There was plenty of noise around Celtic Park after Rangers 3–1 win, but amid the fallout one of the clearest, most unsparing assessments came from an unlikely but highly informed source. Speaking on CBS Sports, former FC St. Pauli and Hamburg full back Ian Joy - USA-born, Scotland-raised, with experience in the SPFL, and deeply versed in both MLS and the Scottish game - cut straight through the emotion and excuses.
His conclusion was stark: Celtic’s problems run far deeper than the man recently removed from the dugout.
“To me, in my personal opinion, the players are not good enough at Celtic right now,” Joy said.
“You could have Martin O’Neill in charge.”
That line alone will sting across the east end of Glasgow.
But Joy didn’t stop there. He laid bare what he sees as a sequence of baffling decisions at boardroom level, questioning why stability was sacrificed at the exact moment Celtic appeared to have rediscovered it.
“When Martin O’Neill came into the club, he won seven of the eight games and everything looked like it was rosy once again for all you Glasgow Celtic fans out there,” Joy noted.
“And everything looked like it was perfect.”
Yet instead of building on that run, Celtic handed the reins to Wilfried Nancy - and threw him straight into the fire. A top-of-the-table clash against Hearts as his first league match.
A European home tie against AS Roma. Then a cup final against St. Mirren.
“Like, why wouldn't you wait to give this guy a bit of time to be able to work with his team?” Joy asked.
“He clearly wanted to change the tactics, and the players are not able to live up to the standard that he wants to play.”
This wasn’t a defence of Nancy so much as an indictment of those above him.
“I think executives hold responsibility for this,” Joy said, adding that he believed Nancy may yet be afforded time - a statement that proved false only 48 hours later as Celtic dismissed the Frenchman and reappointed the 73-year-old O’Neill until the end of the season.
But while much of the Scottish football conversation predictably swung back to Celtic’s turmoil, Joy was adamant that Rangers deserved far more credit than they were receiving.
“I don't want to take anything away from Glasgow Rangers,” he said.
Since Danny Rohl took charge, the numbers are unarguable. Rangers have taken 29 league points - eight more than Celtic in the same period - and their performance at Celtic Park was the clearest illustration yet of a side growing in belief.
This was not a smash-and-grab. It was controlled, assertive and ruthless when it mattered. Rangers went into Celtic’s backyard and looked the better side – for 45 minutes anyway.
Yet Joy saved his sharpest takeaway for the wider title picture.
“The winner of all of this is Heart of Midlothian,” he said.
“Top of the table, point gap increased. And they look like they're bloody good, man.”
That may be the most uncomfortable truth of all.
While Celtic search for answers and Rangers surge under new leadership, Hearts are quietly cashing in on the chaos.
The Old Firm will always dominate headlines - but right now, the league leaders are watching from Edinburgh, smiling.
Rangers did their job emphatically at Celtic Park. What happens next may define the entire season and the future of Scottish Football.