Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has delivered the surprise verdict that he believes that manager Brendan Rodgers could have his head turned by an English team as he grows frustrated by the Hoops’ transfer policies.
The Scottish champions have endured a difficult start to the season by their standards and Sutton feels that Rodgers may be getting fed up at Parkhead.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever thought that Brendan Rodgers could have his head turned in terms of a job coming up down south,” he told BT Sport.
"It's the first time I think he could have had his head turned." ?@chris_sutton73 thinks Brendan Rodgers would leave Celtic if a job offer came from an English club…#SaturdaySav pic.twitter.com/buC9IT297R
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 29, 2018
“Why? Because he’s been disgruntled with the transfer policy, I think there have been noises coming out, and I just don’t think he’s a happy man – he seems aggravated. So I think if there was an opportunity – there was an opportunity from China which he’s turned down – but an opportunity came from down south, I think he may leave Celtic.”
OPINION
It’s hard to know from the outside looking in how Rodgers is feeling at Celtic, of course, but he may be thinking this year that he’s taken the club as far as he can. Despite all the success the Northern Irishman has had in Glasgow, he still wasn’t backed by the club in the transfer market this summer. Yes, the Hoops broke their transfer record to sign Odsonne Edouard, but there was precious little activity other than that. The team’s poor start to the season makes it difficult to argue that Celtic haven’t gone backwards. Hearts, Rangers and Hibernian all appear to have moved forward since last season, but Rodgers’s side decidedly have not. That’s enough to make any manager frustrated, and Sutton is probably right, Rodgers would surely consider any approach from a Premier League outfit. If he feels he cannot take Celtic any further, then he would be right to leave the club, and he might just do that if the right team comes in for him.