Chris Sutton points the finger at Celtic Board for current crisis | OneFootball

Chris Sutton this morning lays the blame for Celtic’s current crisis not on Martin O’Neill, who he reckons has been shafted, but on the Celtic Board for their shockingly bad recruitment failures this summer…

Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic and Brian Wilson Celtic’s ‘interim’ Chairman look on from the stands during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and Ferencvarosi TC at Celtic Park on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

That he believes is the root cause that has created the shambles we are now enduring with the former Celtic striker predicting things are about to get even worse...

Celtic threw away a 4-0 aggregate lead in Linz to exit the Champions League – yet again – at the playoff stage 5-1 on aggregate after extra time against LASK.

Luke McCowan of Celtic reacts after the match LASK v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria – 25 Aug 2026Linz Raiffeisen Arena. Photo Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock IMAGO

We then papered over the cracks in a number of Scottish Premiership matches before exiting the Premier Sports Cup at Ibrox last Sunday without laying a glove on the Rangers who ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.

13th September 2026; Ibrox. Scottish League Cup Football, Rangers versus Celtic; Rangers players applaud their fans as the scoreboard reads Rangers 3 Celtic 0. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Things then went from bad to worse on Thursday night and this time the Celtic horror show was stages at Celtic Park against Hungarian side Ferencvaros who probably couldn’t believe that the gifts were offered quite so easily as they won 3-1.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and assistant Shaun Maloney during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and Ferencvarosi TC at Celtic Park on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

And it seems that Celtic are caught in the grasps of a perfect storm with the fixture list throwing another Glasgow Derby at us tomorrow lunchtime when we once again take on the Rangers, this time at Celtic Park and in the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic are top of the league, five points ahead of Derek McInnes’ side. This time it will be Celtic who will have 60,000 supporters at the game and a win will open up a significant eight points advantage going into the extended international break.

Celtic fans during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and Ferencvarosi TC at Celtic Park on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

That though looks a real long shot given the shambles that has unfolded in the key matches listed above which an emotional and clearly hurting Callum McGregor described as Celtic being ‘broken’.  With just yesterday and today for Martin O’Neill and his coaching team to sort things out it seems unlikely that we are going to see a very different looking Celtic tomorrow.

Instead maybe we will see a back to basics approach with the commitment, aggression and an end to the torment of the six yard passes and Liam Scales standing lost with his foot on the ball. The late, great Charlie Gallagher once said to me that he was “a fan of the forward pass”. That seems appropriate thing to mention amid this current self inflicted crisis at ‘broken’ Celtic.

Martin O’Neill, Manager of Celtic looks on before during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and Ferencvarosi TC at Celtic Park on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Writing in his weekly newspaper column Sutton defended Martin O’Neill and instead pointed the figure at the root cause of this crisis.

“Broken was a word that Callum McGregor used,” Sutton stated in his Daily Record column. “The captain is right. It is broken. Yet the mess Celtic are in at the moment is completely self inflicted.

“Yet another failure of the club’s board in a transfer window has left the squad vulnerable to being exposed and, my word, they are being exposed alright. I don’t like this current pile-on in terms of Martin O’Neill. Put bluntly, he’s been shafted.”

Ominously he added: “Perhaps he should have been stronger in terms of the players coming into the building, he certainly was first time at the club. But the damage is done and he has to fix it. Quickly because, unless there is a major transformation, it’s going to get even worse very quickly.

Mika Baur of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Camilo Duran during the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and Ferencvarosi TC at Celtic Park on September 17, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“It’s up to these players to find the courage and character to cover up for the latest set of boardroom mistakes, yet I’m looking at the assembled group and wondering what Martin is going to do.

“He must have been hoping to get some answers ahead of tomorrow’s momentous rematch” before Sutton then goes through the Celtic horror shows: “Instead, all he got from the Ferencvaros flop was more problems and questions. It was another woeful show.

“In the space of week, Celtic’s obvious frailties and failings have again been brutally laid bare. Deficiencies which could have been addressed in the final month of a transfer window and were not.

Last weekend at Ibrox was atrocious for Celtic. Defensively flimsy, lightweight and run over in midfield and with nothing on offer in attack. Just like in Austria against LASK.”

Get the Celtic support behind the team

We’ll see what answers the manager and his coaching staff have tomorrow. Heaven help us if it’s more of the same. The 4-3-3 has to be binned and players have to be selected on the basis that they are going to be up for the battle. There can be no passengers, no-one who weakly accepts losing their own battle on the pitch.

Celtic fans hold up a banner during the Scottish Premier league match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park on September 10, 2016. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Get the Celtic support behind the team.  That’s down to the players though after the coaches have ditched the root causes with the self destructive back-pass nonsense. If we go down that route again we already know the outcome.

We’ve watched that horror movie three times already this season.

HAVE YOUR SAY – Join the Celtic conversation in our comments section below…

Celtic Shorts is the new home for the team from The Celtic Star

NEW FROM CELTIC STAR BOOKS…Celtic in the Fifties by Matt Corr, in two volumes, available now…

Celtic in the Fifties by Matt Corr. Both Volumes out now. Order at celticstarbooks.com

Celtic in the Fifties by Matt Corr, in two volumes, both published on 4th September 2026 by Celtic Star Books. Click on image to order.

Quick Tip – Add Celticshorts.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!

Click to join Celtic Pools