Chris Sutton can only name 3 Celtic players who have pulled their weight this season
Chris Sutton has named the three Celtic players who can hold their heads up high following a disappointing first quarter of the season.
The Bhoys may be top of the Premiership as things stand, but all is not well at Parkhead, and the negative atmosphere has returned after two league games without a win, which have included a defeat at Falkirk and a home draw with Dundee United.
Elsewhere, Celtic are yet to pick up a single point in the Europa League and crashed out of the Premier Sports Cup in their second game, losing the first of two Old Firm games in a week, both of which they lost.
Celtic are beating up the lesser teams for the most part, but they are coming unstuck against any sort of decent opposition, and it's clear there is a personnel issue after a disappointing summer of recruitment.
Pressure is mounting on Martin O'Neill, but there is also a very fair argument that the players should take more responsibility for their performances, with very few having been consistent so far this season.
That's something ex-striker Sutton has highlighted on The Warm-Up this week, saying: "But I think there's no doubt that we don't know there isn't a clear sort of first 11 of what a Celtic team would be, should be, and I don't think that that's a good thing. We could have an argument in virtually every area of the team about who should be playing, and that's a problem.
"So Martin's talking about rotation, but you know, I don't think that there is a good first 11 for Celtic at this moment in time. And that's how much would you say is on the players because you know Martin's come in for a lot of criticism the last few weeks. He's the manager.
"I don't think there's many of them can actually look at themselves in the mirror and say, 'Yeah, I'm doing enough.' I mean, Camilo Duran, yes. Other than that, is there anybody you would say Mika (Baur), maybe give him pass marks? Not so sure. No, I think that's that, you know, Colby Donovan, I think, maybe coming in, but he's all in."
It's tough to argue with that point. Other than the weekend's defeat, Cameron Carter-Vickers has been pretty consistent, especially with the centre-backs getting completely exposed by a poor midfield, and you could argue that Kieran Tierney has largely been consistent, but he too has committed some significant positioning errors that have led to goals.
There really are very few to pick from.
Today's best reads
'Really Vulnerable' - Former Celtic duo question talent level of Martin O'Neill's squad
The Celtic starting XI Martin O'Neill should use against Besiktas
The Celtic starting XI Martin O'Neill should use against Dundee United as 4 changes made
Celtic must now tread carefully with the workload of key players amid relentless schedule
The Celtic starting XI Martin O'Neill should use vs Falkirk as 6 changes made
