Soccer Football - Champions League - Group E - Celtic v Lazio - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - October 4, 2023 Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Chris Sutton has delivered a scathing attack on Brendan Rodgers after six months in charge of Celtic.
Back in the summer the Sky Sports pundit was delighted to see the Irishman back in charge, apparently picking up on where he left off with a Treble winning squad looking to make an impact on Europe.
This year there won’t be a treble for Celtic, European football was dead and buried after picking up one point from five matches with major doubts over Rodgers, is squad and a dubious signing policy.
Celtic lost three important members of last season’s squad, signed up seven new faces during the summer then drafted in two more as loans in the final week of the window.
Following back to back defeats in the SPFL tomorrow’s match at home to Livingston will be a test of character with the real prospect that Celtic won’t start 2024 at the top of the table.
Sutton can be relied on for calling things out as he sees it, picking up on his appearance on the It Is All Kicking Off podcast:
? ‘He should be getting ???? out of this team!’@chris_sutton73‘s gives his frank assessment of Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic on ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ ?
Tap to listen to the full podcast ?
— Mail Sport (@MailSport) December 21, 2023
At the moment this Celtic team are disjointed and going through the motions. And there’s a fair argument to suggest Brendan Rodgers has been going through the motions this season. I also think the words which he used after the Hearts game in his interview about players lacking passion and desire – is that not his responsibility as manager to put out a motivated team? I think it is and he has to take a far greater share of the blame and far greater responsibility than he has done.
There’s a lot of mud flying around at the board and a certain section of the support haven’t been allowed into the stadium. People can use those as excuses but the fact of the matter is that the team hasn’t performed on the pitch this season as well as they should have done. He’s taken over a different situation because Ange Postecoglou’s team were fast and furious and this season under Brendan Rodgers it has been flat.
Celtic weren’t prepared for the Champions League and should have been. Rangers have won the first trophy of the season. Brendan can live on his past record at Celtic but only for so long. There’s a bulk of the support who haven’t been fooled by the nature of the performances this season but there’s a chance they can put things right.
But the excuses about not having enough quality players – there’s only a couple players different from Ange Postecolgou’s team. He’s brought in eight new signings and only one played against Hearts, Luis Palma, so Brendan can’t use that as an excuse. He should be getting more out of this team at this moment in time. That is the bottom line.
On Tuesday Sutton will be part of the Sky Sports team at Dens Park for the visit of the hoops, the second last game of the year.
Just hope Brendan’s “ see you here in May”
doesn’t come back to haunt him….and us!
If we don’t win the league then the day of reckoning
will come for the board with that horrendous
summer window….Palma included .
HH
If you were a CFC first team player and had just delivered a Treble winning season,
and a new manager comes in – and totally changes the tactics etc.,
to the point where the team – and yourself? – is now not playing well, and possibly
even confused about the manager’s instructions / intentions?
And the fans who were overjoyed last season, are now going mental.
As a player doing your best, you are now looking at less silverware, and less
bonuses this season.
Would you be thinking that this new manager was brilliant for you and the team?
Footy players have been known to be temperamental, 🙂 but when you have a
squad of Treble winners, the established players should not be slow in voicing
any disagreement with a new manager’s tactics / coaching etc. which are just
not working.
It’s good that the GB is back for tomorrow’s game to add some – positive – noise.
A singing stadium should hopefully lift the players.
But, maybe BR now has to adapt his approach / tactics with the team…?
Aw shut the fck up. Even when we were playing well you still brought out negativity.
Bang on the nail, Chris Sutton. Too many distractions from what we see on the pitch with our own eyes. Celtic has the best squad in Scotland. No excuses, performances are sub-standard and in free-fall.
Rodgers knows that when we get Hatate etc. back, we’ll be the best team in Scotland.
But by then, the League will be lost and the season over!
He should have gone with his instincts and stayed in Santa Ponsa for another year!