Although its just the beginning and Celtic are still favourites to clinch their eighth successive Premiership triumph, dropping 8 points already after six league outings is indeed a worrying sign for the club, their players, staffs and above all, the supporters. Their Sunday afternoon humiliation against minnows Kilmarnock was termed as ‘bitterly disappointing’ by Brendan Rodgers, but the charismatic Hoops boss is answerable to some concerns that infuriated many during the summer and are being claimed as the reason for a predicted downfall from their Scottish supremacy.
The Northern Irishman has guided the Hoops to conquer a ‘double treble’ during his two-year stint as the Parkhead chief but the ‘invincible’ force, surprisingly, were not strengthened further despite losing out key players like Patrick Roberts, Stuart Armstrong and most recently Moussa Dembele.
Celtic are not able to spend like some Premier League clubs in the market, but they received decent money from players’ sale which, however, was not wisely invested in rebuilding and upgrading the squad. The ex-Liverpool gaffer tied down Odsonne Edouard on a club record transfer in the aftermath of a promising (not successful) loan stint and brought in some fringe players in Scott Bain, Emilio Izaguirre and Youssouf Mulumbu who are not going to improve their display in Europe on top of the domestic competitions.
This has happened before in Rodgers’ managerial career. He guided Liverpool to finish second in the Premier League but ruined his excellent work by roping in Rickie Lambert, Lazar Markovic and Mario Balotelli to replace Luis Suarez. The Reds, understandably, were in a complete mess when he was shown the door and Jurgen Klopp, his successor, took more than two seasons to shake off those shambles before producing results.
Overconfidence, as well as stubbornness, have harmed his career previously and it is high time the gaffer learns from his mistakes to turn around Celtic’s season. Rodgers has always been a great coach with tactical and strategic masterclass but has often been a subject of criticism for his management skills. He lost the dressing room at Liverpool after failing to drag his side out of misery, and there is the possibility of a similar fate at Parkhead if things do not change drastically in coming weeks.
Their defensive concerns have not been appropriately addressed this summer despite loaning in Filip Benkovic from Leicester City. His game-time would benefit the Foxes over the Bhoys whereas the likes of Jozo Simunovic, Jack Hendry and Marvin Compper are either struggling with lack of fitness or failing to grab the chances they are having in deep defence. Dedryck Boyata, the wantaway Belgium international has been forced to stay this summer, but he is unlikely to be in Glasgow for long.
Kristoffer Ajer, however, remains the only defensive hope who has made significant strides to secure a regular first-team status. Rodgers is currently struggling to find out his best XI and needs to reshuffle and reinvest in the backline keeping hold of the Norwegian youngster as the prime centre-back choice for forthcoming seasons.
His boys have let him down of late, but these are the same players who brought him ultimate glory in his coaching realm. It’s Rodgers’ job now to guide them back on track and fix Celtic’s derailed campaign at the earliest. Amid all these catastrophes, the Hoops have still managed to win over a resurgent Rangers force earlier this month which should work as an influence for the upcoming fixtures to reclaim the top of the table spot to justify their superiority in Scottish football.
