Some Celtic fans are getting restless, despite Brendan Rodgers’ side retaining a nine-point lead, after Sunday’s 0-0 draw away to Dundee United.
Al: For what the squad cost, it is a disgrace that we could not break down a dogged, but limited, opposition. The display in the League Cup final was below par, but the performance yesterday really was woeful.
Paul: Celtic missed their big guns against a very resilient Dundee United side to grind out an inauspicious draw. Several players like Hyunjun Yang, Luis Palma, Anthony Ralston, Luke McCowan and Stephen Welsh showed their frailties and are not worthy of a first-team place, with Kyogo Furuhashi’s miss testimony of his extremely poor form this season.
Tommy: Really poor, laborious, side-to-side tippy-tappy Rodgersball. Hats off to Jim Goodwin and his well-thought-out tactics in the knowledge Brendan Rodgers is incapable of changing his style of play.
Malcolm: With the Celtic line-up against Dundee United, it feels Brendan took a gamble by playing second-string players – why? We didn’t lose, but I think maybe it’s all about the January transfer window and, to be honest, we still need strengthening as we are still very vulnerable in defence.
Peter: Unbeaten run continues but far from convincing display. Really need to sign a proven goalscorer in January. Like Adam Idah, but he will never make it as a regular striker for Celtic. The board needs to act quickly if we are to drive home our current domestic dominance and progress in Europe.
Anon: Rodgers is becoming too arrogant. To make all those changes to the team in one game is completely criminal. He got away with it against Ross County, but making all those changes in one game is asking for trouble.
United fans are heartened by the draw with the reigning champions that keeps their side in fifth spot.
Paul: A result that on paper should never have happened, especially when Celtic can bring £20m worth of players off the bench. Proud of the way we defended, limiting them to only a couple of clear openings. A boost going into some crucial games we should be looking to take a good points haul from.
Stephen: Was it great to watch, no. But this Celtic side has battered everyone else in league and cup, so to restrict them to barely testing Jack Walton, yeah I’ll take it. A good point well earned. On to St Johnstone on Boxing Day!
Ross: A change of gameplan worked perfectly. From a three to back four, everyone behind the ball when out of possession, compact shape to deny the opponents space – all worked to great effect. Proves that a “horses for courses” tactical philosophy might just keep United looking towards a top-six finish rather than the dreaded relegation dogfight.
Anon: Vicko Sevelj is developing into an outstanding defensive midfielder. The cover he provided for the centre-back pairing of Declan Gallagher and Kevin Holt – both pretty impressive themselves – was exceptional and allowed United to frustrate Celtic in a way few teams have managed this season.
Jamie: The draw is brilliant, the clean sheet is outstanding! This was a massive result to move on from last weekend’s disappointment. Now it’s time for Jim Goodwin to play four at the back against teams outside of the Old Firm. Go for it!
Dave: As much a feeling of relief as anything else. Can hardly say we deserved any more, but the defensive performance was almost impeccable and worthy of our point. Will hopefully add to the growing belief that’s developing in the club.
Lee: Back to normal after the disappointing defensive display last week vs Motherwell. Discipline, focus and concentration were all on display against the best team in the league and we could even have won it with those half chances at the end.
Glasgow’s other big side had better luck than Celtic against the other half of Dundee, with Rangers up to second after a 1-0 win.
Gerry: After two uplifting performances, it was back down to earth with a bang. We just can’t seem to put teams to the sword that come to Ibrox and sit back. We had enough chances. Is it anxiety that creeps in playing teams we should beat comfortably at home?
Ronnie: A frustrating 90 minutes but the right result. Why do we struggle to put games to bed against mediocre teams? We dominated throughout yet could have shipped two points at the death. Hamza Igamane was largely ineffectual and, despite the noise around him, he has a lot to improve in his game. Good to see James Tavernier once again have a strong 90 minutes.
Finlay: The second-half performance was nowhere close to what the past two games and the first half have been. We can now celebrate being second in the table, which over the past few games we have shown we deserve.
Peter: Another impressive performance. Good flowing football. Any other day the ones that hit the woodwork would have went in.
Chris: I feel like it was three steps backwards again. I can’t get my head around why we are so bad in the league. We need to start blowing teams away at Ibrox again to reinstate the fear factor. Finishing mediocre teams off like Dundee should be easy, but something’s not quite working yet.
Robert: Competent display. The result was never in doubt. The woodwork will need repainted. We still require to be more clinical in front of goal.
Dundee fans were philosophical despite their side slipping five points behind sixth-top St Mirren.
Brian: We were wide open down the wings and it was exploited many times. Defence a bit better and big Billy Koumetio is improving. However, we need a decent centre-half – recall Luke Graham now. Powder-puff up front and midfield were pretty anonymous. Not a lot more to be said.
Gary: Wasn’t expecting anything from Ibrox, but the team did well under the circumstances. Lack of quality in the opposition box. More winnable games are around the corner shortly.
