John Hartson has launched a blistering attack on the current Celtic squad- telling them that they’ve been getting away with murder with games played Behind Closed Doors.
Even allowing for 13 players being forced to self-isolate back-to-back draws against Hibs and Livingston have been a hard watch with few shots on target over 180 minutes with just one free kick from David Turnbull to get fans out of their armchairs.
Celtic have been keen to push the idea that they’ve been hardest hit by empty stadiums but with their season in tatters in January Hartson believes that the players should be thankful that no punters have been inside Celtic Park since March.
Picking up on a podcast, The Sun reports the Welshman saying:
I think it’s a blessing the fans are not allowed in because I think there would be about 15,000 there just now. I think the fans would stay away, watching some of the drivel Celtic have produced this season. The players have got away with murder.
I played with Celtic and had a manager and the crowd barking down my throat every time I gave the ball away. The players are giving the ball away willy-nilly now, their passing is not crisp, it’s not accurate and there is a lot of sloppiness going on.
The crowd would go berserk, you’d be booed off half the time, but that’s not happened. So you can say they have missed the crowd, but also the crowd would get on to them and make it more difficult. How much stick would they be giving Shane Duffy now?
In the autumn Celtic lost four home matches in a row for the first time since the fifties, by the end of November they had been knocked out of three cup competitions with fans protesting outside following the Betfred Cup defeat from Ross County.
Neil Lennon will have a full squad to select from away to Livingston on Wednesday as the hoops chase their first win of 2021 at the fourth attempt.
