Chris Sutton has warned Brendan Rodgers that he has to take responsibility for Celtic’s current woes.
Thursday’s 1-1 draw in Suduva puts the hoops in a strong position to make it through to the group phase of the Europa League.
At some clubs that would be the cue for an open top bus parade and DVD launch but not at Celtic 2018.
Three months on from clinching the first ever double treble it appears that the club is collapsing from the inside with a recruitment row at the heart of the matter.
All of the problems surfaced on Thursday night with a performance that threatened to sparkle undermined by defending that would make a League Two side embarrassed.
The performance against Suduva crossed a line for most supporters, the boardroom and recruitment problems remain but issues on the park can’t be allowed to slip any further.
Afterwards Rodgers spoke about players lacking pride in defending which crossed a line as far as Sutton is concerned.
Writing in the Daily Record he explained: “Rodgers coming out and questioning their pride was an eye-opener though. I would have been banging his door down if I was a player in that dressing room.
“At some stage the manager is going to have to take his share of the blame. At the moment it’s the board, or it’s his defence, it’s injuries, or whatever. But he has been at the club two years and this is his team he has moulded. He hasn’t addressed the situation at the back.
“Rodgers can say the media are stirring up a disconnect between him and his board but it’s nonsense
“He is the one who has laid the failure to recruit this summer at their door. It’s not the media’s fault when he is the one setting the agenda.
“Rodgers has received plenty of plaudits over the last couple of years, and rightly so. He’s proved he is an outstanding coach and he’s led the club to tremendous success.
“That doesn’t mean he can walk on water. And it doesn’t mean he can contradict himself at every turn. The fans are loyal but they know mistakes have been made and realise there is frustration when it comes to getting the club to spend proper money.
“They also see the signings have not been good enough and there are players at Parkhead who are now going backwards.
“It’s unbelievable how the club have gone from such a position of strength to being so flat in such a short space of time.”
Yesterday Rodgers repeated his wish for three or four quality players to be added to his first team squad.
