Chris Sutton has issued the perfect retort to Liverpool icon and former Celtic manager John Barnes’ ridiculous claim about Brendan Rodgers.
Barnes was an unbelievable player for the Anfield giants having made 407 appearances for the club and scoring 108 goals spanning a decade.
But it’s clear his ability to formulate sensible opinions is nowhere near his talents as a footballer, probably more akin to his managerial adeptness, or lack of.
Barnes – who managed the Hoops disastrously for a spell in 1999/00 – said this week that Rodgers chose the “very easy life” by returning to coach Celtic.
He then predicted Rodgers won’t be able to return to the English Premier League to a club that will seriously challenge for the title, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea all namechecked.
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
Sutton blasts ‘bizarre’ John Barnes comment about Rodgers
The latter point may be true, but Sutton was having none of what Barnes described as Rodgers enjoying the “easy life” back in the Glasgow fish bowl.
Sutton branded the statement “laughable” and went on to explain expertly why the Celtic manager role is an extremely difficult and pressurised position, as Barnes surely found out when he failed as Parkhead boss.
Writing in his weekly Daily Record column, Sutton responded: “As criticisms go, this was a bizarre one. John Barnes coming out and taking a bit of a pop at Brendan Rodgers was a real eyebrow raiser.
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“Barnes has got a bit of a cheek saying Rodgers has an easy life at Celtic. As someone who has been the manager of the club, you’d think he’d know better.
“It wasn’t easy for him during his time in charge. It didn’t look easy falling 20-odd points behind Rangers in the title race back then. It wasn’t easy to beat Inverness Caley Thistle in the Scottish Cup.
“If anything, Barnes made a difficult job harder than it was. I loved Barnes as a player. But to suggest Rodgers has an easy life in Scotland is laughable.
“Let’s be clear, Rodgers had made it look easy. This is a manager who is on track to win 12 out of 13 competitions he’s entered.
“I don’t care what state Rangers or whoever else are in, that is a remarkable return. It’s up there among the best any boss has managed at the club or in the country.
“The consistency shown over his two spells has been incredible. It’s not easy winning every week. It’s not easy dealing with the demands of having to win every week and every single trophy.
“This is a job where draws are a disaster and defeats are a catastrophe. Across the city the demands are similar and it’s churned up plenty of managers.”
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Barnes made contradictory Celtic Champions League claim
Sutton went on to pull up Barnes about the ex-Liverpool star’s contradictory comment about Celtic in the Champions League.
Barnes said the Bhoys are expected to perform out of their means in UEFA’s premier competition, which begs the question asked by Sutton.
The former Celtic striker said: “Barnes went on to admit there are unrealistic expectations of the club in the Champions League. What part of that is easy then?
“Celtic managers are expected to get to the knockout stages of Europe’s premier competition – with a budget comparable with teams in the English Championship.
“If you parachuted the likes of Burnley into the Champions League, most people would expect them to get battered.
“But Celtic have to hold their own – and they did that this year. There’s nothing easy about it. And this week won’t have been easy on the back of defeat to Rangers.
“The club are 13 points clear and in the hunt for a Treble – but supporters have been miserable all week. That’s the challenge of this job.”