Robbie Savage remains thoroughly unconvinced by the quality of Celtic Football Club.
Prior to their 1-1 draw at an admittedly rotated but still mega-rich Manchester City, Celtic were torn asunder by the polarising Welshman during his pre-match analysis for BT Sport.
Pegged as the Battle of Britain, Savage wasn’t so sure about qualifying the Champions League group game as such.
“It’s not really, is it?” Savage said. “How is Celtic against Man City the Battle of Britain? It’s not, mate.
“The Battle of Britain, really, is who’s going to win the Premier League. It’s not Celtic! It’s not really the Battle of Britain, let’s be fair.”
“Celtic would be a Championship side, if that!” Savage insisted.
The former Leicester midfielder conceded that Celtic were a team to be reckoned with during Martin O’Neill’s time in charge, when the Hoops boasted the likes of Henrik Larsson, Neil Lennon, John Hartson and Chris Sutton in their ranks.
Many have argued that current Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has all the talent at his disposal to recreate the magic that O’Neill did but Savage believes that the side’s top scorer this term, Moussa Dembele, is simply too good for the football club.
“He’s fantastic. Too good for Celtic,” Savage said.
“Surely Dembele will want to test himself against good opposition week-in, week-out.”
Chris Sutton was there to fight Celtic’s corner and he threw his backing behind the club captain when Savage asked him who was better – Scott Brown or Darren Fletcher.
“Could Scott Brown play week-in, week-out in the Premier League?” Savage asked.
“Yeah I think…” Sutton started.
“For who?” Savage pressed.
“Probably you could look at 10/14 clubs,” Sutton said. “This season Scott Brown has been fantastic. You haven’t seen enough of Scott Brown.”
“Who’s better? Scott Brown or Darren Fletcher?” Savage asked.
“Scott Brown. All day long!” Sutton confidently answered.
That prompted a disbelieving eye-roll and “Is he f…!” from Savage, the full rant from whom can be seen below.