Pat Bonner has delivered his verdict on Celtic’s defeat at Kilmarnock as the BBC pundit admits he was left ‘stunned’ at his former club’s performance.
For two seasons we have been used to Celtic going all-out attack, playing the high press and delivering a brand of attacking football that got the fans off their seats.
This season though, there has been a marked change in how the team play and this afternoon the former Celtic hero couldn’t believe what he had watched from Brendan Rodgers‘ men.
Bonner said [BBC Sportsound], “I’m stunned because of the way we played today. There’s going to come a time when they lose a game, that’s for sure, but it’s the way they lost the game today.
“They didn’t create the chances and they didn’t put Kilmarnock under pressure. Even when they went 1-0 down, they didn’t do enough and that’s the disappointment.
“And then coming off the bench, I didn’t see anything that was going to come off to change it. Yang did okay I must admit when he came on.
“He was the one inspired one who, down the left-hand side, was doing something. But overall it’s a different way of playing under Brendan Rodgers, no question about it.
“It’s much more controlled and building from the back. But if you’ve set up the way that Kilmarnock set up today, then you’re not bothered about that.
“If they [Celtic] get the ball and they’ve got plenty possession in their own half, high up the pitch and if you put that pressure on at times and then if you go and win the ball back and you put the pressure on, then they’re not hurting your goal. And that’s what Celtic didn’t do today.”
I don’t think Bonner was the only one left feeling like that after watching today’s performance. The Celtic support will not be happy with what they had just witnessed at Rugby Park this afternoon.
And whilst the Celtic fans can forgive a slip-up or two, they simply cannot tolerate performances that see only three shots on goal even with 70% of the possession. [BBC]
After stuttering starts against Ross County and Aberdeen in the SPFL, Brendan Rodgers will need to ensure that Celtic are coming out of the traps and getting after teams a lot quicker than they have been this season so far if they want to successfully defend the SPFL title.
In other news, Neil Lennon offers straight-forward assessment of Celtic’s performance vs Kilmarnock
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
