Six Wins From Six, A 100% Record In League But Martin O’Neill’s Words Seem To Tell A Different Story About This Celtic Side.

Six league games. Six wins.

On paper, there really isn’t much for Celtic supporters to complain about domestically.

Scratch beneath the surface though, and Martin O’Neill doesn’t sound like a manager remotely convinced by what he’s currently watching.

After Celtic’s 1-0 victory over St Johnstone, O’Neill was pretty scathing about our attacking performance. He described us as “still well short”, admitted there was plenty to improve upon and made it perfectly clear that the chances being created simply have to be converted.

Then came the line that really caught me off guard.

At 74 years old, O’Neill reckoned even he could have scored one of the chances Celtic passed up.

It was delivered with his usual humour, but there was a serious point underneath it.

Reminded me of the classic line he dished out to John Hartson back in the day after a particularly lazy showing from the forward.

“Get warmed up John, you’re coming off!”

Celtic are winning football matches, but the manager clearly believes performances need to improve significantly.

More interestingly, O’Neill deliberately went without Camilo Duran from the start.

Part of the thinking appeared to be finding out whether Celtic could cope without the striker leading the line.

“I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not.”

Duran has quickly become an important part as well as a fan favourite of this Celtic side, not simply because of his goals but because of what he brings to the overall attack.

That’s great news regarding the player himself.

It’s slightly more concerning when you’re looking at Celtic’s depth.

We’ve just come through another transfer window.

Celtic spent significant money and added several players, yet we’re already hearing the manager questioning whether his team can function effectively without one particular striker.

Is this a hint at his real views on the transfer window efforts of the Celtic Board?

That should raise an eyebrow.

Especially this week.

Rangers are next and, regardless of where either club currently sits, that’s hardly the game where you want to discover your attack suddenly can’t finish its dinner.

O’Neill’s comments also interest me because he’s never been somebody who feels the need to manufacture a crisis.

If anything, since returning to Celtic he’s generally been very good at keeping things measured, balancing the angst between supporters and the numpties in ties.

So when he openly says Celtic remain well short, I’m listening.

There’s a strange contrast developing.

Look purely at the Premiership table and Celtic couldn’t have started any better.

Six games.

Eighteen points.

Watch the actual football and listen to the manager afterwards, and suddenly everything doesn’t feel quite as comfortable.

Perhaps that’s actually healthy.

I’d rather O’Neill call out what he’s seeing than hide behind six victories and tell everyone everything is wonderful.

Because Europe has already shown Celtic this season what can happen when warning signs are ignored.

Domestic results might currently be perfect.

Martin O’Neill clearly thinks Celtic aren’t.

Keep Your Eyes On The Board.