Chris Sutton believes that Brendan Rodgers went into the Champions League with one hand tied behind his back.
Wednesday’s defeat away to Bayern Munich has triggered a wave of criticism not so much for the scoreline but the manner of Celtic’s performance.
There was none of the second half bravery witnessed against Anderlecht on show in Munich with Scott Brown the only outfield player doing himself justice.
Various debates have been going on about the team selection with Rodgers going bold with Scott Sinclair and Patrick Roberts in their usual attacking positions but Sutton believes that Celtic’s weakness is elsewhere.
Before the matches against Astana the BT Sport pundit described fielding Nir Bitton in defence as a £25m gamble.
Celtic survived that roll of the dice but after being beaten by Bayern Sutton believes that the root of the defeat lay in the summer transfer window.
“Where he certainly can be questioned is over the failure to sign a centre-half in the summer to cover Dedryck Boyata and Jozo Simunovic because it has come back to bite him again,” the former hoops striker explains in the Daily Record.
“He says you could not have foreseen what has happened with the injuries, but surely the warnings were there flashing brightly. Boyata has yet to complete a full season in his career. Simunovic had only played in 62 out of 123 matches before Bayern. These are constant issues and the problem should have been addressed.
“The manager wanted Rivaldo Coetzee but he failed a medical. However, all his eggs should not have gone into one basket. If they did it was poor planning.
“It’s a subject I’ve already discussed but it’s become an issue again right now because Celtic are weakened and Hibs and Aberdeen will sense it in the next five days.”
Sutton will be back on duty tomorrow at Hampden when BT Sport cover the League Cup semi-final against Hibs.
