Former Celtic midfielder and ESPN broadcaster Craig Burley has criticised Hoops’ boss Brendan Rodgers on Twitter for his post-match comments after their 0-0 draw with St Mirren on Friday.
Rodgers’ side took on St Mirren away from home on Friday evening at the Simple Digital Arena after defeating bitter rivals Rangers 1-0 before the international break.
However, Celtic had to settle for a goalless draw with their opponents after having to play the majority of the match with just ten men due the sending off of Olivier Ntcham in the 37th minute.
https://twitter.com/CBurleyESPN/status/1040706348755943425
Following the clash, Rodgers admitted to Sky Sports that the match officials were not up to standard and did not perform well – yet he also said that he did not want to focus too much the officials.
These are the comments that Burley took an issue with on Twitter, where he questioned why Rodgers was contradicting himself in a four word response of “make your mind up.”
OPINION
Many Celtic fans would have thought that they would have won this game following their triumphs against Rangers before the international break. However, Rodgers’ side looked a shadow of the team that defeated the Gers 1-0, and that was then reflected in the 0-0 result. The players were just not up to scratch, but Rodgers has taken it upon himself to essentially blame the officials for their poor performance. He questioned why Ntcham was sent off, which meant that they had to play most of the game with ten men. Burley is right to criticise Rodgers in the way that he did – he cannot make excuses for Celtic when they do not get the results that they want. Yes, they are much more capable of what they showed on Friday night, but they do not have anyone to blame but themselves. Criticising the officials’ decisions, then saying that he did not want to focus on them, is an unusually bad move to make for the Hoops’ boss.