Raging Neil Lennon has eviscerated Celtic after they were humbled by Borussia Dortmund.
However, the former Hoops player and boss refused to lay the blame at the door of Brendan Rodgers after the Bundesliga side ran riot in the Champions League. It was a fast start as Emre Can’s penalty was cancelled out by Daizen Maeda. But things quickly fell apart after a string of defensive howlers by Celtic as Karim Adeyemi scored a first-half hat-trick while Serhou Guirassy chipped in with a double before Felix Nmecha netted the seventh of a miserable evening for the Scottish champions.
After the full-time whistle, co-commentator Lennon told TNT Sports: ‘I didn’t expect them to win, I expected them to give a good account of themselves given the form they were in. They let the game get away from them. They were passive, far too passive with passing, didn’t do the dirty business of the game well enough, weren’t physical enough, too nice and they didn’t turn Dortmund at all.
“They kept playing the same way. The results were the same – goal against, goal against, goal against. Eventually, when the game got to 3-1 I am expecting someone to get grip of the team and say ‘ok, let’s have 5-10 minutes in their half, let’s get Maeda into it, let’s turn them, let’s get a corner or a throw’ – there was none of that.
“They kept playing the same way – passes into dangerous areas and they kept getting picked off. Dortmund are an outstanding team but they have their flaws – particularly down the right hand side, but Celtic played right into their hands constantly. They have got to learn quickly. Celtic were exposed tonight. They have got to say ‘we can’t do this away from home against top teams, we have to find another way of playing at times.'”
Asked if the responsibility fell to the manager, Lennon said: “You can’t keep blaming the manager. Celtic have got a top manager in Brendan Rodgers. Yes, he wants his team to play football.
“He said before the game they would suffer at times, and they were suffering. What you do when you are suffering is you take the heat off you can get your wide men into the game and use the pace that [Nicolas] Kuhn and [Daizen] Maeda have; didn’t use that anywhere near enough. In the end it was little tippy-tappy passes through the midfield.”