Chris Sutton sends out Rangers warning to Celtic and Brendan Rodgers

Chris Sutton has sent out a warning to Brendan Rodgers and Celtic insisting his former side must improve with rivals Rangers lurking.

This season, the Scottish champions have faltered in performance, mostly in the Champions League, but they have also lost ground at home.

 

Rangers haven’t been flawless either, but Sutton worries that a triumph in the League Cup for Philippe Clement’s team might inspire optimism and confidence among the Ibrox team.

 

“Celtic look weak and timid in the Champions League,” he told the Daily Record. Concerningly for them, I’m starting to wonder if they are losing some of their own fear factor and others are no longer afraid of them at home.

“The first of those might be too much for Brendan Rodgers to fix. However, the manager must act swiftly to restore the second, as the team is currently treading carefully and cannot afford to make a mistake.

 

“It’s challenging to find weaknesses in a team that leads the league by a significant margin and hasn’t dropped a game all season. But there must be candor, just as in Europe. The plain fact is that Celtic spells are rambling. The performance in the draw against Motherwell last weekend was not exceptional.

Like the goalless draws against St Johnstone and Hibs earlier in the

campaign when the other points were shipped, it was slow and dull. They have

also won games in which they didn’t perform to their full potential, and I have

no doubt that opponents are starting to believe they can win more.

 

Rangers made a mistake against Aberdeen the next day, so Celtic escaped a bullet last weekend. They can’t,

however, keep opening the door because eventually one of their major

competitors might pass through. To be clear, Rangers still have a ways to go as

evidenced by their dismal performance against Aris Limassol.

However, Philippe Clement’s team would have a huge boost in confidence and extra motivation to try to close a deficit

in the standings if they were to win the League Cup. Similar to how it worked for

Ange Postecoglou’s squad in the Australian’s debut season when they

triumphed after emerging from a similar circumstance.”

 

Sutton went on, “As we witnessed with Todd Cantwell on Thursday night, Clement is making significant decisions

and saying all the right things, just like Postecoglou did. Celtic must put their

foot on the gas, move quickly, and terrorize opponents once more.

“Teams feared taking on Postecoglou’s 100 mph vehicle. They destroyed them, never stopping to breathe, and ran the sides ragged. They detested it. Celtic aren’t doing it at the moment. It’s a different style, and Craig Levein will think he can set up a St Johnstone side tomorrow to sit in, frustrate, and stay compact because there won’t be much push from the visitors, much like Stuart Kettlewell did seven days ago.

 

Celts require a rocket. They must return home with the ruthless edge. I highly doubt that the supporters will put up with failure on the home front if they are already that enraged over the losses in Europe.”