“It’s going to happen in football,” Celtic star rubbishes complacency claims

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·3 de enero de 2025

“It’s going to happen in football,” Celtic star rubbishes complacency claims

Alistair Johnston rubbished claims of complacency despite Celtic’s 3-0 defeat at Ibrox…

Hagi of theRangers and Celtic’s Alistair Johnston during the match between theRangers and Celtic at Ibrox on 2nd January 2025. Photo by Mark Runnacles Shutterstock

The Canadian right-back suffered his first taste of defeat in a Glasgow Derby yesterday afternoon where Celtic were comfortably beaten 3-0 by theRangers on a day to forget for the three-in-a-row Scottish champions.

OneFootball Videos

Ianis Hagi set the tone for the hosts beating Kasper Schmeichel from 25 yards after just seven minutes into the contest. Celtic failed to respond and were wasteful in possession despite controlling majority of the ball. Robin Propper and Danilo compiled a miserable day for the visitors in the second half as Celtic kickstarted 2025 in the worst possible fashion.

Although suffering their first loss of their domestic campaign, the Hoops remain 11 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table, and their quest for another league title remains in a considerably strong position.

Celtic FC players huddle on pitch prior to the SPL Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Speaking post-match, Alistair Johnston praised Celtic’s opponents for the way they setup.

“Struggled a little bit just to get out of our own way”

“We didn’t start very well. They got an early goal. I think that we kind of struggled a little bit just to get out of our own way in a couple of instances, just completing simple passes and breaking through their press. But I’ll credit them. They came out and they played a really good match and we weren’t at the races,” Johnston said. “A match like this, a fixture like this that has the quality and the emotion behind it, it can go one way pretty quickly. We obviously got caught on the wrong end of it tonight.”

Physicality of winning duels

Arne Engels hit by coins at Ibrox

“We were just miles from our standard, unfortunately, and that comes down to us. And that’s the frustrating thing is that, you know, we had 90 minutes to recover it and we couldn’t find a way just to do the simple things, you know, just in terms of the physicality of winning duels and just being about it. I didn’t think that we were at the races at all.”

“And that’s the most frustrating part of it. It’s one of the matches that you really don’t want that to happen in. That comes down to us as a group, not putting in that effort right from the get-go. That’s the unfortunate part. But at the same time is now, it’s a busy, busy period. We’ve got to try and put this behind us and get ready for Sunday because the matches come thick and fast.”

Asked if complacency played a role in Celtic’s surprisingly insipid performance, Johnston quashed those claims.

“We weren’t at the race from the get-go and they punished us”

Ianis Hagi of theRangers and Alistair Johnston of Celtic battle for a header during the SPL Premier League match at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“I don’t think complacency is the word. It’s going to happen in football,” he said. “They’re a good team. Again, we weren’t at the race from the get-go and they punished us. And unfortunately, we just couldn’t find a way to really get a grips of the game. That comes down to us more than anything. I wouldn’t say it’s complacency. You can see the passion in the guys’ eyes.”

“But yeah, it wasn’t our day. And we’ve got to take our medicine and understand that as much as we want to be perfect every day, we weren’t tonight. Nw we’ve got to kick on. This could be a massive thing that we can look at and now bounce back from and use as motivation to remind ourselves that there’s still a long way to go here.”

Johnston added: “it’s not something we’re used to. And that’s a good sign, obviously. But again, it’s a great reminder that it’s football. It’s not played on paper. It’s played on that pitch. If you don’t show up, any team can beat you. Especially in a match like that, where there’s that much added.”

“If you’re not at the races, it can get ugly”

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic looks on following the SPL Premier League match between Rangers FC and Celtic FC at Ibrox on January 02, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“If you’re not at the races, it can get ugly. So that’s something that we’re just going to have to take on the chin and move on from. But yeah, it was obviously a pretty frustrated group. At the same time, we realised we had 90 minutes to go out there and change. Obviously, it started poorly for us. And we still had plenty of football left to be played there.”

“But we could have turned that around, and we didn’t find a way to do it. So that’s on us. And we’ve got to learn from that and kick on from here.”

Conor Spence

PS – Daily Record seems to be very excited about the result yesterday…