Out of all the takes I’ve heard about Celtic’s defeat to Atletico on Tuesday, this has to be one of the worst.
As the post-mortem continues over how Celtic fell to their second-worst defeat in the Champions League, Pat Nevin has made a claim about the Celtic fans after watching them leave the Estadio Metropolitano earlier than usual on Tuesday night.
Nevin said [BBC Radio 5 Live], “I have to say when we looked round and saw most of the Celtic fans having left here with 25 minutes to go, I can’t remember seeing that before.
“I really can’t remember seeing that before. So there will be some Celtic fans that really turn on Brendan over this and say it really was his fault.”
Pat Nevin is talking nonsense about the Celtic fans
I’ve never heard such an out-of-touch opinion on the Celtic fans and Rodgers than this one. You will be hard-pushed to find any Celtic fan looking to turn on the manager after that result.
Yes, the fans can be critical and maybe point out that Rodgers should have used different tactics after going down to ten men, but turn on him? Come on!
Most of the criticism I have seen from the fans has been directed at the Celtic board for failing to invest a healthy chunk of that £70m they have swirling around in their bank account.
You could maybe even argue that some are annoyed at Maeda for his harsh red card due to the Japanese winger not being in control of his tackle.
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But are the fans turning on the manager? No chance. If anything, the majority of the fans are on Rodgers’ side and are enjoying what they are seeing from his team.
The Champions League, at the moment, is a level too far for Rodgers. Hi first year of management at the club was all about transition.
Rodgers won’t be judged on this campaign. The acid test will be next season for him and the Celtic board because if Celtic are embarrassed again and make no progress in Europe, then and only then will serious questions be asked by the Celtic fans.
In other news, What Atletico defender Jose Gimenez did in Celtic dressing room after Tuesday’s game