There are many reasons why Celtic lost heavily to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.
The Daizen Maeda red card was one of them. The poor defending is another. Or it could also be just simply that even if Celtic did have 11 men on the pitch, they would still have lost due to the quality that the La Liga club have.
However, this is the first time I’ve heard this theory floated about and, I have to say, this is really bizarre from Aiden McGeady.
What Aiden McGeady has said about Celtic
The former Celtic winger has put a transfer spin on the heavy loss suffered at the Estádio Cívitas Metropolitano and it is one that way out there.
McGeady said [BBC Sportsound], “You never know, Brendan Rodgers might have played that way to make a statement to show that investment might be needed.”
I mean, if there was a way to send a message to the Celtic board that money needs to be spent on the squad then that loss would surely do it.
But I cannot for the life of me see Rodgers put his, and Celtic’s, European reputation on the line to squeeze an extra few million out of the Parkhead moneymen.
For one, the Celtic fans, who now seem to right on board with Rodgers, would simply not allow or forgive the manager for doing such a thing and, secondly, that would mean that he has put Celtic’s chances of qualification from the group on the line.
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Which, long-term, would actually do more damage to Rodgers’ chances of getting more players in because no European football means a drop in revenue.
And being in Europe after Christmas would also appeal to any player looking to come to the club in January.
Nice theory Aiden but I think this is one that even the most hardcore of Celtic fans would find hard to get on board with.
In other news, Peter Grant now roasts Diego Simeone for what he saw him do against Celtic at Daizen Maeda’s red card