Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is ‘getting by’ after latest defeat, says Kris Boyd – but Chris Sutton disagrees and blames recruitment | Football news

Chris Sutton slammed “rotten” recruitment at Celtic after their historic defeat at Dundee – but fellow Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd says it’s time Brendan Rodgers took his share of the blame, questioning the manager’s attitude and commitment.

The Hoops’ 2-0 defeat at Dundee was marked by a protest by Celtic supporters against the club’s board and Sutton said hierarchy affairs in recent transfer windows had left the team weak.

“They just don’t have the quality,” said Sutton, with his former club five points behind Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts ahead of their trip to Tynecastle, live on Sky Sports next Sunday.

“The Celtics have huge problems,” he added. “They need to get through to January and stay in touch. They’re an average Celtic team and I think Brendan recognizes that.”

Sutton has been particularly critical of Celtic’s attack, with the reigning champions having failed to score in six games already this season.

“Signing Kelechi Iheanacho sums it all up. It was desperation,” Sutton said. “I’m not saying he’s a bad player, but we think back to the time when Celtic had Giorgos Giakoumakis and Kyogo Furuhashi, that quality is the difference.

“The goal tally tells you everything you need to know about Celtic this season.”

Boyd: Rodgers gets away with everything

However, Boyd said it was time to point the finger at manager Rodgers.

During a heated exchange with Sutton, Boyd criticized Rodgers’ attitude, questioned his commitment to Celtic and said the manager was failing to extract performances from signings he had previously backed.

“The balls arrive on the field [in protest at the board] is a total deviation,” Boyd said.

“This team also replicates the way Brendan Rodgers is right now. Look at him. He looks like he’s just turned off. The team is flat and seems to have no energy.

“Rodgers… the signs are already there all of a sudden. I’m starting to do interviews with media companies later. ‘I’m still here, I’ll be available next year because I’m not going to resign with Celtic, there’s an opportunity…’

“And he gets away with everything.”

Sutton: “Did he say that?”

Boyd: “Well, you know what it’s like. That’s what happened last time. ‘I love Celtic, I love managing the club, I want Celtic to be the best…’ until something else happens for Brendan Rodgers.

“Everyone blames the players. Everyone blames the board for not signing players. When is Brendan Rodgers going to get criticism?”

Sutton: “I think he took a little responsibility there [in his post-match interview]. He said his problem was getting the team to play better.

“He points the finger – and I think it’s fair – to rotten recruitment.

“You look in the final third for that spark and the players that have left and have you replaced them. I understand the argument, but should the team be playing better?

“Reo Hatate, when he came to the club I thought he would be the next one to go south to the Premier League. Miles away this season.

“People are pointing the finger at Callum McGregor. I’m not saying he had a good match but I don’t think he’s the biggest problem. Kieran Tierney has come back and looks like a shadow of the player. [he was].

“When you look at the game-changing bench… you go back over the last two seasons, Celtic have always been game-changers. That bench is just rotten.”

Boyd: “There is still a little money there. [Arne] English £11 million. [Michel-Ange] Balikwisha – a new signing this summer who everyone said would be exceptional when he arrived, you haven’t seen him yet.

“Brendan said these two signings were going to be exceptional signings.

“The whole Tierney thing as well, everyone was saying what a signing it was going to be. Rodgers backed that one too.

“He [Rodgers] will come out of it. The board of directors will be held responsible for everything – those who, by the way, supported it to the end. The money Celtic have spent since they walked through the door…

“He doesn’t understand the players at the moment.”

Rodgers ‘bitterly disappointed’ after Dundee performance

Celtic chief Brendan Rodgers talk to Aerial sports:

“Bitterly disappointed, both by the result and by the performance. The first goal can happen; we were blocked.

“Then you have work to do. It’s been like a lot of games we’ve had; the final third of the pitch hasn’t been of the quality needed to break teams down.

“We had a few chances, but it wasn’t a game I thought we were in. We didn’t do enough.

“It’s more about the attacking game. The team’s confidence is lacking in that area and I have to find a way to improve it.

“We always loved coming here, but we weren’t at that point. I have to try to find a way to give that back to the team.

“I have to find a way to make it work with this group of players. So far and today, it hasn’t worked.

“We didn’t perform consistently at the level we would have liked. I didn’t think we were fast enough or dynamic enough to work against that low block.”