Shattered Celtic are being reeled in by Rangers - but at least one man got £25k smile

Rangers ransacking the hosts at Celtic Park rounded off a miserable seven days for the Northern Irishman, perhaps as poor a spell as any he has known in either of his two spells as manager. It’s certainly the first time that he has lost three games in a row while in the dugout at Celtic.

Wherever he’s from, Ryan Naderi – who is being tracked by Czech Republic despite also being eligible for Germany and Bulgaria - certainly knows the way to goal. The 23-year-old striker’s opportunist finish after 32 minutes—with Celtic defenders standing around like statues—was greeted with deafening silence and earned Rangers a win that further ignites the Ibrox side’s season. It also granted manager Derek McInnes a particularly satisfying victory at Celtic Park, his second in his previous three visits.

Cammy Devlin, who appeared as a late second-half substitute and likewise endured last-day-of-the-season heartache with Hearts, relished taking his time to leave the pitch this time around following the final whistle, which referee John Beaton blew after four fairly meaningless minutes of additional time.

Celtic had already chucked it, like the fan who threw his scarf towards the pitch around the same time as it was confirmed how much extra would be played at the end.

The home team already looked shattered. Worse, they looked like they had run out of ideas. Despite having 100 per cent of the crowd on their side, they seemed enervated rather than energised. The only Celtic supporter who walked out of Parkhead with any hope for the future was the bloke who won £25,000 in the half-time Paradise jackpot draw.

O’Neill, for one, can have no such enthusiasm. He won’t see the majority of his players for over two weeks now and the 74-year-old wondered aloud about what he can do to help the situation afterwards. The alarm bells grew louder. It’s nearly a year since O'Neill was brought back first time around in an emergency situation following two successive league defeats against Dundee and Hearts.

McInnes permitted his players a little time to savour the result in the hostile enemy territory before pushing them towards the tunnel. It was more wise management on his part having already schooled O’Neill, who, sad to say it, is starting to look like a man out of time. Celtic fans will complain about the wrong team starting.

One wonders what stood as the worst decision – bringing Luke McCowan in from Siberia or inviting Daizen Maeda back to say an ‘official’ farewell before kick-off? Talk about a bitter reminder of what Celtic used to have.

McCowan’s previous start was last season against Rangers, when Maeda scored twice amid his championship-winning purple patch to secure a 3-1 comeback win for Celtic. Here the Japanese forward had a purely walk-on part, waving a proper goodbye to the fans alongside his young son following his summer move to Ipswich Town. It was hardly setting the right tone.

As in his last start, McCowan was hauled off at half-time. The stats once more condemned the struggling 28-year-old: a completed pass record of just over 40 per cent, apparently. The midfielder toiled but so did several others and he did provide the assist for the near-goal that heartened Celtic shortly before they went behind: McCowan fed Kieran Tierney to his left and the wing-back launched a raker towards goal that clipped the top of Ivor Pandur’s bar.

Still, including McCowan in the starting XI was brave, given the player has become so associated with calamity following his cameo against LASK in Linz last month. His name received a lukewarm response at best when the announcer read out the teams. It was no surprise when he didn’t reappear following the break.

Still, like the previous weekend when O'Neill sought to react to Rangers being in front, Celtic were worse after the interval.

Kasper Hogh replaced McCowan as Celtic switched to a back four from the five to which O’Neill had reverted. Hogh joined Camilo Duran in a front two and the Norwegian’s impact can be summed up by the fresh air swipe he took when given his first glimpse at goal. Whatever good work he did was too deeply down the field: a neat lay off here, a nice pass out wide there. Stuff you expect from a player worth 11 grand never mind 11 million. It’s fair that he ought to be given time to find his feet, something match-winner Naderi needed.

McInnes saved his most lingering hug for this galloping giraffe afterwards. What a performance. Written off by some as a German third-tier misfit, Naderi was a thorn in Celtic’s side for the second time in seven days. Although he didn’t score in last weekend’s 3-0 Premier Sports Cup victory, he was a candidate for man of the match. He got the goal his efforts deserved this time, reacting first when Viljami Sinisalo could only parry Kim Minsu’s shot from the edge of the box after a corner.

The Celtic keeper could not have set up Naderi any better. Had the Finn pushed the ball wide, it’s unlikely Rangers would have profited. Although, let’s face it, the visitors had plenty of other chances. Rangers' chief frustration is that they only won 1-0.

Djeidi Gassama almost made it 2-0 ten minutes before half time when his dink hit the far post. Naderi slid in a cross in the second half that Kevin Kelsy couldn’t quite connect with and Dan Neil, excellent once more without earning goal-grabbing headlines, crossed from the same position four minutes later. Again, no takers.

Celtic’s response? It’s the year 2026 and James Forrest is still being sent on in the hope of salvaging a game of football. There’s much to ponder at Parkhead over the course of the international break.