By:
Mark Hendry
Liam Scales had a torrid afternoon for Celtic as they were shockingly swept aside by St Mirren in the Scottish League Cup Final.
The Hoops were favourites to lift the trophy before kick-off in Glasgow on Sunday afternoon but they were well beaten by the Buddies in the showpiece finale.
It was a surprisingly comfortable 90 or so minutes of action for the side from Paisley who were able to take advantage of Celtic’s dreadful form and performances under new management staff of Wilfried Nancy and Kwame Ampadu.
None of Celtic’s squad who started or came off the bench in the game were deserving of anything other than defeat as they looked disjointed and low on confidence.
But it was the centre back pairing of Republic of Ireland international Scales and Auston Trusty who had the most difficult of afternoons as they failed to handle the strikers in the opposition.
Celtic lost to St Mirren in League Cup Final
Both defenders knew they were in for a game early doors as they were outmuscled by the likes of Jonah Ayunga and Marcus Fraser who both scored to win the game for their side.
And their work in possession of the football also left a lot to be desired as they often gave it away with the turnover numbers ridiculously high.
Scales was caught slacking more than once and could have cost Celtic a goal or more.
Fraser had St Mirren ahead inside 90 seconds before Reo Hatate levelled for the Scottish Premiership giants. Ayunga would then take advantage of haphazard Celtic defending and score twice to win the game and ensure the silverware headed back to Paisley.
Scales et al are clearly in a transitional period with their new boss and will certainly take some time to get used to the three at the back system the Frenchman and his staff are demanding his players adopt.
Although, defensively the team have not looked much worse this season and they must fix their issues before risking the campaign getting away from them early.
Liam Scales and Celtic defence struggling with Wilfried Nancy system
Nancy is the first Celtic boss in history to lose his first three matches in charge of the club and the 48-year-old is already under serious pressure with the fans.
That scrutiny, however, has been exacerbated by the Celtic fan furore over the boardroom.
Martin O’Neill had been interim boss after Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation and had the team winning again heading into their biggest week of the season to date.
Hearts lead the title race and AS Roma were tough foes in the Europa League. The cup final was also priority number one at that stage.
However, the hierarchy have been accused by some supporters of rushing Nancy’s appointment and needlessly bringing the manager into the club at just the wrong time.
What Scales said about Celtic’s loss to St Mirren
Scales spoke in the media after the game and was understandably gutted.
“Of course we’re obviously disappointed and fans deserve an apology for the performances and results the past week. We know it’s not good enough,” Scales told Sky Sports at full-time.
“We want to pull together and adapt, be a better team and we are really going to work hard to do that.
“Also you need to credit St Mirren, they deserved that today, they were really good, well organised and they played well so I think today’s about them, you’ve got to credit them.
“We’re used to a hectic schedule and games every few days, it’s just a different form I suppose and down to us to turn that around.”
“His message to us is clear, we’ve got to go again and keep working on things and in time it’ll come.
“Too much change in a week? I wouldn’t say so, we are all professionals and should be able to adapt, it’s just been a tough week.”
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