John Hartson didn’t mince his words after watching Celtic crash out of the Champions League qualifiers with a penalty shootout defeat to Kairat Almaty, branding the performance “rotten” and criticising the team’s attitude over both legs.
The former Celtic striker took to social media to vent his frustration, echoing what many supporters were already feeling after a gutless 210-minute showing over the two legs.
“Celtic were rotten last night,” Hartson posted on X. “No excuses, the 1st leg at home was a hard watch, Kairat looked comfortable.. 100% complacency.. too many looking around waiting for something to happen. Poor performance is an understatement..”
The lack of urgency, spark and creativity over both legs was glaring. Celtic barely laid a glove on a side with a fraction of their resources, and the inability to break Kairat down, particularly at home, was what ultimately did for them. Their manager hasn’t even completed his coaching badges.
While the board’s failure to properly back the manager has rightly drawn criticism, the players who were given the task and failed to deliver, need to take some of the blame too. Too many passengers, too little intent.
As for the manager, on a Premier League wage at Celtic, he should have been able to set the team up to progress into the next round.
Complacency, as Hartson alluded to, is fatal at this level. Celtic thought they could get through this tie without being anywhere near their best. They were wrong and now they’ll pay the price.
