It seems a lifetime away now that Brendan Rodgers was in the Celtic dugout.
This rollercoaster of a campaign has truly had it all, and it could still deliver a massive final twist during these post-split fixtures.
Despite the ongoing chaos, Martin O’Neill is still within touching distance of securing a domestic double for the Hoops.
Equalling last season’s trophy haul would match Rodgers’ full final season in charge. Interestingly, Tony Watt has recently been highly critical of the departed Celtic boss, labelling his football as ‘boring’ and arguing that the mess of this campaign largely falls on the Irishman’s doorstep.
“Even under Brendan, and I watched a lot of Celtic games, a lot of it was boring football,” said Watt.
“A lot of it wasn’t good. In the end, he probably wasn’t getting the most out of the squad. I think a lot of Celtic’s inabilities this season are probably down to him.”
Did Brendan Rodgers play ‘boring’ football in his second spell?
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Tony Watt slams Brendan Rodgers for causing current Celtic mess
The issue here is that Rodgers was right in what he was saying when calling out the board and the direction the club was going, but perhaps he went about it the wrong way.
Plus, poor recruitment or not, you can’t be losing to Kairat Almaty over two legs and failing to secure Champions League qualification, or losing to Dundee and blaming it on having a ‘Honda Civic’ rather than a Ferrari.
Either way, speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, Watt didn’t hold back in his criticism of Rodgers, and while he feels O’Neill has the capabilities of getting Celtic over the title line, he still has his ‘reservations.’
“Even under Brendan, and I watched a lot of Celtic games, a lot of it was boring football,” said Watt.
“A lot of it wasn’t good. In the end, he probably wasn’t getting the most out of the squad. I think a lot of Celtic’s inabilities this season are probably down to him.
“Whether it’s recruitment or not. Losing a lot of players’ confidence.
“But if there were one man to get the job done, it would be Martin O’Neill, but I still have my reservations for the rest of the season.”
Rodgers’ record in his second spell as Celtic manager
That first spell from Rodgers was explosive. Legendary and memorable.
Not even the man himself would argue that spell was far better than the second one, but it doesn’t mean it still wasn’t successful.
Rodgers continued the trend of winning the Premiership title in every campaign he has managed until the end, as well as winning four trophies on his return to Glasgow.
The now Saudi Pro League coach may have returned to Celtic, but given how he left the second time, don’t expect it to happen again.
- Games: 123
- Wins: 83
- Draws: 20
- Losses: 20
- Goals scored: 313
- Goals conceded: 131
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