Celtic hero, Chris Sutton has commented on the current state of the Celtic squad and ponders the chance they actually have of doing well in Europe.
At 5 pm this afternoon, Celtic and the other elite clubs in European football will participate in the Champions League group draw. Decent performances from Celtic last season, along with some hope that we’d be better prepared for Europe this season had many fans excited for this season’s Champions League campaign. The performances against Shakhtar Donetsk probably merited wins rather than draws and the home performance against Real Madrid impressed many and increased expectations for the Bhoys for this season’s European campaign.
However with the change in management at Celtic with the exit of Ange Postecoglou and the reintroduction of Brendan Rodgers, many hoped that this change would better help Celtic achieve better results in the Champions League this time around.
However, with the recent Celtic performances and the obvious fragility of the squad, Chris Sutton questions whether Celtic have any real hope in the Champions League, and comments that they may struggle domestically.
Speaking on the Record Celtic podcast, Sutton provided a pragmatic appraisal of Celtic’s chances this season in European football’s elite club competition.
“The issue is that Brendan Rodgers has taken over from a position of strength. And if you want to compare that to Ange Postecoglou when he first arrived, he took over from a position of weakness and there had to be patience.
“But in many respects, Celtic should not be in this position from when Brendan took over. Because all the talk when Brendan took over was about making the next step in the Champions League. And it looks like Celtic are in a race to compete in the Scottish Premiership this season at this moment in time,” Sutton remarked.
“I was looking forward to the Champions League draw a couple of weeks ago, but now you’re looking at this Celtic squad thinking, Is this squad capable of actually getting a point in the Champions League or competing in the Champions League? And let’s get it right, at this moment in time, it doesn’t look that way.”
Although these are sobering words from the Celtic hero, there is certainly a degree of truth in what he says. If the Hoops play like they did against Kilmarnock St Johnstone in the Champions League, there will be little hope of remaining in Europe beyond Christmas.
To be fair, Rodgers the injury crisis is certainly not helping and he is currently looking at bolstering the squad before the transfer window shuts, so it’s still possible that the Hoops will have a stronger squad as the group stage begins.
Let’s hope today’s draw is kinder to Celtic than it usually is. Otherwise we could be in for a torrid time in the Champions League.
