Celtic given stern warning over fixture schedule.
Celtic have been warned they must drag themselves out of their current “turmoil” or their demanding fixture schedule could swallow up their hopes of success this season.
Despite being two points clear in the Scottish Premiership title race, Celtic’s form has fallen off a cliff over the last month, with Martin O’Neill’s men losing four of their five games in all competitions heading into a crunch clash with title hopefuls Hearts at Parkhead this weekend.
Their schedule shows no signs of slowing down over the next month either, with the Hoops juggling some gruelling Europa League ties with vital domestic fixtures. As for second-placed Rangers, being knocked out of Europe during the qualifying stages has given them ample opportunity to rest in between weekend games.
Heading into this week’s league clash with Hearts, former Scotland international Pet Nevin believes Celtic’s hectic upcoming schedule could play a major part in who claims the title come May and believes O’Neill must once again unify the club as he looks to navigate them out of a sticky patch.
“They've just played Benfica, then it's Hearts at home, which is never going to be easy,” said Nevin. “They've got Celta Vigo coming, and then Hibs away. Now, Hibs are not in a great time, but a tough team to play at Easter Road. So they've got this position where they're in a bad run, everyone's questioning it, there's turmoil in the fanbase, absolute turmoil. They've turned on the club. A group of Celtic fans turning up and throwing tennis balls onto the golf course when the owner was playing in a big prestige tournament.
“I know it doesn't sound that extreme, but if you start chasing your people out with the game, I don't think the Celtic fans know how serious that is. That's extraordinary. So we'll see where that ends. They want change from Dermot Desmond, they want change from there, but going into personal life, that's a jump, that's a step change. So you've got all that going on at the club just now, so Martin O'Neill has to bring that together.
“Now, to be honest, is anyone better at doing it than Martin? Probably not. But it's still a big job that he's got to do. So, yeah, I would say very, very concerning times for Martin O'Neill. By the way, this is the club that's won 15 of the last 16 championships. So concerning, but let's keep it in perspective. I think other clubs have got bigger problems.”
Moving to the blue side of Glasgow, the 63-year-old has told Rangers fans they need to show a little more patience before hailing South African centre-back Olwethu Makhanya as ‘the next Virgil van Dijk ’. The 22-year-old has been excellent since arriving from Philadelphia Union in the summer. However, Nevin believes supporters won’t be fully able to judge his debut season at Ibrox until later in the campaign.
“People have been getting a bit carried away,” Nevin told CasinoHawks. “I've heard the words ‘John Stones’, I've heard the words ‘Virgil van Dijk’. Look, it's early days. It's really, really early. But, yeah, he does look as if he is one of the answers that they needed at the moment. And, again, Scottish football is interesting because a lot of decent players, good players come to Scottish football and take a while to settle.
“It's extreme up here. It's a different type of football. But he seems to have just walked into it, cruised into it. But, yeah, hold on, just give it a while. You know, the winter is coming, a lot of players find it different and difficult over the entirety of a Scottish season, especially when there's one or two mistakes or things go badly. At the moment, yeah, he looks like one of the ones Derek McInnes is going to build the base from.”