Brendan Rodgers has responded to recent criticism from Chris Sutton regarding Celtic’s lack of transfer activity in January, specifically the decision not to replace Kyogo Furuhashi up front.
Sutton had accused the club of “complacency” in the winter window, suggesting the board underestimated the title race and that such an attitude may have filtered into the dressing room. The former Hoops striker’s comments followed Celtic’s defeat to St Johnstone, their third league loss in six games.
Rodgers, however, played down the remarks and defended the club’s stance.
“No, I wouldn’t like to say that,” he said when asked if Sutton’s take was fair on Celtic TV. “Listen, everyone will have an opinion on it. It was clear — I said at the time — we wanted a striker. But if it didn’t happen because we couldn’t get the right one, then of course I was happy for Daizen [Maeda] to play there, because he can do it.
“The club and the board have been great. You look at how we’ve improved in the summer, improved the squad. We will look to do that again in the summer. We can’t afford to be complacent. My ambition and the club’s ambition will always be to improve — on the field, off the field, facilities — and we’ll look to do that again.”
With a smile, he added: “So yeah, sadly I don’t quite agree with young Chris, but it’s okay — it’s opinion and that’s fine. I can disagree.”
Whether or not you agree with Chris Sutton or Brendan Rodhbers doesn’t really matter.
When you look at the January transfer window, it wasn’t a resounding success, and not many people will disagree with that.
If you look down south, more specifically at Aston Villa, they went out and spent a bit of money and brought in some quality players to help kick on in the second half of the season while maintaining their Champions League journey.
Celtic brought in Jota, who barely played in the previous 18 months and is still getting up top speed in May, and Jeffrey Schlupp, who isn’t really an upgrade on Greg Taylor. If the board had gone out and sanctioned a few more signings, Celtic could be in a totally different position right now.
