John Hartson believes that there is only one reason for Celtic being on the brink of the Champions League group phase- Brendan Rodgers.
The Welshman sat alongside Gary Lineker and Gordon Strachan watching Wednesday’s drama unfolding at Celtic Park and was delighted by the imposing influence of Rodgers.
After seeing a three goal lead collapse the pressure was on the new Celtic boss but like every fan watching Hartson was delighted with how Rodgers responded to adversity.
Rather than shut up shop and protect a one goal lead Rodgers pushed Celtic forward and was rewarded with further goals from Moussa Dembele and Scott Brown.
“It was great to see someone managing Celtic who knew what he was doing,” Hartson admitted in The Sun.
“At 3-2 there was no thought whatsoever of sitting back and holding on. No, Rodgers looked at his bench and called over players he believed could get the team more goals.
“It didn’t enter his head that attacking Hapoel could turn out badly. Rodgers threw on Moussa Dembele and Nir Bitton with instructions to attack.
“Had it backfired and Hapoel scored a third then people may have questions his wisdom.
He’d have been wide open for criticism but Rodgers decided that with the Israeli side attacking Celtic they were vulnerable at the back.
“He made a calm and calculated decision when the pressure was on which is precisely why he was brought to the club. Dembele then scored from a Leigh Griffiths’ corner before Scott Brown added a fifth goal five minutes before time. By the end of the game the Celtic supporters were utterly delighted, and quite rightly so.
“Winning 3-0 would have been better than 5-2 but the final result should still be good enough to see Celtic win through. Time will tell.
“Next week’s second leg promises to be a tough night for my old club because Hapoel are no mugs. They are a big strong physical side and they’ll be a threat in their own backyard.
“For me the tie isn’t over, there will be some work to be done before we can say that but the home win puts Celtic in a cracking position and I believe they’ll make it through to the group stages.”
CLICK HERE for Celtic fans slam card happy Craig Thomson.
CLICK HERE for Roberto di Matteo puts BBC Scotland to right.
CLICK HERE for John Hartson’s verdict of Brendan Rodgers.
CLICK HERE for Rod Stewart’s hoopy family snap
