Peter Lawwell crestfallen as Celtic chief pictured despairing with Hampden horror show summed up in one shot
The Hoops executive chairman’s reaction to the Buddies third Premier Sports Cup Final goal said it all after disastrous seven days
17:27, 14 Dec 2025
Peter Lawwell pictured in the stands(Image: Premier Sports)
The image of a grimacing Peter Lawwell screwing his eyes shut as Celtic lose another Cup Final sums up a disastrous week for a club now firmly in crisis.
Wilfried Nancy only arrived around ten days or so ago, but he’s overseen the Hoops slip further behind Premiership leaders Hearts, their Europa League qualification hopes dented thanks to a comfortable Roma victory at Celtic Park and now, a second Hampden failure in succession against St Mirren.
All this comes against repeated protests against a deeply unpopular board with constant chants for them to ship out of Parkhead.
The champions now face an absolutely vital January transfer window, with the pressure well and truly on to deliver quality after summers efforts left fans fuming and previous boss Brendan Rodgers far from happy.
All that feeling is set to hit fever pitch after the Buddies claimed the Premier Sports Cup with a 3-1 win at the National Stadium, just seven months after Aberdeen denied Celtic a Treble in the Scottish Cup Final on penalties.
St Mirren’s Jonah Ayunga celebrates after scoring to make it 3-1
And it’s the manner of the defeat that will alarm bells ringing only three matches in Nancy’s tenure.
Jibes over the use of a tactics board on the touchline and green trainers are trivial when compared to what’s happening on the pitch.
Sticking with three at the back that’s yielded no positive results, when interim gaffer Martin O’Neill had strung five domestic wins together on the bounce before stepping aside.
Calls from some sections of the support to make a swift change and bring the veteran back to sort things out will only grow louder now.
That remains unlikely so soon after the Parkhead chiefs have placed their faith in Nancy.
But they’ll have to ride out a storm like they’ve never faced before after a horror seven days.
And that was probably at the forefront of the non-executive chairman’s mind as he closed his eyes in despair in Hampden’s South Stand with a Paisley Party just starting to his left.
