‘I don’t think’: Tam McManus makes interesting claim about Celtic’s squad ahead of Champions League group stages

I don’t think you would any Celtic fan who would disagree with the view that the squad Brendan Rodgers inherited from Ange Postecoglou is one of the strongest we have seen for a long time at Celtic.

With players like Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi, Matt O’Riley, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Callum McGregor at his disposal, Rodgers has an abundance of talent to call upon when he needs it.

And that’s not to mention the players that Rodgers himself has added. Which makes Tam McManus’ comments on the Celtic squad that little bit more interesting.

The former Hibs man turned pundit, was looking ahead to Celtic’s Champions League group stages when he made this compelling assessment.

McManus said [PLZ Soccer], “I don’t think this team and this squad is better than the one he had before. That’s just my opinion.

“I think this group’s slightly easier in terms of there’s not a Barcelona or a PSG in there that you could think we could beat six or seven here. I don’t think there is that in this group.

“So I think Celtic can be more competitive in these games but he needs to get players back. He needs Carter Vickers back, Reo Hatate, guys like that. Guys that go straight into your team.

“He’s been unfortunate with injuries. Brendan Rodgers, so far but the game coming up against Feyenoord who seemed to have a lot of injuries himself judging by press reports.

“I think they’ll go over there quietly confident that he can get off to a good start.”

At the time Rodgers took over in 2016 Celtic did have the likes of Callum McGregor and Scott Brown in the centre of midfield. They also had Craig Gordon in goal with Mikael Lustig, Kieran Tierney, Kristoffer Ajer and Dedryk Boyata in defence.

On the wing, Patrick Roberts and James Forrest were the main men with Tom Rogic in the number 10 role. And up front was the enigmatic Frenchman, Moussa Dembele.

Brendan Rodgers’ 2016 Celtic squad

 

GK: Craig Gordon, Dorus de Vries, Logan Bailly

DEF: Kieran Tierney, Emilio Izagguirre, Cristian Gamboa, Kolo Toure, Efe Ambrose, Jozo Simunovic, Dedryk Boyata, Mikael Lustig, Erik Sviatchenko

MID: Scott Brown, Nir Bitton, Scott Sinclair, Stuart Armstrong, Gary MacKay-Steven, Patrick Roberts, James Forrest, Tom Rogic, Ryan Christie

STR: Moussa Dembele, Leigh Griffiths, Nadir Ciftci, Jack Aitchinson

Brendan Rodgers’ 2023 Celtic squad

 

GK: Joe Hart, Ben Siegrist, Scott Bain

DEF: Alistair Johnston, Anthony Ralston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Stephen Welsh, Yuki Kobayashi, Greg Taylor, Aleandro Bernabei, Liam Scales

MID: Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, Odin Thiago Holm, James McCarthy, Hyeokkyu Kwon, Tomoki Iwata, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate, James Forrest, Paulo Bernardo, Hyunjun Yang, Luis Palma, Marco Tilio, Liel Abada, Mikey Johnston

STR: Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Hyeongyu Oh

Comparing both teams, was the squad Rodgers inherited in 2016 better? That could be a great discussion as the Hoops fans look to break the boredom of the international break.