Aiden McGeady says Callum McGregor taking stick for his 'no more goals' gesture after Celtic went 3-0 down at Ibrox is understandable, but the Celtic performance was 'embarrassing' and could have been six.
The Hoops skipper was captured by the Sky Sports cameras telling his teammates to shut up shop after Dan Neil curled in his second and Rangers' third during their Premier Sports Cup quarter-final cruise. That's angered a section of Celtic fans, but McGeady reckons it comes with the territory when you are a leader and is confident it will be water off a duck's back to the skipper.
McGregor 'getting overrun'
"Callum McGregor is the focal point and the figurehead of the team, so it's understandable, and he's the most experienced," he told BOYLE Sports. "I don't think it will bother him too much, but I don't think anybody can come away from that game with any credit, to be honest."
"Callum is probably getting stick because of how Celtic set up, he plays as a six, but a lot of the time he drops back in between the centre-halves to start the play. What I noticed was that the gaps between himself and the other two midfielders, Nygren and Baur, were too big, and when Rangers won the ball back, Callum McGregor was almost against two or three Rangers midfielders and getting overrun."
"That's been the theme at times this season when Celtic haven't performed well, especially in Europe, like the game against LASK. I don't think anybody can complain about being criticised after that game. As a Celtic fan, that performance and result was unacceptable, to be honest with you. I don't think anyone would disagree with that."
'Embarrassing' performance
Of more concern to McGeady was the Celtic performance, which he's branded "embarrassing." And he's told the Hoops they should be thankful for getting out of dodge without a five or six goal beating.
McGeady added: "Rangers have been poor up until the last four games, but they've managed to find a way to win without really playing well. At the weekend, to be honest, it was an embarrassing performance from Celtic. It was passive and slow on the ball, just far too easy to play against. Rangers just looked hungrier. They had everybody fighting for every ball, winning most of the duels and second balls."
"Going forward, the 3-0 scoreline probably flattered Celtic, if I'm being honest, it could have been six. Having no away fans can sometimes play into Celtic's hands because when Rangers aren't performing, the crowd can get on their back and make them play with fear. But on the weekend, the crowd was fully behind them because of how they started. They started so well, and Celtic just couldn't find a way back."
"Celtic were really poor all over the pitch and offered very little going forward, creating hardly any chances. They just looked shell-shocked. Everyone going into this game thought Celtic would brush Rangers aside, but it was the complete opposite."
Celtic have a big game next week against them again to try to change the narrative. They need to change what everybody's been saying, because that was probably one of the poorest performances I've seen from Celtic against Rangers at Ibrox in the last five or six years.
