Rangers thrashed Celtic 3-0 at Ibrox in a one-sided Old Firm showdown, putting Derek McInnes' side just two games away from the season's first silverware and prompting a wave of Celtic fans to vent their fury at four players they branded "empty jerseys".
The dominant victory, which followed McInnes' declaration last week that he wanted to bring major silverware back to Ibrox after 15 years in Celtic's shadow, has left more than a few punters eating their words.
Gers fans hold their hands up
Peter Cooperwhite was first to apologise: "Well, I suppose I have to do apologise to Derek McInnes first as I've lambasted him on here a few times along with other players. But I won't say too much more. In many ways, it laid bare what you can achieve if things go right. Now keep it up."
Summer signing Dan Neil has also transformed opinion since stepping in as captain for crocked Lawrence Shankland. Gordon Hendry from Ochiltree confessed: "As a Rangers fan, I'm afraid I have to eat a portion of Humble Pie as Dan Neil - who I have had cause to criticise recently - has been outstanding in the last couple of games and in particular against Celtic. Apologies to my old pal Tommy Sloan, as on reflection I think Dan is a wee bit too good for the Talbot."
Alan Flett beamed: "Great result, great performance! We absolutely battered them! We proved that we are the better team with better players, and our bench is a lot stronger than theirs. If we play like that we'll batter them again next week. Dan Neil had the great McGregor on toast. Where were Kasper Haaland and Duran Duran?"
Celtic fans turn on players and boss
Ref Nick Walsh had a relatively quiet afternoon and Gary Stevenson from Newtonhill joked: "Let me guess... someone in the VAR booth had blue socks on! Come on, what's the excuse for that thrashing?"
Celtic were second best in every department and Denis Bruce from Bishopbriggs pulled no punches: "Celtic had this result coming and there may well be worse to follow. This was a Celtic team without fight, flair or teamwork. MON must be wondering if he should get back to the King's Road to enjoy the coffee again, while Bin The Board could be the fans' mantra yet to come. Foresight has never been this board's strong suit, and it never learns the lessons of hindsight. Congratulations to Rangers, they played us off the park."
Record signing Kasper Hogh drew another blank and Charles Maxwell raged: "Whatever happened to starting with the strongest eleven? There's no way Tounekti's up to it, but we can't put it all on him. We have to look at the gaffer's tactics. Shoehorning Hogh into the side had way too many knock-on negative effects. Sacrificing the right wing, left wing and middle just to play Høgh was madness."
"McGregor was terrible and almost gave a goal away. But who didn't? Maybe Donovan at a stretch got pass marks. He was certainly the best one in a green and white jersey. Johnstone looked like a rabbit in the headlights; he should never have started. We were lucky it wasn't 5-0 in the first-half. The only time Hogh was put through, he looked like Bamby on Ice. I'm considering 3-0 as getting away with it."
Bill Waugh from Glasgow admits the heavy defeat gave him flashbacks of the LASK collapse: "Two big games, two disgusting capitulations. Shows the calibre of the new signings and the team in general. Need to man up and soon. A bunch of bottlers."
Pressure mounts on O'Neill
Seething Kenny Wilson from Moffat reckons Martin O'Neill should be feeling the heat: "Quite simply embarrassing from Celtic making an average team look good and lucky it wasn’t more. The buck stops with the manager, with a baffling starting line-up and no idea how to change tactics or system when it’s not working. The usual empty jerseys in big games, McGregor, Nygren, Tounekti, always fail in these games, and still they get picked. As for the keeper starting after playing one game is another mystery. Any other manager would be under pressure this season."
Joe MacEachen from Coatbridge agrees: "Martin O'Neill has to take full responsibility for Celtic's shambolic performance as the team selection and tactics were completely wrong and we managed to make a mediocre Rangers team look like Barcelona. I also think that there are cowards in the current Celtic team because, as was seen in the away game against LASK, they disappear when put under any kind of challenge and pressure."
"It's ok trying to play pretty football, but unless you are going to show guts and determination as well, you will get nowhere, especially in games against Rangers. There are certainly no leaders in the current Celtic team. As for next week, surely Johnstone, Nygren, Hogh, who has gone missing since his hat trick at Kilmarnock, and Tounekti cannot be in the starting line-up, based on their performances today."
But Stephen Mulhern from Dumbarton is convinced there won't be a repeat on Sunday: "Okay, Rangers have the bragging rights for a week, but I’m expecting a totally different outcome at Celtic Park. I’m sure Sinisalo will be reinstated in goal as Johnstone looks as nervous as a kitten in such a hostile atmosphere. But I have to admit that performance was a mirror image of the woeful performance away in Austria."
