COULD everyone please just calm down?

You could be forgiven for thinking Celtic find themselves in the depths of a disaster, that the season was over before it had begun and that there was nothing left to play for while Brendan Rodgers and a number of players were halfway out of the door.

They have lost one game. That's it. I honestly believe we can get past AEK Athens and then the Champions League play-off, which would be up there with anything the manager has achieved since he came into the club.

Celtic will win the league. They will probably win a cup. Even if it goes wrong in Athens, Celtic will most likely make it into the Europa League group stage and it’s a competition I believe they can do well in.

Perhaps some of the supporters are spoiled. Teams, even greats ones, lose football matches. Honestly.

I know the situation with Dedryck Boyata has hardly helped and it is obvious Rodgers and the board are not, at this moment in time, seeing eye-to-eye, which I will get to that in a moment.

There are some issues which need to be addressed at Celtic Pak. However, it’s hardly a crisis.

Again, that’s not to say that some people haven’t made mistakes and I’ll start off with one of them – and that’s Brendan Rodgers.

For the very first time, I disagreed with the manager’s team. He got it wrong on Saturday. That was never going to be enough to take on a Hearts side full of confidence in their own back yard.

I can only go back to Martin O’Neill who rarely if ever rested anyone. Can you remember Henrik Larsson, Alan Thompson or Neil Lennon being given a breather?

And I was the same, even if my number was once or twice held up after 67 minutes, in that I wanted to play in every single game. That is what makes a footballer.

The season is a few weeks old and yet James Forrest, Olivier Ntcham, Odsonne Edouard and Tom Rogic were taken out of the team and it cost Celtic three points. They are all young men, at the peak of their powers which made me wonder why any of them needed rested so early on.

I will give him Rogic. He was at the World Cup, has done a lot of miles and did look leggy against AEK last week. As for the rest, they all should have started at Tynecastle.

Oh, and spare me the chat that Hearts were too physical. It was like that in my day when we went to Tynecastle and I agree with Chris Sutton who said that it was up to the Celtic players to stand up and give a bit back.

Rodgers is obviously prioritising the Champions League – fair enough – but still feel he could be put out a far stronger side.

And as for his outburst about the lack of transfers, it wasn’t like him to speak this way and clearly he’s a frustrated man. I get that. I don’t get the Celtic board not properly backing a man who has delivered them so much.

Celtic should have got John McGinn. They should have more cover for the defence. Rodgers, within reason, should be given everything he asks for.

If Celtic hadn’t dragged their heels over the lad, who I rate highly, then he would be at Parkhead. I have no doubt about that.

I still can’t work out how they missed out on the lad, especially when Rodgers goes on record about his admiration for the player. Not good at all.

The money is there and it hasn’t been spent. But I wouldn’t blame Peter Lawwell for this.

He is the chief executive. That means he has bosses - Lawwell doesn’t own the club - and top of the pile is Dermot Desmond. He has to back the man who has brought back the good times.

The Ronnie Deila era, with all due respect, was something of a nightmare towards the end. Rodgers has come in, won back-to-back trebles, give Rangers a couple of pumping and has made the club a lot of money. He deserves more than he is getting.

In saying all that. I can’t see Rodgers walking and that is the fear among some Celtic fans. I genuinely believe he loves his job and wants to stay for a few years more.

But I can’t believe for the life of me that the Celtic board, headed by Mr Desmond, are not backing a manager who has brought new life to that football club.

Celtic have some big tests coming up at home and abroad. I am sure those would be passed with far more ease had the manager been given what he asked for over the summer. However, as I said at the beginning, Celtic remain in a good place. But this was all so avoidable.