Celtic Edge St Johnstone: O’Neill's Brutal Message

Celtic took the points. They did not win many admirers.

A 1-0 victory over St Johnstone on Wednesday kept the Hoops moving in the Scottish Premiership, yet it left head coach Martin O’Neill distinctly unimpressed with what he saw.

His team controlled almost everything that usually matters. Sixty percent of the ball. An expected goals tally of 2.22 to St Johnstone’s 0.77. Fifteen attempts, nine of them on target.

And still, just the one goal. Just enough, but nowhere near what O’Neill wanted.

A Win That Didn’t Convince

For long spells, Celtic pinned St Johnstone back and created more than enough to kill the game. The numbers scream dominance, but the performance never quite matched the data. The final ball lacked conviction, the finishing lacked edge.

The pressure finally told with the decisive strike, yet the narrow margin left O’Neill with more questions than satisfaction.

One decision in particular framed the night: the omission of Camilo Durán from the starting XI.

The Colombian forward, one of Celtic’s standout performers this season, began on the bench. It was a bold call from O’Neill, and it shaped both the match and his post-game verdict.

O’Neill’s Blunt Verdict on Life Without Durán

Speaking to Clyde 1 Superscoreboard after the match, O’Neill didn’t hide behind the scoreline. He admitted that the experiment of starting without Durán had backfired.

“(Camilo) Durán doesn't start for us. He's just been class, and he looked tired in the game against St Mirren. But I'm not surprised for the amount of things that he does for us, both with the ball, which is terrific, and also the work that he does off it,” O’Neill said.

“He's second only to Daizen (Maeda) in terms of closing players down. So I wanted to try and see if we could do without him, and the answer is probably not.”

That last line hung in the air. A compliment and a warning wrapped into one. Durán’s importance is now beyond debate, and so is the standard expected from those around him.

The Colombian was introduced late, playing only 17 minutes against St Johnstone. By then, Celtic had their goal, but not the fluency or ruthlessness that has started to define his presence in the side.

Durán’s Relentless Start

Durán’s numbers this season explain O’Neill’s frustration when he is not on the pitch. Nine matches, nine goal contributions across the Premiership, League Cup and Champions League qualifiers: six goals and three assists.

He has been central to almost everything Celtic do in the final third.

On September 2 against Aberdeen, he produced a goal and an assist in 75 minutes. Three days later, against St Mirren, he added another assist in an 83-minute shift. The heavy workload and intensity perhaps justified a rest, but Celtic’s drop-off without him was stark.

Signed this summer from Qarabag for a reported €5.5 million fee, according to Transfermarkt, Durán has wasted no time proving his value. O’Neill’s admission that Celtic “probably” cannot do without him only underlines how quickly he has become indispensable.

A Brutal September Run

There is no time for Celtic to dwell on a flat win. The calendar is about to bite.

Next up is Rangers. Twice.

First, the Scottish League Cup quarterfinal on Sunday, September 13. Then, just a week later on September 20, the Premiership showdown in the seventh round of league fixtures. Two Old Firm clashes in seven days, with a European night squeezed in between.

On September 17, Celtic host Ferencvaros in their opening UEFA Europa League group-stage match. It is a stretch of fixtures that will test O’Neill’s squad depth, his rotation, and his forwards’ finishing – the very area that misfired against St Johnstone.

Complicating matters, Celtic will be without Yang Hyun-jun for those key games. The South Korean winger is set to depart for the Asian Games with his national team, removing another attacking option at precisely the moment O’Neill needs every weapon available.

So the picture is clear. Celtic are winning, but not yet convincing. Their manager has fired a shot across the bows, his words aimed squarely at his attacking unit.

With Rangers looming twice and Europe returning to Glasgow, the question is no longer whether Celtic can dominate the ball. It is whether they can turn that dominance into the kind of ruthless edge that decides trophies, not just routine league nights.