Charlie Nicholas takes a pop at Celtic ahead of Europa League opener

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Charlie Nicholas has taken a pop at Celtic and insisted that they “get scared” when they travel away from home in Europe.

The former forward was speaking to his employers Sky Sports ahead of the Hoops’ Europa League opener away to Rennes on Thursday night.

The 57-year-old tipped the French outfit to record a 2-1 win, and then gave his reasoning for the result.

“Rennes have started very well in Ligue 1,” Nicholas explained. “I am hoping that M’Baye Niang will not be playing. He is lightning quick, almost a lesser version of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. These guys can play and move, and that is what Celtic struggle against.

“Celtic will be good on the counter-attack, but their reputation is always the same. They get scared when they travel away from home.

“They don’t know where to pitch their defence and whether to play a squeezing game or not. They will have technically gifted players and pace out wide, where they will look to exploit. Celtic still have defensive injuries and will not threaten here.”

Nicholas should have checked his facts before slamming Celtic

Nicholas’ assertion that Celtic “get scared” when they’re on the road in UEFA competition is nonsense. The Hoops may have a pretty desperate away record in European competition but that was the case far before Neil Lennon and this current crop of players joined the club.

It seems totally unfair to judge the likes of Christopher Jullien and Odsonne Edouard on defeats suffered by the likes of Gary Caldwell and Scott McDonald years ago.

This current Celtic side have shown that they can cope well in hostile away environments. Our best result in the two-legged tie against Cluj came on the road. The same could be said for Sarajevo and AIK while we also won away to Nomme Kalju. Going back further than that, we beat Rosenborg away in the Europa League last season.

The year before that we earned all of our Champions League group stage points away from home (against Anderlecht). The year before that we earned three again in the Champions League – with the majority coming on the road.

The statement that Celtic are whipping boys away from home simply isn’t true anymore. Our players have struggled in general in recent seasons but the away form has been far from the main problem. It is our home record that has let us down most. Nicholas should have realised that before opening his mouth.