Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted it was clear they need to bring in new signings to improve the team after a goalless home draw with St Johnstone.
The hosts failed to score in consecutive domestic games for the first time since May 2018, when they did so soon after winning the title for the second time under Rodgers.
Celtic delivered another flat display following their 1-0 defeat in the Viaplay Cup at Kilmarnock to allow Rangers to cut their deficit on the cinch Premiership champions to a point before next Sunday’s Ibrox derby.
Matt O’Riley forced a hat-trick of impressive stops from Dimitar Mitov, but Celtic largely struggled to test the Saints goalkeeper and Joe Hart pulled off excellent second-half saves from debutant Dara Costelloe and substitute Stevie May.
Rodgers pinpointed the performance of summer signing Yang Hyun-jun as one of the positives along the return of Alistair Johnston, but he admitted they deserved to be booed off.
Swedish centre-back Gustaf Lagerbielke was the only other summer arrival to start and Rodgers is looking for new players ahead of Friday’s deadline that can hit the ground running after the club signed largely inexperienced players since his arrival.
When asked if he expected incomings, Rodgers said: “Hopefully. I think it’s clear… I have said before we have improved the squad with some of the players we have brought in, but we have lost starters. So we need to improve the team.
“And it’s always a challenge coming off the back of a season where you have won the treble.
“You have got to go again the following season where there is a greater expectation on you and more pressure.
“The fans will expect and rightly so. They were disappointed after the game and I am fully aware that if you draw at home to St Johnstone you deserve that bit of stick.
“There’s no numbers. I spoke with the club when I first came in and assessed the squad and we just need to improve that quality.
“It’s clear, if you see the team. When you look back at my first time here; the team was dynamic, it was fast, it was quick, got through the lines very quickly, created chances, scored goals.
“This is what we will eventually get to here, but we are missing certain profiles. Hopefully we can bring that into the squad and obviously be a lot cleaner and quicker in our play.”
The performance will further concern fans ahead of the meeting with Rangers, but Rodgers said: “Listen, when you are playing Rangers, whether you are home and away, it’s the easiest game ever as a manager in terms of motivation and commitment because it’s an obligation. You don’t have a choice in any game, and in particular in that game.
“It’s a disappointment, it feels like a loss when you don’t win, but the point might prove important for us at the end of the season.
“But the expectation when you are playing here is to win and we need to do more to do that.”
Saints moved off the bottom of the table with their first point after a difficult summer for Steven MacLean, which saw the new manager round off a disastrous Viaplay Cup campaign with a 4-0 home defeat by Stirling.
MacLean handed debuts to three new loan signings – Costelloe, Jay Turner-Cooke and Luke Robinson – and fielded eight summer arrivals in total, with skipper Liam Gordon starting on the bench.
His side were compact and organised, though, and the former Saints striker was delighted with the performance.
“All the new players we had, the way they worked, the togetherness of them, the work ethic, they did what we wanted them to do to the letter,” he said.
“You never know quite what you’re going to get. You see them doing good things in training but until you pitch them in, you never know.
“I’m delighted for them as well. They’re young, hungry players who want to kick on and play at a higher level. Hopefully we can help them to do that.”
Malacia makes Man Utd comeback after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Malacia makes injury comeback for Under-21s after 17 months out
Tyrell Malacia made his injury comeback after a 17-month spell on the sidelines, returning for Manchester United Under-21s against Huddersfield in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday.
The Netherlands international has not played since coming off the bench for his country against Croatia in the Nations League semi-final in June 2023.
Since that game, Malacia has had knee surgery twice in an attempt to solve an injury that had proved difficult to manage.
The 25-year-old made 39 appearances in all competitions for United after signing in the 2022-23 season, but has not featured for the first team since.
He played for 45 minutes in Huddersfield and was taken off at half-time, although it was a quiet night for him and he rarely got on the ball.
Malacia's return to competitive action coincided with the day that new head coach Ruben Amorim met some of United's senior players at the training ground.
Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Leny Yoro, Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer were all among the players he saw while doing their individual injury rehab.
Taylor pleased with Man City's physical test during Hammarby win
Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor was pleased with how his team stood up to the physical challenge of Hammarby in their 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday.
Laura Blindkilde Brown and Aoba Fujino were on target in the second half at the Joie Stadium, moving them three points clear at the top of Group D.
City's win extended their unbeaten start to the season, having won every game in all competitions following a 2-2 draw against Arsenal on opening day.
The hosts dominated for large parts of the encounter, ending with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.75 from their 16 shots, while also accumulating 73.6% possession.
But Taylor was happy with his side's display and explained the physical test against the Swedish champions was something his players will benefit from moving forward.
“Difficult game for us, physical challenge, a physical team in Hammarby. I think they outnumber us a little bit in terms of size, considering when you look at our midfield. But I thought the girls handled it really well," Taylor said after the game
“I thought we dominated the game. In the early parts we were just a little bit off in our final action. We just needed to speed up a little bit in terms of being on the end of it, and we spoke about that at half-time, and we score with Laura getting into that type of position we’d been talking about.
“[The physicality was something] we were prepared for, but dealing with it is a different thing. Having Bunny [Khadija Shaw] and Alanna [Kennedy] on the pitch, two of our more physical players, is really important, particularly for set-plays.
“At 1-0 we were defending a couple of scenarios like that, Yama [Ayaka Yamashita] making a really good save at one point. Then Aoba [Fujino] got the goal that maybe allowed us to change things up a little bit more, get some people off that we’d like to manage.
“I think the girls have dealt with it really well tonight. We expected it, we thought it would be difficult, and they rose to the challenge.”
Taylor had made changes to City's starting XI, with Lauren Hemp among the trio to drop out from the weekend and she did not feature in the squad.
Ahead of their weekend game against Chelsea, who are second in the Women's Super League, Taylor explained the reasoning behind Hemp's absence.
“We’ve just got an issue with Lauren that we just need to analyse a little bit further, that’s all," he said.
“It’s something that potentially happened in the Palace game [on 3 November]. She was able to play in the Tottenham game [last Friday] but wasn’t able to tonight, so we’ll just take a little bit longer to assess and find out more.
“Hopefully [she can play against Chelsea]. There’s an opportunity there, we’ll just have to take a moment tomorrow, have a good conversation and find out where we’re at with the medical staff.”
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