A pair of celtic sinners land in the one trick pony club as cracks appear

THE ABERDEEN DEFEAT MAY HAVE DONE BRENDAN RODGERS A FAVOUR IN THE LONG RUN AS OUR MAN HUGH DELIVERS HIS HARD HITTING VERDICT 12:49, 31 May 2025Updated 12:49, 31 May 2025 Aberdeen's

Scottish Cup win should have had the same effect as smelling salts being waved under Brendan Rodgers’ nose to clear his head. The manager’s mind must have been scrambled by the lumbering,

lackadaisical and lacklustre nature of his team’s performance at Hampden. The weight of history was on their shoulders and, to a man, they collapsed under the strain. But Aberdeen may have

done Celtic a favour in the long run by exposing their inadequacies. There was more than a party stage dismantled at Celtic Park after the defeat. The illusion of Celtic having adequate

strength in depth to begin next season with a Champions League qualifier that will carry a £30m sidestake was also razed to the ground at the same time. I’ve said Adam Idah was testing the

manager’s ability to always improve the players he had under his charge. And more fall into that category. Nicolas Kuhn and Paulo Bernardo have to do more to avoid being categorised as a

one-trick pony and a player who flatters to deceive. There are players who need to up their game or go to a less pressurised environment. Celtic’s trophy haul has been astonishing in recent

years, but cracks are appearing. The failure to win what would have been a historic ninth Treble was the source of celebration for the supporters of Celtic’s rivals at Ibrox. But celebrating

somebody else’s failure when you’ve won nothing for yourself means it’s time to up your own game. And that’s exactly what Rangers will be doing under their American owners and different

management ideas in the Ibrox dressing-room. When Celtic were asked to dig deep at Hampden they only found a gaping hole. Extensive work on filling the void has got to be done by the

recruitment department to meet the demands of domestic and European competition. Players like Johnny Kenny and Yang shouldn’t have been left to save the day in the extra time period of a cup

final. The irony is supporters will now take their anger out on the manager in the time-honoured Brendan-baiting fashion. But it wasn’t his tactics, team selection or substitutions that

cost Celtic against Aberdeen. Article continues below It was a failure to show up on the part of several players and the lack of a strong bench. That must be addressed as the team across the

road on the other side of the city try to emerge from the shadows.