Brendan Rodgers doesn’t help himself sometimes.
On Sunday, after Celtic’s defeat to Dundee, rather than take the loss on the chin and take responsibility, Rodgers went down a different road.
For months and months, Celtic fans have protested against the board, and the manager’s relationship is clearly broken with those running the ship.
But after the Dens Park loss, Rodgers proceeded to note how much ‘firepower’ Celtic have lost, and how he has been given ‘the keys to a Honda Civic’ and expected to ‘drive it like a Ferrari.’
Martin O’Neill didn’t hold back from what he was hearing from the Celtic manager.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesMartin O’Neill slams Brendan Rodgers after Celtic’s defeat to Dundee
It’s okay to be critical of the board, but sometimes, it goes overboard, it gets too much, and people need to look in the mirror.
Speaking on talkSPORT, O’Neill made it clear that Rodgers shouldn’t have made the ‘Honda Civic’ remark, and he thinks it’s directed at the powers that be.
“That’s a big statement for Brendan to make there,” said O’Neill. “I have said a thousand of times, I have made a lot of statements in my time, and I have come to regret loads of them. Probably all of them.
“But I don’t think you should be saying that, at this minute. I am not one to be giving advice to managers and that.
“I have got an owner here (Simon Jordan), who has had managers he has liked and some he hasn’t liked, and I don’t think, and I am not going to speak for Simon, he might totally disagree.
“But if a manager is making that comment, you feel as if it’s directed at you. And you haven’t given him the tools to go and do what he is to do.
“Now, we all feel like this as managers, and owners feel differently. They feel as if, ‘yeah, I have given them and he hasn’t blinking well done the job.’”
O’Neill’s warning to Rodgers on how Celtic fans will react
What next for Celtic? Well, the fans will continue to protest, and Rodgers will continue to moan if results don’t get better.
When O’Neill was pushed on why he thinks Rodgers went down this road, he couldn’t provide a straight answer, but warned the Celtic boss that such comments might eventually not go down well with the fans.
“I don’t know why he said that, in all honesty,” responded O’Neill. “He will have his reasons for it.
“You just wouldn’t do that. This is a comment totally directed at the board for not supporting him. You wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t publicly say this because it doesn’t go down well.
“Remarkably, believe it or not, after a while, it doesn’t go down well with the supporters.”