I watched Celtic lose to Falkirk and noted telling Chris Sutton comments and a magic wand in decline

Celtic lost for the second time in the league this season as they were beaten 2-0 away to a Falkirk side who celebrated victory in this fixture for the first time since 2007.

The champions were unable to stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership, with nearest challengers Rangers on Premier Sports Cup duty.

Here are a few talking points from the match:

Questions are being asked of Celtic. | SNS Group

Where do Celtic go from here?

Sitting four points clear at the top just weeks after a 7-1 thrashing of a title rival wouldn’t usually be the sort of scenario worthy of cracked crests and furrowed brows. But there is something evidently deeply wrong with Celtic at this moment and it’s not entirely clear how to fix it.

Coming from behind to defeat Hibs and draw with Dundee United had helped to paper over the cracks but there would be no victory on this occasion to mask another under-par performance. Celtic gifted Falkirk an early goal and then were easily cut open for the second, while missing a raft of chances at the other end.

The statistics make for grim reading. They have now won just three of their last 10 games in all competitions, losing six of them. European football has become a burden rather than a pleasure, ever since the Champions League capitulation to LASK. The Europa League visit of Besiktas to Celtic Park on Thursday now becomes an occasion to be feared and not excitedly anticipated.

Martin O’Neill saved their bacon last season – twice – but seems to have lost his magic touch. Team selections alter every week, while half-time substitutions – often to fix tactical failings - are now commonplace. When even someone like Chris Sutton, so often an O’Neill ally, says on television that Celtic are “in regression” as a club then it just underlines the fact that all is not well.

A parting of the ways between manager and club now seems inevitable but it remains to be seen which party chooses to cut the cord first and when.

A striking dilemma

No team has scored more than Celtic’s 27 goals in the Premiership this season but that tally could and should be a lot higher. They were especially wasteful against Falkirk, offloading 24 shots, landing nine on target but failing to score with any of them.

Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain played the game of his life but, even still, there was a wastefulness about Celtic. Camilo Duran started through the middle but couldn’t finish any of the opportunities that came his way. Callum Osmand was removed at half-time after failing to make any significant contribution down the left, Haissem Hassan spent most of the game looking for fouls and throwing tantrums while Kasper Hogh made a negligible impact off the bench.

It was a day to forget all round.

Is ageism preventing John McGlynn from landing bigger jobs?

At 64, John McGlynn is just a year older than Jose Mourinho, recently appointed as Real Madrid manager, and Everton boss David Moyes. And yet there never seems to be much clamour around the Falkirk manager whenever vacancies crop up despite his incredible record in the last few years in steering the Bairns from League One to the giddy heights of fourth in the Premiership.

Appointing younger managers seems to be all the rage these days – Craig McLeish, Marink Reedijk and Alfred Johansson are all still in their 30s – but it feels like McGlynn deserves greater recognition of what he’s achieved, regardless of age.