“Call a spade a spade, when’s it ever been this bad? It’s never,” Luke McCowan

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The Celtic Star

·5 gennaio 2026

“Call a spade a spade, when’s it ever been this bad? It’s never,” Luke McCowan

Luke McCowan spoke to the media after Celtic’s dreadful 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon to theRangers, giving an insight into how the players are feeling as they too endure a season from hell which has worsened since the appointment of Wilfried Nancy as Celtic manager…

Djeidi Gassama of theRangers shot is blocked by Kieran Tierney and Celtic captain Callum McGregor during the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park, Celtic v Rangers – Photo O’Rourke Shutterstock

Martin O’Neill steadied the ship after the board effectively forced Brendan Rodgers out of the club, but rather than allow the iconic Celtic boss to continue and guide us through a tough spell of fixtures they instead threw a rookie into the deep end and what a mess he has made of it since.

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Luke McCowan revealed that the Celtic players are haunted by their current crisis of confidence and results under Nancy but that’s not something that they can tell the increasingly angry Celtic support, with the players hearing the level of discontent rise after the Glasgow Derby match on Saturday afternoon as they made their way over to the carpark with their partners.

03.01.2026 Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Premiership. Michael Nicholson, Chris McKay and Brian Wilson. Photo Kenny Ramsay

“It’s hard to tell the fans that. They’re watching it week in week out. Call a spade a spade, when’s it ever been this bad? It’s never,” McCowan said, as reported by Scottish Sun.

“So, you’re asking fans to react to something that for the first time they’re seeing it. And as players, for the first time we’re feeling it.

“So, it’s not nice, I’ll tell you that from a player’s perspective. It haunts you every minute of every day when you’re not winning. Going home, not speaking to anyone, sitting on the couch, not moving, staring at a blank screen… instead of having the darts on or football highlights. It’s nothing.

“But as I’ve said, that is what comes with playing for Celtic. You need to take that pressure on, you need to go out there, you need to show personality. And at times within games, we’ve not done that good enough.

03.01.2026 Celtic v Rangers, SPFL Premiership. Wilfried Nancy and Kwame Ampadu. Photo : Kenny Ramsay

“In the structure we’ve not done that good enough. But that’s just kind of the rubbish message just now… we need to stick together and keep going.

“Every defeat is horrendous but Rangers can’t come here and win 3-1. It’s never been the case before and it shouldn’t be. We just weren’t good enough second half to show the level we can be at.

“The first half shows that the players are running about for this club, doing everything they can, creating chances, and should be more up. Showing that the club’s their life, basically. And the second half it just didn’t seem to click together.”

The Celtic midfielder was asked about coping with the added pressure of fan discontent with the Board and now the new manager who has statistically he worst record of all Celtic managers. He replied:

03.01.2026 Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Premiership. Celtic fans protest against the Board at full time Photo Kenny Ramsay

“Of course it’s hard. It’s been hard all season. It’s been the message from fans all season and I’m not going to sit here and tell them what to think. That’s their place and that’s what they pay their money for. They’ve got their opinions and whatever.

“It’s hard, I’m not going to lie. You play under that pressure. But that’s what playing for this club is, it’s always playing under pressure – and you need to rise to it.

“If you don’t, what’s happening now is going to happen. You can get all the plaudits, all the fans outside when you win a derby or you win a cup. But if you don’t win it then get ready for the backlash you get. That’s what it takes to play for this club.”

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy arrives prior to the match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on January 03, 2026. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Luke McCowan was asked if the Celtic players are still behind the manager. His response was more diplomatic than emphatic. “We have to be, he’s the manager. I don’t know what else to say on it. But he is the manager. What do we do?”

McCowan also gave his thoughts on whether Celtic could recover from the form slump under the hapless Wilfried Nancy and go onto win the league.

03.01.2026 Celtic v theRangers, Scottish Premiership. Celtic fans protest against the Board at full time Photo Kenny Ramsay

“It’s going to be tighter than last year, that’s for sure. But mentality, we just need to believe we can go and win the league as well. It’s in January, but if we keep that mind-set ‘It’s only January, we’ll play enough games’ then it’s going to slip away if you don’t get the results back.

“We just need to get everybody together and get winning again.”