Roy Keane revealed that he believed Celtic losing 3-0 to Zenit St Petersburg won’t cause Brendan Rodgers to be too upset, but the manner in which his team lost will.
The former Hoops midfielder slammed the Bhoys’ players for their performances on Thursday, after Celtic lost to Zenit to go crashing out of the Europa League.
“They needed to show courage, with 20 minutes to go and 3-0 down everyone wanted the ball … bluffers,” said the 46-year-old while on ITV, as quoted by the Evening Times.
“They never turned up really. We are always desperate for Celtic to stay in the competition because of their supporters.
“But they didn’t do enough and show enough courage in possession, and they gave some shocking goals away.
“When you play this game you need to be brave. They played well last week but it’s one thing playing well at home.
“You don’t mind losing football matches but the way they lost will be hurting Brendan Rodgers.”
After their Europa League campaign was abruptly ended, Celtic are back in league action against Aberdeen on Sunday.
OPINION
While Roy Keane’s typically outspoken verdict, delivered in his inimitable style, appears a little harsh, Celtic were woeful on Thursday night. Even though everyone knew it would be a tough task to beat Zenit in Russia, they didn’t help themselves. The Bhoys went into that game with a 1-0 lead from the first leg and quickly lost their advantage due to sloppy defending. Keane is probably right to suggest that Rodgers wouldn’t have been too cut up about losing to such an excellent team, if his players had put up more of a fight. Several players will now have to prove their worth to Rodgers in the coming weeks as he will have doubts about his team’s ability after watching them play against Zenit.