However, former Celtic midfielder John Collins believes an experienced striker could change everything.
“It’s hard playing football without a natural centre forward,” he said on BBC Scotland’s Sportsound. “Someone you can hit and you know it’ll stick.
“If you’re a midfielder you can play one-twos, knowing they can bounce it off you. You can’t do that with Maeda, he likes to run in behind. You can’t link with him.
“He’s up there doing his best, but he’s not a real centre forward for me. A good centre forward can change everything.
“You’re getting half chances, next thing you’re 3-0 up. The chances Celtic do create, if you’ve got a good striker you’re winning comfortably.”
Right-back Julian Araujo has arrived on loan from Bournemouth this month, as Celtic also look to address weaknesses in other areas, amid injuries to some key players too.
Becuase while profligacy has been costly at times this season – especially in the ill-fated Wilfried Nancy eta – it was not their major problem against Falkirk.
They only managed two shots on target and were outplayed in spells by John McGlynn’s side, who hassled in midfield and worked incredibly hard.
As a result, the hosts created the better chances and played some slick football.
Callum McGregor was isolated on the ball in midfield, despite Nygren and Arne Engels starting alongside him.
Collins believes the team also needs another athletic midfielder and a winger too.
“Engels has good games and very average games. Nygren comes in and out of games, and lacks consistency,” the former Celtic assistant said.
“One player who always wants the ball is Callum McGregor. Week in, week out he’s at a level. They’ve got to get more quality in the central area.”
Celtic’s next league game is a critical one away to Hearts, a match that will help define the destiny of the title.
If there are no new faces ready to go by then fans will be furious, never mind the much-loved O’Neill’s call for patience.
The former Dundee player added: “It’s not nice. I’ll tell you that as a player’s perspective. It doesn’t leave you. It haunts you every minute of every day when you’re not winning.
“Getting home, not speaking to anybody, sitting on the couch, not moving, just doing that black screen instead of having the darts or having the football highlights on.
“But, as I said, that is what it comes with playing with Celtic. You need to take that pressure on. You need to get there. You need to show personality and at times within games, we’ve not done that good enough.
“Within the structure, we’ve not done it good enough. But that’s just the kind of rubbish message just now. We need to stick together and keep going.”
It was the second time in a matter of weeks that Celtic had led by one at the break but ended up losing after a similar defeat away to Dundee United.
“Rangers changed their shape and we didn’t react well enough to it,” said McCowan.
“We just aren’t reacting to it as well as we should be. It’s just not good enough.
“I’m probably going to say that at least 20 times in these interviews, but it needs to be better.
“Rangers can’t be coming here and winning 3-1. It’s just not good enough.”
Rangers were far from great, but they were dogged and they hung in there and when their chances came they buried them. Youssef Chermiti, of all people, was the chief tormentor. In nine pulsating minutes he doubled his total for the season and wrote his name into a new kind of Rangers pantheon – from zero to hero.
Nancy spoke later and in trying to talk his way through the latest submission from his team he only reaffirmed his sense of distance from footballing reality.
He mentioned that Celtic “deserved more” than a 3-1 loss, when they didn’t. Not taking their chances when they had them was on Celtic, not anybody else. Deserve had nothing to do with it. It was the Celtic board who created a situation where their manager was left with scant options upfront. From meagre rations, he plumped for Johnny Kenny. It didn’t work out.
The Frenchman made some comments about the loss not being about players and tactics. “It’s about moments, it’s about details,” he said, as if moments and details exist in a parallel universe from players and managers.
“It’s not about myself,” he said. Well, it is, but to a point. It’s also about the players he has confused and bewildered with his ill-fitting shape and the ideology he refuses to alter no matter how befuddled things become.
On Friday, he made much of how difficult it’s been to introduce his system without a pre-season to bed-in his ideas. He didn’t have a pre-season to work with his players and he didn’t have a transfer window to bring in more players that could play his system. And yet he pressed on with the system regardless. Stubbornness? Arrogance? Naivety? All three at once?
Danny Rohl went into Rangers, surveyed what he had and got pragmatic. Like Nancy, he needs new players, too. Many of them. But he’s found a way to drag his team forward when his counterpart has only succeeded in taking his players backwards in the pursuit of something that only he can see.
The soft progress achieved under Martin O’Neill has been sacrificed on the altar of “process” and some self-regarding notion that Nancy is a visionary who’s building a footballing monument.
Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy insists he is still “together with the board” and believes “we can turn things around” despite falling to a sixth loss in eight games following the derby defeat to Rangers.
The Frenchman hailed an “outstanding” first half from his team, during which they took the lead through Yang Hyun-Jun and passed up several other chances.
However, their city rivals roared back in the second period and exposed the home side’s defensive fragility with a double from Youssef Chermiti and a third from Mikey Moore.
The 3-1 defeat means Rangers move level on points with second-placed Celtic, who could be six adrift of Hearts if the leaders beat Livingston later on Saturday.
While fans of the Parkhead side staged a post-match protest directed at the club board, Nancy told BBC Scotland: “It was disappointing because we deserved more today, but again we needed more goals.
“In the second half, we conceded three goals from throw-ins. It’s difficult to accept, but it’s reality. This is not about the players or the tactics, this is about moments.
“This is not about myself, this is about disappointing the fans because I know the meaning of this game. I can understand the disappointment, but I also saw what we’re able to do.
“We are really close, there are many things that can turn around. If it was not the case, I would not talk like this. I really believe we can turn things around.
“As you know, I need time,” he said. “Give me time and you’re going to see what I do. You can already see what I did before because I didn’t start yesterday.
“I’m going to be a liar if I say, ‘everything is happy, everything is good’. No, it’s not the case, but I knew that before.
“That’s why I’m calm during all the questions you ask me. I’m not pleased to hear people don’t like me, but they have the right to say it because in terms of results, this is not what we want.
“Tomorrow is a big game. But the context is that I’ve only had 13 training sessions with my team. Usually we have four weeks of pre-season.
“It’s totally normal that you guys kill me. I’m fine with that because I know where I want to go. Judge me in a few weeks or months. If you want to judge me now, you can do it. I didn’t have the results we wanted – it’s a fact, I cannot deny that.”
Nancy says he will “die” to achieve his goals at Celtic and believes results under him have not reflected performances.
“It’s totally normal my players need a bit of time and are confused at certain moments,” he explained.
“It’s a process. I don’t like the word process because people think I am going to hide behind ‘process’, but it’s true.
“Judge me, no problem, but have a look at the games since I have been here and analyse if we should have won or lost. Do it.
“I am a clear guy. For the moment, I cannot talk because results are not good enough. I shut my mouth and I take it, but I know where we are going. After that, if it’s going to work or not, I don’t know. We are going to do everything to do it and I am here for that.
“Yes, I want to win every game. Yes, I want to win titles. I want to create a legacy here. I am going to die for this club, for sure.”
Fergus McCann and Ann Budge played a major role in turning round the financial fortunes of their respective Scottish Premiership clubs, Celtic and Hearts
Former Celtic chief executive Fergus McCann and ex-Hearts chair Ann Budge have been named in the New Year Honours.
Lisbon Lion Jim Craig, New Seekers singer Eve Graham, leading forensic scientist Prof Lorna Dawson and former UK defence minister Adam Ingram are also among those who have been recognised.
They have been joined by others including the chief executive of the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Garden, the chief constable of Police Scotland, a heritage kiltmaker and the founders of an island college.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander congratulated the recipients and said the annual list was “packed with local heroes”.
Fergus McCann, who has been made an CBE for services to the economy and to charity, had a controlling stake in Celtic for five years from 1994.
The Parkhead team were hours from bankruptcy when the Stirling-born Canadian businessman paid off its debts.
He later oversaw the rebuilding of Celtic Park, funded in part by a share issue, and stabilised the Glasgow club’s finances.
In 2016 he told BBC Scotland: “I had a responsibility to the supporters to make sure their money wasn’t wasted.”
SNS
Jim Craig was a member of the Celtic team which became the first British side to lift the European Cup
Budge, who becomes an OBE, performed a similar rescue act at Hearts.
But working alongside the Foundation of Hearts she put up £2.5m of her own money and has since made it the largest fan-owned club in the UK.
The businesswoman, who also delivered a new main stand and introduced a living wage for staff, stood down as chair earlier this month with Hearts top of the Scottish Premiership.
Jim Craig, who becomes an OBE, is best known as a member of the legendary 1967 Celtic team which became the first British side to lift the European Cup.
The defender – who later enjoyed a career as a dentist – also won seven league titles, four Scottish Cups and three league cups.
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Eve Graham (left) with fellow members of The New Seekers in August 1971 (left to right) Lyn Paul, Marty Kristian, Peter Doyle and Paul Layton
Eve Graham – who has also been awarded an OBE – and the New Seekers enjoyed international success with tracks like I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing.
The band also represented Britain at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest.
At the height of the band’s success, the Perth and Kinross-based singer toured Europe and the US.
She even performed at President Richard Nixon’s inauguration ball in 1973.
PA
During the course of her career, Prof Lorna Dawson has advised on more than 150 cases and written more than 100 expert witness reports, both in the UK and abroad
Prof Lorna Dawson, head of the Centre for Forensic Soil Science at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, said she was “delighted and humbled” to be given a damehood.
The expert has spent more than three decades researching soil and plant interactions with a particular interest in how this can be used in the criminal justice system.
Prof Dawson has given evidence in some of Scotland’s highest-profile murder cases.
The mother-of-three said: “This honour recognises the power of scientific innovation, partnership, and how forensic soil science can support justice on a national and global scale.
“I thank in particular my family for supporting me, and the many people in organisations I have worked with to help establish forensic soil science as an accepted and invaluable discipline across the world.”
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh /PA Wire
Simon Milne is the second regius keeper to be awarded a knighthood in the 355-year history of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Meanwhile, the Royal Edinburgh Botanic Garden’s chief executive said it was an “immense honour” to have been awarded a knighthood as he prepares to retire.
Simon Milne, whose formal title is regius keeper, has been recognised for his services to botany, conservation and horticulture.
In January the former Royal Marine Commando told BBC Scotland he was “devastated” after Storm Éowyn felled the tallest tree in Edinburgh – 166 years after it was planted during a visit by Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Albert.
Sir Simon said his interest in plants dates to the 1970s when his uncle brought back seeds from the Far East and he volunteered on a local nature reserve.
He said: “On reflection, these early experiences inspired my lifelong curiosity in nature and commitment to conservation.
“Receiving this award as I prepare to retire from such an extraordinary community is deeply meaningful.”
The only other regius keeper to have received a knighthood since the garden’s inception in 1670 was Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour.
He was named in the 1920 civilian war honours list for “services in connection with the war”.
This included persuading the War Office of the benefits of using sphagnum moss for wound dressings.
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Former UK government minister Adam Ingram was a Labour MP from 1987 to 2010
Elsewhere, Adam Ingram, former Labour MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, received a knighthood for parliamentary and political service.
Sir Adam served as Northern Ireland security minister from 1997-2001 and as armed forces minister from 2001-2007.
When he stood down from that post in 2007, he had been the longest-serving defence minister in the history of the Ministry of Defence.
Labour MP for Oxford East, Dr Anneliese Dodds, has also been recognised.
The Aberdeen-born politician has been made a dame.
Other Scots honoured in the list include Lady Rae, a senior judge and lawyer, who has been made a CBE for services to the law, charity and education in Scotland.
Prof Sue Rigby, principal of Edinburgh Napier University, becomes a CBE for services to higher education.
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Jo Farrell has led Police Scotland – which replaced the country’s old eight-force model – since October 2023
Scotland’s top police officer said she was “honoured and grateful” to receive the King’s Police Medal (KPM).
Chief Constable Jo Farrell, a former head of Durham Constabulary, has led Police Scotland since 2023.
The force’s Chief Supt Stevie Dolan and retired Assistant Chief Constable Andy Freeburn will also receive the KPM.
Farrell said: “These honours are recognition of the skill and hard work of officers and staff who deliver for communities and keep Scotland safe.”
Marion Foster, founder of the College of Master Kilt Tailors, has been made an MBE for services to Scottish craftsmanship.
She said: “When I received the letter, I was stunned, it brought tears to my eyes, and I kept re-reading it.
“It was confidential so I have had to keep the news to myself.”
Macaulay College
Roland Engebretsen and Rebecca Lindsay have been awarded MBEs
Roland Engebretsen and Rebecca Lindsay, the co-founders of Macaulay College, near Stornoway in Lewis, have both been awarded MBEs for services to education, social inclusion and to people with additional support needs.
The artists and educators set up their college on Mr Engebretsen’s grandfather’s farm in 2010.
Adults with additional support needs are offered the chance to work on the farm and look after animals including goats, sheep, ponies and chickens.
Engebretsen said he was initially suspicious of the letter informing him of his honour when it dropped through the letterbox.
“It was a very official looking letter. I assumed I was in trouble,” he said.
“I’m glad it wasn’t. It was a lovely surprise.”
Rebecca Lindsay she was “totally overwhelmed” to find out.
