Former Crystal Palace owner turned pundit Simon Jordan has torn into the Celtic players after their 'capitulation' against LASK in their Champions League playoff second leg on Tuesday night.
The Bhoys gave up a four-goal lead to crash out of the competition, ultimately conceding the winner in extra time. It was a catastrophic result for the Hoops, who now miss out on tens of millions of revenue, as well as a spot in the Champions League.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first leg and adding to that lead in the second leg, few could have imagined the collapse, but LASK never gave up an inch of belief, while Celtic seemed to cower under pressure and ultimately came undone.
Jordan tears into Celtic players
TalkSport pundit Jordan did not hold back in his morning rant, defending Martin O'Neill, who took the blame for the defeat.
"You look at the performance, and you see Martin taking the blame for it. But this isn't about Martin, it's about players on the field. And they say 'oh, they didn't buy this player, they sold £36million worth of players and only bought £32million worth of players, the players who came off the bench didn't have the wherewithal'.
"It should never have got to extra time, where players coming off the bench look all lost. They were just cowardly. They were 4-0 in a Champions League qualifier. They hand them the initiative by giving them one goal, and then they absolutely capitulated.
"I know that will be quoted and put somewhere else, but there is no other word for it. Martin will be privately seething, realising the players have let him down. As an old-school manager, he will deflect from the players, but there is nothing Martin could have done to legislate for a capitulation of that order. "
Strong statements from Jordan. There is more to it than simply players not getting the job done, one has to argue, but ultimately, it is true that the players on the pitch should have taken ownership and responsibility to find a way to win the game.
What O'Neill said
Speaking after the game, O'Neill said: "I'm responsible for this one. Without a doubt. Naturally, it took me a long time to get over the Uefa Cup final in 2003 but this was majorly disappointing.
"In the context of things, one was a final which it would have been terrific to win, this was a qualifying game which we should have been able to get through.
"We know that we are a million miles from the finished article. That's absolutely true. I think we thought that anyway."
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