CHRIS SUTTON wouldn’t blame Brendan Rodgers if the manager wants to quit Celtic.
The former goal hero reckons the Irishman will have every right to leave the club when his three-year contract expires at the end of the season.
Friction between the gaffer and the board has been obvious for some time and there is a pall of animosity and disharmony hanging over the club in a season that has failed to spark.
Sutton has sympathy with the team chief whose pleas for reinforcements to strengthen his depleted squad appear to have been ignored by the Parkhead powerbrokers.
Kyogo Furuhashi left in a £10million switch to Rennes in January and the prolific Japanese marksman was never replaced.
Nicolas Kuhn moved to Como for £17.2million and Adam Idah, bought for £9.5million from Norwich City the previous summer, went to Championship side Swansea City for a cut-price £6million in August.
LOOKING DOWN…Brendan Rodgers after the 2-0 loss to Dundee at Dens Park.
The penalty-box menace provided by three goalscorers is missing as the champions toil to rack up the strikes with six scoreless performances already in this campaign.
Kelechi Iheanacho was brought in on UEFA signing deadline day after being freed by Sevilla, but the Nigerian frontman is now likely to spend a lengthy spell on the sidelines after hirpling off inside two minutes of Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League win over Sturm Graz.
Alistair Johnston’s return after 10 games out didn’t get past the 25th minute as he limped off with what looked like a recurrence of his persistent hamstring strain.
Cameron Carter-Vickers has joined the conveyor belt of crocks and, of course, Portuguese fans’ favourite Filipe Jota hasn’t kicked a ball since being forced off in the 5-0 title decider against Dundee United at Tannadice on April 26.
Daizen Maeda has missed the last two outings with back and leg problems and the squad is stretched to breaking point and will be put to the test again when they face Hearts at Tynecastle in the midday showdown tomorrow.
The Hoops go into the confrontation five points adrift of the rejuvenated Edinburgh club.
TOUCHLINE SUPPORT…Brendan Rodgers attempts to cajole his players.
Looking at the big picture, Sutton observed: “I’m starting to believe that Brendan Rodgers wants out of Celtic.
“There, I’ve said it and I’m going to give the reasons why. “With every passing moment of this current malaise, that’s my belief. And do you know what? If that is the case, I couldn’t blame him one bit.
“Obviously, he can’t come out and say it and he won’t walk away. Not when he has promised to stay for three years.
“Many fans felt he was within his rights to leave after that atrocious last transfer window and had he not gone to Leicester City at the time he did to end his first spell then he may well have done so.
“I also realise the board surely cannot get rid of a manager merely because of the fact he is just plainly pointing out the mistakes they have made upstairs. Not to mention his trophy record.
“It feels to me like an unhappy stalemate, so I think Rodgers is poking, being antagonistic. The obvious question then becomes: Is he entitled to be?
“My answer to that would be unequivocally yes.”
Sutton, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “Crucial injuries to the likes of Cameron-Carter Vickers and Alistair Johnston just exaggerate the failings of the window. He constantly pointed out the needs and little was delivered.
“Match of the Day interviews on the BBC last weekend. Why did that come about? Seemed like odd timing.
GRIM…Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the support after another unimpressive display.
“Rodgers said during the week he has never been more motivated at Celtic, yet that came days after his Honda Civic statements at Dens Park.
“Those words on Tayside sounded more to me like a frustrated manager who is poking, provoking and is at the end of his tether.
“I can accept he may not have gone about one or two things in just the right way, but, like I say, who can blame him?
“My gut feeling on Brendan is that he’s severely hacked off. The Honda line came on the back of that performance at Dundee that had his coaching ability questioned.
“He subsequently said it was about being harsh and getting a response from the squad. It felt to me like another reminder of the mess the board has made of things.
“At a time when everything has kicked off, Rodgers understands the consequences of what he says, everyone hanging on every word.
“It might have made some of the players feel bad or have a look at themselves, but when you strip everything back, what he says is 100 percent true.”
CELTIC VIEW…Brendan Rodgers talks to the club’s TV station.
The media pundit added: “Celtic lost players, didn’t replace them and the team has been downgraded. That’s a fact. That is the source of everything this season. The bad feeling with fans protests, the poor performances, the comments which have come out.
“You can say what you like about the rest, but it boils down to abysmal recruitment. End of. Get that right and these issues don’t arise.
“No disrespect to the boys themselves, but Rodgers could start tomorrow’s top-of-the-table game against Hearts using Colby Donovan at right-back and Johnny Kenny as central striker. Injuries happen and the manager has been left dreadfully short.
“I think Brendan is just so frustrated. He will feel let down by the powers-that-be.
“Managers should be held responsible for results, but there are also factors that feed into it and it’s not like he’s just telling everybody now he didn’t get the players. He said it before the ball was kicked.
“Brendan’s got a proven track record as a coach, a proven track record at Celtic, but if some players are sub-standard, they take longer to develop, if they even get to the level at all.”
A BHOY ALONE…Brendan Rodgers watches as Celtic toil to a goalless draw at Ibrox.
Sutton continued: “He said after Graz his players know how much he cares about them, so why cane them just days earlier?
“There was no long-term upside to that. That’s not going to go down well amongst the squad. That’s telling your own squad they are bang average.
“Brendan is right, but he still shouldn’t have said it. I know how that would have gone down in our dressing room if Martin O’Neill had said that.
“My own suspicion is those comments were actually intended for the boardroom and not the dressing room.
“If he’s poking, which I think he is, it’s because he knows he’s got a poor team compared to what he had and he warned those above him it was going to happen.
“It shouldn’t be understrength and that is down to the board not providing Rodgers with enough of what was needed in the summer.
“It has started a sequence which, to me, has left the Celtic boss at the end of his tether. And if he is, then I don’t blame him.”
