John Hartson reveals the main reason why his Celtic side would beat Brendan Rodgers’ team

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John Hartson was asked by Charlie Mulgrew if his Celtic side would beat the current one managed by Brendan Rodgers.

Hartson is a Celtic hero and made over 200 appearances for the club, scoring 109 times in the green and white.

His time at Celtic under Martin O’Neill coincided with some of the greatest players in recent Celtic history, including Henrik Larsson, Paul Lambert and more.

The current Celtic side also has a raft of talented players, but Hartson still thinks that the side from the past would win for one main reason.

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John Hartson said his Celtic teammates would be too physical for Rodgers’ side

Mulgrew interviewed Hartson on the golf course in the latest episode of his YouTube series, ‘Mulgrew Pitch to Par’.

After claiming that the Celtic team managed by O’Neill would beat the current crop of players, Hartson said that the physicality of his teammates would be too much.

“I think physically, we would have bullied them,” said Hartson before Mulgrew replied: “I think it would be such an interesting game because man for man I think you are much better.”

He then added: “Imagine Celtic trying to play and you, Sutty (Chris Sutton) and Larsson pressing them. There’d be a lot of possession.”

Combined Celtic XI from Martin O’Neill and Brendan Rodgers

There would be some very difficult choices to make in this combined XI featuring players from the O’Neill and Rodgers era, but it is fairly well-balanced.

Starting in goal would be Kasper Schmeichel in front of a back four featuring Alistair Johnston, Johan Mjallby, Bobo Balde and Kieran Tierney.

The midfield would feature Paul Lambert, Tom Rogic and Stiliyan Petrov, while completing the attack would be a trio of Alan Thompson, Henrik Larsson and Daizen Maeda.

There are also honourable mentions for the likes of Jackie McNamara and Neil Lennon in the side, as well as Chris Sutton and Cameron Carter-Vickers.