Scottish Premiership giants Celtic were dumped out of the Europa League by Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday night.
Has Brendan Rodgers taken Celtic as far as he can?
Well, that is the view of former Hoops favourite Charlie Nicholas, writing for the Daily Star.
Since Rodgers’ appointment in 2016, Celtic have won an unbeaten domestic treble and look set for another Scottish Premiership title, sitting nine points clear of Old Firm rivals Rangers.
On the continent, however, the Northern Irishman has enjoyed considerably less success. Celtic were dumped out of the Champions League group stages last season after picking up just one point out of 18 and their European adventure is over for this campaign too, losing 3-0 to Zenit St Petersburg in their Europa League round of 32 second leg on Thursday.
And Nicholas believes it is results like this that should have Rodgers wondering about his future in Glasgow.
“Celtic announced earlier this month that they have a whopping £30m in the bank.
“Well, they may be cash-rich in Scottish football terms, but they proved once again they are paupers on the European stage as they went out of the Europa League with a whimper,” Nicholas wrote.
“And the manner of their defeat in the Krestovsky Stadium has me concerned that Brendan Rodgers may soon start to question his long-term future at Celtic.
“After failing to hold on to their slender 1-0 first leg advantage and conceding three cheap goals to Zenit St Petersburg, I’m concerned that Brendan will now start to question just how much further he can take this side.”
Rodgers has made no secret about his desire to improve Celtic’s fortunes on the European front with the club struggling to make any sort of impression outside of Scotland in the last few years.
However, there is a long way to go before Celtic are seen as anything other than a side whose shelf life in continental competition lasts until February at the latest.
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