Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Ibrox. Scottish Cup quarter final on Sunday 8 March 2026. Photograph by Vagelis Georgariou
NEVILLE – 6.5/10 – Paint the lines thinner, groundsman! Scottish football, eh? Veteran EPL personality gets the raw taste of parochial warfare as he is isolated and swarmed by enthusiastic journeymen. Feared the worst for him, stuck in among speedy rotation with his aged legs still not totally tuned. And a yellow on his first challenge – the kid should have been wearing shin pads, for heaven’s sake! – meant the chances of him not finishing the game one way or the other were short odds. But he hung in there with nous and class. Had another near-sensational strike refuse to creep in after a blinding fingertip-save pushed it onto the post. Picked his moments to play, but most impressive all game was his positioning; economy of movement to counter their abundance.
Hyunjun Yang of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s opening goal with Benjamin Nygren during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
NYLON – 5.5/10 – Today. He chooses today to lose his scoring touch. Mind you, if he could kick with his right peg we might have been out of sight. Very unlucky to spin one off some amber bammer’s back onto the upright; summed up his day. But still made a poignant contribution by nicking the ball to set up our equaliser, so not all bad.
Reo Hatate of Celtic arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Motherwell at Celtic Park on March 14, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
HAKUNA HATATE – 5.5/10 – What’s Japanese for, ‘dithering numpty? Jee-sus…The saviour of the midfield in recent times comes a cropper with a calamitous error to kill our title hopes. Or so it felt at the time. Said previously, not entirely his fault but his hesitation against their press was fatal, and he knew it. Still, if there’s one thing he will do when in the mood it’s continue to play football. So kudos for not reprising the sulking Hatate and finishing strongly, on a yellow, with an appetite for victory.
Today we witnessed a facet of Reo Hatate he rarely reveals. Shedding aside his usual dour demeanour, he demonstrated his sensitive & caring nature to put a rather shy young mascot at ease as Celtic & Motherwell lined-up.
Ever the perfectionist, his mistake which resulted in the… pic.twitter.com/httCceN4m4
— The Fast Lovin' Sin-Soaked Heathen (@fast_sin) March 14, 2026
