scratching' situations, as he questions Dermot Desmond's claim

It has been a pretty eventful week at Celtic.

Everyone has had their say, from the usually quiet Dermot Desmond to the pretty outspoken Celtic hero, Chris Sutton.

The takeaway from Brendan Rodgers’ brutal exit this week was that statement from Desmond, and how he went about verbally savaging the departed Celtic coach.

Sutton wanted to pick through what Desmond had to say in his statement, as he tried to defend Rodgers’ corner when it came to that abject 2025 summer transfer window.

Chris Sutton on Jahmai Simpson-Pusey and Hayato Inamura’s situations at Celtic

Two players signed this summer were Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, on loan from Manchester City, and Hayato Inamura, who came in from the J-League.

Speaking to Sky Sports Football, Sutton wanted to point out that Desmond claimed that Rodgers had ‘total control’ when it came to transfers.

Yet, he questioned just how much Rodgers wanted to sign players like Simpson-Pusey and Inamura because they have been ‘head-scratching’ situations.

“If we deal with the details, so the contract situation (between Rodgers and the board), you can see both sides,” said Sutton.

“I think with the signing policy. The wording with that was pretty strong. It was pretty emphatic, in terms of Dermot saying, ‘Brendan has total control.’

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“But Brendan didn’t get what he wanted. So, the players that Celtic signed over the summer, Brendan was very vocal. We saw in the earlier clip, on August 1, I think it was, him coming out and a message to the board that he needed players to come in.

“There we are, ‘every player signed and sold was done with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval and endorsement. Any insinuation otherwise is absolutely false.’

“But Brendan will say, ‘I didn’t replace the quality with the quality I desired.'”

Eilidh Barbour: “So, he perhaps endorsed the signings that came in, but was looking for more.”

Sutton: “Some may be development players. You look at the type of players coming in – then there are the Inamura and Simpson-Pusey situations. They are head-scratching situations.

“I don’t think anybody can make head or tail of it. Over the years, there have been massive issues with Celtic’s strategy. Nobody has ever got to the bottom of it. It’s a mess. I don’t know whether they have a strategy.”

Have Simpson-Pusey or Inamura played competitively for Celtic?

Inamura was first to arrive, and Celtic supporters actually got to see him in action in pre-season, playing at left-back, even though he is a left-sided centre-back.

From the pre-season matches, Inamura looked impressive, but the 23-year-old has hardly been seen since.

At least Inamura earned his debut against Livingston at the start of the season because, for Simpson-Pusey, it’s far worse.

He has gone from winning Premier League 2 Player of the Year at Manchester City, as well as playing in the Champions League under Pep Guardiola, to playing 90 minutes in the Challenge Cup and only being in the matchday squad twice for Celtic.

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