Celtic have experienced a noticeable drop-off in form from last season to the current one. At the minute, The Bhoys have a slender lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership amid two league defeats in a row.
There are currently no roses in the Hoops’ garden, and Chris Sutton thinks his old team have been ‘flat’, compared to 2022/23 under Ange Postecoglou. He said (It’s All Kicking Off Podcast): “He’s taken over a different situation because Ange Postecoglou’s team were fast and furious and this season under Brendan Rodgers it has been flat.”
The football the champions are playing this campaign is noticeably slow in comparison to last season. Failure to replace a few key players and a switch in manager has contributed towards such a fact.
Sutton believes some Celtic fans won’t be deceived by the reason behind the drop-off, and he doesn’t think Rodgers can live on past glories for too long: “Brendan can live on his past record at Celtic but only for so long”, he said (It’s All Kicking Off Podcast). “There’s a bulk of the support who haven’t been fooled by the nature of the performances this season but there’s a chance they can put things right.”
The match against Livingston this weekend is a considerable opportunity for The Bhoys to get back on track at a crucial period. Bottom of the table, David Martindale’s side have scored one goal in their last eight matches.
Anything other than a Celtic win on Saturday and there are to be huge questions asked of the management and players, if there aren’t already. One would never have expected a match at home Livi to have as much pressure on it as it does for the champions at the outset of 2023/24, although that is the reality of the situation we are in.
