WHAT'S THE SCRIPT, CELTS?

The cold, hard truth is Brendan's Hoops are no longer playing with conviction of champions.. only run of wins before Ibrox can change story

AMID the late drama and the explosion of unconfined relief at the away end of Fir Park yesterday, it was easy to be distracted from the cold, hard truth of the matter.

Celtic are no longer operating with the conviction of champions and unless they do something to correct this flakiness as a matter of urgency - no amount of injury-time salvage missions will be enough to clamber out of the hole they have been busy digging for themselves this season.

As a matter of fact, what went on in Motherwell - where Celtic came from behind to claim all three points in the dying seconds was a microcosm of a stuttering and occasionally chaotic campaign.

A first-half performance which was bordering on woeful from a team which was selected by Brendan Rodgers to mild bewilderment - quickly followed by an all-hands-on-deck recovery job fuelled by a panic-induced adrenaline surge.

Yes, of course, when it was over Celtic's supporters celebrated the moment as if they had witnessed the start of something of huge significance. Whether it was or not remains to be seen.

But Rodgers certainly spoke afterwards with a tone of defiance, talking about stories already being written and insisting with his next breath that his side will write one of their own between now and May.

Not for the first time in recent weeks, this was an attempt by the manager to galvanise the club at a time when everything around Celtic feels bruised and fractured.

And the general mood was nearing breaking point at half-time yesterday when Rodgers felt forced into taking emergency action.