Celtic were back to winning ways this midweek against bottom-placed Hamilton Academical, but the adversity continues for Neil Lennon’s men who failed miserably at home and suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat against St. Mirren. The gaffer must take the blame for his strategy and substitutions as the hosts failed to turn things around despite having the entire second half to exhibit their supremacy in Scottish football.
Below are the Celtic players rated in their distressing defeat against St. Mirren.
Scott Bain: 5
Kept a cleansheet against the Accies but conceded twice this afternoon. Could have done better to stop Ilkay Durmus’s winner, however, the frailty in deep defence left him frustrated during the first half.
Kristoffer Ajer: 6.5
The Norwegian started as a right fullback once more following the sudden exit of Jeremie Frimpong. The Bhoys certainly missed him in the heart of the backline, yet his efforts to make things work deserve appreciation. Tried to influence the game from the wide, combined with David Turnbull with overlapping runs, but the lack of bodies inside the box led to disappointment time and again.
Nir Bitton: 5.5
Was doing his job decently until the gaffer decided to take him off at the half time and bring on Stephen Welsh. A bizarre call from Lennon unless there’s an injury concern for the Israel international.
Shane Duffy: 4
Shocking display from the Brighton loanee as his struggle continues at the back. Looked largely out of depth and was at fault on both the occasions. Improved his game after the break but the damage was already done.
Greg Taylor: 6.5
The youngster has a bright career road ahead of him and is expected to secure the starting spot in the long run. Should have done better though against the Buddies as his dribbling attempts were unsuccessful and got dispossessed far too easily a couple of times. Created two decent opportunities in the attacking third but the end result was disappointing.
Ismaila Soro: 6
Not a good game from the Ivorian in spite of making a number of recovering runs while screening the fragile backline. His passes were not threatening enough and the lack of creativity from deep down the pitch resulted in the substitution just over the hour mark. Ryan Christie was introduced to add more firepower high up the pitch.
David Turnbull: 7
Had an effort denied by Jak Alnwick in the Saints’ goal and was arguably the most promising Hoops star on a gloomy afternoon. Covered a lot of ground and tried to make runs inside the box, but the efforts went in vain as the champions could not script a comeback. Got replaced by Michael Johnston late in the match.
Mohamed Elyounoussi: 5.5
Had high hopes from him after back to back productive outings. But the visitors never allowed him to depict his creative spark and the manager opted to take him off to make way for Albian Ajeti with half-an-hour remaining.
Callum McGregor: 7.5
Set it up for Odsonne Edouard to find the net and looked purposeful with his movements and link-up play. Worked tirelessly to uplift the tempo but the lack of ideas upfront and clueless gameplan resulted in another massive setback.
Leigh Griffiths: 5.5
Did not have many touches in the first half but the decision of taking him off at the back and bringing in Tom Rogic does not make sense either.
Odsonne Edouard: 6.5
Showed his composure to find an equalizer but was largely isolated otherwise and failed to contribute at all during the second half. Still not at his best despite being back among goals.
Celtic Substitutes vs St. Mirren
Stephen Welsh: 6
Did his job well with limited pressure from St. Mirren who were more interested in defending the first-half lead.
Tom Rogic: 5
The Aussie star is past his prime as he failed to leave an impression once again.
Albian Ajeti: 5
Made no difference since coming on to spearhead the attack.
Ryan Christie: 5
The dire run continues for the attacker as he failed with his final balls.
Michael Johnston: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
