Celtic shrouded by 'lurking' demon but Rangers man refuses to rule out the unthinkable

Celtic lost 2-0 at Dundee United last weekend to fall five points behind leaders Hearts in the Premiership. Sitting third in the table with seven matches to go, they have chalked up eight league defeats this season - and no club has won the Scottish top flight in the three-points-for-a-win era with that number of reversals.

The defeat at Tannadice severely hampered their championship ambitions, but Stewart also believes that every time Celtic lose, it shines a light on the discontent at the club right now. Supporters have protested against the board all season long, while they have had three different managers and failed to succeed both domestically and in Europe.

“These performances have just been floating under the surface all along because there is a huge degree of negativity that is surrounding the club,” said Stewart. “It’s never dissipated, it’s always been there, just lurking under the surface. You look at the team that started [against Dundee United] and I know there’s question marks about [Julian] Araujo going back to Bournemouth, [Tomas] Cvancara, was he injured, was he unavailable, but there are no other January recruits in the team. There’s none. I’ve made this point before. Everyone realised that they desperately needed reinforcements.

“I think Cvancara was missed, but for some reason he doesn't seem to be this mainstay of a centre-forward. He's drifted the last month or so, and that team was sorely lacking and needed reinforcements before. The reinforcements have come in and they've had next to no impact.”

Nevertheless, Celtic manager Martin O’Neill feels the team can finish top of the pile - and Stewart concurs. “He's totally correct to say that Celtic are not out of the race,” the former Hearts midfielder added. “They're not out of the race, of course they're not. A long way to go. But yes, they're not out of the race, but every time a result like that happens, it's not just the points that are hugely debilitating, it's the fact that it just allows that real negativity to poke to the surface again. The longer they're able to get good results and suppress that, then obviously the better, but every so often it just rears that ugly head again.

Former Rangers defender Alan Hutton agreed with Stewart’s assessment on the Scottish Football Social Club and said that given the unpredictable nature of this season, Celtic winning the league cannot be discounted.

“I know that it wasn't a great performance, and Mikey's right, it has just been kind of bubbling under the surface,” said Hutton, “and the recruitment hasn't been good, and there is problems there that they're going to need to sort for next season or whatever, but they're still in it. That's the main thing about it.

“They're only five points [behind Hearts]. Rangers are just there in front of them, so anything can happen. The way this year's went, I mean, come on, when we're looking at it, literally anything could happen.

“This late on in the season, I think, if you can get away with not playing to the highest level but picking up wins, it's A-OK. But when you're performing to that level and getting beat, it's obviously becoming a problem.”

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