Brendan Rodgers has sent a clear and firm message to both the Celtic board and his players following the Hoops’ disappointing 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone this afternoon.

The defeat, which marks Celtic’s fourth defeat since the turn of the year in the Scottish Premiership, comes as a stark contrast to the unbeaten league run they enjoyed before January.

The result has raised further concerns over the squad’s recent performances, with Rodgers not holding back in his criticism.

He said: (Clyde 1 Superscoreboard), “Bitterly disappointing, poor start to the game, but not the first time, not the first time and this is something for me that we’ll look at, certainly in the summer.

“But the start was really poor, it was soft, it was too comfortable.

“Yes, mentality. It’s a group that has mental strength but I’ve been in teams, and especially up here, where you just power your way through the season right to the very end and there’s maybe a few that are comfortable.

“And comfort is not a physical place. When you’re comfortable, you become a bit timid and you lose duels and you lose the fight and you can never be that if you want to be a top player.”

Rodgers sees the complacency within the team; players he thought he could rely on are now failing to perform, and it appears that this will lead to a number of exits in the summer, with the Irishman set to be heavily backed ahead of the Champions League qualifiers in August.

Change is needed, as it has been shown that this group of players can perform brilliantly for half a season, and just when it looks like they won’t slow down, they have – and in disastrous fashion.

This is something Rodgers simply isn’t used to, having experienced greater consistency during his first spell as Celtic boss. He knows the standards required better than anyone, and today was yet another reminder of what he will need to change in the summer. It’s good to hear that he can see this for himself.