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Rinse and repeat has long been the mantra at Celtic . Win after win. Cup after cup. Title after title - the Hoops have reigned supreme in Scotland for decades. But this season, those words carry a very different kind of meaning. They are reflective of the mistakes that Celts continue to make - on and off the park. From repeated transfer failings, Champions League calamities and inconsistent performances, the Parkhead giants find themselves in a state of disarray. And Callum McGregor admits he’s sick of repeating the same home truths almost every week. Just as he did at Dens Park , the captain was wheeled out to face the cameras at Tynecastle after Celtic once again came up second best by slumping eight points behind runaway leaders Hearts. It was a statement win from the high-flying Jambos - who must now surely believe they can end the Old Firm’s 40-year stranglehold on Scottish football and finish the campaign as champions. Derek McInnes’ title hopefuls answered all the major questions that were asked of them. The same can’t be said of Celtic, who are now in freefall. The warning signs have been there for weeks - slow starts, sloppy mistakes and a worrying lack of goals. The fear factor is gone and Brendan Rodgers’ men look vulnerable in every department. Fizzing punters who have pointed the finger at the board are now gradually turning on the manager - who shouldered the blame for back-to-back league defeats. But McGregor insists the underperforming players on the pitch have to carry the can. He said: “I’ve been saying it every week since the season started. The players always have to take responsibility, I’ve been saying it since day one. “Even with the distraction of the board and signings and everything else, I’ve been the one who has said ‘No, no, no, the players have got to take responsibility.' “The only guys who can fix it are the guys on the pitch. Yes, I understand we’re in a difficult moment, the only people who are coming to save you are yourself. “So we cannot be looking at who is going to take the baton off you. We have to fix it. And what we have to do is learn quicker than we’re learning at the minute. Or else we won’t fix it. It’s as simple as that. "The hunger is there. Of course boys want to win. Nobody goes onto the pitch not to win. But it’s about the detail of how we win. “It’s not just playing when you have the ball or because you’re Celtic you dominate the game. You can create 15 chances a game, but if you’re 3-0 or 3-1 down at that point, it doesn’t matter. “Because then you have to press the emergency button all the time. We have to understand as a team what gives us the best chance of winning football matches. "I said it last week, we're too easy to play against. We don't really understand the small details in the game that can stop you from conceding goals. “And then it's a reaction thing rather than being proactive to make sure that you don't give up the space. So that's a learning process we're on all the time, talking about it. It has to sink in at some point. “Or else you'll keep giving yourself a mountain to climb where you go 3-1 down here and actually you still create enough chances that you can probably get something out of the game. So that tells you where you're at.” McGregor is the type of leader who wears his heart on his sleeve and this wretched run of form is clearly gnawing away at the skipper. It’s why his words should carry weight. This is a serial-winner who looks and sounds exhausted by what's unfolding. But can the same be said for the rest of the dressing room? McGregor said: “I think they understand the situation, but we need to turn that into action on the pitch. “I see it on Thursday night when we were excellent. But we need to back it up three days later and then another three days later we’ve got to do the same. “That’s where we are, we’re showing flashes, but not on a consistent enough basis. It’s a bit of everything at the minute. Confidence, quality, and all these things are feeding into the narrative which is what’s happening at the minute. “But when I see the team play on Thursday night, and the level they can reach, then it’s now about trying to reach that and understand how we got there to replicate it every three days. Because at the minute it’s too up and down, it’s too inconsistent.” Celtic have another monumental week ahead of them. First up is the visit of Falkirk on Wednesday night - where anything less than three points would be unthinkable - before a powderkeg Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Rangers at Hampden. It’s two games that could go a long way to defining the season. McGregor knows how it works in Glasgow. A draw is a disaster and a defeat is a catastrophe. And the 32-year-old has warned his struggling teammates there’s no other option except to roll their sleeves up and get back to winning ways - starting with the visit of the Bairns. He said: “When you don’t win games here, the next game is enormous. And that’s the case now. We have to win on Wednesday and then we have to win on Sunday as well. “We have to find a way to get the message onto the pitch and make sure the players understand what they have to do on a consistent basis to win games.”
