GHOST OF A CHANCE
Silent Celts left to rue missed opportunities as gutted Turnbull reveals agony of Cup loss
DAVID TURNBULL admits Celtic’s stars sat in sickened silence after their Ibrox nightmare.
But interim boss John Kennedy spoke up and admitted his team lacked belief in the showdown.
Turnbull and his tortured team-mates were left in despair after their loss to Rangers.
Having conceded two bad goals and wasted a host of chances to get back into the game, including a penalty miss from Odsonne Edouard, the Parkhead troops faced up to the club’s first trophyless season in 11 years.
Turnbull and his colleagues reflected on a disastrous day where their failure to be ruthless at both ends of the pitch saw them play second fiddle to their Glasgow rivals yet again. Celtic have lost the Premiership, Betfred and Scottish Cups in the space of five months.
And the midfielder, who dismissed talk of a lack of unity within the group, said: “It’s tough to take after all the success we’ve had, to have that this season.
“It [the dressing room] was pretty quiet. The players weren’t really saying much, we let Kendo do the talking. Obviously we were all gutted.
“I feel we have been performing well as a team over the past however long it has been. But it’s about being clinical and we’ve not been that.
“It has been like that in a good few games this season. We created a lot of chances but it’s about taking them.
“Since the start of the season, or since I’ve been in especially, it feels like we’ve created plenty but not taken as many as we should.
“I’m not sure what needs to change. We go into each game looking to win and get some form until the end of the season, then pushing on and we’ll see what happens next season.”
Kennedy felt his team did not have conviction in the first period as they slumped two goals down or also after the break when they had the chances to try to recover the situation.
He said: “First half, I thought we were passive and soft in our pressing – we allowed Rangers to pass when they wanted.
“We probably lacked a bit of belief and I said that to the players at half-time both in how we defended and pressed and with the ball. We were passing the ball for the sake of it, for someone else to do the job.
“Second half we reacted. We went on the front foot and that’s when we are at our best.
“We made chances to pose the question and get it back to 2-1 but we weren’t decisive enough in the big moments.
“The big chances we had, we weren’t clinical. That’s when you need quality.
“We’re bitterly disappointed. Second half was better but this game was all about the result and nothing else. You can’t give cheap goals away and not be decisive
It was pretty quiet. The players were not saying much. We were gutted DAVID TURNBULL ON THE REACTION AFTER DEFEAT
at the top end, especially when you come to Ibrox.
“You may not create a lot of chances, so when you get them, you need to be decisive. That’s where Rangers have been better than us this season.
“It’s not for the lack of trying, They are working and trying their best. But sometimes when confidence isn’t quite so high, it can affect decision-making and performance a little bit.
“I thought we were in a good position going into this game, playing well, got belief back.
“But there were little glimpses in the first half where we lacked that belief again.
“So we have to get over that and show more character in terms of imposing our style on the game. The difference in the game is Rangers had a couple of half chances, one breaks to them and the other one is a flash across goal, and take them.
“We have not been in that form consistently enough to have that full belief.”
Edouard’s weak penalty, saved by Allan McGregor late on, summed it up. Kennedy said: “We have been there before in terms of being relentless in front of goal and putting teams to bed.
“We have gone through a difficult patch this season when that’s not been the case, for me a large part of it is confidence.
“You saw the penalty. He has scored many a good penalty for us, unfortunately it wasn’t the case here.
“Even Stephen Welsh first half, Moi [Elyounoussi] has had a chance. For a game like this that is more than enough to go and take care of the game and then, obviously, Rangers score two and that puts you on the back foot.” Kennedy insists mentality has been an issue. He continued: “In the past seasons we have not been wanting. This season, yes, we have not done well enough and we will address that and take responsibility for that. “But people don’t do it as they don’t want to, they are trying to do the right thing. Sometimes lack of confidence makes bad decisions for you, you are more tentative. It has been difficult to keep confidence high. We found ourselves chasing.”