Another heavy defeat. Celtic dropped three more goals to Ferencvaros in their Europa League opener, coming right after a shellacking at Ibrox last Sunday. To many fans, it’s becoming sacrilege to doubt Martin O’Neill’s capacity, but keeping the faith is surely getting tough right now.
What The Heck Is Happening On The Pitch?
This team is a mess, plain and simple. We saw more absent-minded stuff in the midfield, more loose defending, and a shocking amount of negativity and lack of accuracy on the ball against Ferencvaros. It’s like they’ve forgotten the basics of pass and move, and the intensity and work-rate just aren’t there. At times, with the score at 3-1 to Ferencvaros, Celtic tried to stage some kind of gallop, but their attempts were hopeful efforts from distance, not built on coherence, pressing, or speed. Remember the best days under Ange Postecoglou? That was all about aggression, ingenuity, dynamism, risk-taking, pace, and belief. This version is a poor imitation. Fans are worried, and for good reason. They gave up five goals against LASK, had that desperate experience at Ibrox, and now this. Some of their play on Thursday was eerily reminiscent of darker days, like the failures against Cluj and Copenhagen in 2019 and 2020, or Sparta Prague in 2020. The energy levels were low, the booing was loud, and the feeling of a side with no answers was unmissable.
O’Neill’s Flat Response Is Telling
In the aftermath of the Ferencvaros loss, O’Neill spoke about frustration, failure, and psychological damage, emphasizing how low moments like these hit hard and test resolve. He promised to “get ourselves together” for Rangers on Sunday, but his tone was flat and a touch tired. He outlined some ways in which Celtic were deficient on the night, but honestly, he didn’t talk with the spirit of a man who had answers. In many ways, his post-match comments mirrored his team’s performance: leaden, stale, and disheartening. O’Neill has fixed many problems over the years, even restoring order and confidence in his return last season. The force of his personality once gave Celtic fight, making them ferociously hard to beat, especially on the title run-in. That kind of never-say-die attitude feels like yesterday, but also like an awfully long time ago. They had a decent start against Ferencvaros, then conceded a soft goal, and just couldn’t claw their way back with enough purpose.
The second act of this season’s Old Firm show is still coming up this Sunday at Celtic Park, and there *has* to be some kind of response from O’Neill’s team after their pitiful fate at Ibrox. It’s time for solutions, and more importantly, some inspiration.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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