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da bet sport： Chris Sutton isn’t convinced that domestic success will satisfy the ambitions of Brendan Rodgers.
The Irishman is well on course for a Treble Treble of domestic honours but it seems that Celtic have hit a ceiling of the last 32 in the Europa League as far as Europe is concerned.
Last week the Hoops lost 2-0 at home to Valencia in the Europa League with all but the most fanatical of fans heading out to Spain for the return leg realising that this season’s European travel is about to end.
An away win against Anderlecht last season earned Celtic a Europa League date against Zenit St Petersburg, while sharing the points with RB Leipzig and cleaning up against Rosenborg created the clash with Valencia.
After three seasons of European action it’s hard to make a case for Celtic showing real progress and Sutton aired his concerns on Sunday on BT Sport.
As quoted by Belfast Live, he said:
“I’m worried about what he said, comments attributed to Brendan about reaching a certain level.
“I think there’s a lot of Celtic fans who are thinking that he’s concentrating on the treble and then he will be off in the summer.
“What I would like to happen, and I think Brendan owes it to the Celtic fans, to come out and tell everybody that he wants to stay next season.
“Because, if he does go, Celtic are in a mess in the summer. Short-term loans going back, no centre-half pairing… it’s going to be a massive problem in the summer.
“I think there’s a fair chance that Brendan will be off in the summer.”
Stephen Craigan reminded Sutton that Rodgers was still to reach the halfway point in his four year contract and that he wasn’t required to give monthly declarations of his loyalty.
Celtic face a massive rebuilding job in the summer and completing that while negotiating through four rounds of European qualifiers will be a huge test, so losing Rodgers as well would be a nightmare scenario for the Scottish champions.
Thursday’s return tie with Valencia looks like a lost cause but if Celtic can conjure up an unlikely success there might be some far reaching benefits going forward.