NafisaNeil McCann has accepted full responsibility for Kilmarnock’s humiliating 5-1 defeat to Celtic at Rugby Park — but the Killie boss was far less diplomatic when discussing the SPFL rule which prevented him from selecting one of his key defenders.
McCann watched his side suffer a brutal afternoon against the Scottish champions, with Celtic racing into a commanding position and eventually cruising to an emphatic victory.
Kasper Høgh opened the scoring after just two minutes before completing a first-half hat-trick, while Kilmarnock goalkeeper Max Stryjek was forced into a series of excellent saves to prevent the damage from becoming even worse.
The result means Kilmarnock have now conceded nine goals across their opening two William Hill Premiership matches of the 2026/27 campaign.
For McCann, there was no attempt to hide from the result.
The former Rangers assistant manager admitted that his tactical instructions had contributed to the heavy defeat, particularly after asking his players to approach the game in an “open and expansive” manner.
“I’m just disappointed,” he said. “It’s a heavy defeat. But I’m taking responsibility. I’ve asked us to go a wee bit open and expansive and try and play. We made mistakes that were severely punished.”
McCann continued: “But I’m going to take responsibility for that. The boys tried to play today. There needs to be an element of risk assessment when we’re asking them to play in that way. I’m going to take that one on the chin today.”
That admission was about as honest as it gets from a manager immediately after a five-goal defeat.
But McCann was not prepared to leave the afternoon without making his feelings known about the circumstances surrounding Robbie Deas’ absence.
McCann furious over Deas suspension
Deas was unavailable after serving a two-match suspension resulting from the six yellow cards he accumulated during the second half of last season.
McCann clearly felt the timing of the suspension was particularly harsh given the quality of opposition facing his team.
And while he accepted that his own tactical decisions contributed to Celtic’s victory, he was far less forgiving when discussing the rule which kept Deas out.
The Kilmarnock boss branded the situation “a disgrace”, making it clear that he remains deeply unhappy that the centre-back was unavailable for such a difficult fixture.
The irony will not be lost on McCann.
His side desperately needed defensive stability against a Celtic team capable of punishing even the smallest mistakes, yet one of his more experienced defensive options was unavailable before the match had even begun.
That problem became increasingly obvious as the afternoon unfolded.
Celtic punish every Kilmarnock mistake
McCann believes his side were competitive during the early stages and even suggested Kilmarnock were the better team for part of the opening spell.
“It sounds daft now that I’m sitting on the back of a hiding, but I have to say I felt for the first part of the game we were the better side,” he said.
“We were forcing things. A wee bit of quality just evaded us in the final third.”
However, Celtic’s quality eventually became impossible to contain.
McCann pointed towards the champions’ ability to exploit the spaces created by Kilmarnock’s approach.
“Celtic playing on the counter-attack are always going to be dangerous because of how we’re playing,” he said.
Kilmarnock responded after Celtic’s opener, but the second goal changed the complexion of the contest.
“They got the second goal. We responded after the first goal, then they scored the second goal and the third goal.”
By half-time, Celtic had effectively put the contest beyond Kilmarnock.
And things did not improve after the interval.
McCann was particularly frustrated by the manner in which Celtic’s fourth goal arrived, with goalkeeper Stryjek attempting to play out from the back before making a costly error.
“For the fourth goal, I don’t think we had to play from Max,” McCann admitted. “He’s apologised, but he’s tried to play and it’s a big mistake that’s been punished again.”
‘It could have been a few more’
The Kilmarnock manager was under no illusion about the scale of the problem.
“We’ve conceded five goals today and it could have been a few more,” he admitted.
That assessment was difficult to dispute.
Stryjek had already produced several impressive interventions during the first half, and without his saves the scoreline could have been even more damaging.
McCann also acknowledged that Kilmarnock are still trying to integrate several new players into his system.
“We’re trying to stitch things together. It’s early in the season, there’s a few new boys in there that are trying to understand how we want to play. That comes with risk.”
But the manager knows patience will only go so far.
“Clearly the defensive return in the last two games has not been great,” he said.
That is arguably the biggest concern coming out of Rugby Park.
Kilmarnock have now conceded nine goals in their first two league matches, leaving McCann with an enormous amount of defensive work to do.
McCann refuses to hide after Celtic mauling
Despite the scale of the defeat, McCann insisted he would not retreat from his attacking philosophy or attempt to distance himself from the decisions that contributed to the result.
“I don’t think right now any fan would appreciate me talking about positives, so I’ll look at it after I do the media duties,” he said.
“But the only thing I can say as a coach is that we’ll be better come Friday night.”
Kilmarnock now turn their attention towards Ayr United in the Premier Sports Cup second round, giving McCann an immediate opportunity to demand a response from his players.
“It’s another game under our belt,” he added. “We’ll go and look at it and we’ll prepare for Ayr United.”
The manager knows the pressure is already building after such a difficult opening to the league campaign.
But rather than blame his players or hide behind circumstances, McCann repeatedly insisted that the responsibility ultimately rests with him.
“It’s a massive game on Friday and I’m not a guy who takes a step backwards. I’ll front up. That’s on me today.”
That may be the most important message McCann can send after a result as damaging as this.
He has accepted responsibility for the tactical gamble.
He has acknowledged the defensive shortcomings.
And he has promised an immediate response.
But his anger towards the SPFL over Deas’ suspension is unlikely to disappear anytime soon — particularly after Celtic exposed just how badly Kilmarnock needed defensive reinforcements at Rugby Park.
Nafisa
