'Club is becoming ordinary' - Former Celtic heroes dismayed by Parkhead atmosphere
Sutton and Petrov express concerns over current situation at Celtic
Celtic Park was once famed for its atmosphere on European nights but former Hoops heroes were left dismayed by what they witnessed during the 4-1 defeat by Stuttgart on Thursday night.
The Bundesliga side were comfortable winners in the first leg of the Europa League knockout round play-off on a night where Celtic supporters again turned on the board - and goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
The match was subjected to a false start as dozens of mini orange and yellow balls were thrown on to the pitch in the opening seconds as Celtic fans continued their campaign of protests against the board and an ongoing ban of the Green Brigade ultras group.
Later in the game, Schmeichel’s every touch was booed by a section of Celtic fans in the aftermath of conceding two soft goals.
The 39-year-old was slow to get down to the first of Bilal El Khannouss’ two goals and made a poor attempt to claw away a low drive from Jamie Leweling which put the visitors 3-1 ahead in the second half.
The Dane has come under criticism for his performances since returning from a shoulder injury last season and scoring an own goal in Celtic’s Scottish Cup final defeat by Aberdeen.
Posting on X, former Celtic striker Chris Sutton, who played under Martin O’Neill in the early 2000s, accused Schmeichel of "becoming a liability", before adding, "and he's not only one". Sutton also described the atmosphere inside the stadium "as flat as I can remember on European night.”
He continued: "This is a bang average Celtic team outclassed by an ok Stuttgart team."
Ex-Hoops team-mate Stylian Petrov also expressed a fear that Celtic are “becoming an ordinary club” due to the soulless energy inside the stadium compared to the vociferous vocal backing he experienced under O’Neill more than two decades ago.
"It's the way of protesting," he told TNT Sports. "We've played in this stadium, we came out every Saturday, every Tuesday, European nights, we loved playing under the lights at Celtic Park with the fans behind us. If you don't have the fans the club is becoming an ordinary club.
"The Celtic fans are special. They can protest but it seems like the club is pulling apart at the moment. The fans are not happy with the board, the board are not happy with the fans, the performances are not good enough, the team suffers. The fans need to understand they are the most important at the moment for this team to get results.
"If the fans are behind the team they will produce and carry through a difficult moment. Martin O'Neill is right. When they go next week to Stuttgart all of their fans will be behind them from the first minute. They won't protest. They will be behind them. That used to be Celtic Park, but it's not any more. They have to find a solution."
O'Neill slammed the Celtic protestors for disrupting the start of the match, insisting: “Anybody who thinks that is a good idea needs their heads examined. It helps no-one."
Petrov agreed with his former boss. "The pressure from the fans on the board, towards the players, has been massive the last couple of months," the Bulgarian said. "You play in one of the big European games, the manager is motivating them, your are preparing, and all of a sudden, when the adrenalin is up there, and you're trying to get the game going, it stops for three minutes. It kills the atmopshere.
"The fans are expecting a dynamic start. All of a sudden everything stands still. Even Martin O'Neill, you can see in his face he was wondering what is happening here. I've just given one of the best speeches in the dressing room - we've heard many of them - and all of a sudden the game stands still. This is a big problem for the players. They've been under so much pressure and all of a sudden they haven't found that adrenalin or intenstity to kick on. They just stood still."
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