John Hartson has launched a blistering attack on Alexandro Bernabei and branded the defender a disgrace.
Normally former players can be relied on to go easy on a player, sympathising with them and trying to find reasons for mistakes.
On Saturday Hartson was on co-commentary duties for Celtic TV when Bernabei lost out on a back post cross allowing David Watson to equalise.
Having been left out of Celtic’s first 30 matches of the season the Argentinian started four successive matches at left-back but was relegated to the bench on Saturday with Greg Taylor available after a calf injury.
After 61 minutes of the game against Kilmarnock, with Celtic leading 1-0 Bernabei replaced Taylor with the flow of the game starting to swing towards the visitors.
Celtic looked like they might escape with full points as the match entered stoppage time but as a cross came in from the right Bernabei was unable to either head the cross or get a block on Watson who headed low and powerfully into the net.
Listening to Hartson on Go Radio, The Sun reports Hartson saying:
At that goal, Bernabei is a disgrace. He’s a DISGRACE there. He doesn’t even challenge Davie Watson at the goal. It’s got to mean something, you’ve got to defend that goal with your life!
Hartson added:
Yes, Kilmarnock are doing well but you can’t let them get three results against you and still expect to win the league.
Some Celtic players wouldn’t play for Kilmarnock. They’re coasting, happy to be Celtic players and wouldn’t play for other teams in Scotland.
Brendan Rodgers has been missing some first team players. Cameron Carter-Vickers is out. Reo Hatate is out. But some of the players who have come into replace them, they are showing that they’re just not quite at the level.
They should be ready to go in and give Brendan Rodgers a headache.
Rodgers clearly didn’t trust Bernabei until he was forced to pick him as back-up when Taylor was injured, earlier in the season the former Lanus man was left out of Celtic’s Champions League squad despite having made the cut last year.
Celtic were strongly linked with being interested in signing a left-back during the January transfer window but that failed to materialise.
With 12 SPFL matches left to play Rodgers will be hoping that Taylor hasn’t suffered any reaction during the Kilmarnock match, starting at Motherwell on Sunday Celtic face three matches in eight days.
Celtic paid Lanus around £3.5m for Bernabei in June 2022, with a contract running until May 2027 it looks unlikely that they’ll get anything like that fee back if they decide to move him on.
CLICK HERE for Bernabei’s Transfermarkt profile.
CLICK HERE for Kobayashi knocks back Celtic loan deal.
