Celtic midfielder Colby Donovan has insisted the squad remains fully united behind manager Martin O'Neill and has called on supporters to keep the faith despite a run of poor results.
The champions suffered their sixth defeat in their last 10 games at Falkirk on Sunday, prompting fury from the Hoops support. The Parkhead board has faced criticism, and O'Neill now finds himself under pressure ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash with Besiktas.
Captain Callum McGregor was vocal about the team's problems last week, while Cameron Carter-Vickers has also spoken out about the tactics. Donovan, however, stressed that O'Neill guided Celtic out of a bigger hole when he arrived last season and wants everyone around the club to back the boss.
Donovan: We stick with the gaffer always
"We stick with the gaffer always, no matter who it is. When they come in here, they're a Celtic manager. Nobody will ever turn against them. He's some manager, you saw it last season as well. How good he was, he came in when times were tough for us and just led us to a good double. You never turn against the manager," Donovan said.
"Last year it was a tough time for the club and everyone knows that. We came through that with flying colours, we went on to win a double that season, so I'm sure nothing changes. We're the same group of boys here, there's still a good core group from last year, so I'm sure it'll click for us."
Reflecting on the Falkirk defeat, Donovan admitted the loss was difficult but refused to blame individuals despite Celtic being undone by individual mistakes and missed chances.
"It takes a big toll on you"
"It's tough, it's never easy to lose a football game. You ask any football player, you never want to lose. When you lose games like Sunday, it's such a big club. As it's your boyhood club, it does take a big toll on you. I look round the changing room and all the boys are the same, none of us want to get beat. As I said, we all just try and stick together. Nobody turns on each other, we stick together and go on to the next one," he said.
Donovan, a homegrown talent, said he understands how the fans feel because he is one of them, and he is hoping the supporters can play their part in helping the side return to form.
"It's never a great feeling when you see your fans like that, but that's how Celtic fans are. We don't pick up wins, it's the same. We seen it at home the other night. The message is that we all just need to stick together. You see in the split last year when the fans are on our side and they give us noise, it's like a 12th man to be fair," Donovan said.
"We need them on our side"
"When they turn on us it's not great, we just need them all together. I know what it's like to look in from a fan's perspective. It's not great, you want your club to win every game. When we can't deliver for them, it's not going to be all happy. The fans are going to be upset, but it's just trying to get that message across to them that we need them."
"You know in this club it's nothing without the fans, so we need them on our side in every game. That's the message I just try to give to them."
Donovan added that external criticism does not affect him personally. "I still see all the things around the club and it doesn't get to me, to be fair. It makes me want to go harder, it makes me want to play harder for the club. When I see stuff like that, I just put it away and put it in the back of my mind."
On the Falkirk match, Donovan said: "It was tough, it was tough for all of us. We started the game really poor, we conceded a bad first goal and then we conceded a second. They scored at two great times and we had chances in the first half, I think we had one right before the end of the half that can take us in there at 2-1."
"It just didn't drop for us at all really. We get a lot of chances to go on and win the game. You might as well get a point, but it just wasn't enough. Obviously it was tough conditions on the Astro, we've not played on that in a long time, but you never dig a player out, never."
