“We don’t have much time to sulk. We have another game in three days,” Liam Scales | OneFootball

Liam Scales spoke to The Celtic Star following Celtic’s 3-1 defeat to St Mirren in the Premier Sports League Cup final yesterday afternoon…

Liam Scales of Celtic during the Premier Sports Cup Final match between St Mirren and Celtic at Hampden Park on December 14, 2025. (Photo by Vagelis Georgariou, The Celtic Star)

St Mirren produced an impressive counter-attacking display to claim their first trophy in 12 years, with Jonah Ayunga proving decisive by scoring twice in the second-half as Stephen Robinson’s side asserted their authority over a Celtic team whose season appears to be unravelling.

The hosts made a dream start when skipper Marcus Fraser struck inside the opening two minutes from a corner kick – Celtic’s third conceded goal from a set-piece in three consecutive games – though the Hoops responded midway through the first half as Reo Hatate restored parity with a decent finish past Shamal George.

Speaking to The Celtic Star, Scales said: “It is really disappointing. I think the fans probably deserve an apology for the performances and for the last week, I suppose. It hasn’t been good enough, and we need to pull together as players, just adapt and take responsibility and be better.

“You have to credit St. Mirren as well. They were they were the better team on the day. They were better organised, and it’s their day and big credit goes to them.”

Celtic’s seemingly new era under Wilfried Nancy has started horrendously, with the Frenchman setting an unwanted club record after suffering defeat in each of his opening three fixtures at the helm.

Despite the early catastrophic setbacks in his Celtic managerial career, Scales maintained that the squad fully understands the manager’s tactical approach, stressing there has been no confusion over his tactical instructions, including the continued use of three centre-backs.

Addressing questions over the side’s adjustment to the new manager, Scales was asked whether the players were finding the transition challenging: “It’s a tough one to answer, to be honest,” the Irishman said.

“I can’t put my finger on it. The manager keeps his message to us clear. We’ve just got to go again and keep working on things, and in time it will come.”

“Probably for me, playing in a four and then an outside in the three, you probably do a little bit more running, but we’re all fit players, you know. No, we know what we’re being asked to do. We’ve just played a different way for so long. So that’s it. If the manager is wedded to this system, then we have to adapt to him.”

The 27 year-old acknowledged there is little opportunity for reflection with another tough league test looming at Tannadice on Wednesday against Dundee United, while also seeking to analyse the factors behind the downturn in results since Nancy succeeded Martin O’Neill.

O’Neill departed after overseeing an impressive run of form that resulted in seven victories from eight matches, prompting debate among supporters and pundits over whether a change in leadership should have been delayed until after the yesterday’s cup final.

Adding to the concern, Celtic’s latest defeat means they have now been beaten in successive domestic cup finals, following the Hoops’ penalty shoot-out loss to Aberdeen in May’s Scottish Cup final.

He said: “We don’t have much time to sulk. We have another game in three days. We will come in, train tomorrow and recover. I think the best thing to do is to get it out of our system by midnight tonight, that’s it.

“You’ve got to just get on with things. You take the time to sort of be angry, sad, whatever tonight, but after that, it’s got to just be put out the window.

“We’re used to this hectic schedule; we’re used to games every few days. It’s just it’s just a dip in form, I suppose, and it’s just down to us to turn that around. We’re all professionals. We should be able to adapt. It’s just been a tough week.”

“We’ve had defeats like this before because we had one last season. You don’t want to be in that position, but it’s a mad game. So, anything can happen. I don’t think I have an answer for what’s not clicking, to be honest. We’re just trying to win games, and it’s raw at the moment.

“I think we all just have to stick together to get through it. You know, we’ve had tough times before. and we’ve just stuck together and got through it, and we’ve had good times since.”

Conor Spence – In Press box at Hampden

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