Celtic legend Chris Sutton has slammed the lack of quality in Brendan Rodgers’ squad after the champions’ shock 2-0 defeat to Dundee, branding the Hoops bench “rotten.”
The loss at Dens Park, Celtic’s first there in 37 years, has left Rodgers’ side five points behind Hearts and sparked fury among fans, who protested against the club’s board at kick-off.
Sutton didn’t hold back on Sky Sports, questioning the depth and direction of Rodgers’ team after another limp display.
He said live on Sky Sports: “So Celtic had big issues. But when you look to the bench for game changes, you know, you go back through the last couple of seasons, Celtic always had a game changer to come off the bench.
That bench is, I mean, it’s just rotten.”
Rodgers’ substitutions told the story. At half-time, he turned to James Forrest and Johnny Kenny – two players who, with all due respect, should not be getting minutes for Celtic in 2025 when chasing a 2-0 deficit.
Luke McCowan and Michel-Ange Balikwisha were then introduced with under half an hour to play. Balikwisha – a £5million signing who was tracked for 18 months – has failed to impress since arriving and continues to sit behind Yang Hyun-jun in the pecking order.
Record signing Arne Engels was given just ten minutes, while Donovan, Murray, Saracchi and Sinisalo stayed on the bench.
It was a damning reflection of where Celtic stand right now. A squad short on spark, confidence and impact players.
Rodgers admitted that the transfer window hadn’t gone as planned, but performances like this are only fuelling frustration among supporters.
Celtic now head to Tynecastle next weekend knowing another defeat would leave them eight points off the top, a scenario unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
Keep Reading
