{"id":208577,"date":"2025-10-18T10:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T10:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/208577\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T10:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T10:02:10","slug":"i-know-celtic-stars-have-been-let-down-by-club-but-they-cant-keep-getting-away-with-one-thing-chris-sutton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/208577\/","title":{"rendered":"I know Celtic stars have been let down by club but they can’t keep getting away with one thing \u2013 Chris Sutton"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hangover from the summer transfer window remains with protests kicking up against the board again\"Chris<\/p>\n

Celtic columnist<\/p>\n

(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

Celtic have been in constant chaos since this season started.<\/p>\n

Bad planning, stuttering displays, in-fighting, fans fuming, yet the line has to be drawn right now.<\/p>\n

On the park, it\u2019s time for reset. Almost start afresh. And it\u2019s going to need the regular go-to men to spark them because, unfortunately for those lads, that\u2019s the pressurised situation they have been dumped into.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need to go over old ground regarding what has gone on since the summer as we all know the story. Quite frankly, it\u2019s been a mess leading to supporters staging protests and having meetings with the hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Through it all, despite being nowhere near it, Celtic<\/a> has managed to win five and draw the other two of their seven Premiership<\/a> games to sit just two points off leaders Hearts, a team everyone has been raving about.<\/p>\n

But Celtic can\u2019t keep scraping by. It\u2019ll catch up with them, especially going into a key period which is going to have a massive say in their season. They have to lift it.<\/p>\n

The fact the squad is not in the top form and wasn\u2019t properly strengthened is deeply frustrating to their punters. That\u2019s down to a recruitment policy which was incomprehensible.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it\u2019s done. The squad is the squad until the New Year and now they are going to have to, somehow, successfully deal with a monumental period.<\/p>\n

Given the situation, I feel it\u2019s going to fall onto the tried and tested from the recent past. Callum McGregor, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Daizen Maeda<\/a>, Liam Scales, Reo Hatate, Alistair Johnston. Boys who have been over the course.<\/p>\n

(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

Those guys have been let down by their own club in terms of transfer failings and now have to shoulder the big burden until January. Celtic\u2019s much-talked about mistakes in the last baffling recruitment effort which will see a raft of those signed not actually being involved at Dundee tomorrow. Which says it all.<\/p>\n

Those who joined and will be at Dens Park have sporadically caught the eye. Sebastian Tounekti dazzled in his first couple of games, but we don\u2019t know if he has consistency.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Nygren has popped up with some goals, but I wouldn\u2019t judge him as a central midfielder and I\u2019m yet to be convinced overall as yet. Kelechi Iheanacho hasn\u2019t seemed mobile enough in the central striker role, though that may come.<\/p>\n

Mareclo Saracchi looks fine, Michel-Ange Balikwisha not so much. His assist last time out against Motherwell might have boosted him, but then again, maybe not. That\u2019s the whole point. We just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Hand on heart, with the visuals so far, it\u2019s fair to say these guys aren\u2019t at the level of players in recent seasons whose roles they are trying to fill. It may come, but I\u2019m hoping it will come rather than being convinced at this precise moment.<\/p>\n

Hence why I believe it\u2019s on the proven performers to step up once again. The ones we do know can shine in the biggest moments for Celtic. More than ever, they\u2019ll need to carry it at this crucial time.<\/p>\n

I said my bit about McGregor in the column a week ago. <\/a>It\u2019s ridiculous to suggest he\u2019s regressing. I\u2019ll say it again, he\u2019s being failed by those around him.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s still an outstanding footballer and a proper captain who leads by example. He and others of his ilk have the responsibility to push the team upwards. I don\u2019t know what has happened to Hatate this season, but he\u2019s miles off it.<\/p>\n

When he first signed, I thought he\u2019d be the one who would head to England for the biggest money. It\u2019s not come to pass. Maybe that\u2019s part of the problem, he\u2019s been there for too long. But none of it matters because, like I say, it\u2019s reset time.<\/p>\n

For Hatate, read Maeda. It doesn\u2019t matter what could and should have occurred as regards moves. You know you are there until January at least and you are needed to raise your standards to the levels of which you have proved already that you are capable of.<\/p>\n

(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

Auston Trusty is back from injury, but in a season where the team hasn\u2019t flowed offensively, Carter-Vickers and Scales have been two of the best performers at the back. Kasper Schmeichel is another experienced head who needs to stand strong right now.<\/p>\n

Johnston is returning and he\u2019s a proven performer of quality on one side, while Rodgers needs to find a way to start getting the best out of Kieran Tierney on the other. I can\u2019t put my finger on why, but he\u2019s not been at it since returning from Arsenal and this situation of not finishing games is an issue.<\/p>\n

Arne Engels falls between the two stools, He\u2019s neither seasoned for Celtic nor a new boy. But, like Hatate, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on with him this term.<\/p>\n

Nobody knows the Belgian\u2019s best position, least of all Rodgers it seems. He needs more from both Engels and Hatate, or if you like, the manager needs to get more out of them. Same goes for the likes of Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan, those types.<\/p>\n

Despite not losing a domestic game, Celtic have been nowhere near it performance-wise this season, we all know that.<\/p>\n

But they simply can\u2019t get away with it for much longer with top-of-the-table games against Hearts, cup semi-finals with Rangers and two more big games in Europe to come in a vital run before the next international break.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why, right now, Rodgers and his senior stars will be the ones needed most to hoist the levels again and pull them all through.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hangover from the summer transfer window remains with protests kicking up against the board again Celtic columnist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7336,23926,2817,18666,218,8058,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-208577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-brendan-rodgers","tag-callum-mcgregor","tag-celtic-fc","tag-chris-sutton","tag-football","tag-scottish-premiership","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}