O’Neill must drop 3/10 Celtic flop who was as bad as McCowan

Celtic head into the international break off the back of three successive defeats in all competitions, after losing 1-0 to their rivals in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.

The Hoops welcomed Rangers to Parkhead on Sunday afternoon seven days after they were beaten 3-0 at Ibrox in the quarter-finals of the League Cup, but they did not look like a team ready to exact revenge.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Martin O’Neill, having also seen his side lose 3-1 to Ferencvaros on Thursday night in the Europa League, opted for a change of shape for this latest match.

The Northern Irish head coach switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation with Colby Donovan and Kieran Tierney as wing-backs, which allowed him to bring Luke McCowan and Benjamin Nygren in as the two number tens behind Camilo Duran.

Why Luke McCowan starting was a big mistake by Celtic

It was a strange decision to play McCowan from the start against the Gers on Sunday, because it was his first start for the club in the Premiership since he started against them in May.

In that game four months ago, the Scottish midfielder lost eight of his ten duels before being withdrawn from the match at half-time, before his side went on to win the match 3-1 without him.

It should not have been a surprise to anyone, therefore, that McCowan struggled throughout the opening 45 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Rangers, before being taken off at half-time by O’Neill.

The left-footed flop’s performance almost mirrored the underwhelming display that he put in when he last started against Rangers back in May, as he lost five of his six duels and did not offer anything of note in possession before being taken off.

It was a big mistake to play him from the start, due to his recent struggles and his struggles against the Gers last season, and it played out too predictably in the end.

Celtic forward was as bad as Luke McCowan

The former Dundee man was far from the only player who did not do enough on the pitch against Derek McInnes’ side, though, and one of his fellow forwards should be dropped from the team after the break.

Celtic travel away from Parkhead to face Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership on the other side of the break, and Nygren is one of the players who should not be in the starting line-up when they go to Fir Park.

The Sweden international has only scored one goal in his last eight matches in all competitions and has gone four games without a goal or an assist for the Hoops, despite playing as an attacking midfielder.

Nygren lined up as one of the two number tens tasked with supporting Duran at the top end of the pitch against Rangers on Sunday, but he failed to make the desired impact.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

The left-footed attacker was just as bad as McCowan in the loss because he struggled to deal with the physical side of the game, whilst also failing to offer quality with the ball at his feet.

Before being substituted just after the hour mark, a decision that he did not seem too pleased with, the attacking midfielder lost four of his six ground duels and four of his five aerial duels, showing that the Rangers players found it too easy to get the better of him.

On top of his struggles off the ball, Nygren also came off the pitch with no key passes, no dribbles, and no shots taken at Ivor Pandur’s goal, which speaks to his lack of impact on the ball.

The Sweden international also lost possession every 2.6 touches on average, giving the ball away 13 times from 34 touches, and did not do enough to ease the pressure on his team by keeping hold of possession enough.

There is no doubting that Nygren has been a terrific player for Celtic since his move to the club in the summer of 2025, as he scored 21 goals in all competitions for the Scottish giants in the 2025/26 campaign.

No player is totally undroppable and immune to being taken out of the team if their performances are not good enough, though, and that is why the Swedish flop should lose his place as a result of his underwhelming displays of late.