‘He’s finished’ – Celtic fans roast player who was a ‘liability’ vs Utrecht
Celtic qualified for the playoff stages of the Europa League with ease on Thursday as they overcame Utrecht 4-2.
Apart from a brief scare where the Dutch side made it 3-2, it was a pretty simple victory for the Hoops.
Martin O’Neill continued Celtic’s fine form since taking over from Wilfried Nancy with a dominant display at Celtic Park.
Goals from Benjamin Nygren and Arne Engels, either side of a Nick Viergever own-goal, put the hosts 3-0 up before the 20-minute mark, before Auston Trusty made it 4-2 in the second half after a brief comeback from the Dutch side.
However, despite the positive result, the game also exposed Kasper Schmeichel to the Hoops fans, with many now believing that he is past his best.
Celtic fans fume with Kasper Schmeichel’s performance vs Utrecht
Despite the dominance of Celtic against Utrecht, they briefly let the Dutch side back in the game.
Goals from Dani de Wit and Adrian Blake almost caused a nightmare scenario for O’Neill despite the Hoops being so comfortable for so long.
While this blip did not come back to haunt them, it did expose Schmeichel’s ability, with the keeper unable to prevent either effort from going in.
As a result, many supporters were fuming with the former Leicester City star and began to question if he was still up to the standard required.
Schmeichel is a liability.
— Lubo (@geniusLubo) January 29, 2026
Kaspers done
— Ross (@rosscal39) January 29, 2026
Get Kasper out…..Jesus!
— John (@chatelerhault) January 29, 2026
Keeper again. Great in his day but he’s finished.
— Doug Smith (@Skyseller67) January 29, 2026
How does he no save that
— ⓅⒷ🇵🇹 (@BernardoBhoy67) January 29, 2026
Of course they do. Never make it easy. Why are we still playing Kasper?
— Kisu ☭ (@KAE1967) January 29, 2026
How is he getting beat from there
— GazH (@gazzheaney) January 29, 2026
How poor was Schmeichel vs Utrecht?
Schmeichel’s performances for Celtic have continued to come under scrutiny, and against Utrecht, he did himself no favours.
According to Fotmob on 29 January, the goalkeeper only made 1 save and underperformed his goals prevention ratio by -1.38 in a poor game for the Hoops player.
| Kasper Schmeichel’s stats vs Utrecht | |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Saves | 1 |
| Goals conceded | 2 |
| Goals prevention ratio | -1.38 |
With Celtic looking to get back into the title race in the coming weeks, they simply cannot afford to have a goalkeeper putting in these types of performances.
If this continues, the Hoops will be punished with either a draw or a defeat that could see them out of the title race completely, or knocked out of the Scottish Cup or Europa League.
Simply put, Schmeichel has to start getting his act together and restore his form going into the second half of the season.
If not, O’Neill has to consider replacing the Dane in the starting XI going forward.