Timid Celtic have left Brendan Rodgers on a tightrope but I fear he can't fix one Champions League problem – Chris Sutton

The Record Sport columnist has rising concerns after the Hoops exited the group stage with a whimper against Lazio.

Celtic look weak and timid in the Champions League. Worryingly for them, I’m beginning to wonder if others aren’t scared of them on the home front anymore and they are losing some of their own fear factor.

Brendan Rodgers might not be able to fix the first one of those. But the manager definitely needs to find a way to quickly reinstate the second because the club are walking a tightrope at the moment and can’t afford to stumble. Let’s deal with Europe first. Given the fallout from the Champions League exit, we’ve heard all the predictable statements following the similarity predictable outcome in Rome.

Celtic’s defeat to Lazio was just another in the long line of setbacks which have come my old club’s way on the continent. Rodgers spoke afterwards about needing to add quality to the ranks to compete at that level and that is obvious. Trouble is, how much do you need? Quite frankly, clubs have spent tens of millions to try and make an impact and failed.

Celtic can’t do that and, even if they do spend a good few quid, you get the impression they are going to have to have their best team on the pitch every single time they play to have any chance of making it happen. Let’s face it, that just doesn’t happen. It hasn’t happened this term and it didn’t happen last season either with important players such as Jota absent on more than one occasion during the group stages.

Celtic couldn’t win a game last season when they were better prepared. They haven’t won a game this season with less impressive preparation.

Now let’s get one thing straight. I’m not saying they should just give up. Just accept you are going to lose. You have to be able to land a few blows now and again and get some positive results to sprinkle around now and again.

But, in the longer term and over the course of a section, maybe Celtic just aren’t going to get there and be consistently successful. Maybe this is how it’s going to be going forward. Qualify, get the money and go straight back out again.

That’s very painful to say because I look at a team like FC Copenhagen going into the final match with a chance to qualify from a group which includes Bayern Munich and Manchester United. But I can’t seriously look at the record of Celtic over the past 10 years in the competition, put my hand on my heart and say they can definitely emulate the Danes because, unless something radically changes, the evidence tells me I’d be talking rubbish.

It’s not just a quick fix, either. Celtic are weaker than last season and have regressed. The squad’s going to take a lot of work to reach a level needed to make a serious impact in the competition.

Mind you, at this point, any impact at all would be half decent. Like winning a game. But I watched events in Rome and felt they looked light on quality, light on physicality and light on belief.

Some of them also looked fearful as they toiled to get at a home team which, in truth, wasn’t much cop on the night. Hopefully, Celtic can get a victory over Feyenoord and instil some much-needed confidence as well as getting a 10-year home winless money off their backs.

That final Champions League group game comes in the midst of a massive period domestically and Celtic really need to get ruthless. It’s hard to pick holes in a side that haven’t lost a single fixture of the Premiership all season and have a strong lead at the summit.

But, just as with Europe, there needs to be honesty. And the simple truth is that Celtic are meandering in spells. Last weekend’s draw with Motherwell was not a one-off in terms of performance. It was sluggish and it was lacklustre.

Just as the goalless draws were against St Johnstone and Hibs earlier in the campaign when the other points were shipped. There’s also been games which have been won where they haven’t hit the heights and I’m sure opponents are gaining more belief they can get something.

Celtic dodged a bullet last weekend because Rangers slipped up the following day against Aberdeen, but they can’t keep opening the door because, at some stage, their big rivals could walk through it.

Don’t get me wrong. Rangers’ poor showing against Aris Limassol shows they still have a way to go, but winning the League Cup would give Philippe Clement’s side a major shot of belief and added drive to try and overhaul a deficit in the table. Just as it did for Ange Postecoglou’s team in the Aussie’s first season when they came back from a similar position as now to win it.

Clement is saying all the right things, just as Postecoglou did. And making big calls, as we saw with Todd Cantwell on Thursday night. Celtic need to stand on the pedal, get moving and strike fear into sides again.

Teams dreaded facing Postecoglou’s 100 miles per hour outfit. They ran sides ragged, never gave them a breath, ravaged them. They hated it.

Right now, Celtic aren’t doing it. It’s a different style and, just like Stuart Kettlewell last weekend, I think Craig Levein will believe he can set up a St Johnstone side to sit in, frustrate and stay compact due to a lack of thrust from the visitors.

Celtic need a rocket. They need to get the ruthless edge back at home. Because if the fans are frustrated enough at the European setbacks, I’d very much doubt they’ll tolerate failure on the home front.

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