For a change most Celtic Supporters will be agreeing with the views expressed by Any Walker today on Sky Sports. The former Hoops striker reckons that his old club need to win every single league game between now and 2 January if they are to have any chance of stopping theRangers running away with the Scottish Premiership this season.
And Walker reckons that Celtic players deciding to turn it on for short spells in games while spending the rest of the 90 minutes in the lower gears is the root cause of the problem that his old team are experiencing in a season in which he feels Celtic have under-estimated the challenge from theRangers.
Indeed over their past two games, an 8-0 win at Ibrox against Hamilton and a 4-0 win over Aberdeen, again at Ibrox, Steven Gerrard’s side has effectively added another point to their lead over Celtic, who of course have two games in hand.
Celtic need to get their act together immediately and win all the games until 2 January, then win at Ibrox that lunchtime to have any hope of winning Ten-in-a-Row. The fixture list is kinder for Celtic in December so it is possible we’ll at least get the chance to make a fight of it, but when bookies are offering odds of 3/1 on Celtic winning the Premiership you know we are in trouble.
The last half hour Celtic showed they can play,” Walker told Sky Sports, referring to the 2-2 draw at Easter Road on Saturday afternoon. “And I think that’s the real problem, Celtic are playing for half an hour, not for 90 minutes.
“Too many of the players are not playing for Neil Lennon. Two wins in their last eight is not good. Celtic, for a long time have underestimated (the)Rangers and the improvements they’ve made.
“The only way you turn it around is by winning games. You can’t afford any sort of slip ups between now and the next time they play (the)Rangers at Ibrox.”
Walker also believes that the Celtic Board will NOT sack Neil Lennon at this stage but instead give him the opportunity to turn things around. This though is more an opinion more than based on anything factual as intense speculation swirls around Paradise on moves for Martin O’Neill / Roy Keane or Gordon Strachan – with neither option getting much positive response from the support.
“The Celtic board and Dermot Desmond are going to stick by Neil Lennon,” Walker said. “If they were going to make a change they would’ve made it during the international weekend there.
“They’re in a bit of a mess just now and I think the best case scenario is Celtic win all their games between now and the game at Ibrox.
“That’s the big one. They have to show they can match (the)Rangers on a big occasion.”
