OPINION
Celtic slumped to a 2-0 loss against Valencia on Thursday night in the Europa League and it’s fair to say it was a disappointing day all round for the Hoops.
Brendan Rodgers’ side showed few signs of promise against the Spanish club and you feel that Valencia felt very comfortable while cruising to their latest victory.
Yet while the Hoops were disappointing and there were plenty of people to blame for the result, Rodgers shouldn’t have bore the brunt of the criticism.
However Kris Commons seemed to direct all his negativity at the senior Celtic man and took what can only be considered as a savage dig by claiming the Hoops look like a side the manager had been in charge of two days rather than two years.
“One thing I know about being the dressing with Brendan Rodgers is that has the ability to get the best out of players to go up against top opposition and give them the confidence to win, many a post-match interview we have seen afterwards it’s all about confidence and belief,” said Commons on Virgin Media Sport, as seen in a clip on their Twitter account.
“So he certainly instills that especially domestically as Celtic have been rampant, superb, but European nights I think it is very fine margins trying to get confidence in a team that can go toe-to-toe with a team like Valencia, Paris St-Germain, Manchester City and we have seen glimpses of Celtic playing at a really top level.
“But if you’re not just quite at it at that level you will get hurt, that’s not the performance we saw against Manchester City couple of seasons ago, this is a performance that looked really flat, lost of ideas, didn’t know when to press, didn’t know what to do with possession and played in very silly areas.
“And ultimately they looked as if it was like a team that Brendan Rodgers took over two days ago rather than two years ago.”
While Rodgers isn’t above blame by any accounts, Commons is barking up the wrong tree to direct criticism at him, particularly when it’s unnecessarily harsh.
Several Celtic players Scott Brown, Oliver Burke, Emilio Izaguirre, to name just a few, should be held accountable for the loss rather than Rodgers as they played well below the level their ability suggested they should be able to.
Also if the opinion is held that those players aren’t good enough for example, then question should be asked about those above Rodgers about the lack of investment as on paper, as Rodgers did appear to play the strongest side he had available to him.
Therefore while Commons focused on Rodgers, it’s clear he is barking up the wrong tree to hone in on the Celtic boss after the loss to Valencia.