BRENDAN RODGERS and his struggling Celtic players will have to rise above the “perfect storm” engulfing the club and start producing where it most matters.
As the turmoil between the board and the fans continues off the field, the champions will have to improve performances before there is any chance of reinforcements in the January transfer market.
As well as crucial Premiership games, the Hoops still have four Europa League encounters – two at home – and a Premiers Sports League Cup semi-final against Ibrox opponents at Hampden on November 2 before the next transfer window opens.
Looking at the big picture, former goal hero Chris Sutton said: “I think January is so big for the club. But in terms of what we’re seeing at the moment, the Europa League and yet another struggle on Thursday night.
CELTIC VIEW…a pensive Brendan Rodgers watches the Hoops fight back against Motherwell.
“Everything is sort of a perfect storm in terms of what’s going on at the higher end of the club with the supporters. And then you’ve got the playing side.
“And you’ve got a group of players who, for whatever reason, are miles off what they were last season, aren’t connecting, aren’t clicking.
“I mean, every game seems to be a struggle. People will ask if the win against Motherwell will be a turning point with that turnaround late on.
“It just doesn’t feel that way. Celtic have toiled all season, performance-wise. In many respects, they’ve been flat-track bullies, beaten sides who you’d expect them to beat.”
Sutton, speaking on the Daily Record podcast, continued: “Then they’ve struggled in the Champions League, struggled in the Europa League.
“I mean, Braga the other night, Kasper Schmeichel could have done, should have done, better with the first goal.
“Celtic were, it’s fair to say, robbed with the ridiculous VAR decision. But the performance wasn’t there.
“It’s not like Celtic are playing an unbelievable brand of football and the opposing goalkeepers every week who Celtic are facing are making dozens of saves and they’re hitting the bar and the post and peppering the goal.
“It’s a struggle in that final third.”
VAR-CICAL…Kelechi Iheanacho heads the ball forward before racing on to score what looked like the equaliser against Sporting Braga – only for the ‘goal’ to be ruled out.
The one-time England international striker added: “I suppose the flip side is, taking Europe aside, I just wonder within the Celtic dressing room the players are thinking: ‘Blimey, we’ve been rank rotten this season, but we’re still unbeaten in the league, we’re two points off the top, we are miles off it.
“‘But do you know what? It’s not that bad. We’re still really close to the Hearts, who everybody is comparing to Real Madrid at the moment, and the performances will come’.
“I just wonder whether they feel that way or whether it simply comes down to not having the quality in playing personnel in the final third, which has been the difference in previous seasons.”
The champions are back in the points-collecting business a week on Sunday when they travel to Dens Park for the midday kick-off against Steven Pressley’s toiling Dundee who are second bottom of the table.
