By Hayden Stewart
FORMER Spurs prodigy Jamie O’Hara has slammed Celtic following their Champions League thumping by Atletico Madrid, asking whether “there’s any point” in the side being in the competition.
The Hoops were on the receiving end of a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of the Spanish giants on Tuesday, leaving them bottom of their Champions League group with just one point.
O’Hara however, delivered a scathing review of the side’s performance in Europe so far in his talkSPORT show the same night, deeming the Glasgow side “pathetic”.
Video shows the 37-year-old speaking on the show, as he states: “It’s a pretty pathetic viewing for Celtic fans and I ask them the question – is there any point of them even being in the Champions League?
“Do they need to just go through the qualifying system and try and qualify for it?
“Because they end up just getting knocked out of it, finishing bottom, they’re out of Europe before Christmas.
“When actually, look at Rangers when they got into [the] Europa League, they had a brilliant run [of] it, it was great fun.”
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man continues: “I know they get money for the Champions League; I know it’s about money I get that, but where are they going?
“They’re not improving in any season, they’re not getting better, it’s the same old, same old.
“They haven’t qualified for the knockout stages since 2012.”
The video was shared to social media on Tuesday by talkSPORT with the caption: “Jamie O’Hara questions what the point of Celtic being in the UCL is.”
The clip has since received over 760 likes and more than 500 comments from fans left fuming by the pundit’s controversial comments.
One user wrote: “The point is [that] they are there on merit you f***ing dope.
“They have more rights to be there than Newcastle or Arsenal. They won their league and the league itself has earned sufficient co-efficient points to be there.”
Another replied: “Man Utd and Newcastle have spent half a billion between them, both sitting third whilst Celtic operate with Championship funding.”
A third said: “That’s harsh. They qualified so they have the right to be there. Their league unfortunately isn’t competitive enough to help in these types of games though”
Another commented: “Is there any point in Jamie O’Hara being a football pundit? He’s not improving.”
A fifth added: “The point is they won their bloody league. They’ve as much right as City, Barca or anyone else.”
Jamie O’Hara is a former English U21 international and was on the books at Spurs for six years before going on to play for Championship sides including Wolves, Blackpool and Fulham.
Following his retirement from the game in 2020, O’Hara has gone on to become a pundit on both talkSPORT and Sky Sports after a brief spell as manager of Billericay Town.
