Celtic have started this Scottish Premiership campaign with six straight wins, stretching their overall league-winning run to 13 matches. That form has kept Martin O’Neill’s side top of the table. It also continues where last season left off, when Celtic secured the Premiership and Scottish Cup double.
Yet the mood around the club shifted sharply on derby day. Rangers beat Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final. The result exposed old frailties on Scottish football’s biggest stage. Where the league form suggested a team building real momentum. The cup exit raised uncomfortable questions about Celtic’s ability to cope when the stakes rise.
Captain Callum McGregor did not dodge the discomfort. He described his own side as a “team of individuals” in the aftermath. A blunt admission from the dressing room’s senior voice. For supporters, the Ibrox scoreline felt like confirmation of doubts that had quietly built during the winning run. Those doubts were sharpened by the European collapse against LASK earlier this season.
Domestic Winning Streak Masked by Cup Nightmare at Ibrox
Thirteen straight league wins is not a small achievement in Scottish football. It reflects a squad that knows how to grind out results against sides set up to frustrate them. It also has O’Neill’s side sitting comfortably top of the Premiership table heading into the autumn.
The defeat landed at the worst possible moment. A cup quarter-final against Rangers is precisely the kind of fixture that tests whether a winning run reflects genuine progress or simply a favourable run of opponents. Celtic did not just lose at Ibrox. They lost 3-0, a margin that gave critics real evidence rather than mere suspicion.
That contrast is now the central tension in how Celtic’s season is being judged. Six wins from six in the league against a heavy cup defeat to the club’s fiercest rival. Nobody disputes the points on the board. What is being questioned is whether those points came against teams capable of properly testing this Celtic side.
O’Neill Defends Selection Record Against Growing External Criticism
O’Neill’s response to the mounting scrutiny was pointed. Asked about his team selection and tactics in the wake of the Ibrox defeat, he pushed back on the idea that his methods should suddenly be up for debate. He argued that such questions rarely surface when results are going Celtic’s way.
“It’s strange you’re never asked about team selection when you win games.”
He was equally direct about Celtic’s domestic body of work. He insisted the league form spoke for itself and should not be dismissed because of one cup result.
“We’ve been doing a fair amount of winning domestically now for quite some considerable time and we’ve won our league games so far.”
Looking ahead to the next fixture, O’Neill framed the fresh scrutiny as part of an inconsistent standard. Applied to a manager whose team keeps winning. He did not see it as evidence of a deeper problem within the squad.
“It’s another big test for us on Sunday, obviously, but it’s amazing the number of times you’re not questioned when you’ve won.”
His full comments, given in the immediate aftermath of the Ibrox defeat, are covered in BBC Sport coverage of Martin O’Neill’s comments. The defence is consistent with a manager who delivered a domestic double only months ago. He clearly believes that record should count for something when judging a single cup night.
Not everyone in the media is convinced. Chris Sutton, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, said he had “great concerns” about “big issues” inside the Celtic squad. He went further, labelling the team “flat-track bullies” who were merely “beating the teams you expect them to beat” rather than proving themselves against genuine quality.
Forty Shots Faced and Ibrox Defeat Expose Deficit in Big Matches
The Ibrox defeat was not an isolated data point. Celtic also faced 40 shots during the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie against LASK. A startling number for a side with genuine European ambition. Taken together with the 3-0 loss to Rangers, it paints a picture of a team that can be opened up repeatedly once the opposition raises its level.
Sutton’s criticism zeroed in on the midfield specifically. He called Celtic “lightweight” through the middle of the park and said Rangers had been allowed to “run all over” them at Ibrox. That description will sting given how central midfield control has traditionally been key to O’Neill’s most successful Celtic sides.
There is a counterpoint in the attacking numbers. Camilo Duran has been one of the bright spots of the season. Scoring six goals and adding three assists in just 10 appearances. That kind of output shows Celtic can still hurt teams going forward, even during a period when their defensive structure and midfield control are being questioned.
The tension for O’Neill is reconciling those two realities. A front line capable of scoring freely against weaker Premiership opposition is not the same as a team built to withstand sustained pressure from sides like Rangers or genuine European quality. The 40 shots against LASK and the manner of the Ibrox defeat suggest the gap between those two things has not closed.
Ferencváros and Rangers Clashes Will Test O’Neill’s Tactical Resolve
Celtic’s next block of fixtures will offer the clearest answer yet to the questions raised by Sutton, McGregor and the watching public. A league meeting with Rangers follows hard on the heels of the Ibrox cup defeat, giving O’Neill an immediate chance to show the result was an aberration rather than a pattern. European commitments against Ferencváros add another layer of pressure, particularly after the concerning shot count conceded against LASK.
O’Neill has reinforced his squad this season, with the club confirming their deadline day transfer deals in an effort to add depth across the team. Whether those additions change how Celtic cope with high-pressure fixtures remains to be seen. The resources are now in place. However, for O’Neill to respond to the criticism with team selection rather than words alone.
What is not in doubt is the scale of the challenge ahead. Both Ferencváros and Rangers will arrive knowing exactly where Celtic have been vulnerable this season. How O’Neill’s side responds will matter greatly in the weeks ahead. Whether the midfield tightens up and the defensive shape holds under sustained pressure will go a long way toward settling the debate.
That debate is simple. Is this a genuinely improving Celtic team, or one whose weaknesses have simply not yet been punished often enough?
For now, O’Neill’s argument rests on a simple point: judge the table, not the noise. The coming weeks against Ferencváros and Rangers will decide whether that argument still holds.
