Chris Sutton has delivered a stinging assessment of Celtic after their 3-0 defeat at Ibrox, branding Martin O’Neill’s side “flat-track bullies” on the evidence of this season so far.
The collapse against LASK ended their Champions League hopes before Rangers then comfortably knocked them out of the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.
Speaking on the Record Celtic Podcast, Sutton questioned whether Celtic have shown enough when the standard of opposition has increased.
He said: “If you look at Celtic’s results this season, I’m not knocking them, but there is a strong argument to say that Celtic are flat-track bullies.
“That’s what they have been this season. In the games where they’ve come up against a level of opposition who are just a little bit better, a little bit stronger, they have been found wanting.”
That is a difficult accusation for Celtic to dismiss after what happened at Ibrox.
Rangers entered the quarter-final under pressure themselves, but Celtic never managed to take control of the contest and were second best across the afternoon.
It followed the European disappointment against LASK, when another opponent capable of matching Celtic physically and attacking them with intensity caused serious problems.
Sutton believes that has exposed a bigger issue than one poor performance.
“I thought Celtic handed Rangers the initiative from the start and this is a Rangers team who, let’s get it right, have struggled this season,” he said.
“The big test came at the weekend against a Rangers team who would have been going into the game with plenty of fear and Celtic have given them a massive leg up.”
The concern for O’Neill is that Celtic have generally continued to find ways of winning their domestic matches, which can make weaknesses easier to overlook.
Against stronger opposition, those weaknesses have become much harder to hide.
Sutton’s comments come with Celtic facing a big week on and off the pitch.
Celtic face Ferencváros at Celtic Park on Thursday before Rangers make the trip across Glasgow on Sunday.
Those two matches offer an immediate chance to challenge the idea that this Celtic team can handle the routine games but struggle when the demands rise.
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