The English Premier League has riches that Celtic would absolutely love to have.
In terms of size and power, Celtic can match the best of the best, especially given that they are Scotland’s most successful club.
But the Premiership doesn’t generate the money that English football has to offer, with Sheffield United, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, receiving just over £100 million for finishing bottom.
Celtic didn’t even get half of that for reaching the knockout stages of this season’s revamped Champions League.
But when you watch top-flight in England, is it any different to what is being produced by teams like Celtic, in so-called lesser climates?
Well, a recent rant from Gary Neville suggests otherwise.
What did Gary Neville say on Sky Sports after the Manchester derby?
Manchester City and Manchester United are worlds apart on the pitch, a bit like the gulf between Celtic and Rangers in Scotland.
But on Sunday, hours after Celtic suffered defeat to St Johnstone, the two English teams, with hundreds and hundreds of millions worth of players on the pitch, played out a boring draw that wouldn’t even be fitting for Scotland’s fifth-tier.
Neville proceeded to rant at the state of the match and how football in the modern game is way too ‘micro-managed’, as he told Sky Sports.
“This robotic nature of not leaving our positions of basically being micro-managed within an inch of our lives,” said Neville. “Of not having any freedom to take a risk to try and win a football match.
“It’s becoming an illness in the game. It’s becoming a disease in the game. Ultimately, if you think about Pep Guardiola and his teams over the last ten years, that’s what his teams do.
“But, we are seeing poor imitations of that across the board now. United’s goalkeeper rolling his foot on the ball. Waiting for things to happen. That’s not what that is. It’s not what we do here. Liverpool don’t do that. You have got to be a top team.
“Tempo in your play. Rhythm in your play. Get the ball moving. Shift it quickly – the game was quite depressing. I think we are seeing a lot of these types of games.”
Celtic fans comment on Brendan Rodgers’ style after Neville’s rant
What’s interesting is that Kasper Schmeichel recently explained to Neville about how Celtic play in a similar way, during his in-depth talk on the Overlap.
But the Celtic Park faithful, on social media, agreed with what Neville had to say, and some think they see it with Rodgers’ style in Glasgow.
Even though Celtic are pushing for the Treble, some feel that the pure entertainment and old-school style of football has gone out of the window.
@stephenYNWA agreed straight away: ‘He’s spot on’
@xDJGamingHDx added: ‘Spot on with most of football at the moment’.
Compared it to Celtic’s defeat to St Johnstone: ‘I do believe we have a problem and need to snap out of it. Yesterday, both management and players were to blame. Our manager talks about tempo but in actual fact there’s nothing to us in that regard Our players should be able to roll their sleeves up and deliver more.’
@back2theegg with a brutal take: ‘I agree.We even have the Poundland version of this at Celtic these days at times.’
@Celtic67Champs thinks it’s not a good look on Celtic: ‘He could be describing us there only difference is we should be wiping the floor with every team in our league . We’d do much better if we were let off the leash at times’.
@MrRburke looked at the bigger picture: ‘He’s got a point, this goes on any longer and the game as we know it will be on life support’.
@SpamRogic_ looked closer to home: ‘Not English football. Celtic are boring enough’.
@Gham1983 with an honest message: ‘I’ll be honest here, for the first time ever, I’ve really considered giving up watching any football. GN has hit the nail on the head here. I watch football to escape reality and see some flair and expression. Micro management is a perfect way to describe our football at times’.
Not a good look for Rodgers, as @PJOConroy added: ‘Brendan Rodgers football is exactly the same . Slow , pedestrian and down right boring, I’m really surprised he hasn’t coached it out of jota taking men on and getting bums off seats, he’s all about retention , if it isn’t working go all the way back and draw them out again’.
@Easystreet22 continued the theme: ‘Risk averse, zero personality football is absolutely ruining the game. Celtic are probably the most guilty of it that I’ve seen’.
Premier League taking verbal hits from @Mikebhoy1967: ‘He’s spot on. EPL has turned into Brand vs Brand. It’s boring’.
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