A 3-1 win at any away ground is a great result in football. But not for Celtic and especially not for Brendan Rodgers.
The Celtic manager was absolutely furious at his team for a first-half performance that was not befitting for the Scottish champions.
For the second week in a row, Celtic were found to be lacking in any creativity and ideas as St Johnstone comfortably saw off any attack that Rodgers’ side tried to must.
And despite the win, the Celtic manager sounded off at full time in a warning that surely must be heeded by his players.
Brendan Rodgers’ furious BBC rant at his Celtic players
In an unusual step for Rodgers, he went public with his feelings and let his players know that what they are producing is not what is expected from a Celtic player.
Rodgers raged [BBC], “I’m still a little bit angry if I’m honest. I’ve never been so angry at half-time since I was a manager.
“Too many players in the first half looking at the easy game and too comfortable. No intensity whatsoever and we were deservedly behind.
“In the second half, it was a different team. The energy, the intensity, the quality. We scored three goals, we could have had more and that’s what you expect when you play for Celtic.”
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Strong words from the Celtic manager and ones that shocked former Hoops striker, Cillian Sheridan.
Cillian Sheridan wasn’t expecting Rodgers’ Celtic rage
The BBC pundit was left shocked by what he heard from the Celtic manager and speaking after Rodgers’ post-match comments, Sheridan backed Rodgers’ stance.
Sheridan said [BBC Sportsound], “Very strong words. Kind of took me aback a bit. I wasn’t expecting him to be so, so angry especially after such a good second-half performance.
“When you see the team play that well and that they can play that well, you can see where the anger comes from.
“I mean a bit of credit to St. Johnstone as well. They did Celtic under pressure. And they probably stopped Celtic from playing the way they wanted to. And Celtic never recovered from that within the first half.
“So I can see where his anger was coming from. But like I’ve said, the second half, they just went up a few levels and after that they were brilliant.”
For me, I am delighted that Rodgers took this stance. For too long have Celtic put in lacklustre performances this season that have cost them needless points in the title race.
0-0 draws with St Johnstone and Hibs and a 1-1 stalemate with Motherwell have cost Celtic a needless six points in the league title race.
And when you think they have gone to places like Ibrox, Pittodrie and Tynecastle and won, it is little wonder Rodgers let his frustrations loose.
What will be interesting is to see how the players react to Rodgers’ words. With just over 48 hours till Celtic face Hibs at Parkhead, the fans don’t have too long to wait to see it.
In other news, BBC pundit noticed what half of Celtic’s players did after James Forrest scored yesterday