A SCOTTISH football pundit has accused Brendan Rodgers of “wasting” one of his players with his team selection on Sunday.
Celtic crashed to another Old Firm defeat at Parkhead as Rangers ran out 3-2 winners following Hamza Igamane‘s late strike.
Brendan Rodgers and John Kennedy on the touchline[/caption]
Brendan Rodgers at the end of the game[/caption]
The Hoops have now suffered back-to-back losses against their fierce rivals, with Gers running riot at Ibrox on January 2.
Now questions are being asked of Rodgers’ selection and tactics for these games after also scraping past the Light Blues on penalties in the League Cup final in December.
Rodgers, 52, has only lost three of the 22 derby fixtures he has overseen as Celtic boss.
And although he’s on track to lift another Treble, fans and pundits alike are beginning to question the manager’s decisions in the dugout ahead of these ties.
Former Hibs and Livingston midfielder Marvin Bartley was particularly taken aback by one of his selection tweaks for Sunday’s derby.
The Northern Irishman was without his skipper Callum McGregor for the showdown and only had Luke McCowan available to step in, with Arne Engels dropping into the deeper role in McGregor’s absence.
Paulo Bernardo was ruled out through injury so McCowan was really Rodgers’ only option.
But it wasn’t the former Dundee man who Bartley had an issue with.
He was actually critical of the £11million signing for Augsburg, claiming the Belgian didn’t “look comfortable” in the number six role.
The axed Queen of the South boss understands it’s a role Engels has played previously, but he reckons the 21-year-old looked out of place at Parkhead.
However, Bartley, 38, didn’t reveal what he would have done differently – if he was in Rodgers’ shoes.
“For me, he was wasted in that deeper role, he really was,” said Bartley.
“There were a couple of times in the game where he went a little higher and tried to make some forward runs.
“I know some people are saying it is his natural position, but for me, he just didn’t look comfortable at all. He looks so much more comfortable playing as a number eight.
“He’s not one of them that looks like he wants to build the game.
“We speak about Callum McGregor and he gets on the ball and drops in between the two centre-halves when he needs to glue everything together.
“Engels didn’t look comfortable, at all, in trying to do that role.
“This game, as a number six, the game passed him, and when he was trying to do things, then he was just trying to force things.”
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