the game at Ibrox, the championship trophy was sitting at Celtic Park.
The post-mortem ends on Saturday when the hoops host St Mirren, the first home match since the title was clinched.
Greg Taylor is likely to be the only change to the Celtic defence but in attack Daizen Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi can restore more of a cutting edge.
The three remaining SPFL matches will be used to ensure that the Starting XI at Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final is primed to complete the season by delivering a fifth treble in seven seasons.