Martin O'Neill had three calls under the microscope at Ibrox, and the clearest one was Sebastian Tounekti. He made just his second start of the season, lost possession 23 times against St Johnstone, and was hooked at half-time after Celtic trailed 1-0 at the break in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against Rangers.
Pat Bonner's verdict on BBC was direct: "That was a question, should Tounekti start or not?" He followed that by saying, "Sterling absolutely dominated him, and Sterling was playing almost like a third centre-half." Haissem Hassan came on at the interval, which leaves O'Neill with the awkward question of whether starting Tounekti in such a game was a gamble too far.
Tounekti's night at Ibrox
The risk with Tounekti was obvious before kick-off. He has only 5 appearances this season and has played just 88 minutes, so this was never a case of a winger being run into form over a long stretch. O'Neill chose him anyway, and the first half went badly enough that the change came before the restart.
Bonner also said, "Out of all of the wingers we've seen, I think Hassan should have started. He's maybe not 100 per cent match fit but you pay big money for these guys they have to perform." That is a fair line of criticism, but the source material also makes clear Hassan was not guaranteed to be fully ready. O'Neill still went with Tounekti from the start, and the decision looked exposed by the interval.
Hogh and Johnstone deepen the selection problem
Kasper Høgh was the other call that took criticism. Andy Halliday said, "Kasper Hogh has blown hot and cold for Celtic so far, but he was absolutely freezing today" and added, "On the ball, off the ball - no desire, no willingness to get back and defend for his team." Hogh started at McDiarmid Park and led the line again at Ibrox, so the staff clearly trusted him despite the mixed reaction around his form.
The stat line makes that debate messier. Hogh has 3 goals in 2 appearances this season and a 7.6 average rating, which is not the profile of a striker arriving at Ibrox short of output. The issue on the night was his performance in this match, not a season-long drought.
Sam Johnstone also had a difficult return in goal, with his second competitive appearance since March coming at Ibrox. Early on, Kevin Kelsy had a chance after Johnstone's clearance went straight to him, and later Kim Min-Su had an effort cleared off the line by Liam Scales after Johnstone palmed a cross into his path. O'Neill's side were already under pressure by then, but the goalkeeper's rust gave Rangers more openings than Celtic could afford.
O'Neill said after the defeat, "If you've been beaten in a game you always think about selection." He has reason to do exactly that now. Tounekti looked undercooked, Hogh did not justify the trust, and Johnstone's night only added to the sense that Celtic's biggest problem at Ibrox was self-inflicted.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
