Celtic told 'obvious' problem is handing Hearts and Rangers title advantage amid ‘nobody remembers’ admission
Former Celtic man blasts team’s performance against Dundee United
Celtic have been told that their failure to address a major issue in the January transfer window is to blame for their faltering title challenge.
Martin O’Neill’s men fell to a damaging 2-0 defeat against Dundee United at the weekend, and now trail league leaders Hearts by five points at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. Rangers are two points ahead of them in second after their thumping 4-1 win over Aberdeen.
Just seven games remain in the league season, and the title race looks set to go down to the wire. However, former Celtic assistant manager Peter Grant believes Celtic may have already blown their chances after suffering their eighth league defeat of the season at Tannadice.
“The second-half they were very poor,” he told the Go Radio Football Show. “You can't make excuses, but the pitch was atrocious. You can see it wasn't watered before the game, and Jim [Goodwin] has done all things right, because I would have done the same 100 per cent, if I was going to play Celtic. You have to find a way to win. Like Martin O'Neill said, nobody will remember what the pitch was like in three weeks time. You have to go there, roll your sleeves up and you have to win games of football - and Celtic did nowhere near enough.
"[Benjamin] Nygren, if he had scored at the weekend, would have been on 20 goals. There's no Celtic striker even in double figures. That tells you where the problem obviously lies. Would it have not have been better to go two up top? I know [Kelechi] Iheanacho had to go off, but you could have got Nygren maybe with Adamu when he came on. Get bodies in the box, because you're not going to get wingers dribbling on that pitch.”
Meanwhile, the 60-year-old praised the work of Rangers manager Danny Rohl in the winter transfer window, and revealed why he thinks their recruitment has made them favourites to win the Scottish Premiership title, detailing the key advantage both the Gers and Hearts have had over O’Neill’s defending champions since the turn of the year.
"In December time, I thought Rangers [would win the league],” said Grant. “I genuinely did. I thought Rangers made signings that can mix it up, they're more physical now. I think Rangers and Hearts can both score from set-plays, and don't really concede a lot from set-plays because of the height they've got in their squad.
"Celtic are the opposite. If Celtic can't out pass someone and create a goal... At the weekend [against Dundee United], I thought [Reo] Hatate was excellent to be honest with you, and I thought Celtic dominated that period up to the 18-yard box, but that sums up Celtic's problem.
“I’d rather be in Hearts’ position, but I still think Rangers [win the title]. Their players have had a lot of criticism, and they’ve been able to handle that kind of pressure as the season has went along, and picked up Rangers with Danny Rohl. Hearts is going to be interesting, when Rangers play before them, if they do at any time, putting a little bit of pressure on them. People say it doesn’t count, but it does. But Celtic don’t have any wiggle room now. It has to be about winning the next game, that’s it. That’s all you can do.”
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