That feeling of Déjà Vu… again

I feel like we’ve been here before and like last time, nothing seems to have changed. It’s hard to explain what has happened to a side that should be dominating games and dominating the Premiership. Celtic’s wage budget is streaks ahead of the rest, but you wouldn’t know that if you looked at the table. Is that because of the manager, the heart in the players, or something else?

After 32 games last season Celtic had 76 points and a goal difference of 52. This season they are three points worse off but have a superior goal difference by a margin of three. Aberdeen have the same number of points as last season at this stage and are breathing down Celtic’s neck because they’ve drawn seven games this season.

With the greatest respect to the Dons, as much as they’ve excelled in the last few years, Celtic should not be sweating over a title challenge. The amount of resources the club has compared to the other teams really does dwarf the rest of the Premiership sides but there is a deeper truth to it.

I’m sure everyone remembers the days where Celtic Park would be a fortress and the opposition would be intimidated by it. I’m sure we can all remember those last minute goals where Celtic mounted enough pressure to win it at the death. This rarely happens now.

This is simply down to one thing. Mentality. Few players at the moment in this squad have the mentality to win a game by grinding out a result or by sneaking a goal when the side isn’t playing well. However, this mentality seems to start at the top of the tree and stem all the way to the bottom. The guys at the top want the bare minimum it seems for Celtic. That’s what annoys most Hoops fans. A club which used to compete with the elite are now struggling to string together good performances.

Under Deila, fans were promised good attacking football. In the last nine league games, the Hoops have only scored 13 goals. For a side which has better quality than the majority of teams, they should be finding the net with more regularity. Six of those goals were scored by Leigh Griffiths but when he is off the pace and not firing in goals, that’s when the management team have to find the right replacements to bring on.

In the game against Dundee, with a bench which has Kris Commons on it, surely you would have to bring him on if you need a goal. That’s what’s baffling. Instead, Deila and co, bring on an untested figure of Colin Kazim-Richards, who hasn’t offered any quality since signing for Celtic.

Kazim-Richards looked off the pace against Dundee, but he wasn’t the only one. A lot of players out there looked as if they were not bothered about the result. That’s what’s worrying. Some of the players aren’t playing for the jersey nowadays. For them it’s about the money and a potential stepping stone to another club. And as mentioned, that comes down to the mentality of the club and those making the signings.

If those at the top shared the same ambition which fans had a few years ago about becoming a well established European side, then there would be no need to panic. It’s for the simple reason that some Celtic players, coaching staff and the board want the bare minimum to reach the top and is what’s frustrating most Celtic fans.

Change must happen in the summer whether it’s personnel or a new manager in charge. It simply must change, because if it stays the same, I can see Celtic continue to regress. But it’s all down to those involved in the club. Do they want to keep doing the bare minimum and scrape results, or do they want to create a team that performs well on a regular basis and plays good attacking football?

Celtic now face a tricky opponent in Motherwell on Saturday, who are the current in form team in the Premiership. They’ve beaten us once already at Paradise this season so we need to be alert and come firing out of the blocks. If Aberdeen were to win on Friday night then the gap would close to just a mere two points. If the Hoops were to draw or lose the next day the alarm bells would start to ring. With the Scottish Cup semi-final next week and the league run in to follow, an out of form Celtic could throw away a domestic double. Something which is unthinkable for everyone involved at Celtic.