Talksport hose Alan Brazil has slaughtered any suggestion that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers should be axed from his job after the club suffered defeat in their Champions League qualifier to AEK Athens.
The Hoops will be forced to take part in the Europa League qualifiers after suffering a 3-1 aggregate defeat to the Greek champions, with many of the Parkhead faithful voicing their rage on social media.
However, Brazil, a Celtic fan himself, has rubbished any claims that the Bhoys board should be looking at getting rid of the former Liverpool boss, who has established himself as a firm fan favourite with six trophies during his reign, insisting it was a lack of signings, plus poor behaviour from the likes of Dedryck Boyata, which cost them the tie.
Speaking on his morning show on talkSPORT (15/08), he said: “Sack him? He was a hero six weeks ago.
“Celtic are hopefully heading to ten [league titles] in a row. What is the point of having a go at Brendan? Who is going to come in and do a better job than Brendan?
“I am disappointed the club didn’t invest. They should have given him a bit of money to buy a couple of players. Boyata didn’t help after his excellent run at the World Cup with Belgium. He didn’t want to play so he didn’t travel – that was bang out of order.
“You just can’t point the finger at Brendan… This is the wrong time to be on Brendan and Celtic’s back.”
"How can people want him sacked!? He was a hero six weeks ago!"
Alan Brazil has a message for the #CelticFC fans who have called for Brendan Rodgers to lose his job following the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League ? pic.twitter.com/KTWyzdUiFI
— talkSPORT Breakfast (@TSBreakfast) August 15, 2018
Opinion
Anyone suggesting that Rodgers needs to leave Celtic now needs their head examining, for they must have forgotten about the success of the club over the past two years. They have absolutely dominated Scottish football and even made progress on the European stage, going from finishing dead last in their Champions League group to finishing third and heading into the Europa League knock out stage. Yes, this might be a step backwards for them, but it is not like they were playing against some part timers – these were the champions of Greece, who rank 11 places higher than Scotland in the UEFA coefficients in 15th, just behind the Netherlands with the Eredivisie. This is not an embarrassing defeat, but is one that needs addressing. Relative success in the Europa League will have people forgetting about this one, but next season does have to be about getting back among Europe’s elite.