Pat Bonner explains why Celtic are ‘not the same’ under Brendan Rodgers following Hearts defeat

Celtic were dealt a blow in the Scottish Premiership title race after falling to a 2-0 defeat away to Heart of Midlothian yesterday.

Despite being beaten at Tynecastle, the Bhoys remain two points behind Rangers in the table by virtue of their loss to Motherwell the day previous.

Unsurprisingly, VAR decisions will dominate the headlines for days to come, and Celtic were on the end of two developments in the capital that infuriated Brendan Rodgers.

Firstly, Hyunjun Yang was sent off for a high challenge on Alex Cochrane; however, there wasn’t a great deal of malicious intent in his action to try and win the ball.

Tomoki Iwata can count himself extremely unlucky to have been penalised for handling the ball just before the interval, which even Kris Boyd described as an ‘awful’ judgement call from the officials.

Jorge Grant stepped up to fire his side into the lead, making no mistake from the spot before Lawrence Shankland put the game beyond doubt in the 56th minute.

Of course, we also have our own profligacy to thank for our downfall, given that Adam Idah spurned a chance of his own from 12 yards out.

Nevertheless, Rodgers called out the refereeing on display in his post-match press conference, stating: “I never like to comment on officials; it’s not something I do. But that cost us today. The officiating from on the field to John Beaton being on VAR, that was really, really poor.”

Pat Bonner says Celtic are ‘not the same’ under Brendan Rodgers

It goes without saying, but Celtic have changed quite a bit since the relentless days of last season, when we were well on our way to winning a treble at this stage.

Either way, there is still a double to play for between now and May, which the support and players would revel in amid the insatiable hunger for silverware at Parkhead.

Analysing the Bhoys’ defeat to Hearts, former Hoops goalkeeper Pat Bonner has admitted he feels his old side are ‘not the same’ as they once were, and he has also questioned the ability of some of the individuals on show.

Bonner stated [BBC Sport]: “Not the same Celtic. Is this the same Celtic we saw last season? No. Things have definitely changed in terms of intensity, maybe players not up to scratch. The bench was weak today.”

Celtic need to try and move past their latest stumbling block

As frustrating as it is, the show must go on, and Celtic have nine league matches to prove they possess the mettle to usurp Rangers to win a third title in succession.

The Scottish Cup quarter-final will offer a different challenge next weekend, where Livingston travel to Parkhead in a tie where the winners can book their place at Hampden.

Considering that Rodgers’ men have a full week to recover from their latest disappointment, there should be no excuses for failing to see off the West Lothian side to reach the last four of the competition.