£3m Parkhead flop must never start for Celtic again

Are the ghosts of Wilfried Nancy’s dismal Celtic tenure starting to reappear? Quite possibly.

It would be safe to say that the last few days have been the worst of Martin O’Neill’s reemergence on the scene at Parkhead.

Their chances of going through in Europe are particularly slim and their hopes of being crowned Premiership winners took a huge hit on Sunday after losing to Hibernian.

The Hoops will, at least, have a chance to write their wrongs when they face their arch-rivals in six days but to beat the Gers, O’Neill’s side will need to improve quickly.

The chief suspect in their woes this week has been Kasper Schmeichel.

The downfall of Kasper Schmeichel at Celtic

When Celtic signed Schmeichel to replace Joe Hart, it felt like a pretty like-for-like replacement on paper.

The Celts were signing a highly experienced goalkeeper with title-winning experience in England. He also boasts enormous experience at international level having won 120 caps for Denmark. He is one of the most capped goalkeepers in football history.

Yet, the 2025/26 campaign has been one full of frustration for the Dane. Aged 39, it may not be too long now before we see the ‘keeper hang up his gloves.

After all, he’s now on the decline and that has never been more apparent than this week. Truth be told, it may well be one of the worst weeks of his career on a playing level.

Indeed, it’s been a period full of errors and after the 2-1 defeat against Hibernian, he looks particularly low on confidence.

It all started last week when Celtic went 2-0 down to Kilmarnock. The way in which he tried to keep out Joe Hugill’s looping header was bizarre but it was the 4-1 defeat at the hands of Stuttgart that really put the veteran stopper under the microscope.

His performance in Europe was a rather hopeless one. After just 15 minutes, he was beaten by a tame effort from Bilal El Khannouss. As the German side then made it 3-1 through Jamie Leweling in the second half, it was a really weak attempt at a save from Schmeichel who stuck out his right arm but couldn’t stop the ball from finding the net.

Speaking after the game, skipper Callum McGregor was quick to support his teammate, saying: “Everyone makes mistakes. Kasper has been amazing since he’s come to the club. There’s no blame, he’s made so many big saves for us. He’ll bounce back for sure.”

Sadly for those connected with Celtic, Schmeichel did not bounce back immediately against Hibs on Sunday. Indeed, he was fortunate not to be punished in the first half when he played a pass straight to Owen Elding.

All that said, Schmeichel isn’t the only one who’s endured a difficult week or so as a Celtic player.

£3m Celtic flop may not start again

It is difficult to make a compelling case for Schmeichel to continue between the sticks but he has not been the only one suffering in recent weeks.

Indeed, Japanese forward Daizen Maeda has now scored just once in his last 11 SPFL matches. There may well be troubles at the back but issues exist among the forward line too.

Besides Benjamin Nygren, a whole host of attacking players at O’Neill’s disposal are struggling for form and consistency. Perhaps the most damning thing is that despite some of the woes going forward, winter arrival Joel Mvuka cannot get in the team.

The 23-year-old signed from Lorient on loan on transfer deadline day and looked like a perplexing signing at the time. The Hoops had tracked several wingers post-Christmas but ultimately decided somebody was better than nobody. Well, Mvuka looks like a bit of a nobody right now.

Warning signs were there too. This is a player who has not scored in 18 games this season. The Norwegian also only netted three times in 31 outings during the 2024/25 campaign.

On that evidence, it was no surprise that European football writer Robin Bairner questioned the deal when it happened. He said: “Mvuka is a mediocre Ligue 1 player, so unless Celtic work miracles on him, he’s not going to elevate the level of the squad significantly. Smacks of the Celtic board feeling they’re better doing something rather than nothing, rather than actually making a smart move.”

That has been rather apparent in the few weeks he’s already spent in Glasgow. Mvuka started the cup tie with Dundee before being hauled off at half-time by O’Neill. Since then, he’s not been in a single matchday squad, excluded from the matches with Livingston, Kilmarnock, Stuttgart and Hibs at the weekend.

Speaking about that situation in the aftermath of the defeat on Sunday, the boss explained why the new winger had been missing out. “I think it’s just getting used to the environment,” O’Neill began. “These lads have played decent grades of football before. But it’s the intensity here at this minute, and some players, like James Forrest, have been used to that sort of intensity. So we’ll see.”

Realistically, it’s likely down to a lack of quality. This signing looked a strange one on paper and that has been proven correct since signing. Schmeichel and Maeda are rightfully under the spotlight right now but at least they can make the squad.

Mvuka looks like an even bigger waste of time and it would be a surprise if we saw him starting for Celtic again between now and the end of the season.

The Bhoys have a £3m option to buy the forward in the summer but do not expect that to be triggered.