Celtic's Struggles Without Duran: O’Neill's Ruthless Verdict
Celtic took the points. They did not take the praise.
A 1-0 win over St Johnstone on Wednesday kept the Hoops moving in the Scottish Premiership, but Martin O’Neill walked away from Celtic Park sounding more concerned than content. His team had dominated almost every metric that matters. The one that didn’t convince him was the scoreboard.
Celtic saw 60% of the ball, racked up an xG of 2.22 to St Johnstone’s 0.77, and fired 15 shots, 9 of them on target. On paper, that’s control. On the pitch, it was waste.
They found only a single goal to show for all that pressure, a narrow margin that left their manager unimpressed and their forwards under scrutiny.
The Gamble Without Duran
The most striking call came before a ball was kicked. Camilo Duran, the Colombian forward who has been at the heart of Celtic’s attacking play this season, started on the bench.
It was a bold move from O’Neill. Duran has been relentless since arriving from Qarabag in the summer for €5.5 million, and his numbers back that up: 9 goal contributions in 9 games across the Premiership, League Cup and Champions League qualifiers, split between 6 goals and 3 assists.
Still, O’Neill rolled the dice.
Speaking to Clyde 1 Superscoreboard after the match, he laid out his thinking with a blunt honesty that will have echoed through the dressing room.
“(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 not just a finisher. He’s a runner, a presser, a constant nuisance.
"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 cut through any attempt to dress the performance up. Celtic tried to prove they could cope without their new talisman. They failed to convince their own manager.
Duran had looked heavy-legged in recent outings. He played 83 minutes against St Mirren on September 5, supplying an assist, and 75 minutes against Aberdeen on September 2, when he produced a goal and an assist. Against St Johnstone, he was restricted to just 17 minutes, a cameo rather than a starring role.
Yet even his absence told a story. Celtic had the ball, the territory, the shots. They lacked the sharp edge that Duran has given them since he walked through the door.
Wasteful Dominance, Warning Signs
O’Neill’s side controlled the tempo and squeezed St Johnstone deep, but too many attacks fizzled out in tame efforts or blocked strikes. The numbers underline the frustration: 15 attempts, 9 on target, and only one breakthrough.
For a team with Celtic’s ambitions, that’s not ruthlessness. It’s a warning.
The manager’s public admission about Duran was more than a passing comment. It was a message to the rest of his forward line: standards have been set by a newcomer, and others are being judged against them.
When a coach says “the answer is probably not” about coping without one player, he’s not only praising that player. He’s challenging everyone else.
Derbies, Europe and a Thin Margin for Error
The timing of this flat display could hardly be more awkward.
Celtic now step into a brutal September run. Two Old Firm derbies against Rangers loom large: the Scottish League Cup quarterfinal on Sunday, September 13, and a Premiership showdown a week later on September 20. Sandwiched between those, on September 17, is the opening UEFA Europa League group match at home to Ferencvaros.
Three high-stakes games. Three different competitions. Very little room for the kind of wastefulness seen against St Johnstone.
Complicating matters further, Celtic will be without Yang Hyun-jun for that spell, as the South Korean heads off to represent his country at the Asian Games. One more attacking option gone, just as the schedule tightens and the pressure rises.
O’Neill now knows one thing for certain: this Celtic side, as it stands, struggles to be itself without Camilo Duran.
The question is no longer whether they can edge past St Johnstone without him. It’s whether they can handle Rangers and Europe if the supporting cast don’t start matching his level.
